Category: En Famiglia

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…..

Nice little sail

yesterday with John Haas. He brought his Sandpiper to Beaton’s to have navigation lights installed and joined me for a sail. Looking forward to evening cruises this summer down behind Island Beach.

Wind very light to start; filling in to 4 to 7, gusting to 10. Had two “practice landings”, first time in a while.

The new owners of Serena were down for a visit. A June launching is planned.

Jeff was back for a visit mid-February and we managed to arrange a day in NY together.

Pics for all follows:

Haas
John driving out of Beaton’s

Reaching
Reaching home.

Ready
Ready to put her to bed.

Tom
Tom Beaton and new deck beams for the G-Boat.

Serena
The Serena family. Check out the varnish on the transom. Classic Beaton quality.

Oscar
First I’d like to thank my wife……

Jeff
And the Oscar for the Most Digital Son goes to Jeff……

NY
Dad and Jeff on top of the world.

Next water photos will have a more azure nature……

Happy New Year all.

Just finished taking down our tree and trimmings. Clean start for the new year. Quiet rainy day here with no Sjogin visit this morning.

Had a nice sail on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Would have gone out yesterday as well but water level was too low so I settled for a fire and a cuppa. End of a fine year on Sjogin.

Pics follow:

Reflections
Last Friday afternoon. Great cloudscape. Cool enough for a fire and tea. Loving this mild winter as no ice yet.

Mackerel sky
Classic mackerel sky this past Saturday. Signs of the approaching front that’s raining on us now.

Tom and Randy
Randy and Tom came out for a quick sail Saturday.

bike
Finally, here’s Julia with her favorite Christmas present.

Visit from

Julia this morning. Bright sun, not too cold. I went down earlier and got the fire and tea ready. While I waited I almost finished reading (for the Nth time), The Riddle of the Sands, Erskine Childer’s Frisian frolic. Perfect book for our thin waters. Nice breeze today, about 8 to 12 from the SW but spent the morning in the slip as Christmas needs called. (Tree erection and lighting today.)

Julia
Julia on board for tea and a mild smoking from the ship’s stove. Very cozy.

Bright
Bright below with the sun aft. Tea warming and waiting for a splash of Pussers.

Aft
Showing off her delicate quarters.

Swag
The usual swag seized to the mast.

Serina
Progress on the new Beaton Flatfish. Learned this weekend her name is to be Serina, a character in E. B. White’s story The Sword in the Stone. This continues the convention of naming this fleet for characters in White’s books. Charlotte, my Brother’s Flatfish, is named for his best know character.

NAME
And here’s Tom, surveying progress in front of Serina. Oh that Herreshoff bow.

Squirrel
Finally, a local recycling our leftover Thanksgiving gourds and pumpkins. We’ll probably have vines all over the place come summer.

First fire and tea of the new Off Season

last weekend. After struggling to get the stove pipe together, friend Paul loaned me a crimper to narrow the top of the first section. (The lower section in the photo below.)

Pics follow, including some other photos taken in the last week:

First fire
First fire after finally hooking up the new stove pipe. Last years Galvanized elbows rusted away. Thanks Paul.

I still need to have a custom flue made with a proper cast iron damper. Maybe copper? Are you reading this Quinten?

Candy
A bowl of “candy” from Venice. It’s Murano glass, twisted to look like wrapped candy. Tres cool.

Plan
This may be hard to see but it’s the Construction drawing of a 24 foot Scow Motorsailer I designed for Phil Clarke in 1978. I drew this for him while taking the Westlawn course. Through Phil I met the Beaton family and the rest is a very pleasant history for the last 25 years.

Solitude
An image of Sjogin and myself taken and refined by a local Artist, Paul Barlo. There’s a great story about this image that I’ll get to soon.

Lift
Another Barlo work of the old lift at Beaton’s with the Yard Garvey lying in the slings.

Eventful week

where your host continued the fortnight’s celebration of his 60th Birthday. Last Sunday I had a quick mid-day sail with Jeff and Julia following a party Saturday evening with friends and family. From Venice to our backyard, it was a fine turning.

Pics follow:

Julia and Jeff
Julia and Jeff, hove to off Swan Point last Saturday.

Dad and Jeff
Dad and Jeff, home from Deepest Oregon.

Dad
Tiller lines not set up yet. Phone pic by Jeff

Party
Heart of the party. Oh, the wine we drank.

Toast
Jeff, Dave, Cheryl and Robert. On the right is a print of the old lift at Beaton’s that David and Jeff gave me Saturday evening.

Sjogin
And here’s some pics of Sjogin, freshly painted and rigged. (Absent the hatch which is being stripped for varnishing.)

Kirby
Love the new Kirby paint. Low luster helps hide the scars.

First sail of the season this evening

but no pictures as I left my camera home. Went down after work and rigged the boom, sails and sheets. Wind very light but went out anyway and truly sailed as slow as I could.

I do have some boat pics to show but not the usual ones from Barnegat Bay. Julia and I went to Venice and Florence Italy with my brother for my 60th Birthday. Here are a few pics and here is the link to more on Flickr.

Amerigo Vespucci
Our ship has come in. While having breakfast in Venice last Tuesday, the Italian training ship Amerigo Vespucci came into the Grand Canal.

Taxi
One of the Venetian Taxis delivering another lucky guest to the Hotel Danieli. Our room overlooked the canal entrance.

Old skiff
Here’s a typical Venetian small boat. Seems to be a classic flat bottom work boat. There are a lot of these tied up to the canal walls, some rather spiffy.

Gondolas
Whatever the collective noun for a group of Gondolas is, here is a prime example. It was like a taxi stand, with all the gondoliers standing around, drinking coffee, BSing etc.

R&J
And here we are, taking the obligatory Gondola ride.

Happy September 1st,

our first day back from Newport and Maine. Another successful WoodenBoat Show. About two dozen members of the WoodenBoat Forum came to the show resulting in an inordinate amount of fun from drinks and dinner Friday and Saturday nights to “racing” on Gleam and Northern Light .

Then on to Brooklin for a family visit. Glum start Sunday through Tuesday till the front came through, then a spectacular Milky Way display. Wednesday was a crystal clear, late Summer day in Maine. Managed a couple of sails and a lobster boat trip to Stonington.

Pics follow:

Russ Brilliant
Russ on Brilliant, the Olin Stephens, 1938, Nevins built beauty.

Brilliant
A perfect counter stern

head
The folding sink in the Master’s head on Brilliant

When and If
General Patton’s pre-war schooner.

Julia Gleam
Julia on Gleam with Northern Light to Port. This was before our briefing.

crossing
Racing on Gleam. (We did cross Northern Light on Port).

Then on to the Wooden Boat Capital of the world, Brooklin, Maine.

Katie D
Going to Stonington for lunch on the Katie D

Stonington
The Katie D tied up in Stonington.

Bob and Tendress
A man and his boat.

Rozinnante and Quiet Tune
Just in time for this month’s issue of Wooden Boat, a pair of L. Francis Herreshoff ketches. Rozinnante and Quiet Tune passing on Eggomogin Reach. (Technically the Rozinnante is a yawl, modified by Doug Hylan.)

Julia
Julia on Tendress on a grey day with a light breeze.

More pics on Flickr

There are also more boat show and 12 Meter photos HERE and here. They were taken by Margo and Katherine respectively ( WBF members). Here are a couple of samples:

RM
I got to raise the easy part.

R&J
Motoring into the harbor. The skipper has mastered steering with his feet.

Finally, here’s a link to the 12 Meter Thread on the WoodenBoat Forum