We had not been to the coast since our return from Washington, NC. My back is still not up to par and the heat has been almost too much, even for a native southerner. Boat and brackish water withdrawal symptoms overcame all this and we traveled to Whortonsville on Friday night. The very first order of business was to deploy the portable air conditioner, truly and miracle of modern science.

Saturday July 29, 2006
Our plan was to basically do nothing except possibly give the boat a much needed exterior scrubbing. I have been carrying a new stereo system back and forth since Christmas, and I thought I might just get it installed this time. All my plans were abandoned when Joey invited us to go sailing on Dawn Treader, his vintage 1960 Hinckley Bermuda 40. Judy declined the invitation but encouraged me to go.

Joey, Larry and I left the dock at about 10:30. We got out to the sound in 30 minutes. The wind was brisk, between 11 and 15 knots. We started due south on a broad reach. We were using the mainsail, a 180% light air jib and the mizzen sail when Joey decided we needed more canvas and set a mizzen staysail. This is a small light sail that fits in front of the mizzenmast. On a smaller boat I would have been thinking about reducing sail but Dawn Treader loved it. Larry said, "She rides like an old Cadillac". When we got ready to turn around for home, I happened to have the helm. Joey, of course, had to douse the mizzen staysail so we could tack. I could not believe the speed reduction when he took the sail down. It was like someone stepped on the brakes. We tacked and headed for home. We only tacked twice more on the whole trip. For a 40 footer, she is very agile. Needless to say, she is very well behaved and performed beautifully. After all, she is a Hinckley.

Back at the dock, Judy and I had lunch and we rested for a while before venturing back out into the heat. I had some measuring to do for a new anchor roller and I wanted to install my new (lighter) anchor chain. When finished we got cleaned up and went into town to get some takeout pizza. After dinner we visited with Joey and our friends Bill and Susan (lately of Pollocksville) on their "nearly new" Hunter.

Sunday July 30, 2006
Sunday morning brought overcast skies and cooler temperatures. Charlie Gibson (our dingy) had been stored with the other little boats in Nick's yard since we left last time. I don't like to leave him out in the weather so I packed him up in is little case. He can stay in our basement out of the sun until needed. It always takes me a log time to pack up because I enjoy chatting with dock mates so much. We usually start early and finish late. This trip was no exception. We finally got everything packed and we left at about 11 am. Hopefully the weather will cool down in the next few weeks. We got home in time to have dinner with our friends Becky and Charles.