I think I measure my quality-of-life by how much I enjoy the summers. We only have so many of them throughout our lives and some are good while some are not-so-good. This summer was, and will probably remain, one of the better ones in my life.
As I've mentioned on this blog, at the beginning of the season I bought a small sailboat which I named Aelena. I learned the ropes, quite literally, and after fixing her up, I sailed her 15 times between early July and early September in the Atlantic off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine. Because of her relatively high displacement, she handled wonderfully, even in heavy seas. Her only shortfall is in light airs, but I'd rather have a boat that can handle the tough stuff and plods along in light wind than one that can't take the big seas and 20kt winds that are common to my neck of the ocean.
I also spent three days on Star island. After sailing there frequently over the course of the summer, I signed up for a writer's conference that was held in early September. The place was magical and I met the most interesting people. I'm taking a stab at writing a fictional story based on life there. I look forward to visiting again next season.
Lori and I always hate to see the warm weather give way to frosty nights, but we're ready for autumn this year. I closed the pool this weekend, buttoned up the boat, split a bunch of firewood, hauled it up to the house and stacked it outside the family-room. I also took the first pass at the lawn picking up leaves, put down some grub-killer, stacked a bunch of brush for a bonfire, stowed away the patio furniture and cleaned out the garage. Lori changed all of the rugs from summer sisal to winter wool, put the flannel sheets on the bed, swapped out the curtains and washed the wood floors of their summer grit. It was all cathartic and now we're ready for the cold nights and roaring fires. Hope you are here for some of them!
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Friday, September 02, 2005
September Vacation - Day 1
Today is the first day of a 15-day vacation. I've always liked taking my time off in the summer, and it's even more true since I got the boat. I put it off until now for a couple of reasons, but after today, I'm glad I waited.
When I got up this morning, I found that Lori had gotten out of bed early, cleaned the place really well and made coffee. And the weather was perfect! It's Friday before Labor Day weekend and it was hot and sunny.
I had a leisurely cup of coffee with Lori before she left for work (she couldn't take the time off). At about 10 I packed a bag and headed for the marina. There was only a mild breeze coming out of the harbor, but a couple of miles out, the wind freshened and I had Aelena cruising between 4 and 5 knots. The swells were between one and two feet - not really enough to feel.
About a mile from the islands, the wind picked up and I started seeing scattered white caps. The boat began pulling hard and heeling a lot. She stayed well above five knots for a long ride and actually hit six knots for a short stretch. We were running against the current, too, so hitting six knots in these conditions was quite fun. (But not as exciting as the 7 knot ride in my last post.)
I got further out into the ocean than I've been before about a quarter of a mile beyond the islands, to their North. It was great out there - strong wind and and a decent chop. Not much traffic, either. I turned her around at exactly 1PM - 2 hours after I left the ramp at Rye Harbor. It was about a 7 mile jaunt, so I averaged 3.5 knots.
After coming about to head back in, the ride was a little rougher, or so it seemed. She was heeling excessively, even though her speed was only around four knots. After a while, I reefed the main sail thinking that would help straighten her out and might even add some speed. But all she did was slow down to three knots and seemed to develop more weather helm. After about five minutes, I pulled the sail back out and had an awesome run back into the harbor. She was flying between three and five knots all the way back. I returned to the dock under-sail, just as I left it earlier in the day.
All-in-all, it was a perfect sail. Catherine, I wish you could have been there. I think you'd have been hooked on sailing as I am.
When I got up this morning, I found that Lori had gotten out of bed early, cleaned the place really well and made coffee. And the weather was perfect! It's Friday before Labor Day weekend and it was hot and sunny.
I had a leisurely cup of coffee with Lori before she left for work (she couldn't take the time off). At about 10 I packed a bag and headed for the marina. There was only a mild breeze coming out of the harbor, but a couple of miles out, the wind freshened and I had Aelena cruising between 4 and 5 knots. The swells were between one and two feet - not really enough to feel.
About a mile from the islands, the wind picked up and I started seeing scattered white caps. The boat began pulling hard and heeling a lot. She stayed well above five knots for a long ride and actually hit six knots for a short stretch. We were running against the current, too, so hitting six knots in these conditions was quite fun. (But not as exciting as the 7 knot ride in my last post.)
I got further out into the ocean than I've been before about a quarter of a mile beyond the islands, to their North. It was great out there - strong wind and and a decent chop. Not much traffic, either. I turned her around at exactly 1PM - 2 hours after I left the ramp at Rye Harbor. It was about a 7 mile jaunt, so I averaged 3.5 knots.
After coming about to head back in, the ride was a little rougher, or so it seemed. She was heeling excessively, even though her speed was only around four knots. After a while, I reefed the main sail thinking that would help straighten her out and might even add some speed. But all she did was slow down to three knots and seemed to develop more weather helm. After about five minutes, I pulled the sail back out and had an awesome run back into the harbor. She was flying between three and five knots all the way back. I returned to the dock under-sail, just as I left it earlier in the day.
All-in-all, it was a perfect sail. Catherine, I wish you could have been there. I think you'd have been hooked on sailing as I am.
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