Blogging Again.
Hi guys. I have no idea if anyone is checking my blogs or looking on Blogstar
anymore but Im now ready to start writing again. So the OSTAR is well and truly
over and the last few boats are finish and the majority of the fleet are in the
Azores or well on their way home. The parties in Newport have been and gone and I
am amazed at how quickly the fleet dispersed. Well thats not quite true, four days
is enough to do Newport so my 11 days did start to feel like it was dragging. What
I mean is that other competitors just turned around and went back. I couldnt do
that. Having sailed all this distance I have to at least spend a few weeks
exploring, which is what I am in the process of doing now. I guess jobs have quite
a lot to answer for and it those guys who dumped there boats and flew back I feel
sorry for the most. Marco, I dont know how you did it. He was back in the office
in less that a week after finishing. The OSTAR was a fantastic experience but the
cruising I am doing now and over the next few months is just as much fun as the
race its self.
Beagle is up for sail and I guess Marco is planning his next adventure/campaign.
Finish one and get on with planning the next, I guess that is how you deal with
being back in the office.
So, I left Newport on 29th of June and sailed with Tam to Block island. I heard it
called the cheap or poor mans Nantucket and having visited both I understand why.
Oh and if any of you are wondering, Yes, in America you still get those power
boats charging around and making you roll about just had a stink pot the size of
Southampton steam past making a mini Tsunami.
Block Island was nice. We spent two nights and one day there, what I firmly
believe to be the minimum stop over when cruising. We anchored in the Great Salt
lake and used our $36 toy tender to ferry us into the harbour. It must have been a
sight watching from the Oars bar, this little silly toy rocking up on a pontoon
with loads of $3000 dollar Avon and West Marine tenders. Who are these idiots,
people must have thought little did they know I had sailed from the UK.
Anyway, after Block Island a quick trip down to Cutty Hunk a tiny little Island on
the far western tip of Buzzards Bay. The trip there was awful. I felt sick, Tamsin
felt sick and the weather, which started off reasonable in the morning turned into
the worlds worst thunder storm. Tam and I were actually quite scared and though a
number of times that it was only a matter of time before we were stuck by
lightening. Forks were coming down around us in every direction and the clouds
looked really evil. We both hid below and I wrote down our Lat and long in case we
were actually hit and lost all electronics. Little did we know at the time that
Bart was out there in the same storm and was hit by lightening! He is now back in
Newport replacing his electronics.
Cutty hunk is crazy. Its tiny and must have a population of about 40 people. We
bought a breakfast from the Cutty hunk Fishing club which was served on plates
from the 70s and you often see in charity shops back in the UK. The morning was
miserable and yesterdays thunderstorm had left this miserable drizzle. I asked the
lady at the fishing club what the weather forecast was and she sounded like she
had never looked before. I dont watch TV or listen to the radio, she replied, its
raining now and anyway what every they normally say is different when on the
island. So, well informed of the weather Tam and I has a stroll around the island
and then head back to the boat. Next stop Marthas Vineyard.
Oh, when achored in Cutty hunk we heard two boats circle us late at night. We
couldnt work out what they were doing at the time but in the morning a nice man
from Marion came along side and asked us all about the race. He had followed the
race all the way over and couldnt believe we were there. So he offered us a lift
ashore and bought us coffee from the local coffee stand on the pontoon two
people, a plastic table and a large umbrella. Phew, we didnt have to use our
super stylish tender! Bumping into OSTAR race followers didnt stop there and
later we meet two more.
The weather cleared up and Elmarleen, Tam and I set sail for Vineyard Haven a
harbour on the Northern coast or Marthas Vineyard. Its approach was very similar
to Cowes and even had the passenger and car ferry shooting in and out from Woods
Hole . Again we anchored and I made camp here for a whole week. Tam flew out on
the Saturday afternoon on a tiny little Cape Air flight direct to Boston airport.
I think the plane only took 8 passengers. Before she left we went to Oaks Bluff
for a day trip on the Friday.
I went to Edgertown direct from dropping Tam off at the airport to watch the July
4th fireworks. Well when I got there the precession was in full flow. WW2 vets,
Star Wars, Fire brigade, you name it they were out there wearing there uniforms
and outfits with the Stars and Stripes in the back ground.
I spent the remaining three days just doing some basic stuff on the boat
tidying! And looking around the island. I went to Menemsha on the local bus, but
fell asleep and had my wallet stolen. So I ditched that idea and went back to the
boat. Tried again the next day and did the full island tour without a hitch.
On the Friday night before Tam left we had another tender rock up along side
Elmarleen. Hello, we heard and it was another follower of the race. As you are so
far away from home fancy coming onboard our boat for a few drinks! We did and it
turned out that they were originally from the UK and knew Warsash Maritime College
as well as having kids who were in Southampton.
Same thing happened a few days later. I was chatting to someone while filling up
with water at the town tap and before I knew it, he and his wife were on board
looking at an OSTAR yacht.
Anyway, I left on Wednesday from Nantucket which turned out to be a bit of a pain.
I wanted to get there Wednesday evening and no later as I am running out of days
to get to New York. It was tide again from the first few hours and I was doing
2.5knots. I couldnt have left earlier as I was waiting for something to turn up
in the afternoon delivery to West Marine. Well I got to Nantucket but it was a
very slow trip and I got there in the dark. I tentatively went into the harbour
dodging moorings and anchored boats and then threw the hook down. What a mistake!
I had chosen an area where the current in Nantucket harbour runs really strong.
Elmarleen wouldnt sit to the wind or to the current. In the end I had the anchor
warp wrapped around the keel. It took me two hours to untangle and in the process
I kicked a genoa car and ripped two toe nails off. Ouch. I still had the problem
of how to settle for the evening. I through out the drogue and a bucket off the
transom. It helped a little but not enough. I pulled them in and set the storm jib
on the backstay and sheeted it in really tight. That worked so I went to sleep. An
hour later the wind got up to 20kn so I dropped the storm jib. The tide must have
dropped to as the boat seemed okay.
The following morning I looked at it all again and I wasnt happy to leave her at
anchor. She was all over the place and riding over her anchor chain all the time.
So I gave up and paid the $60 fee for a mooring bouy. The plan was to only spend
one day in Nantucket before starting a west course towards New York.
To be continued
Lat:41.17N
Lon:70.05W
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