Binge Gardening

When people ask Libby what she misses on the boat, her answer is always "gardening." There is precious little place for a plant on Tarwathie, so she can't satisfy her urges on board. Visiting Dave and Jen gives her the opportunity to binge on gardening in their yards.

 

Yes "binge" is the right word. She is out there at 6 AM. She works until 7 PM with almost no break. She does that 7 days per week. In the picture, you see her at at 6 in the morning light. I'm very happy that she has the chance to satisfy those urges.

Me? What I miss is a Lazy Boy recliner chair. That is something you'll never see on a Westsail, nor in a local library, nor in any marina we know. Sigh.

 

Burlington International Airport (BTV)

Burlington International Airport (BTV), Vermont

My heart soars. We have returned to the proposed land.

The other day, while Libby and Vicky played at Jen's house, I spent the day alone in Porter Bay. The tranquility and the beautiful nature were wonderfully refreshing.

Yesterday I continued up the lake alone. It was a totally calm day. The lake surface was like a mirror, showing reflections of the mountain. We (Tarwathie and I) passed into the northern part of the lake filled with cool, clear, clean, sweet, fresh water. We both said a silent "Ah", just like that old man in Ipanema said as the girl walked past. The mountains looksd spectacular.

I felt sorry for a couple we met on a trawler doing The Great Loop. They passed here two days ago in a torrential rain, when visibility would be nearly zero and missed the nicest scenery of the entire loop.

 

This morning I am at my favorite morning place - BTV airport. At this time of day, there are alomost no people. I have an easy chair, expansive picture windows overseeing airport operations and a spectacular view of The Green Mountains. (Probably the best viewpoint in all of Vermont that is not a mountain top.). I can read the morning news, write a blog post and do my daily session of Leanord Susskind's physics courses, as I drink my coffee. It doesn't get better that this. The picture below is the view as I write this. Note the rocking chairs facing the windows. Mount Mansfield is on the left and Camels Hump on the right. They are the most famous mountains in Vermont.

We can only do this when the winds are not strong because the only anchorage for Tarwathie in Burlington is horribly exposed with a long fetch. When the weather forecast calls for strong winds, we leave here for other sheltered, but delightful, places on the lake.

P.s. Today's Washington Post has a very scary article about North Carolina's outer banks. It said that in 100 years, much of the barrier islands will be under water and that Pamlico Sound will be more like Chesapeake Bay. Yikes! I don't like the sound of that. But of course we won't be here to see it. On yet another way, Libby and I are so fortunate to live in the times and the manner we do. We are very grateful.

 

Double Whoops

Porter Bay, VT

I'm single handing today.  Libby and Victoria are gardening at Jen's house.   Me? I'm just hanging out in one of my favorite places -- Porter Bay.  Porter Bay is where we sat out hurricane Irene.  It is pristine, and mostly uninhabited.  I'm the only person around.   There is lots of wildlife.  The sky is blue, the sun is warm.  Life is good.

One imagines travel by boat and by air as simple straight lines.  Bumps, loops, wiggles, and jerks are not expected in the trajectory.  When they do it is a case of Whoops.  Below are two such cases from recent experience.

Whoops number 1: (below) This screen shot was taken from our GPS in Abemarle Sound, in North Carolina.  What do you suppose caused that S-shaped course deviation?   Well, I was on watch as we motored across the sound.  Then I noticed that our speed had suddenly dropped from 5.5 knots to 4.0 knots.  "Uh Oh," I thought, "the last time that happened we had snagged a lobster trap in The Gulf of Mexico and dragged it for miles.  I'll bet we snagged a crab trap and were dragging it."  Remedy number 1, I put the engine in reverse and backed at full speed trying to dislodge the trap.  Then back to forward to test the result.  No change.   I sighed.  Then I stripped (nobody was around), put on my mask and snorkel, grabbed a knife and jumped overboard to cut loose the trap.   The water was dark brown so nothing could be seen from the surface.  When I got down there, I found nothing.  There was no trap.

The explanation turned out to be simple tidal currents.  I am accusomed to thinking that there are no tides on the inland waters of North Carolina, but this spot is an exception.  A 1.5 knot ebb tide flowed south and west of Roanoke Island, and that's what slowed us.  By the time I took the screen shot 5 minutes later, the speed was 4.35, and 20 minutes later it was the normal 5.5 knots.

Whoops number 2: (below) We did not do the canals last year, an I forgot some of the things I had learned before about mast stepping/unstepping, and navigating the canals.  One such thing is navigating under the many low bridges on the Erie Canal on autopilot.  You see, our autopilot steers by compass, and these old bridges are low and magnetized.   I forgot to put the autopilot on manual as we passed under the bridge and the autopilot went crazy.  That's what caused the violent and wild  dipsy doodle in the magenta track line seen below.  (look carefully, the dipsy doodle is right on top of the "73 44" text marking longitude.  The parallel wide yellow line is the bridge.) Fortunately, I did not hit any other vessels or anything on shore.

 I took the screen shot two days later as we were retracing out steps. That is why it shows us pointing toward the dipsy doodle rather than away from it.

Both incidents are examples of why a real human must remain alert on watch all the time.  Things happen.

A Sailboat Once Again

Chipman Point, Onwell, Vermont

43 47.969 N 073 22.546 W

 

Oh, it feels so good to be a sailboat once again. The mast is up, the sails are bent and we are ready to sail tomorrow. Hooray!

 

It was a three person job and Victoria was great help. Thank you Vicky.

 

This also marks the end of Tarwathie's 2014 northward migration which started April 13 in Boot Key Harbor. As much fun as it is to migrate, the beauty of Lake Champlain and The Keys waters makes arrival at the destination joyful.

 

We'll be here until at least Labor Day. Nothing ahead but fun for the next 2.5 months. Libby can do gardening at Jen's house. We'll visit Valcour Island, Vergennes, our friends Bob and Carol, and Libby's cousin Jane. We have several friends who promised to come north for a day sail this summer. Good. We love having company.

 

But first, we have to get past tomorrow. A cold front with thunderstorms will pass. I plan to hole up in Porter Bay, and we should arrive there by 1400, hopefully before the storms. In Porter Bay we can go swimming for the first time since leaving Boot Key Harbor.

 

Nuku Hiva Rendezvous

Champlain Canal
423 22.808 N 073 29.245 W

We have Vermont mountains in sight!   Hooray.  

We'll spend Saturday/Sunday in Whitehall.  We get to show Vicytoria the neat Skenesboro Museum and have a formal tea at Skene Manor up on the mountain.  Cool.

I heard this morning from our friend Jill who is circumnavigating in her Westsail 32.  She arrived at Nuku Hiva in the Marquessas.  There she found 5 other Westsails and they are having an impromptu rendezvous.  I think that is so cool.

As happy as we are with the cruising life niche we found, we still greatly admire circumnavigators.  Especially Westsail circumnavigators.  Three cheers for them.

Taiohare Bay, Nuku Hiva

Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia

French Polynesia Centered in this map.