Home at Last

The cruise is officially over. We're back at home safe and sound, and boy did it feel good to sleep in our own beds last night. Now comes the fun part--cleaning out the boat, removing all the stuff we loaded up two weeks ago, and giving it a good bath. We also realized that we came home with a tub of margarita mix so come on by for a cocktail!

Heading home...Marblehead here we come

With weather being what it is we decided to head straight home from Red Brook. It's a hike and a pretty wet ride, but the seas are calm and that feels really good. As I write this Cam is still sound asleep. Too much partying with the girls, I guess.

We set off at 6 am and are now just off Scituate. This was the planned next stop but another 4-5 hours and we'll be home. Yes, those crazy sailing folks would rather spend 12 hours going from the Cape to Marblehead than driving the 1 1/2 hours we could have done in a warm, cozy, and fast vehicle on land. Maybe we should have brought a Fleet Psychiatrist in addition to the Surgeon!

Another injury to report...fortunately not one of ours. I think they just wanted to show us up since we had the best injury for the entire cruise, up until yesterday. A friend travelling on Total Eclipse fell down the steps heading into the boat and broke his ankle. Unfortunately he is in surgery today at Children's Hospital. He was supposed to try out for the Freshman golf team next week. Such a gifted player, I'm told. We hope they'll let it slide.

Jason, we all hope you are feeling better and get out on the green soon.

Watch for some wrap up photos. Howlin' standing by...

Padanarum to Red Brook Harbor

Much different day yesterday than our 30 mile rockin' and rollin' trip getting to New Bedford. We had sun, a nice breeze, and a great sail to Red Brook Harbor in Cataumet. We even managed to hit the beach before the required cocktails. Cam took advantage of the time to take a little nap.

Notice Brandon with the shades he picked up at the gift shop. He's working on becoming the next Tom Cruise...so cool! This is also the start of our cocktail party at the Chart Room restaurant. The kids had a ball. Here's Brandon with his girlfriend, Jessica. And Cam playing hard to get with Elizabeth.

Rockin' and Rollin' to New Bedford

For those of you who have never sailed, it is probably difficult to comprehend why anyone would want to take 5 hours to travel 30 miles from Newport to New Bedford. However, on a day like yesterday I have to agree. What were we thinking? The weather itself was fair enough, no rain on us as we set out, but we forgot to calculate what happens to the seas in weather like we had.

To get the full picture close your eyes and visualize the following...the winds are gusting to 30 miles per hour, waves are rolling in 5-10 feet in height, one kids is yahooing with every bigger wave (that would be Brandon), the other kid is in your lap heaving up his Flavor blasted goldfish over the side of the boat then peeing in a cup that overflows all over you. Then he says he's going to be sick again. (By the way, he reports that flavor blasted goldfish do not taste better the second time around, yuk!)

We had several boats stay back in Newport to wait for calmer seas. Today is a different day. The sun is shining, seas are calm, and we're recovered from yet another cocktail party hosted by the New Bedford Yacht Club for us. I'm too beaten down today to upload pictures so I'll add to the post when we get to our next destination. Onward to Red Brook Harbor!

Windy in Newport

Well we gave it the 'ol college try but winds started to pick up to 40 kts so we all picked up the closest mooring to wait it out a bit longer. Looks like its going to be a long night. No photos at this point of our soggy crew.

Ahh, Newport

We decided to skip Wickford and move right on to Newport...land of mega yachts and the beautiful Rose Island Lighthouse where you can be keeper for a day.

Not that we have anything against Wickford, mind you. It is a beautiful little town and I'd love to spend some time there. But, the weather was questionable and the kids wanted to go body surfing so we found ourselves sailing on past and landing at the dock in Newport. For those of you who sail or camp you can appreciate the fact that we are able to hook up to shore power and have water plentiful courtesy of a hose at the marina. Oh, and we can take real showers. Ahhh!

We're staying at the Newport Yachting Center and as I write they are setting up a huge tent for a party that we weren't invited too (wah!). But, we figure once the kids are asleep and the guests have enough to drink we can probably tuck in for a cocktail or two unnoticed.

BTW--How do you like our new vessel? You know, the one with the helicopter...not. Can you believe that thing was downing 4,000 gallons of fuel and water!

Still having fun. Wish all of you were here too. Actually, a quick drive to Newport will have you here with us in a flash. Come on down!

Fogland to Bristol

Another party...this time at the Bristol Yacht Club. We're going to need a vacation after this trip. Our wonderful neighbor, Martin Ray, is standing with us and Barbara Ferro, new friend and accupuncturist extrordinaire. Martin is responsible for us being on this cruise and contributing signficantly to our alcohol corruption--or should that be consumption. I guess its both.

The kids below. Cameron got his sutures out after this party last night. Swimming time again. But first we're going in for a little history at the Herreshoff Museum, home to some of the greatest and largest yachts ever built. Bristol is also famous for the country's oldest and grandest 4th of July celebration. Too bad we missed that one.

Cuttyhunk to Fogland

Roll call was at 9 a.m. this morning. A real treat compared to the 6 a.m. calls we had all week long. Cuttyhunk is a great little island. They have ice cream right on the dock--always a favorite with the kids, Cam's favorite gift shop, and one of the best breakfast spots around high up on a bluff with magnificent views.




The gang at breakfast.

Brandon and Cameron shopping, as always.
We got underway around 10 a.m. and landed in Fogland around 3 p.m. Beautiful weather, beautiful sailing. Entering the Sakonnet we had some 36 knot winds that took us for quite a ride. The wind has died down now and the thunderstorms have managed to bipass us again. We are ready for a good night's rest now and a leisurely sail to Bristol tomorrow. Only 10 miles to go this time. Such a treat since we been averaging 25 miles per day all week.

Vineyard Haven to Cuttyhunk

Another amazing day. Fifteen knots of breeze and sunny clear skies--a sailor's dream.


Lobster bake on the beach, treasure hunt, and s'mores. 'nough said.

More Nantucket

As I mentioned in the start, sometimes we're having too much fun to post on schedule. So, I wanted share a bit more on Nantucket--namely, another cocktail party--courtesy of "Whisper," an elegant beauty of a sailboat. Whisper is one of my all time favorite boats. I have a special spot for Hinckleys and this one is magnificent. A 48' yawl designed for ocean crossings, its a boat to aspire to. I'll post a photo when I get a nice one of this vessel underway. Take a look at that sunset...just as the fog was beginning to roll in.

Here's Brandon at the helm of Whisper with one of his new best friends from the cruise, Brenda.








Of course, we'd be negligent not to show off some whales on Nantucket. This is the skeleton of a sperm whale that died in Nantucket sound and washed ashore. Scientists at the Whaling Museum were granted permission to keep the whale and to study it. Fascinating stuff! If you find yourself in Nantucket take a trip to the museum. It has an amazing scrimshaw collection as well as several journals from sea captains.

Nantucket to Vineyard Haven

Another early start heading back to the Vineyard. This time to Vineyard Haven...home of the Black Dog Tavern. Of course, we had the obligatory cocktail party about one of our vessels. A beautiful 47' PowerCat. This came after the pre-cocktail party, cocktail party on Warp 9 after the kids had dinghy races in the harbor. Hiccup! Then dinner for all at the Black Dog.