42-02.839N
070-10.968W

Moored, Provincetown
September 26, 2002

Sailing is joyous misery.

The joy is discovery, understanding, new places, new people.  The misery is decision making, work and weather.

Nantucket was a fine discovery for us, an enjoyable few days that included three new friends aboard Sweetwater, a 38' Hinckley.  We met Mike and Liz Hatton, and their friend Paul, on the dinghy dock.  They were arriving, and had questions.  Somehow we learned that they had sailed Maine, so we had questions of them.  Before you could say "down market," we shared time both on their boat and ours.  Mike is a dental surgeon, and Paul is a pediatric dentist.  Liz is a family physician. That combination should make for good conversations.  Of course, they all love sailing, especially of a kind partly fueled by wine and laughter.  We are glad that we met them.

Still, we had a decision to make:  when to leave, where to go.  The burden of making such decisions, all the time, every day, is heavier than we anticipated. In Indianapolis, we know where we live, and family routines generally dictate when we go home.  Not so on a boat.  We never know exactly where to go, and timing is controlled by weather and the state of our preparedness.  Sometimes we have excellent weather, but we are not prepared.  Other times we are ready to leave, as from Nantucket, but weather controls.  Yesterday, we finally found a "weather window," a period of relative calm  between a period of high winds, and a period of even higher winds (gale warnings for tomorrow night as remnants of Isidro head our ways).  But to arrive in day light, we had to travel overnight, or so we thought.  So what happened. We moved too quickly, arrived in the dark, and faced the pressure of figuring out where to turn in a harbor filled with lights and departing fishing vessels.  But we made it; that's all that counts.

As a result of talking to Mike, Liz and Paul, we decided to next travel to Southwest Harbor Maine, near Arcadia national park, about 150 miles from Provincetown, or about 28 hours.  The decision is made, but our time of departure is Neptune's decision.  If he keeps blowing hard, we will wait, knowing that he must tire sooner or later.  We hope sooner, because Ron Block and his friend Patty will be visiting Maine, and we hope to connect.

(We left Nantucket at 5 p.m., under motor and double reefed main, with 20 knot winds.  Waves built to five feet as we approached Chatham on Cape Cod and headed north, making Chichi and I feel a bit woozy.  Then, the wind and waves died down, but the morning cold took over as our primary challenge, followed by entering Provincetown harbor in the dark, a no no.  Our anxiety increased when the depth meter showed 5.9 feet, probably an aberration caused by very deep water.)

41-17.352N
070-05.125W

Anchored, Nantucket Harbor
September 22, 2002

New England charm and friendliness.  Staff from around the world:  Bulgaria, Jamaica, Ireland, New Zealand, everywhere.  Over 50,000 people in the summer, hardly 14,000 in winter.  The state's second busiest airport, following Logan.  (While walking Surfside Beach, we saw planes leave as frequently as one per minute.)  This island's biggest claim to fame is that between 1790 and 1850 it was the whaling capital of the world, a story told effectively during walking tours and sit down lectures sponsored  by The Whaling Museum. Over 180 vessels sailed from Nantucket, leaving behind a cadre of hard working, tough women, who managed homes and governed the island.  Like any emerging industry, whaling has a story of hard work and tragic incidents.  On seeing a whaling vessel and/or its long boats, the hard work is immediately apparent, but it is tragedy on which mighty stories are told.  The greatest tragedy in Nantucket was sinking of The Essex, caused by a whale that attacked the boat.  Upon this incident, Herman Melville wove his tale "Moby Dick," one of America's finest novels.  A modern variation is "The Perfect Storm" in which weather, instead of a mammal, is the predator.

Nantucket has good food, fine spirits ("The Captain" is a secret blend of the bartender at Chowder House), as well as entertainment.  We saw the local Actor's Theatre production of "The Perfect Party," by A.R. Gurney.  Next night, we saw the film "One Hour Photo," with Robin Williams.

We sailed to Nantucket from Newport, with an overnight at Tarpaulin Cove.  Most sailing is routine, even tedious, but always spotted with an incident or two.  The incident on this trip occurred as we neared the Nantucket sea buoy, hardly 20 minutes from anchor.  As we furled the large head sail, the genoa, the furling system stopped cold.  The furling line had wrapped over itself on the furling drum because John did not hold sufficient counter tension when we unfurled the sail.  The only solution was to turn back to sea, then unwrap, then rewrap,  almost 15 turns on the drum.  Our reward for this effort was a glass of wine, a beautiful sunset, and tired muscles.
 
 

41-35.073N
071-17.257W

Docked, Hinckley Marina
Portsmouth, R.I.
September 13, 2002

At this time one year ago, Chichi and I had been living aboard five days.  On the second of those days, terrorists attacked The World Trade Center.  We held a reception late that day, but we did not break champagne over the bow as planned.  Instead, we sought comfort in the camaraderie of our friends.

Pachamama has been either docked or "on the hard" at Little Harbor in Melville, RI, about ten miles north of Newport, since August 23d.  During two of those weeks, Chichi visited Indianapolis while John arranged for repairs and annual maintenance.  Here is our list of accomplishments:

Designed and created a preventer (to prevent the boom from swinging wildly during a jibe.)
Shipped life raft for reconditioning
Replaced one 105 amp battery and added another, for a total of 420 amps
Had sail reviewed and improved by Hood Sails
Replaced shaft zinc, checked hull zincs, and took extra zincs in inventory
Power washed and painted the bottom with two coats of anti fouling paint
Redesigned file storage area under nav station
Checked power connection between wind generator and batteries; found breaker
Yanmar diesel technician adjusted spacing in exhaust intake valves, required by manual
Secured tangs to boom
Polished rub rails and other stainless
Varnished dorade vent mounting boxes
Routine service to outboard motor
Rigged port jack line
Tried to flush forward head
Stern head a problem; flushing through vent in holding tank position
Yard cleaned starboard side below vent
Acquired metal security line for dinghy

John spent two great days over labor day with daughter Cindy in New York City:   "Forbidden Broadway," " I Am Not Rappaport" (Jud Hirsch, Ben Vereen), plus meeting Kodiak, their new German shepherd..

We are waiting for a weather window to visit Nantucket and points north, possibly including Maine.  However, cold fronts have been marching through here at the rate of one every three days.  Two nights ago we had 40-50 knot winds, no time to be sailing or at anchor.

Chichi is working hard to build an abandon ship bag and an offshore health care kit.  We are ordering more offshore supplies such as a Galerider drogue, emergency water maker, and charts for the proposed trip Newport-Bermuda-St. Martin, to begin November 3.