Because I have not posted for such a long time, I am breaking this down into 3 posts. This is the first. The other two will follow in next couple of days.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Wait!! What?!? Summer is almost over?!?! When did that happen? What month is this? Did I miss the Minnesota State Fair? Ok…I haven’t lost complete track of time, but the days do tend to blend into each other.
You thought you had heard the last from me, but ‘NOooo’… we’ve been puttering around Long Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island and, frankly, thoroughly enjoying the adventure. I’ve come to realize that I would not have visited as many places in this area if I wasn’t on Minnehaha. Traditionally, I would have selected one location, such as Martha’s Vineyard, and probably never visited Long Island. And if I was travelling by automobile, I would have missed so much of the atmosphere of what happens in the marinas and harbors of this very ‘ocean centric’ part of the country. As a resident of ‘fly over’ land in the middle of the U.S. I find this all terribly interesting.
A quick summary of what we have been up to and where we have been, since the last posting on August 6:
- We returned to Sag Harbor to pick up Chris, our commissioning captain from HH, and Lauren, of HH’s marketing, who joined us for 10 days of sailing, boat repairs, and fun (because they are FUN and they play well with old people …or is it tolerate?). During their time with us we sailed from Sag Harbor back to Greenport and then onto Montauk, Block Island, Cuddyhunk, and finally, Martha’s Vineyard. We spent time at each of these and I’ll give quick overview of each of these locations later.
Capt. Chris and Lauren returning after taking photos of Minnehaha from the water
Photo by Lauren
Lauren on the main sail trying to free the down haul line. This lady is stronger than she looks..
More work than play on Minnehaha
Ahhh….youth!!
- Our first visitors from Minnesota, Doug’s son Arlo and his fiancé Katherine, joined us in Greenport for a day. They had taken a train from New York, where they had attended a concert, and they sailed with us to Montauk where they caught another train back to the city. They seemed to enjoy the boat as much as we have and hopefully will return in the future.
Katherine and Arlo
Went from being a bit tentative about walking on the trampoline to jumping right out on the front.
Late concert and quiet, relaxing sail…perfect for a nap
- The weather has mostly been glorious (sunny, low humidity and temps in the high 70’s) with the exception of a few very rainy days… which are also nice for curling up on the boat with a good book… or to work on a blog. The wind has not been as cooperative. We’ve had to motor sail quite a bit which gets us to the location but is not nearly as pleasant as being engine-free and silently sailing along.
Rainy day in Sag Harbor
Foggy morning at Cuddyhunk
We continue to have the ‘new boat woes’ otherwise known as breakdowns in systems such as pumps, electronics, generator, etc. As first- time owners of a new boat, this is not what we expected… quite naively we have been told by virtually everyone from other boat owners to captains to the manufacturer. In fact, we have been advised that our boat has had fewer issues than most other boats of this size and type. It has been pointed out that this is not like buying a new car. Essentially, we have purchased a new ‘home’ with all the systems of an electronically controlled ‘smart’ home and then some, that lives 24/7 in salt water and it is not uncommon for our ‘home’ to get bounced around on 2-6 foot waves on a regular basis. When you put it that way, it seems like a miracle we haven’t sunk yet. Fortunately, these are warranty issues and HH has been responsive in getting them addressed (part of the reason Chris came onboard).
- Besides the usual routines of daily living (cooking, cleaning, laundry, emptying the ‘black water’ tank (yes, it’s what you might think it is); making fresh water, and washing accumulated salt off the hull we have spent our time riding bikes around some of the islands; learning to use our paddle boards, walking beaches, reading and, after all that exhausting effort, taking naps on the sun bed on the aft deck. Other exciting past times include practice tying bowline knots (the older mind needs LOTS of practice) .
Doug cooking on the grill on the aft deck
Dinner for 4
Deb’s too lazy to paddle to shore
Walking the beach and I found Nemo in the surf.
Martha’s Vineyard bike map. Rode from Edgerttown to Oak Bluffs to Vineyard Haven and back to Edgertown. .
Not sure what he’s reading but must be somewhat stressful judging from the hair.
Deb taking picture of Nala . A lot of time is spent taking and editing pictures.
Some pictures don’t always turn out well. (Emily calls these ‘parent selfies’)
Never know where you might need a bowline – like on the helm wheel.
Reading and dozing as we sail along
- Oh, yeah, we’ve done some ailing too!! See the video of Minnehaha sailing past the 66 ft. HH Nala below.
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Deb at the helm
Looking up at the main sail through the sunroof
Looking down through the sunroof at Doug and the inside helm.
Main sail folded and covered in the cradle /boom above the sunroof.