5th Season Begins/photo captions

In the order they appeared, this is what was supposed to go with each of the photos I posted yesterday.

Getting Harmony ONTO the dock.
(It was very windy on Friday morning.)

Loading her up!

The fearless Captain.

One crew aboard.
(Joe looks really happy to be on this off shore trip.)

Fair winds and see you soon - Florrie & Lew.
(Lew will fly back before Thanksgiving, then we will both go to wherever the boat is stored and take off for the winter.)

Roy to the rescue, they need help!
(Roy is the club's launch Capt.)

All three aboard and off the dock!
(I wish I had a picture of Joe leaping aboard at the very last minute with Roy ready to release the bowline.)

Warm weather, here they come.
(It was a cold, windy start but within a couple of hours the winds had calmed.)

Main up, the adventure begins.

(Lew wrote Saturday evening that they had had all but two hours of sailing and they were ahead of schedule. By now, Sunday morning, I imagine they are Quite a bit south of Norfolk.)

Harmony's 5th Season begins/photos

Getting Harmony ONTO the dock.

The Story behind the pictures.

The first photo is Florrie's grand-nephew and niece.

Lew asked me to tell this story to our boating friends.  On September 29th I drove to Maine to surprise my niece for her 50th Birthday.  
It was a terrific surprise but the real adventure occurred the next day.  Betsy and her 20 year old son, Shane, were scheduled to take their first sky dives, as a joint Birthday celebration.  Rick (Betsy's husband) and I went along to watch. It was fascinating to listen to the instructor, Scott, a diver with over 10,000 jumps, talking to the 6 new jumpers.  

We waited hours for the clouds to clear.  Then we waited for the 40 MPH winds 5000 feet up to calm down. 

Scott, on the left, and the other tandem divers waited around, too.  I asked the divers if it is always such an adrenalin rush to jump.  Absolutely!  But the diver in the stocking cap told me that the most scared he has ever been was on a boat in a storm! These guys pay money to jump out of planes as often as they can, but a boat on the water is worse?!  (All of a sudden I didn't feel like such a chicken.) 

Finally Scott and one of the other pros went up in a small plane to "test" the winds. 

I AM SOOOOOO GLAD that the first time I ever saw anyone jump it was NOT Betsy or Shane!!!!!  They were up so high we couldn't even see the plane or the divers until they opened their chutes - and THEN they were PIN DOTS!!!!  Pretty quickly they became about as big as the head of a pin.  Scott had\s lost count of his dives at 10,000.   It takes 20 tandem dives before someone is allowed to jump alone.  I am impressed.  It was still too windy so we waited around for another hour or two, then Betsy & Shane got rain checks for another jump within the next 2 years.  I don't have plans to watch - but who knows?

When it is done right - the landing is quite awesome.

(Pardon the  amateur entries! - Florrie)

Correction:

The skydiving event was September 30 (not October). Oops.

Florrie 

FineArtAmerica.com 

   as Florence Bramley Hill

Wind!

This is Florrie's grand-nephew and niece.

How to fit an 80 foot mast under a 65 foot bridge.

http://www.youtube.com/user/hunterparrot#p/a/u/0/WGAzt-8minI

After Irene

We are good. Our boat is OK. Wind on the rear of Irene about 30 from the West. Tide going out. WHEW!

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Florrie's paintings

Florrie just added 36 paintings on her facebook page
Florence B. Hill

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Harmony returns home

From RI we motored to Three Mile Harbor just East of Sag Harbor. Then to Port Jeff where the fuel was $5.00/gallon! But the moorings are free behind the sand spit. Left at 6AM and motor sailed down LI sound getting to Throgs Neck about 2 for the tide change. Actually we were early and came down the East River in slack tide. Got back to the club by 7:30, got a drink at the bar and went home to collapse....

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At Cuttyhunk

Dutch Harbor, RI

 

---

From: lew_hill@hotmail.com
To: lew_hill@hotmail.com
Subject:
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:33:05 -0400

We left Plymouth early morning (7AM) and headed through the lobster pots down to the Cape Cod Canal.  With the current we were speeding (speed limit is 10 knots) at 10.7 k over the ground...i.e. with a 5.7 knot current with us.  Got down to Cuttyhunk Island by about 4 and met up with some friends on a mooring outside the harbor.  There is actually lots of room to anchor just outside but we splurged and got the mooring right next to Mel and Sandy.  The next day they took us on the walking tour of the island and we had a wonderful shrimp and lobster dinner with them on our boat.
About 6:30 AM we were off and headed past Block Island to Three Mile Harbor...Yeah Right!  The wind was on the nose and kicked up to gusting 30 in open ocean.  We only got as far as Dutch Island Harbor (directly west of Newport on the other side of Conanicut Island where we had anchored on the way up.  Since it is scheduled to continue blowing from the SW with high gusts and thunderstorms we decided to splurge and take a mooring rather than possibly do the anchor dance at 3 AM in a thunderstorm.  Snug as a bug.
For the cruisers:  Mooring costs per night at Plymouth (call the Plymouth Yacht Club)were $60. At Cuttyhunk (First come, first served and a boat comes out to collect), $40.  At Dutch Harbor (call Dutch Harbor Boat Yard on VHF 69), $50. Lobsters are just as expensive at Cuttyhunk, where they catch them, as in Keyport, NJ but a lot fresher.

Plymouth, Mass

Here we are in historic Plymouth where the Mayflower landed after landing at least 2 other places. The rock is a rock. It is a real tourist town. Went to dinner with John and Sue, old friends from cruising. It was great to see them but I am not thrilled with cruising up here. Lobster pots everywhere, especially in the harbor channel. Yikes. The harbor is very very crowded with no anchoring and transient moorings costing $60/night. 7 year waiting list for permanent moorings.
We are at a dock at a nice but expensive marina (electricity discounted to $15/day). Renting a car and off to Boston for a night and day.

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Buzzards bay

We are anchored between Scraggy Point and Bassetts Island...N41 40 22.7. W070 38 29.6....we tried the guidebook suggested anchorage just north of Bassets only to find it FULL of moorings. This is about a mile East of the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal but we have to wait for the current (up to 6 knots) to turn before entering (about 12:30). Of course at 8:30 the fog has begun to roll in just to make life interesting for a boat with no radar. We should get into Plymouth about 6 tonight...pray for the fog to lift!!!

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BoatUS Vessel Locator Notification

Lew Hill's wireless phone was last located near Lat: N 41° 30.281' Long: W 71° 23.154' on 2011/07/09 06:04 PM EDT

BoatUS Vessel Locator Notification

Lew Hill's wireless phone was last located near Lat: N 41° 0.818' Long: W 72° 11.307' on 2011/07/08 05:43 PM EDT

Three Mile Harbor

This is one of our favorite harbors. Just East of Sag Harbor and 8 miles directly south of Plum Island. Google it ...eastern Long Island. Two days from Keyport. Good holding and very protected. Good thing as thunderstorms and hail expected today. That plus the morning fog led us to hang out here for a day. We want to be in commuting distance from Boston so Florrie can show grand daughter Boston School of Art (her Alma mata) on Wed.

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Catamaran Harmony pictures

The Admiral has decided to go swimming. We often throw out a line to hang onto as there is usually a current and the boat is anchored. This is the color of the water when the depth is about 10 feet.

Here we have a hitch hiker. This little bird boarded a few miles from Great Sale Cay as we headed home. We anchored on the banks for the night and he/she got nervous and left us. Hopefully she caught a freighter.

We often drag a line behind the boat. We have caught Mahi Mahi, Wahoo, Mullet and other wonderful eating fish. This one is a barracuda which we let go as many of the reef fish have cigaterra (spelling?).

Several of our pictures have shown people steering the boat while standing. Yes you get a much better view but, when there is no immediate need, it can be comfortable sitting down.

Morning coffee while traversing the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

summary pictures

Our fearless leader shampooing his hair.

Kinda speaks for itself

Typical day sailing

Treasure Cay

Nippers

BoatUS app for your phone

This new app allows you to share your position with lat and long via texting or email. It will also show your position on a map and provide a link in an email. I know it works at least up to 8 miles offshore.

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View from the porch

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Home

Moored at Keyport Yacht Club.

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