Thursday 7/16
Yesterday was the first day of summer.
Well, technically speaking, summer started nearly a month ago. But yesterday was the first day that actually
felt like summer. Temps in the mid-80s, threat of thunderstorms, high humidity, etc.
...and, of course, a diminishing breeze.
Joyce, Janel, Liz and Lee before the pre-start. We had about 5 or 6 knots of breeze at that point.
After rounding the first mark the wind got fluky, and pretty much died altogether before sunset.
As we headed in, lightning played within this approaching thunderstorm. Around 11PM we started getting a pretty good storm here in Milford.
And because they were so good last night despite the frustrating conditions, I'm going to treat the crew to ice cream at
Baskin-Robbins! 
Woman at the Helm II
WAH II last Thursday, July 9th. Beautiful night to be on the water!
Pre-start, with Janel, Derek, Liz, and (foreground) Liz's dad Gib, who's visiting from Minnesota and was a welcome addition to the crew.
Kari, flying their Polish Burgee!
(hint: the fender!)
Pre-start, the boats slowly get ready for the race.
(L-R) Liz, Gib, Janel, and Derek's hands.
Lee checks the sail trim or looks for UFOs, I'm not sure; while Joyce concentrates.
My obligatory self-portrait. How ya likin' the goatee? (don't answer)
The obligatory sunset photo. We sailed around for about 45 minutes after the race, enjoying a few ice-cold beverages while the temperature plummeted during twilight.
Vacation Photos
We spent the entire week at our mooring in PJ, and we were joined by our friends Pete & Teri from
"Wild Eyes" for the last three days.
I was worried that transporting our 9.5 and 10 foot kayaks would be difficult, but they fit nicely on the foredeck and barely interfered with our #1 genny. We tacked several times and had no problem with them. Relief!
Joyce on her kayak near Windjammers Beach (where we have the annual PJ R&R).
Joyce's patriotic pinwheels were really humming in the near-constant breeze!
Cormorants sunning themselves on the wrecked wharf on the east side of the channel. The guy on the left is lightening the load right before taking wing!
A typical PJ sunset. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy the sunsets here?
Joyce finds a wrecked channel marker near Pirate's Cove. It's a bit too big for us to hang on our garden fence. I'm sure at some point someone will reclaim the thing.
I don't know why I do this. I guess because Joyce hates to operate the camera, so if I want any photos of me,
someone has to take them!
Wild Eyes rafted up to us on the mooring. It looks twice as wide as
Full Tilt, but I think the angle makes it look so much beamier when it's only 2 feet wider. Plus, they have a very spacious stern.
P & T on the beach at PJ.
P & T watching the big July 4th parade in Port Jeff. We spent about half a day in town, for the parade and lunch. The parade is great, with just about every single piece of fire apparatus on Long Island making an appearance. God help them if a fire breaks out somewhere!
I took the previous photo from across the street in front of the cigar store. I fired up a good 90-minute stogie, and found that I cleared about 20 feet of sidewalk while smoking it. Helpful tip for those that wish to repel families, especially those with kids!
The colors that they come up with for the evening twilight is way better than any fireworks I've ever seen.
Wild Eyes chuting home, with their big sail and a great breeze!
Branford Fireworks cruise
A week ago Saturday we made our annual pilgrimage to Branford for the annual fireworks extravaganza. Again we rafted up to our good friends Pete and Teri's boat
Wild Eyes at the mooring stakes across from the Branford Yacht Club.
The clouds threatened rain but stayed well east of us, allowing for perfect viewing of the fireworks. Joyce is wearing her souvenir pink
Buffalo Bills hat that I bought her when I was in Buffalo the week before for work.
Because, you know, she's a
Patriots fan.
Joyce with Jackie and Janel. Jackie was with us the first time we went kayaking earlier in the month.
Pictures rarely do fireworks any justice. But it was a great display, as usual. We stayed the night and returned home on Sunday to prepare for our week on the boat. Photos of that trip coming soon.
Thursday 6/25
Finally, a sunny day! But the wind pretty much was dead again. We did get a start and rounded W, but after the wind died because of shift from SE to N, we decided to quit and motor in so we could get to the party at Milford Boat Works early. Great party this year!
Bruce, Janel, and Mike Kivell (L to R) were on the boat, along with Derek (not pictured, sleeping on the foredeck).
Part of the large (28 or so boat) fleet pre-start.
Of course, what would a bunch of photos be without
your humble narrator?
Joyce and Mike. Obviously the party started early tonight!
Schock Therapy and Paikea during the pre-start.
Just me & the gals...again!
We did the Commodore's Cup races on Saturday, and the weather was iffy. Light breeze out of the SE and a constant threat of rain, which held off mostly until AFTER the two races. Same crew as last week.
Our fleet only consisted of us and Paikea, but it was fun anyway. The series is two races, and in the event of a tie, the winner of the second race is deemed champion. The same thing
happened last year, except with a
different result.Of course, this year we won the first race and lost the second
(by 54 seconds), so we took second place by default. If we had to lose to someone, we're happy it was
Paikea. But it was a fun pair of races (even though I can think of plenty of areas we could have made up the time difference in the second one if I'd been concentrating more) and everyone did a great job.
Self-portrait below. I probably should have spared you folks the horror of that photo, but what fun would that be?
Woman at the Helm, Race I
(L to R) Joyce, Liz, and Janel were the helm and crew with me last night, in drizzly and breezy conditions.
The course was WS3 with the wind at about 15kts out of the east, so it was kind of lumpy out there. Results are located
HERE. We finished 8th out of 9 boats, but my poor tactics on the start cost us about 2 minutes and that was pretty much the difference that kept us out of the top 3 or 4.
Oh well, Joyce did a great job (as usual) and Janel made sure to tell me where she was gonna ram that whisker pole if I didn't shut up! (she just had a bit of trouble with it again, and I simply walked forward and fixed it in two seconds for the 2nd time in two races)
And I broke the LCD screen on my new Fuji camera, which cost me about $70 a month or two ago. The dummy that I am, I had left it in my pocket during the race, and I must have smashed it into a winch while we were getting bounced around out there. Bummer!
At least I got one picture (above) with it. And I just (five minutes ago) bought a used one on eBay for $38, so at least it wasn't
THAT expensive of a boneheaded move! This, if you're keeping count, is camera number THREE so far this year! I'm gonna glue a square of plexiglass over the LCD on this one, because I'm obviously too clumsy to maintain a working camera for very long.
Joyce's new kayak
She wanted one of these for years. So I bought her one for her birthday next month. Today she got a chance to take it out.
Janel and her friend Jackie wanted to take Joyce out the first time, and their friend Karen kindly allowed me to use another kayak she owns. So I got to try out kayaking, too.
Guess what? I'm kind of pissed off, because now I have to buy myself a kayak! It was a lot of fun and easier than I expected. I tried Joyce's kayak (a Pelican Precision 100) and found it a little "tippier" than the one I borrowed, but perfectly acceptable and easy to maneuver.
So I guess I'll see if they're on sale and pick one up for me! I
knew this whole kayak business was a bad idea!
No wind, no race, no problem!
Last night we got the usual August weather (except for the temperature!) at the beginning of June!
There was NO wind last night. None. Zilch. Nada.
I even opined that there was
LESS than no wind; that we had in fact entered into a
vacuum not unlike the total airlessness of deep space!
However, the lack of total suffocation and immediate death of all hands quickly put that rumor to rest.
That's not to say we didn't move...the current carried us from the vicinity of the committee boat
Spirit toward the rocks on the south end of Charles I. at a rate of .3 to .4 kts. After nearly an hour of the drifting, the RC called it a night. We had already packed it up by then and were motoring in (photo above).
Joining us this week was Janel, Derek, Lee, Bruce from the boat in the slip next to us, and Elisabeth.
Next week is the Woman at the Helm race! We hope to have a large crew turnout in support of Joyce.
...and I really can't believe that I sound as much like a
dick as Janel makes me sound when she imitates me barking at the crew!
Port Jeff weekend
A salmon-colored horizon from our mooring in Port Jefferson harbor highlights a spectacular sunset. From our first trip of the season; an overnighter to PJ after a great sail over on Saturday, and a downwind coast home on Sunday. Perfect way to start the cruising season!
Joyce, Janel, Liz and Lee before the pre-start. We had about 5 or 6 knots of breeze at that point.
After rounding the first mark the wind got fluky, and pretty much died altogether before sunset. 
As we headed in, lightning played within this approaching thunderstorm. Around 11PM we started getting a pretty good storm here in Milford.
