May 2009 Archives

We had a fun weekend with good friend, Tom Brown, in Portsmouth NH. The event was based around the J24 District 1 Championship Regatta sponsored by the Piscataqua Sailing Association. Elizabeth, Norman, and Tom operated out of a little committee boat named "Chumly." She rolls! Saturday, the fog rolled in as thick as anyone has ever seen it. One race was completed. The second race was cancelled due to fog. Otherwise it was a nice day to be out in a strong Easterly breeze, fog, and drizzle. Perfect New England Spring weather.
Saturday: Elizabeth and Norman aboard Chumly in the fog off Portsmouth NH. The same day, the Volvo Ocean Race boats departed Boston Harbor in thick fog. The Volvo 70s had to dodge a tanker! District 1 J24s dodged a few rocks on the way in but we were tanker-free. Everyone got home safely.

Sunday, dawn broke with driving rain and a strong Westerly. The rain went away and the wind died off a bit. The sea was not too rough. At least we had visibility. (Thanks to Tom for making a fabulous stack of pancakes. We all stayed at his house in Kittery. On a cold rainy day... Tom's pancakes get top ratings!)

Sunday: Tom and Elizabeth trying to figure out the order of boats coming down the course to finish. Scoring a race is no simple task. Elizabeth has a system. It starts as boats round the top mark, a mile away. E is watching intently, recognizing sails and hulls, sorting out the possible finish order.

Boston Sailing Center friends on MOJO, Dave Carlson and team, sailing around in the fog awaiting a Saturday start.

Saturday evening at Kittery point Yacht Club was a nice event. Good food, music, beer and lots of sailing stories. Sunday evening had more sailing stories, food, and beer, plus awards. Competitor Carter White (fourth place on "Al" bow number 9) owns Regatta Promotions. They were active in organizing sponsors and club house events. His company did a good job.

Race Committee participation is an important part of any sailor's sailing life.

	The man with the tan from a far-away land.
	An appropriate beer for each celebrant.

Another rousing community concert, held at Memorial Hall, Melrose. Playing in an orchestra is so much fun. Playing with friends, even better. Having friends come and enjoy, the best. Gladie and Wil were our loyal fans. John S. and I played.

Melrose Symphony Orchestra

My favorite piece of this concert was the Finale from "Pines of Rome", by Respighi. The piece starts in the distance with a solo horn over the muffled sound of the basses. More instruments join the procession and the music grows. We had additional brass behind and within the audience, so they were surrounded by the approaching procession. The piece concludes with timpani, bass drums, the brass, beating out the rhythm, until the final sensual chords. Wow!

Second favorite was the Donna Diana Overture, by Emil Reznicek. This piece served as the theme for the American radio (1947-1955) series Challenge of the Yukon, which later migrated to the TV series (1955-1958) Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.

Gladie liked the Tchaikovsky! Wil said we were just fiddling around on that one. :) Movement III from Symphony #6. This movement, allegro molto vivace, I freely admit has way too many notes, and Yoichi does not slack off the pace, not one bit. The two themes dance around each other, a kind of jerky melody, and a more march-like theme. At some points the instruments appear to be chasing each other around the orchestra, with the notes getting handed from one section to another. Lots of fun.

Thanks Gladie and Wil, for sharing this evening with me and John.