an infrequent repository of mostly new stuff
The Melonseed Caesura in Fogg’s Cove
St. Michaels, Maryland
That is indeed one of my Melonseeds in the foreground of the previous post (thanks Steve!)
Both photos, and several to come, are from back in 2013 at the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival – MASCF to friends and family.
Melonseed and Navigator in Fogg’s Cove
St. Michaels, Maryland
It’s been hovering around 100 degrees here for weeks. Thunderstorms roll through several times a day. Not so great for boating this time of year here in the South. Going through some old photos helps. More coming in the days ahead.
Soft Shackle made, ready to attach.
Earlier, I replaced the old Main and Jib Halyards with new ones made of Dyneema. Very nice. They’re slippery through the blocks and feel good in the hand. The first time I raised the Main, though, it was obvious the eye and carabiner arrangement, thrown together so quickly, was sub-optimal. Their combined length made the sail stop several inches short of fully raised. This left the sail hanging too long down at the deck – there was not enough sail track on the mast to pull the luff nice and tight. It worked, but not right.
Fixing it creates an opportunity to try something new – a Soft Shackle.
Sailing out into the Rappahannock River
Doug and his family have only been back in Virginia from California a week – or rather, he’s been a back a whole week – so it was high time to go sailing.
Continue reading “Third Sail ~ Irvington, Virginia & Rappahannock River”
T takes in the view on Parrotts Creek
The first time in the new old boat was just a taste. The original sails were too far gone to do much good. With Pete’s help, just finding that out, and that the boat would float (and still take on water), was progress.
The next time, on the Chickahominy with the newer good sails, told me more. Once away from the dock I found jib halyard was tangled. Since I was sailing alone I didn’t feel comfortable going forward to free it, so sailed again with the main only. This, too, was progress. I learned that within reasonable bounds I could easily handle the boat alone, and the newer sails make an amazing difference.
“Barry Up Early” by Curt Bowman
An email from Steve contains the above subject line and not much more, other than a weblink. Following the link brings me to a page, which contains only the photo of a beautiful painting of a sailboat, with the title “Barry Up Early”.
My first thought is: “It can’t be me; I’m never up early.” Terri, who knows me well, said the same thing, Very skeptical of anything that uses the words “Barry” and “early” in the same sentence.
But it’s on Curt’s blog, and Curt is a friend and a very talented painter. He never said anything about doing a painting that contained either me or early in it as a subject. I tried to think of when he might have seen such a thing. Steve and I sailed with Curt on Annie last year, making a fine day of it circumnavigating Gwynn’s Island. But neither he nor I brought our boats that day. And I was late.
John England’s Chesapeake Deadrise under construction.
The rain moved in overnight. However, “rain” does not adequately convey the phenomenon of water falling from the sky at the rate of 3 inches an hour. It’s like there’s a crew overhead bailing out the clouds with 5 gallon buckets.
Good news is the boom tent is keeping the interior dry. So there’s that. People slowly venture out in foulies and wellies, collect on the front porch of the old store with hot coffee to watch.
Continue reading “Deltaville Maritime Museum ~ Chesapeake Float 2016”
