Sjogin floats!

Beatons launched her Thursday afternoon. Swelling nicely; her own pump comes on every ten minutes or so. I have a back up sump pump on board, just in case. Gave Sjogin her annual cabin and cockpit scrubbing this morning. All clean now. Will move back in tomorrow and have the first fire of the new season. Still need to sand and varnish the spars, refinish the rudder and cut and fit the new hatch runners. Hope to be sailing by the 29th, the day of the A-Cat Worlds.

Float support
She floats….with a little help from the straps.

Old Lift at Beatons
Hanging in the straps Thursday evening. The lift was built by David Beaton in the 60’s?

On her own
On her own now. I bought a new Battery today so I’ll sleep easy tonight. That’s a N. G. Herreshoff E-Boat behind Sjogin.

Glimmer Glass Bridge
The Glimmer Glass Bridge; now threatened with “improvement”. There’s a growing public effort to preserve the Bridge as it is now. I believe it’s the only one of its kind in the country. It’s hard to see from this angle but there are massive rollers on a curved track that are counter-weights to the Bridge deck. I’ve know it since I was a child.

Back from Maine

and the Small Reach Regatta at WoodenBoat. We spent 5 days at Brothers place on Eggomogin Reach, spending time on all the boats in his fleet. Apart from having our flight canceled last Tuesday and having to drive up it was a great trip.

The Small Reach Regatta was a blast with 40 sail and oar boats participating. It started with a lobster dinner last Thursday night on the WoodenBoat grounds and continued with chase boat duties Friday and Saturday. We spent Friday shadowing the fleet in the fog with Bob on Boss Lady and Julia and I were alone on Katy D Saturday.

Needless to say we took tons of pics, mostly of the small boat type that’s difficult to capture on film. Here’s a few anyway with more on Flickr.

Boss Lady at rest
Boss Lady tied up at the Landing.

Elf through the window
Finding our charges in the fog by Conary Island. The boat ahead was built by Gavin Bauer, son of our friend Steven Bauer. She’s an Oughtred Elf sailed by Gavin and his Dad.

Brother driving
Brother driving. The large color chart plotter made circumnavigating Smutty Nose a piece of cake.

Fleeing the fog
Fleeing the fog; on the right are Steven and Gavin.

Grizzled skipper
Grizzled skipper keeps watch.

Boss Lady and Tendress
Boss Lady and Tendress on Saturday morning.

Julia in Katy D
Julia driving Katy D on Saturday.

All sorts
An Ian Oughtred yawl on the left, standing lug skiffs next, catboats et al…and all delightful. So much passion gathered together.

Coquina
Coquina, a Nathaniel Herreshoff cat yawl. Damn near perfect.

Julia driving Tendress
Julia driving Tendress. Look at that straight wake!

Jett
Jett, brothers seven month old Lab. A terrific dog, soon to be a sea dog.

Cocktails in Camden
Cocktails in Camden harbor. Bob motored Julia over to Camden in Boss Lady while I drove. A fine dinner ashore and then home on Monday.

Sjogin work resumes tomorrow.

Charlotte sailing and G-Boat racing at BHYC

More fine sailing today. Took a couple from Bay Head out for a trial sail on Charlotte first thing this morning as she is currently for sale. After dropping them off, Julia and our friends Zsa and Robert came out for a quick sail. Light winds and early boat traffic left us bobbing and weaving for a while before the sea breeze kicked in.

After putting Charlotte to bed, Tom and I went up to Bay Head Yacht Club for the introduction of the new (old) G-Boats. You may have noticed the restoration Beaton’s did for Bill Fortenbaugh on his G-Boat. Bill’s son, Michael, runs the Manhattan Yacht Club in NYC and will use the family G-Boat as well as one they found in Ohio to provide a different (much different) experience for the members. The boats will be kept at Beaton’s on moorings.

Michael had several members come down for the preview. Along with BHYC members there were a series of quick races. Tom and I, along with one of the Beaton regulars, John sailed one race and won handily. (Not due to any great skill but the Beaton boat was just faster today.)

Pics follow:

Bloody Mary
Nothing like a Bloody Mary for Elevenses. Courtesy of Zsa and Robert. Delicious.

Robert and Zsa
Robert and Zsa

Bill Fortenbaugh
Bill Fortenbaugh and his Ghost

G-Boats
One minute to go. Racing in front of the BHYC. Note the cotton sails on G12.

Russ and Tom
Russ and Tom, racing again.

John
John, responsible for most of the restoration work on the Fortenbaugh G-Boat, enjoying jib duties. Check out those cotton sails.

Sandpiper racing today

at our favorite spot, Seaside Park Yacht Club. Went racing with John Haas in his Sandpiper. Sailed three races in front of the club in a dry nor’easter. 12 to 15 knots, gusting to 18 or so. We had our moments of good boat speed but finished at the end of the three boat fleet in each race. Good sailing in any event.

Pics from today and yesterday follow:

Stern chase
A stern chase is a long chase. Good view of our competitors.

John and June
Skipper John Haas and crew June.

Main sheet man
Main sheet man relaxes on the downwind run.

Raven
Raven on her way to the afternoon races yesterday.

Kent Mountford
Friend Kent, striking a Captain Morgan pose. Nice sail yesterday but with a challenging Northerly; up and down, backing and veering with no clear pattern.

Torch
Peter Kellogg’s Torch

Just arrived
Photo taken by photographer MaryAnn Westlund on Saturday. She was standing on the dock and took the photo while I was getting ready to lower the sails and put Sjogin in her slip. Here’s a link to MaryAnns’s web page.

Recent odd pics:

Here are some pics from the last week or so:

Sjogin
Sailing near Reedy Creek last weekend. Tried to sail south to the morning A-Cat races off Hankin’s Island but the fickle southwesterly wouldn’t cooperate.

Old Palace
Went for a paddle last Sunday, the first one in a couple of years. Finally fitted the backrest to replace the odd cushion I’ve used in the past. My first Winter rental can be seen in the center of the pic; about a hundred yards from our home. Great place to watch Nor’easters.

Mill Creek 15
The Mill Creek 15 I built a few years ago. (And took three years to build!)

Ourhouse
Our home as viewed from Stockton Lake. Yes, there is a house back there.

Joe
My friend Joe sailing on Sjogin yesterday. First time on board in a while. Along with Wally we went south of Swan Point and hove to for a bit. Nice seabreeze, early for a change.

Wally
Here’s Wally enjoying a nice Saturday morning sail before the Bay got too crowded.

Cheryl, Julia and Dave
Friends Dave and Cheryl joined us last evening for drinks and dinner. The lilies in the background are starting to fill in.

Sjogin 01.06.07
Finally, a shot of Sjogin taken last January I just found on the camera’s hard drive.

WoodenBoat Show 2007

Julia and I have just returned from the WoodenBoat Show held at Mystic this weekend. Perfect weather after last week’s heat broke.

Mystic was full of terrific boats in addition to the museum sights. Besides the boats we had the pleasure of meeting up with a number of our WoodenBoat Forum friends capped by a party Saturday night at one of the local Forumite’s home. There were about 30 of us in attendance. Here’s a link to a Forum post with lots of pics. Flickr photos here.

Pics and details follow:

Woods Hole Spritsail Boat
Julia and I with Steven and Gavin Bauer in a Woods Hole Spritsail Boat. We rented her for an hour from the Mystic Small Boat Livery. Cast off, tacked once and ran smack dab into the center of a nun buoy. Light breeze, no planks started. Fun sailing among others while all are gaping at the boat flesh.
Photo by Joe Foster

Dragon
A beautifully restored Dragon.

Jet drive Lobster Boat style launch
A very cool Jonesport style Lobster boat. Cold molded with a fine hull. The neat part is the owner took a jet ski, got rid of the boat parts and mated it to the easily driven hull form. Looks like fun.

Aphrodite
Julia and Aphrodite reunited. We saw her last in Brooklin this past April having her Spring makeover at Brooklin Boatyard.

Anna
Julia and Steve White on board the new Stormy Weather recreation, Anna.

Sandbagger
The Mystic Seaport Sandbagger.

Forum friends
WoodenBoat Forum friends at our Saturday night party.

The WoodenBoat show will be back in Mystic next year and so shall we. Beyond the location and boats, the chance to gather with friends to celebrate what we love is the chief draw.

Luna Rosso wins;

a Dicksonless BMW Oracle is done with LR going on to the LV Finals. Read all about it here. The Spanish boat won and gets to fight another day. Race 7 is Tuesday at 9:00am EDT on Versus.

A gardening weekend mostly with a visit to Sjogin and a quick fire and tea Saturday; no visit Sunday. Here’s some recent pics:

Azealea
Path by the porch. Species Azalea in full bloom. Nice late afternoon light.

Bunny
Rabbit with bocce balls.

Sizzle
Just cool enough for a sizzle and a cuppa’. Nice conditions for a sail but our beds have the priority this time of year. Will try to go out after work this week.

Green
Certainly green enough. Iris getting ready for their show; poppies not too far behind.

We’re back…..

from our almost annual BVI Charter with friends Dave and Cheryl. We had 10 beautiful days under sail visiting the usual spots. Two days at Leverick Bay and at Anegada made it a very relaxing cruise.

Our trip was extended by 3 days as last Friday’s flight home from San Juan was canceled due to the storm in the Northeast. Apart from the chest cold I picked up at the Airport we had a pleasant time exploring Old San Juan.

Some trip photos follow; more at our Flickr page.

t sea
Driving to weather along the north shore of Tortola.

Downwind
Sailing back from Anegada.

D&C
Dave and Cheryl at Loblolly Bay on Anegada. Could we be any happier?

Lunch
Waiting for Lunch at the Anegada Reef Hotel; trying to find our boat.

Jennifish
Our home for 10 days, the strangley named HMS Jennifish

Here’s some more from Dave and Cheryl:

D&C
Themselves.

J&C
Cheryl driving; and well at that.

Taht big
I swear the fish was…..

Ship’s work today

as I’m making up a new set of dock lines. Stocked up on shop scraps and sailed off the dock into a declining NNW breeze. About 45 or so and pretty damp so the stove felt welcome. Had some Joe Leone hot sausage and provolone bread crisped up on the stove along with the usual tea and Pussers. A very pleasant morning with some occasional sun.

Here are some pics from today, last weekend and other odd bits….

Reaching
Reaching to Swan Point. About 5kts worth of wind with occasional gusts to 12.

PRM
Swan Point ahead. Plenty off water today, surprising with the Westerlys we’ve been having.

Tony
One of the Beaton irregulars enjoying the Bay.

JL
Hot sausage and Provolone bread from Joe Leone’s, a world class purveyor of Italian delights.

Sunrise
Sunrise as seen from our tiny patch of salt marsh last Thursday.

Sheep
Finally, one of the highlights of my commute from Manasquan to Route 1. The farm is between Clarksburg and Roosevelt in Western Monmouth County.