June and July, 2009:
BANANA SPLIT, a Lagoon 440, in Morehead City.NC. Norm's last job as a sailing instructor was aboard this boat in June. The first leg of the trip to Newport was BVI to West Palm Beach via San Juan. This leg, the catamaran was sailed from North Carolina, outside of Cape Hatteras to Newport, RI. Most of the trip was upwind in a full gale. Exciting! The NE gale presaged the season, to date. Beautiful days punctuated by strong winds, hard rain and bright lightning.
Home from the work of sailing. Time now to enjoy the pleasures of sailing for pleasure.
East Boston, MA: A view from AVERISERA of the Piers Park waterfront. The Tartan 30 belongs to the Piers Park Sailing Club. We sail out of an attractive area.
East Boston, MA: Another view of the park. Often we see wedding parties doing their photo-shoots here. It is a beautiful place reconstructed by Massachusetts Port Authority about ten years ago from old and abandoned rail yards and warehouses.
Getting ready.
AVERISERA hauled for new bottom paint plus a wash and wax of the topsides. Ready to go for a cruise to Newport and the New England Solo-Twin Regatta. She was both shiny and fast. Thanks to Boston Sailing Center for hauling and launching services.
Gone Cruising.
Drying out at Newport Yacht Club. The trip to Newport was generally a wet from rain event. AVERISERA dried out and cleaned up nicely in an afternoon. We arrived in driving rain. Awoke the next morning to a sunny day and got right to work with cleaning chores.
Buzzards Bay: Sliding along gracefully under the 1.5 oz. spinnaker, on our way home from NEST.
Cape Cod Bay: Elizabeth completed her first head sail change by "peeling the 4 inside the newly set 3." Well done. We have talked about changing over to hanks on the jib. A winter sail repair project?
The Aqua Grille Restaurant in Sandwich. We arrived in time to be greeted warmly and served a sumptuous meal of tapas.
Skinny boats are pretty. Some examples:
Camden, ME: A Peter Norlin designed Avance 33, PEGASUS of Marblehead. Very similar to the Aphrodite 101 but with more headroom. Also, very much like the Abbott 33, SHEARWATER, that won our class at NEST. There is something attractive about those ten meter long boats from the Baltic regions.
Castine, ME: Another skinny Scandanavian design, Steve White's 50 foot VORTEX of Brooklin, Maine. Norm sees her in the Caribbean. Next year... AVERISERA in the Caribbean racing circuit? Steve agrees, the conditions are perfect for our boats.
Why no pictures from the race? "We are pretty busy," is the short answer. The race started in strong winds, 20+ knots from the NW. Busy. We shared a starting area with a Swan Regatta. Busy. Averisera shot out of Newport harbor at 8 knots with a full main and Number 4. Busy. Tacking around Block Island against the current in a dying breeze. Busy. A long run in light air and a left over sloppy sea. Still busy. A long beat home with lightning approaching. No rest yet! Finish. Finally. Fourth by a few minutes to friends on Palangi. Momentum was second and Shearwater first.
More to follow.
