Still Landlubbers

Neighbors......

Rhodedendrons

June 2010 is so much better than June of 2009. We're still sitting 13 feet in the air on jack stands but the weather is warm and sunny as opposed to cold and rainy. We always have hopes of being in the water and on our way before Memorial Weekend, but that never happens.

Our neighbors in the marina yard (that's us on the left) have been super. They invited us to dinner, poured over the charts and shared their favorite stopping spots and then gave us the charts. Bob is the Commodore at the yacht club next door. He invited us to the Friday night dinner and got us an invitation to the New York Yacht Club in Newport. That's where we'll spend my birthday this year. It's very exclusive. Lou will have to borrow a coat and tie from the front desk in order to go in. Bob is also taking Lou on a Wednesday night club race and I'm going with Camille to see their son play lacrosse. We are so lucky to have met them.

We might have missed the tulips in Holland and the lilacs on Mackinac Island, but we were here to see the rhododendrons in full bloom. I didn't know they could grow so big. People use them like privacy shrubs.

The other thing we've noticed in Rhode Island is that the drivers are fearless
(read that as crazy). They drive erratically, run red lights, ignore stop signs, and merge whenever they want. You have to be a defensive driver to survive here. The high seas must be safer.

The work has begun on the cracked rib so our nicely cleaned boat will have to be washed again. That's OK.......you always find the little bit of mold you missed the first time. Both Lou and I agree that having all these days to thoroughly clean, paint, and do projects has been wonderful. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before we are in the water.

2010 The Great Adventure of Tequila - 2nd Edition

Lou polishing the sides.

Our first "home" in Rhode Island.

Leaving Boyne City with the "stuff" we will need on the boat.

Every sailing trip begins somewhere looking something like this. Sailors pride themselves on living with the bare necessities.....but look how much space it takes. We tried loading the ladders on the top and everything else inside the van. We got it all in, but the real problem was that the shocks were strained to the max with the weight of the 5 batteries plus, plus, plus. And, besides the ladders would have "whistled" all the way to Rhode Island. So, we repacked in the little trailer.

Here are a few early stats: 2009 trip referred to as THEN and 2010 trip referred to as NOW.

THEN it took 9 days to travel on the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany. NOW we drove the same distance in 4 1/2 hours.

THEN we caught sight of cars only a few times. NOW we smiled every time we caught sight of the canal.

THEN we stopped in Amsterdam, NY, walked up the hill to a very nice restaurant, and met the State's US Congressman. NOW we drove around Amsterdam 30 minutes before settling on a factory type seedy bar in a rough part of town. The factories were closed and all the windows were broken. Much to our surprise the Parillo Armory Grill was a quaint Italian restaurant with Tiffany lamps and antiques everywhere.

THEN we traveled about 1200 miles by boat from Charlevoix to Bristol, RI, in 10 weeks. NOW we drove about 995 miles in 2 days from Point A to Point B.

The picture of the tent is our "hotel." We'll be in Bristol for about 2 weeks before Tequila gets launched. We haven't tent camped for 43 years and had to borrow a tent from Lisa and Don. We can now say that we have been initiated into tent camping in a rustic area.......the first night we were cold and the second night we slept through a torrential rain storm but stayed dry. (The bag under us and on top of us got a little damp.) It rained so hard it sounded like we were in the pit with the orchestra/band playing all around us. Occasionally the percussion section would have a solo and the volume would increase. We remedied the "being cold" problem by buying new sleeping bags. We think the old red ones were about 40 years old so it was time to upgrade. We were in the new bags with lights out at 8:40 p.m.

The reason we came to Bristol early was to have time to do "work" on the boat. There is always "WORK" to be done on a boat. :-) The picture shows the old guy polishing the sides. Last year Matt helped us do this, and we both liked him doing this chore better than us doing it. I say "we" because every project needs a straw boss and that's my job.

So the adventure for 2010 has begun. Once we have dried out the sleeping bags we can only hope for good weather. Special thanks to Charlee for her phone conversations about sailing in Maine waters and Bill Murray for being on "stand-by" for computer advise. Please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors. Sometimes I don't know the difference and sometimes it's a typo. Either way, please read between the lines.

Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.......and I love it! The only thing missing are the tins of DELICIOUS cookies that I used to make with my sister, Joy. The tradition was fun, but my hand had a mind of it's own and kept opening those lids.

We're off to meet Lisa's family for a picture with Santa and then we'll have the boys for an overnight. In less than 2 weeks we'll share their Christmas morning joy. Matt and Tomeaka will be here from the Caymans so it will be a really special holiday for Lou and me.

We've gone so far as to order up a batch of new snow for everyone to play in!!!!! It's beautiful.

We've called to check on Tequila and she's covered and all ready for the rest of winter. We're already planning on next summer's adventure.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a happy healthy New Year. No more news until we hit the water.

END OF SUMMER

9-16-09

I'm not complaining....."just stating the facts ma'am" as Sgt. Friday used to say. The weather has been crummy ever since Bill and Karen Murray arrived in Newport. CRUMMY!

The only good thing is the ports don't leak anymore and our bed has stayed dry.

Bill & Karen are boaters, so they know how unpredictable sailing conditions can be, and they are flexible. On the 12th we drove to Boston and entertained ourselves in torrential downpours. Actually, it was a fun day and my first visit to Boston. I loved it!

We took a tour on a D (designed in 1942) U (utility amphibious cargo carrying vehicle) K (front wheel drive) W (double rear axle drive) ..... DUKW.......nicknamed by the soldiers as DUCKS. It was built in Pontiac, Michigan, to carry men and cargo from the ships to the beaches in WWII. The tour on our DUCKS was through the historic streets of Boston and into and up the Charles River all the while quacking when our driver, Sgt. Meatball, gave the command.

Then we had dinner in Little Italy and had a waiter who spoke English with a very heavy Italian accent. It was a treat.

Finally the weather has changed to warm and sunny and just in time for us to put the boat into winter storage in Bristol, RI. What a cute harbor with 500 moorings. Thank heavens for Bill and Karen's help in the unloading process. They have been a huge help!!!!

We're sad the summer adventures are ending, but we are looking forward to going home and seeing the boys. I'm sure Brady has turned into a chubby little ball by now. This month Lisa and Don celebrated their 7th anniversary, my sister and brother-in-law, Joy and Jim, hit the 50 year mark, Kyle started school, Matt turns 36, and Lou will have his 73rd birthday. It's a busy month.

Thanks for sharing our adventures with us. We look forward to seeing the Sytsema family in Mt. Pleasant for Brady's baptism in October. Until next summer, good-bye.

Newport with the Murrays

Karen and Bill Murray


We're having a good time "seeing" Newport with Bill and Karen Murray who have never been here before. It's been a wet-windy few days. So windy, in fact, that we had to turn the sailboat around on the floating dock. The waves were slapping up under the transom so loudly that it felt like you were sleeping with the train.

Newport, RI

Courtney (soon to be 11) - Kelli (the mom) - Sydney (8) on Tequila on 9-7-09


This has been a 5 day lay-over in one spot, so we've had time to "experience"Newport and the harbor. What an experience!!!! Newport is considered the center of yachting in the Northeast, and it's easy to understand why. The harbor is filled with more sailboats than I've ever seen in one harbor. There are many 12-meter racers from the classic America's Cup era. The New York Yacht Club occupies a beautiful mansion here and sailing traditions are strong-------cannons are fired at 8 am and sundown to alert crews to raise and lower their flags; the race committee wears slacks, blue blazers, and ties to monitor races; the Newport Sailing School has students zipping in and out of the mooring field on fast little J-22 boats.


But, it's the big yachts (make that mega-yachts) that are breathtaking. How important does someone need to be and how much money does it take to buy a yacht and put a small helicopter on the roof? I can't begin to imagine it. As we dingied by, we saw 2 of these "monsters" from Georgetown, Cayman Islands. We wondered if we had met them on one of our visits. :-)


I'd say the highlight of our stay here has been taking Kelli and her daughters (Courtney and Sydney) out for their first sail. Kelli is the daughter of some old-time Michigan friends, and we've know her since she was about 7 years old. They were all good sports even though the waves made them a little queasy. Kelli had a million questions about daily living on a sail boat.....


*Q-Why doesn't water come out of the tap?

A-We are out of water and then the pump has to be turned on. (Three days at the mooring
completely empties our two water tanks.)


*Q-How do you do laundry?

A-We take it to a laundromat by bike or by dingy.


*Q-How often do you grocery shop and how do you get the groceries back to the boat?

A-Right now it's been three weeks. (Don will never believe that I can stay away from the
grocery store that long!) That's why we're out of everything. They got crackers and
peanut butter for lunch. :-(


*Q-What do you do all day?

A- Lou sails, navigates, reads-----I read, help a little, fix meals (skimpy as they may be)
While we're in a port we attend to the necessary tasks like getting water and fuel, finding
showers and Internet spots, doing laundry, etc. It's a pretty simple life.


Today we'll take the boat launch into town, ride our bikes to the Information Center where we'll catch the purple bus to Walmart and a grocery store for bread and fruit, find a place to do the blog and read email, and then return to the boat for a hot dog roast for dinner.


On Wednesday our friends, Bill and Karen Murray, will be arriving from Charlevoix with our car for a few days of sailing. Our plan is to go to Martha's Vineyard and maybe Buzzards Bay with them. Then we'll take the boat to Bristol and get it ready for winter.

BLOCK ISLAND, RI

Sunset at Block Island




We have spent the afternoon and night in the New Harbor at Block Island, RI. It was a wonderful/strange experience. A channel was cut through from Block Island Sound to Great Salt Pond in 1895. For the next 100 plus years the boats have flocked here from all over the world......and now from Michigan. The water is deep (with very few rocks) and the Pond is well protected from the winds.


All that's good, right? I have no idea how many boats can dock at the 4 marinas - maybe 100. Then, there are an unknown number of private moorings. Then, there are 100 town moorings that sometimes have 2 boats rafted together. We arrived at 1 pm and all the public moorings were gone. So, we anchored in the large anchorage area with 300 (give or take) other boats. The web site says that there is space for 1,000 boats to anchor. It was the most unusual anchorage we've ever been in!


Now for the wonderful part. We sat on the deck and watched a beautiful sunset (almost as good as Beaver Island's sunsets), ate homemade chicken noodle soup, and watched the lights on the masts come on. It was like being in a star field with the stars almost close enough to touch. It was magical.


I love the feeling that Lou and I are sailing in the same waters Matt and Brian sailed when they were on Trader. I first noticed this feeling as we came down the Erie Canal and again when we were around the Statue of Liberty. As we head toward Newport, it's a strong feeling again.


The trip from Block Island to Newport is like being on a freeway with so many boats heading in both directions. We have a beautiful blue sailboat off our starboard that Lou is having an unofficial race with. The other boat has a main and head sail up, and we are sailing with just a head sail. So far we're winning.



NEWPORT HARBOR 9-4-09

Sometimes (despite the recent stories otherwise) I think we live under an umbrella of good luck. For example, if you want a campsite at White River Campground for the Labor Day Weekend, you would need to make a reservation in June or early July. I called Carl, the owner/manager or moorings in a section of Newport harbor, this morning and he saved us a spot on a floating dock. When we arrived, he said he'd have several calls after mine and this was the last mooring he had. So, for $45 a night we have a safe location away from the craziness of Center Harbor just off a State Park beach. One of the marinas charges $300 per night plus $20 for electricity. Ouch!!!!

Now we go exploring.