Rudy owns Kalue, a wooden ketch that was handmade in 1947.
She is a beautiful old school sailboat that Rudy winters in Constitution
Marina, Charlestown MA. Kalue is A German Frers sr. designed wooden ketch. Built at the Quiterrez
Yard in Buenos Aires.
On April 18th it was time to take her back to
Maine for the summer. Thought this was an exciting trip, the weather forecast
was not promising in terms of temperature.
After final preparations and taking on 37gallons of diesel
fuel, we headed out of the harbor towards Cape Ann at the eastern tip of MA.
Winds were light so we motored, and motor sailed for over 24hours. We had
decided to leave our options open so when we passed Gloucester we made the decision
to head on because we were projected to have following winds overnight that
would become westerly at 15 kts by daylight.
Its been a long winter in New England and out on the water
the temperatures dipped to the low 30s. as the English say – it was Brass
monkey. Google it and you will understand.
For the past week there have been strong easterly winds so
we had large ~2 meter swells all of the way until we got into the shelter of
the rivers and islands of Maine. Food consisted of simple things – cheese and
meat sandwiches; salmon and pasta and peas (my favorite). Breakfast – cereal,
cranberries and banana. Red bull and coffee – lots of coffee. Rudy had a cup of
tea with honey. He commented it was the first time that he had to use two hands
to try to squeeze the honey out of the container – the honey was that cold.
For over 24 hours we motorsailed but made steady progress. The
15 kts winds did not materialize. However as we approached to coast of Maine
winds roared. One often talks about a rail dipper – this was a stanchion
dipper.
As we motored up to Robinhood marine center we noticed snow
and ice on the coast.
It was a great trip – although next time I will wear 10 layers instead of 5 – with a total
elapsed time of 27h 41minutes.
2014 sailing begins.
