We sailed over to Salem from Boston to meet friends on Fujin and had to make a quick dash to pick up a mooring ball before a squall hit. Winds were sustained at 35 knots, and although not detected on this movie, their was lots of local lightening. We saw four boats with partially unfurled headsails, including the one at the end of the movie. Fortunately, after the storm passed the owners were able to purl in the headsail and it didn't look to be damaged.

We tried a new restaurant for dinner - Grapevine - which was less pricey than others we have been too and had a great atmosphere and food. We will return. They have X-rated martinis, which were highly recommended by all who tried them.

Racing and Storms on way from Boston to Salem

We sailed over Friday later afternoon to Salem, MA where we picked up a mooring ball. Initially, while in Boston harbor, we raced a Hunter 49 and came from behind and overtook. Our pace was unmatched. As we left the harbor storms started to come in . We tracked them on our Radar and decided it was good to keep heading NE as the storms were tracking SE. We got caught on the Eastern edge of the first. We were on a run and winds went up to 30kts for a period. As we approached the Marbelhead islands a second bigger storm came through which we were caught in the middle of. No pictures during, but there is a picture of a rainbow after the storm passed.


The Race is on! Our 36 foot Catalina against a 49 foot Hunter


Our crew was clearer the better


We just came out of this storm. Phew - 30 knot winds on a run. Just steering with the windshifts to prevent a jibe


The rainbow after the second storm near Marblehead

What are your intentions?

Yesterday and today we sailed in the harbor relatively calm conditions. One never knows what you will hear on the VHF. Today we heard a classic conversation between The Spirit of Boston and an unknown small craft that was obviously getting in their way.

S of B: "What are your intentions, captain?"

Unknown vessel "To get out of your way"

Since today is Wednesday we sailed back in to mix in with the evening race boats. Beneath are some shots and a movie. We were surprised (proud) how well we kept up with them given that we didnt have our spinnaker up and we had a crew of 2 compared to ~10 on each of their vessels.

Small Craft Advisory

Over this past weekend we have had gale (Saturday) and small craft advisory (Sunday)conditions which have made for exciting sailing. During the gale I was going to have to go out single handed, which would have been fine except for getting out and into our slip. So despite enthusiasm, I decided not to disembark. On Sunday however, I had a crew of two with me, Yolande and our friend Bob. So we set off and headed straight out of the harbor. We were able to leave and enter on a single tack each way. Winds were up to about 27 knots apparent as we headed out (close reach) and +20 kts apparent (broad reach) on the way back in and we were sailing on double reefed sails. Our genoa car which we use for moving our fairleads came in handy as they really allowed us to trim the headsail well.

Out of the harbor we had what we estimate to be 6 foot swells and at times the bow would bury in a wave and water would hit the dodger window. No pictures of this because we were taking care of the boat (and ourselves) at the time. When we turned to come home and were downwind on a broad reach we achieved up to 10.3 kts surfing down waves. Beneath are some pictures and movies of the conditions.


Just leaving the harbor


Heading back in to the inner harbor

Prairie Gold in Boston

Here is a picture of Prairie Gold sailing in the inner harbor