Trial 2011

July 13, 2011 ALLEGED WIFE BEATER ARRESTED

St. Johnsville, N.Y., has the first occupant of it's jail since it's completion in 1958. Seventy-five year old Luis M. Diaz of Boyne City, Michigan, is being held pending an investigation of spousal abuse.

The incident occurred on the night of July 11, 2011. It was not reported until July 13, 2011, when fellow boaters called the local police. They were concerned about Donna Diaz and her safety.

Mr. and Mrs. Diaz are traveling on a 40 foot sailboat through the Erie Canal on their return trip to Michigan. They spend 24 hour a day/7 days a week together in 550 square feet with only one bathroom.

The prosecutors allege that Mr. Diaz punched Mrs. Diaz in the left cheek and jaw causing abrasions and bruising. Mrs. Diaz refuses to comment. Prosecutors speculate that it is too painful for her to talk.

Mr. Diaz maintains his innocence. He said, "After 45 years of marriage, I still love my wife and would never hit her. You've got to believe me!"

The trial is set for the afternoon of July 14, 2011. Witnesses are encouraged to testify at the trial so that swift justice can be found.

July 14, 2011 ALLEGED WIFE BEATER APPEARS IN HANDCUFFS

A pretty sorry looking old man took his seat at the defense table still professing his innocence while his handcuffs were removed.

The prosecutor presented a strong case against Mr. Luis Diaz. He gave numerous examples of Mr. Diaz becoming easily excited at sporting events, using vulger language, and drinking too much alcohol. On the night in question the prosecutor promised to paint a picture of Mr. Diaz "popping his cork" after a number of drinks and "hammering" his wife for not bringing him another one.

The defense maintains that Mr. Diaz is a mild-mannered patient man. In 45 years of marriage he has stood by Mrs. Diaz in sickness and in health. His habit is to walk away when she bugs him.

The first witness called was Mrs. Marlene Cosgrove of East Lansing, Michigan. It was Mrs. Cosgrove's eye witness account of the accident that brought a swift judgement of NOT GUILTY to the procedure.

Mrs. Cosgrove witnessed Mrs. Diaz stepping onto the boat, tripping on a line, and falling forward. Mrs. Diaz hit her cheek on the cockpit table which caused the bruising.

CASE DISMISSED

There is still no comment from Mrs. Diaz, but she did give Mr. Diaz a big hug.

(Donna's statement "It was bound to happen sooner or later. As falls on a boat go this was a good one. I didn't break a bone, I didn't break my glasses, and I had ice available to put on the injury immediately.)

Catskill, NY 2011

Demasting the boat at Hop-O-Nose Marina

7-11-11

What goes up surely must come down. Two years ago we stopped at Hop-O-Nose Marina in Catskill, NY, to have our mast stepped (put up) after coming through the Erie Canal. It was a good place to leave our wooden cradle. This year (with Mike's help) the men searched high and low through piles of junk and other cradles and through three buildings that were about to fall down before finding the ones marked "Tequila". Amazingly only one piece of wood was broken and that was an easy fix.

Mike and Marlene left their car at Hop-O-Nose before taking the AMTRAK train to meet us in Pt. Washington. Here are some of their first impressions of the grounds and facilities:

*It's a Pig Pen Haven. The buildings are in complete disrepair with vines and trees growing through the walls and ceilings.

*The office is a total mess. How can they do business here? There is a big barrel to catch the rain water as it drips through the roof.

*It needs a good hurricane to put order to the chaos.

All of that is true, but on closer inspection this is what we found:

*John (the owner) seems to know where everything is stored. He told Mike and Lou exactly where to find the cradle.

*It's really a "locals" marina. The regulars all rush to take lines and greet the transient boaters.

*The equipment dates from the construction of the Erie Canal, but the people step and unstep 250 masts a season with it. They know what they're doing. (Last week they unstepped a $100,000 plus mast.) Today they arrived at 8:30 am and had the mast pulled and in the cradle by 9:00 am.

*They do make an effort to keep the waterfront area neat.

*The regulars share stories and make evryone feel welcome. They think the marina runs itself because they all help in some way.

The town of Catskill is cute with decorated cats lining the main street. Apparantly it's a boxing training center where Mohammad Ali trained.

Once again we have to thank Mike and Marlene for sharing our Adventure. Mike was an valuable carpenter when it came time to reconstruct the wooden cradle. And, Marlene is just a great "boat buddy." We're all sorry that their schedule and our late start didn't allow them to come through the Erie Canal again. We did try to provide some new experiences for them this time.

*Mike got to work with tide charts and planning the course.

*Marlene learned to tie the fenders on the life lines and handle the dock lines.

*Mike got to wear my foul weather jacket during a severe rain storm.

*Marlene figured out the storage system (what system?) in the cabin.

I'd have to ask them if there was anything else, but they are already on their way back to East Lansing. I wonder when the next boat experience will happen with them.

Good-bye friends!

Goodbye New York

Lori and Ashley

New York from the water is really spectacular. The skyline, the lights at night, the Statue of Liberty, and the wake from all the ferry boats kept us rockin' and rollin'. We were happy when the ferry service stopped running every night so the boat would stop pitching from side-to-side! Lou and I were happy that Lori Cordray (our niece-in-law) could join us for a sail in the New York Habor. She brought Kristin and Ashley (7), of course, and a friend and her three boys. OH BOY.......four kids under 8 can be difficult on a choppy waterway. However, these kids were content to stay in the cockpit and wear their life jackets. It was great to sail under the Brooklyn Bridge and around the Statue of Liberty.

Then we met Gui (our first exchange student) and Christine and their two little girls for dinner. It gave us a chance to catch up with their lives and meet Lily who was born in February. Nina was a little shy (she's 4), but she warmed up to us quickly.

We squeezed in a lot in one day!

Gui and Lou

After consulting the tide charts (several times to be safe) we left NYC and headed north up the Hudson River. I was so happy to cross under the George Washington Bridge. It is the point at which we could change our insurance back to "Great Lakes and inland waters." This classification lowers our boat insurance by half!!!!! Wahoo!

The Hudson River Valley is a sharp contrast to the port of NYC. It's a wide river spotted with llittle towns making it a pleasant trip north. The Palisades on the New Jersey side are 300 to 500 foot high cliffs. We saw several freighters on anchor waiting for their turn at the docks of the city. We slipped right by Tarrytown (aka Sleepy Hollow.) According to Washington Irving, the author of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," the name came from the Dutch farm wives' complaining about their husbands tarrying too long at the village tavern. :-)

We stopped for the night (and the pool) at Haverstraw Bay Marina. When we were here two years ago with the Morris family, it was about 104 degrees. This year it was only 88 degrees but the hyumidity was 100%. Haverstraw Bay is 25 miles north of the George Washington Bridge which made it an easy day. This marina has 1,000 slips. Unbelievable.

The Cosgroves are "seasoned" crew after three summers on Tequila. Mike is learning more and more about charting, tide charts, and docking. Marlene is a valuable galley wench and is even learning some sailing knots. They've been great sports about sailing/motoring and all the related issues on a boat. They can go with us anywhere! Besides, they play Mexican Train and Farkle like champs.

Lou, Marlene, Donna, Mike

Marlene Mike

New Experiences

June 30, 2011 Matt "talking" to Tomeaka via the iphone creating a Personal Hotspot. It's a great invention and allows me to blog from the boat.

Pt. Washington is located in Manhasset Bay, Long Island. It's only 20 nautical miles from New York City. It's a well protected deep harbor with 14 marinas and 300 moorings and plenty of room for anchoring. We thought it was the perfect spot to work out a crew switch (Matt leaving and Cosgroves arriving) and wait out the 4th of July craziness in Ne w York.

All went according to plan-----Lou, Matt, and I docked and had a chance to give the boat a good wash down to get the salt water off EVERYTHING. We had some great sails with Matt with salt spray crashing over the bow and hitting the dodger "windows." Since we arrived the day before Mike and Marlene were to arrive, we decided to treat ourselves to a restaurant meal. That was a mistake! By the next morning all three of us were sick. We must have gotten food poisoning from the restaurant. Fortunately, it wasn't a long lived illness.

Picture of Lou "ralphing" Omitted

Mike and Marlene arrived without a hitch. They traveled by car from East Lansing, Michigan (2 hour delay crossing from Canada back into the US), taxis, and train to Pt. Washington. But, they made all the connections and arrived in time to witness us "feeding the fish." Lucky them!

So far they have had quiet time on the boat. Well, not totally quiet. We've heard a concert, witnessed a great fireworks, watched lots of harbor activity, seen the local fish jumping, and been boat-bound because of rain. Mike thinks this is a better protected harbor that the national highways: Harbor Police, Bay Police, Harbor Master, and the Nassau County Sheriff with 7 officers, and the Coast Guard.

The good part about being "stuck" is that Mike and Lou have had time to plot our timing through the East River into New York Harbor on the 5th. It's critical to go through Hell Gate at slack tide because the current can be up to 5.2 nm. You don't want to go against the current.

Mike and Marlene got to experience an on-boat shower for the first time in 4 seasons on the boat. (We've always been able to get to a shore shower.) That was a new experience. Four days on a mooring requires showers!!!!!

We're planning to move on to NYC on July 5th and have a couple of days cruising the harbor. It should be in the high 80's while we're there. Whew.

Live and Learn!

Day 5 June 30, 2011 Pt. Washington, Long Island

Matt has spent the last five days trying to teach these "old dogs" new tricks. Here are some of things we've learned:

*Lou - Matt made Lou practice using paper charts to navigate into Pt. Washington. It was a bit of a struggle to give up the computer navigation system, but he got the hang of it. He also worked on analysing the methods of a project before beginning it. He's really good at boat organization.

*Donna - Matt showed her all the interesting things in the Eldridge Tide Book. The information was interesting, but the tide charts are still a mystery! He also got her to realize that there is a difference between a 2009 and a 2011 Waterway Guide Book. :-( We couldn't find the marina from the '09 book.

*Matt - The old folks are slow; their hearing is GONE; and bad things happen when the rigging tape is missing.

*One thing both Lou and I have noticed is that when Matt sees something that needs to be fixed, he fixes it........RIGHT NOW! That's not our system.......notice that it needs to be fixed, write it down and lose the note, search for supplies, think about it, think about it some more, get around to fixing it.

One thing (among many) that Matt pointed out to us was that we should bring the dinghy up close to the transom when getting ready to do docking/mooring tactics so that the lines don't get caught in the prop. Great idea that we had never considered. So, he drew in the dinghy and discovered that there was no rigging tape on the backstay. The cotter pin punctured a hole in the front of the dinghy. It was a fixable problem (we carry patching kits with us) and he put the rigging tape where it needed to go.

We've had some great sails with Matt After we left the Connecticut River we went to Milford, CT. It was just as cute as it was two years ago. Our next stop was to Northport, Long Island. We dinghied into twn with our pump on board for a walk-about. The boys found the Happy Hour spots, and I got a pedicure. What luxury. Today we're in Pt. Washington to wait out the Fourth of July activities. Matt will be leaving us and Mike and Marlene Cosgrove will be arriving.

It's been great spending a few days with Matt. Thank you Tomeaka for sharing him.

.

The Journey Begins

Day 1........Newport, RI June 26,2011

Welcome aboard Matt! This is an unexpected gift from Matt AND Tomeaka. Matt has taken a 6 month leave from his job in the Caymans to race on PowerPlay----a Cayman owned TP 52 race boat. The racing in and near Newport coinsided with us passing by. Tomeaka has "gifted" us with a few days of Matt's helping us move through the Long Island Sound. Lou is thrilled to be on a boat with "his boy" and I'm thrilled to have a knowledgeable sailor aboard. He has found the tools, tweaked the rigging, tightened up some loose fittings, and helped Lou problem solve an issue with the autohelm. That's in the first 2 hours.

Matt's a "going-machine." He raked and tuned the mast and hoisted the main. We were making great head-way and passed port after port. At the end of the day we had covered 55 nm. That's a lot for us old folks on an old boat. It was a beautiful sunny day and the boat was humming.

Day 2 - June 27, 2011

Morning-----very early morning----is such a peaceful time of day. The sun is rising, the wind is quiet, and the water is flat. We started at about 5 am to take advantage of the flood tide. And, we did. We were at a moderate engine speed with no sails, and we were going 8.7 nm. On The Good Ship Tequila that's 30% faster than normal cruising speed. Tides are an awesome thing, but frankly I'll be happy to be back in the land of fresh water and no tides. In 14 hours we have covered about 100 nm. I like having Capt'n Matt on board.

I went to sleep with the sound of father-and-son chatting on the deck. NICE.

2011 The Blog is Back

We just want our "fans" (thank you for following our adventure) to know that the boat is in the water and floating, we're living aboard in 550 square feet, we have no automobile transportation, and we have returned to a very simple life style: Where are we going today? Do we have water in the tanks? How full is the holding tank? I tried to cook dinner the first night aboard only to find that the flame lighter didn't work and we had no matches. So, no hot dinner that night....shrimp salad filled the limited menu.

I always feel a thrill when the boat slips into the water and the straps are slack. She floats! After a winter in dry dock up on jack stands, she looks great in the water. We arrived in Rhode Island in mid-May ready to clean and polish the old girl (she's 27 now) and paint the bottom. It rained and was cold EVERY DAY. Thank heavens we weren't tent camping this year. We did manage all the clean-up projects before going on a little vacation.

Lou decided to bring along a new girl for the beginning of our 2011 adventure. She came with Donna but isn't much of a friend. Her name is SICKNESS. Two doctor visits and a trip to the Newport ER have provided enough drugs to keep us going. It's nothing life threatening----just miserable---sinus, bronchitis, ear infection, burst ear drum, and unstoppable coughing. Of course, we had to share with Lou too. I predict that we will get better.

Our plans are somewhat fluid. Is that a surprise? At this point we plan to be in Newport over the weekend to see Matt and then head for New York City. That involves going through the Long Island Sound, up the East River, and around the tip of Manhattan. We'll be sure to wave at the Statue of Liberty as we glide by.

We did a sea trial today with our broker, Casey. Everything worked on the boat as it was supposed to work. You can see from Casey's face that he loved the way Tequila handled. We had a great sail and skipped back to our mooring just before the rain drops.

So, once I post this blog, we'll go back to the boat and batten down the hatches. Rain in coming.