Chip Ahoy's 2007 Rockport Mini-Cruise

Description

I went out aboard Chip Ahoy Thursday evening for an early Friday morning departure.  Again the oil lamp held me in good stead for reading and writing my journal/log.  This time I was able to get a decent photo of its ambiance in the cabin without the flash -- one out of half a dozen attempts.  (Sep. 6. 2007)

The gimbaled lamp, using the camera's flash.  My seabag in on the starboard bunk just aft of the bulkhead -- usually forward of my makeshift "electronics station" (laptop computer if it's aboard, battery chargers, inverters, cell phone, etc.).  Forward of the bulkhead is Chip Ahoy's 5-gallon collapsible water jug, just aft of the folded "pup tent."  The cabin's cooler (with its green cover) resides between the two bunks on the cabin sole.

I dropped the mooring at about 8:30 am Friday morning. The first destination was to get through the channel between Misery and Bakers Island.  Bakers Island with its lighthouse is shown in the photo.  (Sep. 7, 2007)

Lobster pot buoys are always a nuisance for New England sailors, a slalom that seems ceaseless.  Catch one and you become anchored, so it's a good idea to dodge them.  It only got worse as the cruise unfolded.

You'll find them everywhere, like a spreading plague, even in the channels.  A New England sailor must remain ever-vigilant, and keep steering around them, or risk entanglement.

Approaching Thatcher Island with its two lighthouses.

Passing through the channel between Thatcher Island the the shoals just off to the east.

The backside of Thatcher Island, heading northeast toward Rockport.

I reached Rockport Harbor at about 2:30 pm and was guided into the inner harbor by Annemarie, the assistant harbormaster who helped me at the dock tie off Chip Ahoy, with the famous "Motif #1" just behind me.

The inner harbor, behind two breakwaters, is pretty much a working harbor full of lobster boats.

The outer harbor breakwater, from the deck of the Sandy Bay Yacht Club. Note boats moored fore and aft, due to the harbor's vulnerability to east and northeast winds and seas.

My new Origo 3000 stove.  The pot boils water for my new discovery, "Maxwell House Coffee Singles" that work like tea bags.  Sure beats the time and mess of percolating "cowboy coffee" in the mornings.

When not in use, I stow it where the old sliding galley used to go into, along with my food locker (the big plastic container beneath the stowed tiller-pilot) and other handy items.  The cell phone in the foreground is usually plugged in to its 12 volt charger, connected to one of the batteries.

Leaving Rockport Harbor to stern and heading home.  (Sep. 8, 2007)

Once outside the minimal shelter of Rockport, the seas began to build, the wind increased.

Soon the seas became 2-3 foot and continued to increase.  Between the wind, seas, and lobster pot buoys in the way wherever I had to point, it became a challenge.

Eventually it became quite a challenge, as the seas built to 3-4 feet and Chip Ahoy began pounding with each oncoming wave, spray over the cockpit with each one.

The sea state remained constant for most of the afternoon, and Chip Ahoy was fighting right into the SW wind all the way home.

After a long and tiring morning and early afternoon, Chip Ahoy and I arrived back at our mooring around 3:30 pm.  (Sep. 8, 2007)

Barbara was amazed at how much my back had tanned while away -- but sitting under a blazing sun for two days will do that.  She said it's the darkest she's ever seen a white man get!
I'm watching Mike Sullivan clean out his new free boat, a Curtis-Martin 26 he towed here yesterday from a nearby neighbor's yard.  (Sep. 9, 2007)