Memorial Day Sail

To cap off a long weekend of sailing Yolande and Phil took Tim and Lorraine (a blog follower) out for an afternoon sail. We left the Constitution Marina with great winds but poor visibility. We sailed out to Long Island (within the harbor) where we anchored ate cheese and bread followed by barbecued Gulf Shrimp together with very small white, red and blue potatoes and salad. As we ate the wind turned 180 degrees and we had a continuous close reach to beam reach all the way back into the marina. Tim was a natural at the helm.

Tim and Lorraine on Prairie Gold

A late evening hazy scene of Boston from the inner harbor. This is not mist or fog, but smoke from a forest fire in Quebec! You could smell it too!

Beverly & the One that Got Away!

This weekend we took a trip up to Beverly, departing Saturday morning and returning Sunday afternoon. The trip up provided excellent spinnaker conditions, as the winds were light to moderate and our heading and the wind direction had us on a run for a lot of the trip. The best results were achieved with a combination of the 135% Genoa and the spinnaker. With this sail combination we achieved speeds of up to 7 knots on a run (excellent!), and this made for a very comfortable sail.

We were fortunate that the sailing conditions were fair because Dustin hooked an extremely large fish that he and Phil had to take turns reeling in. We knew it would be a good fight when the fish flipped part way out of the water, even forty feet behind the boat it looked huge! With both men getting exhausted, our thoughts turned to what exactly we might do with such a large fish once we actually got it on the boat! As Phil and Dustin worked the fish closer it went on one last powerful run which resulted in the snapping of 50 lb braided line…taking the lucky lure with it! Later in Beverly chatting with the staff at the local fishing shop, Al’s Bait and Tackle, Dustin learned that there was a big run of tuna in the area….what if?? Dustin and Phil will both have dreams about the one that got away!

Yolande worked the charts and navigated us through the entrance to Beverly, passing by Marblehead and Salem harbors on the way. Phil arranged for us to moor at the Beverly Port Marina http://www.beverlyportmarina.com/. The staff was friendly and the location was nice.

Also moored at the Beverly port marina was the 100 ft Wally super yacht, Alexia http://www.wally.com/jumpCh.asp?idUser=0&idChannel=38&idLang=IT&idProd=73&attivo=1-2-1. This boat was a sight to behold! It is difficult to understand the scale of it from the picture, but when walking up I realized that each one of the bumpers used to separate the boat and dock was at least twice my size! Dustin and I chatted with a guy that was working on the systems at the base of the mast, and he mentioned that the boat sailed out of Majorca, Spain, and that they were on their way up to the Canadian maritime coast.

That night we were directed to a local spot, called the Anchor http://local.yahoo.com/info-27406725-anchor-pub-grille-beverly, located just steps away from the marina. We were told that it was a popular local pub that attracted an eclectic crowd; in fact we were as likely to run into a neurosurgeon from Marblehead as a local fisherman. We enjoyed the experience indeed, the beer was inexpensive (Bass on tap), and they served homestyle food for a great price as well. The guys got anchor burgers which feature loads of bacon and spicy chili, while Yolande sampled the sea scallops, and I went for steak…these dishes had what would be scallops or steak for three people at most other restaurants! Overall a great finish to a fine day of sailing!

After a good night’s rest we woke to weather forecasts of a gale coming through in the afternoon. So in anticipation Dustin and Phil exchanged the 135% Genoa with the new 90% Yankee cut Genoa that Phil had made by Doyle sails http://www.doylesails.com/. This turned out to be an excellent decision as we saw gusts beyond 30 knots nearing Boston harbor. At one point a major gust caught the sails and rapidly heeled the boat, this was the first full-on rail dip for Prairie Gold! The winds were very unstable in strength and direction which made for thrilling sailing through the harbor. By the time we docked and cleaned up the boat a bit, we had really earned our beer and gelato!

Wind, Fog and Scituate

This weekend we sailed to Scituate harbor and stayed overnight at Cole Parkway Marina. On Saturday we headed straight into SE winds and had to tack all the way down. Despite a forecast of 5-10kt winds, the winds rose to 15-20kts true, requiring reefing of the main sail. But it was a delightful sail down.

When we arrived at the Marina we had a vicious side wind which made docking challenging. However, the harbormaster and others were very generous in their time and provided significant assistance - we used every spare dockline to make sure we were tied securely.
We enjoyed Scituate in the evening and sat outside at Riva Restaurant where we ate. As you know Phil enjoys mashed potatoes which was not lost on the waitress who brought out a special dish of Blue Peruvian Mashed Potatoes. Delicious.

On Sunday we woke to fog in the harbor.
It was picturesque and cleared by 8am. We set sail back to Boston on a broad reach with 5-7kt winds and raised the spinnaker. As we closed in on Boston dense fog set in. The radar was essential and helped us avert collisions with large and small boats alike. The near miss of most concern was one of the high speed ferries which travels between Boston and Provincetown. Judicuous use of our respective radars and fog horns helped keep us clear of one another. Despite knowing that a collision would not occur it is quite intimidating when one sees the outline of a ship within 1/8th of a mile.


As this was only the second time we had flown the spinnaker there was a little anxiety, but raising and packing it twice today helped develop the sequence of steps so that it can now be routine.
As we closed in on Boston harbor we navigated the channels blind, except radar and GPS charts until we entered the inner harbor. We felt a little cheated as sailing time was reduced - in close quarters entering and navigating the harbor we turned on the engine - but we certainly practiced other skills.

Running Light Conversion

Since each of the three incandescent bulbs in the running lights draw 10Amps and we will need to be using them throughout the night hours we decided to convert to LEDs with 1/1oth the current draw. After several false starts we found the right LEDs to use which simply replace the incandescent bulb without requiring the housing to be changed. We installed the Festoon Star Series LEDs from Dr. LED.

Side by side view of Festoon Star LED and Incandescent bulb


LED installed in running light housing

Two Days, Two Fish!

We have been very fortunate!! Not only did we get out for another day of sailing on Saturday, but we also caught another striped bass, and enjoyed excellent winds!! Wooooooooohooooooo!

An image of the waves/spray coming up from the bow.
The seas were ~2-3 feet, and wind was sustained 13-16, gusting to 25-30!

A picture of the horizon, picture looks a bit off you say?? Just relative to the boat heel tacking on the way back in.

We got caught in a surprise "competition" on the way back in, to beat the other boat tacking with us, so Dustin and Yolande were working hard managing the genoa, Phil was at the helm, and Rochelle working the traveler on the main.

Yolande uncleating the genoa during a tack, so that the genoa can pass to the other side...get ready with the winch Dustin, she is speedy!!

Dustin winching in the genoa, watching the tell-tales intently.

Back at the marina after winning the "competition", Dustin shows off today's catch which was caught and landed just before we started tacking back into the harbor...what a day!

Dustin with striped bass, day 2, even bigger than the previous day's catch!