Quissett Harbor first overnight 2008

We left Marion on Saturday morning with Neilli aboard for a cruise to Quissett for an overnight and to check out our new inflatable dinghy's performance. It took us 2 hours to cross the bay and find a mooring in the harbor. The boatyard at Quissett would prefer that you pick one of it's moorings rather than anchor because of their underwater grid. The moorings are free during the day and for an overnight they charge $30 in the outer harbor, where we stayed this time, and $40 in the inner harbor. We have always been able to find a mooring the times we have been here. The dinghy towed well with 2 lines on the way over. On the way home I decided to only use the bow line and it worked as well. The two lines are to stop the dinghy from flipping in high winds, but we certainly had strong breezes and waves all the way home on Sunday and there never was an indication that the dinghy was going to turn over. Our hard dinghy weighs about the same and we have never had any trouble towing it with only one line. The picture is of an old USCG 52' Buoy Tender moored in Quissett. Some of you may recognize it as a boat that was once owned by Dick Edwards. It's now owned by the boatyard and he has plans of restoring it. Quissett is a nice overnight for us, easy to get to, usually one tack from Marion, it is quiet, has a nice conservation area walk that goes out to a knob in the bay. We loaded everyone in the dink for a ride up the harbor and to take Nel for a walk. I would like to say that the Seagull engine worked flawlessly but that wasn't the case. I nearly had to row us back but finally got to start. Next year we are going to upgrade the motor.

When we got to the head of the harbor there was a group of well dressed people standing around.We thought that their might be a wedding in the making. We headed out for the knob, and the group shortly followed us. Instead of a wedding it was a baby naming ceremony. The baby , (at least a year old)was in a white dress with a herb garland on her head. There were two people using bodrun drums(traditional Irish drums) and one carrying burning herbs. It was a pagan/druid ceremony we guessed. I got in a little trouble for pulling Ellen off the knob early before the ceremony was completed and it turned out that we had friends out in the harbor who saw us on the knob , heard the drums, saw the smoke, but did not know what was going on. We had a great dinner on board thanks in part to the Marion General Store and on Sunday Omelets and Italian bacon for breakfast before we headed home.

Group Mail test

This is really just a test to see if the new notification system is up and running. In actuality my posting has been few and far between in the past, but this summer we plan to be hither and yon and now that I am retired??, I shall have more time. The boat is in the water, we are heading to Missoula in early July, NH in Early August, USCGAA reunion late August, and then hopefully some more weekend trips. Hope you all are having a nice day and we will be talking.

Back in the Water

We are in the water. It's tough to tell the difference but we have a new dodger and sailcover. I think it makes the boat look a lot better. The sailcover actually fits this time and is easy to put on. The dodger is about 8 inches lower than the previous one that came with the boat. Both were built by Sperry Sails here in Marion. Ben Sperry built them this past winter and did a really nice job. Ellen can see over it now and the glass is clear so you can actually see out of it. On the old one we always had to open the center portion to see where we were going. Now we have protection and visibility. Norm Methot also built us a new shelf for little stuff that sits under the Depth/Speedo instruments. Looks like it was a part of the original boat and takes care of car keys, cell phone and other small stuff that we want to get out of our pockets. Certainly one of the best additions we have installed. I have also added a davit (removable), for lifting the outboard out of the inflatable, so we will only be towing the inflatable. I am selling the hard dinghy that I put together while still at Edey & Duff. Any one looking for a nice little 8' row boat let me know.

Loading up and getting ready to head for the water. The boat is all set, engine runs, the sails are on and we are just about ready to go. A few little things to take care of and we should be underway this weekend. Off to a new season. This year we have a new dodger, sail cover and a new Aakron inflatable.(Thought it might have come from Ohio, but actually China via New Zealand) The inflatable came from Florida, saw it with Tim at the Dania flea Market. We will have to get some pictures to send along it is going to be interesting we will be powering it with the old Seagull outboard. Could be my downfall.