Edgartown - Wilsons first boat trip

Saturday July 11, 2009

After spending the night on-board at Kingman, I woke up around 7 AM to take Wilson to "do his business". I always get a little nervous with him on board that if he has to go....he'll just go right there. As I was stepping off the swim platform and on to the dock I thought to myself "keep an eye on Wilson, I don't want him to fall in like he did last year". Sure enough, I step off and hear "splash". I grabbed his collar before he slipped under the boat or dock and hauled him up onto the dock. He shook off there for a few minutes and then proceeded up the ramp.

It was as calm as could be, almost no wind and bright sunshine. But the forecast called for a freshening SW wind later in the day, so when I got back after our brief walk I woke Lynn, Kristi and Keri up. We all walked to "Provisions" and grabbed some breakfast. Kristi tried to bring a banana on board (to have with her cereal), but I quickly (and maybe too harshly) told her that bananas are absolutely forbidden on my boat (especially after what happened on Memorial Day weekend....it was all the bananas fault).

We got off the dock around 9:30AM, with a slight SW breeze picking up to around 10 kts. I figured this would make Buzzards Bay a bit choppy, but not too bad since it was just picking up. Once we made it through Woods Hole, the seas would be behind us, on the starboard side.

Wilson was a little nervous initially about the wind and waves and sounds of the engines....but he did OK. Once he got his "sea legs", as Lynn would say, he was good to go.

We arrived in Edgartown around 11:30 after a nice ride over. I called the Harborside on the marine radio and told them we were in the harbor and asked where we should tie up. They responded that we would not be allowed to tie up until after 3PM. All of the slips were used for "the lunch crowd" on Sat and Sun. This probably would have been good info to have before we got over there.

Luckily, we were able to hook on to a town mooring for a few hours.

We loaded up the Dinghy - Legal Tender and cruised around the harbor. This was also Wilsons first dinghy ride....and we got some laughs - 2 adults, 2 kids, lots of stuff to spend the day in town and 1 big hairy dog.....all stuffed onto a 10 ft dinghy with a little 4 hp motor.

We tied up at the dinghy dock next to the Harborside and the kids wanted to hit the pool. Lynn stayed with Wilson, since he was not allowed into the pool area.

By 1 or 2 PM, the wind had kicked up to 15-20 kts SW. We walked over to get some lunch and eat at the muni dock. Around 3, we headed back to the Harborside and the dock master - Will, told us we would be on the end of the dock - a nice easy spot to get into.

We left Kristi, Keri and Wilson near the docks and Lynn and I took the Old Port Launch out to the mooring. Of course as we are getting ready to come into the dock, Will tells us (over the radio) that there has been a change in plans and we are now in-front of a boat that is already docked. I knew this would require some delicate boat handling...and knowing I was not up to that task, I radioed back to Will and asked him to climb on the boat I needed to go by, and guide me in. I will say, both Lynn (on the bow of Salesman Ship) and Will (on the bow and side of the other boat) made me look like a pro. The owner of the other boat came out and I was even able to make a little joke to him about me being concerned more about his boat then mine........

After we tied up and got settled, Lynn and the girls went back up to the pool. I stayed behind with Wilson and he and I took a little nap. I'm not sure how other people like to go boating with their dogs......its very restricting if you can't leave them behind on your boat.

When Lynn and the girls came back after a few hours, Kristi and Keri wanted a hot shower and to charge their portable DVD player (can't live without that!!). The Harborside is a great location, BUT they don't have any shore power on the docks so it is kinda like being on a mooring. I fired up the genny for a few hours so the girls could take hot showers, and then powered the genny off for the rest of the night. The sun was getting lower in the sky, and Kristi and I decided to take a dingy ride around Edgartown harbor. It is a really cool harbor with lots of great boats and many fantastic houses. Kris and I picked out the houses that we would "take", if given the opportunity. We each picked our top 5. We both agreed that our #1 choice was Ernie Boch's house. From the water, it looks like a good size hotel.

When Kris and I got back, we walked up to Skinny Fat Sandwiches and ordered some dinner to bring back to the boat. We also stop by the store to pick up some much needed supplies....(read - wine for Lynn).

We ate and then started a game of Dogopoly. Its kind of like Monopoly, except everything is about dogs. I made it for an hour or so and then hit the bed.

At night, the rain came DOWN - hard!!!! On top of that, I forgot to tie the flag up (on the bow) and the sound of it moving all night kept Lynn and I awake.

Note the flag.........and the boat behind mine that I needed to squeeze by......

When I finally got up around 6, the skies were partly cloud and the SW wind was blowing around 15 - 20 kts. We ate some breakfast and the kids wanted to go back in the pool. We stayed around Edgartown and left around 12 noon. I thought the seas would be a little bigger from the wind blowing for the past 24 hours, but they were only 1 - 2 footers. Once through Woods Hole and into Buzzards Bay, the waves were behind us and it was a nice trip up the Bay. I decided we should take a trip up to Onset to get fuel and I knew the price of Diesel would be less at Pt Independence Yacht Club than at Kingman. We took on 147 gals @ 2.49 per gal and headed back to our slip. Once back at the slip we cleaned the boat as a family and then packed up to head home...after a stop for ice cream, of course.

Martha's Vineyard Vacation

Tuesday June 30, 2009
After a foggy, cloudy morning in Cataumet, the sun decided to make an appearance. By 10 AM, we had bright sunshine and I started to get the boat and dinghy ready for the short voyage to Oak Bluffs MV. D.O. and Linda arrived right on time, as they always do and stowed their bags and a lot of alcohol for the week ahead. D.O. helped with boat prep.

By 11 AM, Nick, Geovanna and baby Anthony showed up and started to prep their boat - Rogue Rage for the trip. Nick brought the boat down from Boston the previous Sunday in order to make Anthony's first real boat trip an easy one.

12 noon we were off the dock. The trip from Kingman Marina to Oak Bluffs harbor is only about 17 miles, but we would need to cross Woods Hole passage which required us to slow down thru that area. The seas were mostly calm, about 1 ft or less, which is a rare thing for Buzzards Bay. We arrived in OB around 1:30 and were tied up and settled by 2PM.

Around 3, we decided to head over to the beach and get some sun, in anticipation of rain for the next few days. D.O. and Lynn decided to stay behind on the boat and relax. Kristi and Keri were happy to be at the beach and we decided to take a swim. The water was cold........so our swim didn't last long.

Oops, that's not Kristi or Keri....here they are...

After the beach, it was cocktail hour (or two) on the Salesman Ship. We hung out for a while and then went up to the Ocean View Restaurant for a late dinner.

After dinner, we went back to the boat and snuck under to go to bed, so Fidler wouldn't "make" us drink all night long. I knew what that cat had in mind.......

Wed July 1, 2009

We woke up this morning to gray skies with the feel of rain in the air. After a walk up to get coffee at Mocha Motts, we decided to play Apples to Apples. This is a game that Keri brought along, and little did we realize, but we would be playing many games of Apples to Apples. That and the card game War. The girls watched a movie or 2 and D.O. and I went over to fix a tiny hole that developed in the dinghy - "Legal Tender" (get it?.....Lynn is a lawyer and the little boat is known as a tender......)

The rain stopped long enough for us to fire up the grill for lunch. Burgers and hot sausages. I don't think we really left the boat for long that day until dinner at Sharkys. Great mexican food. I knew my vacu-flush heads and holding tank would pay the price later.

Thursday July 2, 2009

Again, we woke up to rain. It seemed like it had rained the entire month of June and now it was July and it was raining more. The rain was really coming down hard and at one point the wind picked up and started gusting and hail came down. One particularly hard piece of hail busted through the islinglass (clear plastic stuff above the real-glass windshield, for you non-boaters out there). Thursday turned out to be mostly a wash out. I don't think it stopped raining until later in the afternoon and Lynn and Keri rented bikes and met the rest of us later at the beach.

At night, D.O., Linda, Lynn and I went out to dinner at Jimmy Seas. Kristi and Keri stayed back at the boat and had dinner with Nick, Geo and Anthony. Nick had pulled out the grill and fire up all kinds of meat. Linda and Lynn raved about Jimmy Seas....I thought it was OK. Lynn said the only reason I didn't like it was because she wouldn't "let" me get the Carbonara......any kind of cream sauce and alcohol is not a good combination for me (see ref above about holding tank and vacu-flush). I also think the amount of alcohol that Linda and Lynn had helped with their enjoyment of the meal.

Nick stayed on our boat to watch Kristi and Keri and at one point said he had a headache and was going to get asprin at his boat. However, 9 year old Keri informed us that he came back with a milkshake - sized glass of Scotch instead.

Friday July 3, 2009

We rose this morning with the promise of sun!! Vin and Kate were coming over by ferry and would be here early afternoon. Lynn, Kristi, Keri, me, D.O. and Linda rented bikes and biked to Vineyard Haven. The roads into Vineyard Haven are tough for bikes because there are no sidewalks in some places and the cars go flying by.

In VH, we walked around some of the stores and got some lunch and then biked back to OB harbor to meet Vin and Kate. Around 3 PM, we made several trips by dinghy over to the beach. D.O. and Linda decided to stay behind on the boat.....D.O. had enough of the sun....and Linda probably had enough of the kids.

After the beach, we went back to Salesman Ship for some cocktails. And then on to Nancys for dinner. Nick, Geo and Anthony stayed behind. The rest of us ended up getting a table up on the deck, with a great view of OB harbor.

After dinner, we went back to boat and took out the accoustic guitar. I must admit, this was my favorite part of the whole trip. Playing the handful of songs I can play most-of-the-way through was great. Everyone was singing along and Vincenz played a few tunes....good time. After everyone went to bed, Nick and I stayed up and had a few more drinks. All and all, a really good day!!

Saturday July 4, 2009

Happy 4th of July!! Today was bright sunshine. I woke up before everyone else and decided to take a little dinghy ride around the harbor. There is nothing better than getting up early and just going for a ride. Checking out all the boats and just cruising around enjoying the beauty of the water...I love it. It's during these little rides that I reflect on how lucky I am....in so many ways - health, family, friends and career.

I also went to reserve a few rental cars. There would be 11 of us, so we needed a few vehicles. By the time everyone got up and motivated and did the Mocha Motts thing....we didn't have too long before we had to head over to Edgartown for the parade. We cruised around up to Menemsha and Gay Head and stopped by Cronig's Market to pick up some overpriced supplies for the cook out tonight, including a $12 block of cheese. Vin and Kate decided to miss the parade but said they would meet us later at the Lighthouse beach in Edgartown. After the parade, we drove over to the Lighthouse and met up with Vin and Kate and loaded up all of the food and supplies for the cook-out on the beach. We trekked what felt like several miles over rocks, beach and brush to finally reach our prime spot for the cook-out and then fireworks. After unpacking enough food to feed a small region in South Africa, we discovered that we did not have a knife or paper towels / napkins. The knife was the most troubling given the aforementioned block of cheese. Vin and Kristi decided they would run (literally) into town and pick up a knife and paper towels. By the time they returned, we had most of the food cooked and everyone was eating. There is something about having a BBQ on the beach, with the sun setting and a few great friends.....it's what summer is all about.

The fireworks were great. Here are a few shots from Kristi and Keri.......

Sunday July 5, 2009

It was time to go..... The final day of this vacation was sunny and nice, with a stiff SW wind. This would make the trip back to Kingman a little bumpy, but it would make Nick's trip all the way back to Boston a long, tough one. Certainly not one I would have wanted to do with an 8 month old.

We left OB harbor around 11:30AM, after packing everything up and securing the dinghy and Nick getting fuel.
During the trip back to Kingman, Nick called on the radio to say that if D.O. and Linda could drive Geo's car back to Ashland, then she and Anthony would make the long boat trip back to Boston. One problem.......they had to get us the keys. Geo put the keys in a plastic bag and secured them to a life jacket and line and heaved them across between two carefully manuvered boats. We got back into Kingman around 1:30PM and the kids got a ride back to the house to hang out with their cousins. Lynn, Linda, D.O. and I fininshed up the last of our food for lunch and cleaned the boat. Lynn had to leave to pick up Wilson and D.O. and Linda left right behind her. I stayed on the boat to finish cleaning and to just reflect on the week vacation. Despite the weather, the week was awesome!! It was a great chance to spend time with Lynn and the kids. D.O and Linda are just about the best boat guests you could ever ask for!!! There are not too many other couples who could put up with us for the week.