Thursday 7/29
Another great Thursday. Light winds, but enough to keep moving (barely, at times).
Spirit was race committee, and they did a great job, although they started the sequence about 5 minutes early. Maybe they were just trying to give us more time to race on this light wind night!
Caliente breezes back to "N" as the winds get light.
Chad joined us for the first time in a couple years. It's great to have him back aboard the boat!
This is the kind of view I like to see from the stern!
Post race, the setting sun ignites
Audacious's head sail!
Another sunset shot.
Another long time crew member made an appearance tonight. Lori was a welcome addition to our crew.
Derek steers the boat. He did a great job grinding tonight.
And of course, you
knew I had to include one:
Thursday 7/22
A lovely night, with an 8-10 knot breeze offshore, meaning we got to sail on flat water, which is always nice.
Tracy (in blue) joined us tonight. Tracy was a classmate in the CT Film Industry Training Program that I attended last month. You can read about it on my filmmaking blog,
futuredv.com.
Kari and Pale Rider going upwind to "N". The wind started getting light, although we kept moving well even after they shortened the course.
Joyce steered later in the race, and Janel and Derek shared grinding duties with me.
Okay, this is starting to get out of hand. No more self portraits, I promise!
But I'll always have sunset photos. Eventually I'll have to do something about those dust spots on the CCD. I'll either send it out for cleaning, or get a new camera. Because the dust isn't on the lens, it's actually somewhere inside the camera.
Oh, and we were motoring back around sunset, and we were just outside the breakwater when the yacht club cannon went off, causing Joyce to jolt nearly off her feet. It never gets old.
Port Jefferson Race & Rendezvous
We had perfect weather again for the 2010 PJ R&R last weekend. Joyce, Janel and I were Race Committee as usual, and the cross-Sound race started promptly at 11AM on Saturday.
Evergreen was an early boat in the staggered-start race, where each boat was given a start time base on their handicap rating. So some boats started right around 11:05, while the fastest boat started at 11:45 for the 11-mile race.
Fleet Captain Larry Welch pilots his boat around the start line.
Defiant hits the start line under full sail.
Jeff, Kyle and friend aboard
Schock Therapy sail by just before the start.
Oz makes it's debut at the 2010 PJ R&R. It's good to see that boat on the water!
After our crossing, we rafted up with friends Tim & Lori's new boat, the Albin 31
"Ebb Tide".
The beach party looks suspiciously like a rave with all the glow sticks and dancing! Great time once again this year, and thanks are due to the Windjammers Sailing Club officers and volunteers for putting on such a great race and party!
Thursday 7/15
It's been three weeks, but we're back racing on a Thursday night!
We were shorthanded tonight, so it was just Derek, Joyce & myself. Because of the light breeze (it never got above 6 or 7 knots) we didn't have to work all that hard.
The A fleet starts in light conditions. The RC did go a little early on a horn, blasting the one minute prep for our class at the 2 minute mark. This caused me to stop racing for a bit, but then the horn sounded at one minute, so I started again. We didn't have a bad start, but some boats got really tangled up from the confusion.
Then again, I'm glad they didn't start the sequence all over again, as we just wanted to get started and try to cool off in the light breeze.
We got a salute from Spirit right before the start.
We ghosted by Audacious during a run, but it was give and take with them most of the race.
It got so light that we could hear people speaking conversationally on boats over 100 feet away! On the last leg the wind totally died, and we (along with about a half dozen boats still racing) quit and headed back to the dock.
And now for the obligatory photos:
This is the obligatory self-portrait of the skipper. You know you'd miss if if I didn't post it!
This is the obligatory awesome sunset photo. We were about a mile out on the gulf when we heard the yacht club cannon go off.
Vacation photos
We're back from our week on the boat. The heatwave that roasted New England didn't spare us, but fortunately we had a lot of options to keep cool. Like swimming, kayaking, and visiting air-conditioned bars!
Here's some photos for ya's:
Lori, Joyce, and Teri aboard "Ebb Tide", Tim & Lori's new Albin 31. Yes, I jumped off the roof. Twice.
Me & Joyce on the top of the sand bluffs overlooking Long Island Sound.
Lori & Tim on the same bluffs, overlooking Port Jefferson.
Pete & Teri with the Port Jeff ferry in the background.
A view of the tropical-like Pirate's Cove. The water temperature in the harbor was warmer than I ever remembered it, but it was refreshing all the same.
One of the many amazing sunsets we witnessed from our boat. That night we watched satellites and shooting stars. Did I ever mention that owning a sailboat is the
absolute BEST fucking thing in the world?
Joyce is wearing my hat at the Independence Day parade in PJ. If you look closely, you'll see my reflection in the window, with a tractor that's perilously close to running me over. Good thing I wasn't paying attention!
Did you ever try to eat lunch while somebody is staring at you?
Ah, I see what he's looking at!
Blue drinks! Everyone wants a sip of a refreshing cold beverage on the hottest day of the year!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, Guinness!
Horses swimming back near our mooring in the harbor. Some of them weren't overly enthusiastic about going in, despite the hot weather.
Back in PJ with Joyce's sister Jill and hubby Brad, at the Pindar winery store.
A nice stained glass window at a Northport eatery.
We came home a day early to avoid the direly predicted thunderstorms that somehow never materialized. Oh well, it was good to get home and enjoy the modern comforts once again.
Vacation: First Look
Two of my sisters-in-law and family. More soon.
Caliente breezes back to "N" as the winds get light.
Chad joined us for the first time in a couple years. It's great to have him back aboard the boat!
This is the kind of view I like to see from the stern!
Post race, the setting sun ignites Audacious's head sail!
Another sunset shot.
Another long time crew member made an appearance tonight. Lori was a welcome addition to our crew.
Derek steers the boat. He did a great job grinding tonight. 
