BETTY ANN

It is late in the summer and Pete calls.

Heard from Archie yet? I need to get back on the water!

Timing is everything,  Archie had called earlier to confirm his crew so I told Pete the BETTY ANN would be leaving Point Judith October 9th. He immediately signed on so I called Archie to let him know, unfortunately, I also had to tell him Andrew would not be making this trip. His new job in Austin, TX started earlier in the summer and he has no vacation accrued. So me, Pete and Archie will make up a shorthanded crew, Hmmmm,  not good for the watch standing schedule.

SUNDAY – TUESDAY

We meet at the boat on a fine autumn morning, load aboard and stow our gear. Pete has recently returned from New Hampshire so the Rum Locker is completely stocked with Captain M. Nice!

There is a 38 foot sloop at the fuel dock that had had a run-in with a fishing trawler in the fog. Apparently the boat got under the outrigger boom, snapped the fore stay and broke the mast at the first spreader. The boom was lashed to the side and the rigging piled up on deck – a real mess.  As we pull away from the dock we all appreciate the fact that, unlike the dense fog of last year, we have unlimited visibility, a fresh westerly breeze and warm sun to bid us on our way.

We exit West Gap, and Archie mentions the wind direction instrument stopped working properly after Hurricane Irene and we need to re-calibrate it. To do this the instructions are to make a slow 720 degree turn, wait for the instrument display to beep and flash and then to use a combination of button pushes to re-set the analog indicator at zero as the ship heads directly into the wind. Sounds like a good job for our absent crew member, the one most proficient with technology issues.  In any case, Archie makes the turn while I stand by the indicator and Pete heads up on deck to put wool strands on the stays as temporary tell tales.

720 degrees later, no beeping or flashing so we go around again. Still nothing but I push the required button sequence anyway to see what happens. No change, so we try a third 720 but this time in the opposite direction. We are all thinking the same thing – one of the boats in the area is going to call the Coast Guard to tell them we are drunk, lost our rudder or have some other kind of trouble.  Anyway we have no success so we set the sails and head south-south west comfortable in our knowledge that we can gage the wind well enough without the instrument.

Of course it didn’t  really matter because an hour later as we clear Montauk we turn directly into the wind, which then slowly drops to zero to remain there all the way down the coast to Chesapeake Bay entrance . Given the conditions (calm wind and dead flat seas) and the small crew, we set a 3 on 6 off watch schedule with no second person in the cockpit, without a doubt the simplest watch bill ever posted aboard  the BETTY ANN.

2011 southbound Watchbill

By the way, I haven’t mentioned our food provisions. Just because Larry couldn’t make this trip doesn’t mean we were going to go hungry . Before we left the dock he stocked us with his signature home-made Ribs, Chile and Chicken.  Try as we did we could never eat it all, as delicious as it was.

While we are all thankful for the flat calm seas, the  outcome was the most uneventful, one could say boring trip to date. Think about the classic definition of offshore sailing (days of tedium interspersed with moments of excitement) now take away the moments of excitement!  However, we did add to our body of knowledge regarding the ecosystem of the offshore New Jersey Sea Flies and the little finch-like birds that always visit the boat in these waters (Andrew has written about both on prior trips).

I discovered that if the flies, we stopped counting at 100, were put out on deck instead of down the cockpit scuppers as we murdered them the birds feasted on the carcasses. To our dismay we discovered the next morning that the well fattened birds had chosen to spend the night in the rigging and they shit all those flies back on deck!

The forecast is for a front to move through Monday. The old version of Captain Archie makes the suggestion that we could SCOOT around the cape and then duck in. Did he say scoot? That is a point of sailing neither Pete or I have heard before. We will have to add that mode to the autopilot!

Ultimately we all agree not to challenge  Cape Hatteras weather again so 49 hours 50 minutes of constant motoring later we pull into Tide Water Marina, Portsmouth, VA.  All of this presents a bit of a dilemma; Archie had suggested I buy 16 October return flight tickets from Norfolk and I had kidded him about taking his new leisure cruise philosophy way too seriously. Yet here we were in port on the 11th.  Pete and I aren’t going to stop here so we will need to cancel and re-book our return flight, probably from North Carolina.

We get things shipshape, relax with a cocktail and then the three of us take the water taxi to Norfolk to visit the Nautical museum which features the battleship Wisconsin.  It is a good museum even though you’re not allowed below decks or into the turrets like you are on the Massachusetts in New Bedford. The ship’s long and distinguished history, including being reactivated for the Gulf war, is well documented.  We eat at Crabby Joes restaurant and are pleasantly surprised with the food and the live entertainer (Pete names him Flounder for his look alike in Animal House), less so with the dancing wait staff.

On the ferry trip back Pete disappears, but I know where he can be found. Sure enough I go to the wheelhouse and he is there talking it up with Captain Ed, a retired Navy captain who gives us advice on where to find good pubs in Portsmouth. later, following up on our recent intelligence, and fortified with a dram or two of rum, Pete and I head back out around 8pm while Archie catches a nap at the nav station. At the Bier Garten Pub (beer from everywhere in the world but no hard liquor and no music) in answer to our question of where to find the latter the bar tender suggests The Stil, a couple of blocks away which he noted was a topless bar.  Who does he think we are, a couple of rowdy sailors in port for a good time? We get there to find a very classy, subdued below street level pub. I take a seat at the bar and Pete wanders through the several rooms, comes back and asks the barmaid if this is the only bar in the building. She answers yes and asks why the question. We break out laughing and Pete explains we were told this was a topless bar. I think perhaps he actually said top shelf bar she replies. And yes – all the very best brands of every possible liquor were lined up on the shelves in front of us.

A drink or two later we continue our quest  and we are told to try Griffs back on High St. But as we arrive it is closing, have we lost track of time, so we go across the street to Barons Pub where there is a lively crowd, good music and the tempting odor of pub food. We settle in and meet some interesting people including , Dallas the chef from another place down the street who confirms Griffs and Stil both have great food.  Also Stephan and Caitlyn, a wild couple who recommend Kraeken Rum. How do I remember all this you ask?, all items were dutifully recorded on a bar napkin labeled Most Important Document.

Most Important Document

Actually there was also a second most important document created the next evening but the waitress gave me the pen used to check for counterfeit money which uses essentially disappearing, invisible ink. Last call comes out of nowhere and we  find ourselves walking by The Deck Restaurant back at Tidewater Marina. We hear voices inside, and not ready to end the evening, head up the stairs where we are invited in to join a private party. At 0430 Archie leaves messages on our phones curious as to our whereabouts and hoping we have not ended up in the hospital or jail. Or, to use the bartenders expression for someone who has lost it ..were we Off our Chains ?

WEDNESDAY

Captain Kenyon mercifully lets us sleep in and we start down the ICW at 1000 fortified with a full breakfast of bacon and eggs. At 1345 we are docked on the front dock of the Atlantic Yacht Basin, Chesapeake City, a whopping 12 miles from Great Bridge. Pete and I agree we have set sail with Carnival Cruise lines. Dinner is at a new Italian Restaurant, Fabbrizis, a short walk from the marina. Pete orders meatballs even though they are not on the menu explaining any good Italian restaurant always has them available. Archie and I go with veal Marsala which turns out to be a delicious but low fat version of the traditional dish. The Chef visits the table to ask Pete how he liked the meatballs explaining it is a new recipe he happened to be trying out for tomorrows special. They get high marks.

As we walk back to the boat Archie asks me,  See any bars? No Archie I reply, this is a recovery port, no bars for us tonight.

THURSDAY

We take our departure at 0800 and tie up at Midway Marina, Coinjock, N.C. at1300. How we are keeping this torturous  pace. With time on our hands Pete and I decide to repair the masthead wind vane. I had checked it with binoculars at Tidewater and discovered the plastic rudder on the vane was broken off. Now we know why we couldn’t calibrate it. We haul Pete up the stick in a bosuns chair with Archie on the main winch and me tending a secondary safety line on the halyard winch. Pete brings down the unit and after brainstorming options I buy a couple of popsicles at the marina store. Pete buys some epoxy and in a couple of hours the new McGivered unit has been assembled, wind tunnel tested in front of the galley fan, is in place and appears to be working.

We celebrate with bloody marys and rum and head up to Crabbys Restaurant. The only other boat at the dock is USCG Buoy tender # 551034 and the crew is already in Crabbys. We buy them a round of drinks and have a good time talking with the BM1 in charge. He also gives us a great new expression when he refers to his wife as The Mammadant (take off on Commandant, get it?). We all have great meals, including wings to go, and the owner, Terry, explains he had fired the entire kitchen staff who had been ripping him off by telling them they had a choice – hit the road or go to jail.

FRIDAY

0720 departure for what will be our only long day. A trawler, LADY M, joins our bomb list by making an unannounced pass while we were feeling, literally,  our way under the Coinjock bridge. Pete provides appropriate commentary.

It is a breezy day, 20 KTS, but all on the nose as we cross the Albermare Sound so we can’t sail and can’t calibrate our new wind vane. Shortly before sunset we anchor just inside the Alligator-Pungo Canal in what will be known in the future as Pistachio Cove.

Pete  - You want some pistachio nuts Archie?

Archie – No thanks

Pete  - Wow, Archie these nuts are very stale!

Archie – Yeah, really old ones. Why do you think I said no when I love pistachio nuts.

SATURDAY

A perfect 10 morning and at sunrise after cleaning a ton of mud off the anchor we get underway for Belhaven. I make massive omelets breakfast  in a futile attempt to use up the supplies Larry has laid on board.  We slow for a bridge and a sportsfisher passes to port. Pete waves and the captain flips him the bird which gets quite a reaction from Pete. Ten minutes later Pete is at the helm and we slow for another boat who has called for a pass. From below Archie asks what is going on. Pete answers that another boat is passing.  Don’t  piss him off says Archie.

We finally get a chance to calibrate the wind vane as we approach the B&A Aeronautical Test Range on the Pungo River. We man our stations as on the first day but in celebration Pete replaces woolen telltales by holding our National Ensign on the fore deck . Although the unit still refuses to flash or beep as the manual specifies after the 720 degree turn it does accept the correction input as we head directly into the wind.  Archie even ventures that the popsicle sticks seem to work better than the original vane.

Georges Sport & Oyster Bar

Our last stop this leg is Dowry Creek Marina which we make early in the day. There are still a few boats careened up in the marsh compliments of Irene but the marina is in fine shape. Neighbors at the dock are heading into town and ask if  we need anything. Ice pick shouts Pete, and low and behold they return with a nice one in a wooden sheath.

It is a really hot day now that we are off the water so we truly enjoy the sight of our replacement crew, Jim Gieb, burdened with a couple of cases of Yeungling coming down the dock. Betty Ann is put ship shape, we shower and head out for dinner at Georges Sports and Oyster Bar.  This is the heart of NASCAR country, the races are on the TVs and we were even joined at our table by a celebrity.

Another great dinner and the end of another great trip.

 Additional photos

1. A new and safer ice pick replaces random knives from the drawer
2. Archie daydreams of rounding Cape Horn
3. Pete doing what he likes best

1. Requisite winch shot (not bad for a point-&-shoot hey Andrew)
2. Marlinespike duty in Pistachio Cove
3. Enjoying the captains comfy chair

Surprise, surprise!  I normally do only one leg of the delivery trips but this year Archie called to ask if I could do the final leg from Miami to Tamp Bay since someone else had to cancel.  Not one to decline an opportunity to sail, particularly this leg which would include a stop in sunny Key West in the middle of November, I readily agreed! The crew would be Archie, Larry, and me.

The flight to Miami was uneventful, and we stepped out into 80 degree plus warm humid air, Ahhh I love doing that, and hopped a cab to the downtown marina where BETTY ANN was awaiting. I checked out the boat, including the cold beer storage, while Archie and Larry went provisioning. I should go on that trip to the market some time to see Larry in action. I imagine it to be like a mother shopping with an active child.

“Look Archie, these steaks are prime grade!”

“But do we really need 5 pounds for the three of us?”

“Hey Archie, bacon is on sale – four pounds for the price of three!”

“But we are only at sea for four days, wouldn’t one pound do it?”

Anyway, they came back heavily laden with top grade supplies which were stowed away and off we went for dinner in South Beach. With memories of $14 drinks in mind we went one block back from Ocean Drive, and found the Puerto Saqua cuban restaurant on Collins St. that looked interesting (and inexpensive). This was not to be Larry’s favorite place to eat. He ordered a non-alcoholic Becks but got the regular kind, he is still waiting for his lobster long after Archie and I are served, his meal is judged mediocre while ours is delicious. Maybe he said something that unknowingly pissed off the waitress?  It is obviously a very popular place with lines out the door and everyone else seemes to be having a good dinner.

Whatever, we walk back to the boat and turn in.  Good to be back on board!

Day One

We depart 0630 at first light and motor out the inlet into an easterly breeze, unfurl the sails and turn towards the south.  We are motor sailing at 8 knots when BETTY ANN decides to spring her surprise on us to see if we are worthy to continue. ( She seems to do this each trip lately (snapped halyard, parted jib outhaul, loose propeller shaft coupling, snapped main reefing line etc)  The engine temperature alarm sounds!  No real problem here, we can maintain our course while sailing and sort this out.  Archie goes below to check the raw water strainer and finds it has a bit of weed in it, but more worrisome is the fact the bottom of the screen has corroded off so it is basically useless, and we wonder what might have passed into the raw water pump or beyond. We decide to cannibalize the screen from the A/C unit since it is basically the same size, just needs to have an indent in the bottom drilled out to fit. This done we refire the engine but find the problem remains. Time for McGiver!   I configure the the valves to use the emergency bilge suction that works off the engine raw water pump. Nice, the alarm goes off so we know the pump is good and the system clear. Next I run the hose we use to shift fresh water between tanks and use it to back flush the intake. When everything is reconnected the problem is gone.

It is a really hot day with pretty good swells and Larry doesn’t fare well trying to work in the galley so breakfast and lunch are light.

We have used up a lot of time poking along while making repairs so the kinder, gentler Captain Archie decides we will be forced  to pull into Key Largo instead of making an night time entry into Marathon. Damn!  As we head in the Largo Canal there is a tight 90 degree bend known locally as Crash Corner.  A blind corner which requires a Sécurité transmission. Archie makes it and another boater answers with  Which crash corner? How many are there? answers Archie.

By 1500 we are docked and Arch and Larry have jumped in the pool. Funny thing about that pool. When I got there for some reason I read the large blue Pool and Spa Rules signs posted nearby; the rules were the same for each. My attention is drawn to Rule # 8 and I wonder what happened, and when, to make that rule necessary.  Swim call is over at 1700, we shower and head for dinner at Sharpies Pub, not more than 100 steps from the boat. The food is good, the beer is cold and there is live entertainment. The  first set is pretty good but the singer has a  female vocalist from N.Y.C. that joins him for the second set and she belts out jazz tunes in a really loud, high voice. Good thing a day at sea makes you very tired because she keeps singing long after we have turned in.

 Day 2

We are off early for Key West and enjoy 12 hours of a beam reach motor sail at 8-9 knots. Larry is back in the galley and serves a huge lunch.  As we approach the marina we are directed to a slip on the western side of the pier where we are met by Diane, the dock mistress. As Archie backs into the slip Diane steps to the very end to receive my bow line and the board gives way beneath her. This is not going to work she shouts, and we are directed to dock alongside the easternmost pier, opposite a spectacular 87 foot custom build Jim Smith Sportfisher named PATSEA. More about that later.

PATSEA our dock neighbor

Once secured, and after we spliced the mainbrace (I leave it to you to check the meaning of that salty phrase) we were off the The Schooner Bar.  Too late for Michael McCloud but Greg Walther, a good cover artist was taking requests so of course I asked for some John Prine and he sang Paradise, and Angel from Montgomery - wow – two of my favorites. He also had a really funny original song about a weather channel reporter sent to Key West to cover Irene. There was no wind or storm when he got there so the crew rigged a huge fan on the beach to get the effect.

Back at our slip we met the crew of PATSEA and got some particulars about the boat, but not a tour since the owners were due to arrive shortly for a birthday party. Anyway, power is twin 2400 HP MTU diesels which give a top speed of  45 knots, while burning close to 125 gallons of fuel per hour!

Day 3

After delicious breakfast waffles at Two Friends patio restaurant we head to the marine hardware store for replacement strainers and a repair parts kit for the broken safety line gate snap hook. (To get the part number, which was written upside down on the strainer I got so far into the compartment under the cabin floor that Larry had to pull me out by grabbing onto my shorts) Once the maintenance is completed it is back to the Schooner Bar for lunch, and a full afternoon of drinks and Michael McCloud music.  He puts on a good show with some new patter between songs, and a new, at least to me song about his dog Cinderella. Lyrics something like

I’m  going to grow old and die

I may not know just how, when or why.

Since my memory faded due to Captain and Coke consumption here is the YouTube link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi2FvnnDry8

Michael McCloud, and The Professor

A woman sat down at a table in front of the stage and dropped some bread crumbs for the pigeons. McCloud stops in the middle of his song and explains how hard they work to keep the pigeons away because when one person feeds them they fly over someone else and shit on their head. “So what I am saying mam is don’t feed the fucking pigeons!”

About this time a crowd of people from a cruise ship pour into the bar and one of them is about fifty, overweight wearing cutoffs and a sleeveless t shirt, and adorned with unattractive tattoos over most of her body. Archie leans over and says, “She is someones Grandmother!”  How does he come up with these great one liners?

Manatee at the water bubbla

Back at the dock we notice a manatee had come to drink water from the hose PATSEAS crew were using to wash down the boat after returning from brief fishing excursion. Man, they are really strange creatures -live in the ocean but need fresh water to drink.

The forecast is for high winds to the north so we decide to hold off for a day!

Day 4

We get to enjoy another day in Key West and put it to good use. The bilge pump has been coming on but can not locate where the water is coming from, all the compartments except the one in the salon were dry, and we assumed that water was a result of opening the strainer the day before. However, after I bailed it out completely the cause is clear. I must have just cracked open the valve for the emergency bilge pump when trying to extricate myself  the day before and water was trickling in.

Larry and I wash down BETTY ANN and decide to get a coat of wax on the port side. The captain of the impeccable, mirror finished PATSEA, who wipes off every drop of dew with  a chamois cloth remarks on what a good job we are doing. I am sure he is thinking he would be fired on the spot if he ever did a job like it.

We head out for a great dinner at Pepe’s and turn in early  - back to sea tomorrow at first light.

I would be delinquent in my reporting if I didn’t mention that, as usual, whenever we have been within cell phone coverage Larry has been involved in several business negotiations. One of the highlights this trip is that a proposal he submitted to the Town Of Charlestown had not been acted on within the required time so was approved by default. (On visits to Town hall he had seen the box sitting under a desk).  So we expect to hear complaints about what I call “Larry’s Loophole” when we return.

Day 5

0630 and we are underway for Brayeton, the end of the line. We enjoy Northeast wind of 12-15 knots on the beam all day with the same forecast for all night. Bets are made between Larry and Archie regarding arrival time – 0800 and 0900 respectively.  I know the wager between a seasoned business man and  country lawyer who have worked together for years will be debated and justified no mater when we arrive. Was it when we hit the waypoint off Tampa Bay or when we docked at the marina? etc.  But BETTY ANN has her own ideas and we sail and motor sail (to charge the batteries) at 7-9 knots the entire way. At our rate of advance we arrive at our waypoint before sunrise and head into Tampa bay under power at 3 knots. We stop for fuel and arrive at twin Dolphins Marina at 0900.

With time on our hands Larry and I finish the wax job on the starboard side.

All shiny again

We go to the marina restaurant for dinner and the appetizers, cocktails and conversation are so good we forget to order our entrees.  Oh well, a taxi is coming for us way before the sun comes up so time to hit the sack.

May 30th, 2011

This sailing trip started a little different than some of the others, this would include no planes, and a scheduled layover in Baltimore for a day to visit with a new crew member’s family.  The new member is my friend Kelly, and he arrived at my parent’s house in Rhode Island around 9:00 AM.  The plan is to drive his car to Baltimore where his sister Kerry and her boyfriend James live.  We’ll hang out that night and then get on the boat in Annapolis.  Then Kerry will drive Kelly’s car back north to visit with their family.

The drive down is hot, and Baltimore is even hotter.  We arrive at Kerry and James’ apartment complex to 100 degree temperatures and 99.999% humidity.  Jokes are made about my upcoming move to Texas…”You’d better get used to it.”

After a quick settling in we’re off to Fells Point, MD for some drinks.  Our first stop is Max’s where we have a round of Loose Cannon – Heavy Seas.  This would be a very easy place to stay for a bunch more rounds, but we have limited time and want to make the most of this night out.

Our next stop is Woody’s Rum Bar for Painkillers (James has a rum punch and then switches to Painkillers when he sees our positive reaction to the mix).  It’s hot out on the patio, but the view of the water and the iced beverages keep us cool.  We seem to have developed a bit of a hunger so we make a diagonal path over to Shuckers for Flying Dog Pale Ale, oysters, and a “small” fry, which was “as advertised”.  Seriously, it was a coffee cup dish of french fries.  No bother, our real meal is slowly cooking back at the apartment.

We head back to James and Kerry’s for a rib fest which included the ribs (obviously), Bud Lights, Corn, Potato Salad, and coleslaw with vinegar.  James knows how to send sailors off right!

We watch Idiocracy and then fall asleep eager for the next day and the beginning of a new sailing adventure.

May 31st, 2011

Position: 38 57.931 N 76 25.417 W 

We are inundated with bugs!  I decide it would be great fun to keep track of how many bugs we have each killed and have it on a sort of leaderboard.  I start keeping track but soon realize that this would be a full-time job with the pace that these guys are nailing bugs.  Final tally at end (after a couple hours) stands at:

Jim:  10

Archie: 2

Andrew: 1

Kelly: 0

There were more hits, but I justs stopped writing them down because it was taking me away from other “pressing” matters every five minutes.

We make our way up towards the Chesapeake Delaware canal and finally make it into it.  Our first scheduled stop will be at the familiar Summit North.  We hail on the radio but receive no reply on channels 16 or 9, but cell phones work.  So goes the modern in-shore boating experience.

The dockhand struggles with the two lines while getting us situated on the long finger pier, but soon he has us secure.  This was a very different experience than we would have later on with the handlers at Liberty Landing New Jersey.

Our spot on dock is literally as far as possible from the store, showers and restaurant.  We have to walk halfway around the rectangular marina to get anywhere.  Whatever, the lure of fresh hot showers is very strong.

We turn AC on and crack open some Yuenglings (we need to start drinking beer that easier to spell). I attempt some pictures of an egret but am unable to get a good shot.

In the meantime, Archie returns from his walk all the way over to the marina office (no small feat in this heat and humidity).  He comes with bad news: no restaurant or bar!  They are closed for the holiday!  What?  That’s BS!

We have a shipboard meal and Kelly and Archie do dishes. After that it’s time for books and showers.  Kelly opts for the marina showers, while I elect for the ship shower (after triple-checking for the valve in the forward compartment).  Yeah, that’s a very important little valve.  In a couple of the previous journeys, one of the crew who shall remain unnamed forgot to open this valve.  This valve stands between the shower catch basin and the holding tank (or overboard drain depending on configuration).  In any case, the important part is that if you do not open this valve then the contents of your shower and up all over the coats and other articles of clothing in the locker.  Archie is not amused when this happens.

The shower and beautiful air conditioning work and sleep arrives fast, as it usually does on these journeys.

June 1, 2011 : 09:12 AM

We all slept in this morning since we had to wait for tides anyway.  We take this opportunity to feed ourselves up and Archie cooks up a slamming breakfast of English Muffins, scrambled eggs, bacon and coffee.  Pretty much the perfect breakfast anytime, but even better while sailing.

Kelly and I do dishes and then go topsides to fill ship’s water.  The process goes fast because the hose has a lot of pressure (no joke).  After completing this task we head off to the store to buy snacks and make use of the “facilities”.

While waiting for the bathroom to open up I see a cat sunning itself on the rail.  I walk over to pet it and immediately wish that I had not.  Maybe 15 years ago this was a nice fluffy cat…currently this feline is in a state of decay and the fur feels dirty, greasy and clumped under my hand.  He looks at me with an expression that says “Yeah, I know…I’m gross.”

After taking care of business I head inside the store looking to score some munchies which are always seem to be in short supply on a sailing trip.  This is the worst-stocked store I’ve ever seen.  There are maybe two shelves of chips and stuff, except they’re all no-name chips and pretzels.  There are also a couple flavors of pork cracklins, but not much else.  I find something to buy and then head back outside.

On my way out there is a hot chick walking in.  She must be on her way to open the restaurant or something, for sure she’s not going to be operating the pumpout boat.

Back on the boat we check the forecast which is for HOT, HOT, HOT!  Oh, by the way….today’s going to be HOT!  The radio actually says that elderly and animals should not be outside.  Animals?  Really?

Anyway, they didn’t say anything about sailors staying inside so we cast off, exit Summit, and turn left back onto the CND.

The Bruins play today!  I have it on good authority that they’re going to go all the way this year.  That’s why back in the middle of the season I put down $15,000 on the Bruins winning the cup at 5000 : 1 odds…so far so good, we’ll see! [Edit...wow, I really wish I had done that].

It’s already hot in the sun and it’s only 10:00.  When there’s a breeze it becomes fairly comfortable, but without it one quickly becomes sticky-hot; the worst kind.  We are all (I assume, I know I am) looking forward to the Atlantic portion of the sail, hoping that the forecasted winds and cool Atlantic water will chill us down.

The trip down Delaware River is uneventful, our plan worked and the tide changed about one-third of the way down and sucked us down the river.

I went down for a nap shortly after we entered the wide part of the Delaware.  While I was sleeping the topside crew began navigating through the “short route” around Cape May.

When I arrive back on deck, the Betty Ann has been settled on her course up the New Jersey coast.  That’s the best part about shipboard naps, it turns into time travel.

Dad makes burgers for dinner, which are awesome, but Archie is not too enthusiastic about the baked-on beef bits that are left on the griddle they were cooked on.  He was down in the galley for quite a while with the sound of scrubbing coming up from below.

After dinner the sun is beginning to set and the weather radio is going on about the possibility of thunderstorms and tornados.  We are very doubtful that we will see either because as far as we can tell there is nothing around us, and a quick check of the radar on my iPhone shows the closest activity is down in the DC area.  In any case, we decide to err on the side of caution and bring the sails in. [Unbeknownst to us, up in Massachusetts a tornado had already touched down at around 4:30PM killing four people.]

And then this…

When accidents happen on a boat, they usually happen quickly, and this was no exception.  The Betty Ann has roller furling on both the main sail and jib.  The way these work is that each sail has two lines, one to “pull the sail out” and one to “roll it back in”.  The line to bring the sail in is called the reefing line, and it’s also what keeps the sail safely stowed away.

What happened to us next borders on the unthinkable.  The reefing line for the main sail snapped and the main sail proceeded to come running back out to full set.  This is not good.

We sit dumbfounded as to what exactly we should do now.  The sun is going down, there is the possibility of thunderstorms and/or tornados.  Flying full sail is NOT the recommended sail plan for those conditions.

We decide that we have two options:

1. Bring down the main sail, or
2. Attempt a re-threading of the reefing line up the ‘reefing screw’, the contraption that spins to pull in the sail.

Winds are now 20 knots, and this, along with the wave action, would have made bringing in a large sail very difficult and dangerous.  Have you ever had an umbrella pulled out of your hands in a gust of wind?  Imagine that you have an umbrella the size of an a-frame on a house and think about trying to wrangle that to the deck of a rolling and pitching boat.

One concern with option number two is that the reefing line will be very hard to thread because it fits very snugly into the threads of the ‘reefing screw’.  This is where Kelly comes up with a fantastic idea to use a smaller diameter line.  It sounds obvious now as I write it (and maybe to you as you as you read this), but I can assure you that if he had not had that thought the rest of this story may have had a very different ending.  The crew decides that a re-threading attempt is in order.

Dad and Kelly don life jackets and harnesses, and after clipping into the jack lines (safety lines that run the length of the boat), go out on deck and up to the mast to attempt a re-threading.

After a few minutes inspection of the reefing corkscrew Kelly comes back to the cabin isinglass and shouts through for pliers and a screwdriver.  Pliers to pull the line, a screwdriver to push it.

Back in the cockpit Archie and I watch as they fiddle with the line and the furling corkscrew.

Another call comes back for allen wrenches.  Archie bounds down  the companionway ladder and returns moments later with the requested item.

Image not this cruise, but this is the "corkscrew"

They start working the new, smaller-diameter reefing line into the corkscrew from the bottom up.

I yell out, “Hey Dad!  Isn’t the end of the line in your left hand coming back to the cockpit?”

He nods, “Yeah?”

Time passes and they make a couple more wraps of line around the ‘corkscrew’.

I call out again, “Hey!”

“Yeah?” comes the reply through the wind outside.

“Do you think it might be easier to start at the top and work your way down?”  He looks back to the corkscrew and agrees.  Ad he continued it would have required passing the entire line through the corkscrew instead of threading it down to the bottom and leaving the rest on deck.

They get it wound up, set the locking bolt onto it with the allen wrench, and then send the remaining slack (from the top of the corkscrew) back to Archie and I in the cockpit.

We bring Betty Ann back into the wind (completely this time), and begin reefing again…

It works!  HUZZAH!  An extra round of grog for these men when we get to port!

With the sail in we can now turn back onto our intended course (we had been sailing forty-five degrees to the wind which in this case was sending us straight out to sea).  I put the boat in gear and begin out turn.  She seems very sluggish.  Oh well, we’re only going a couple knots and the rudder is hard over, maybe she’s just taking her time.  I add a little more throttle.

“Are you in gear?” Dad asks?

“Yeah, why?” I reply.

“It doesn’t seem like we’re moving.”

“Hmmmm, I think you might be right.”

The crew is stunned.We just fixed a major problem with our main sail and now we have another with our drivetrain?  This is impossible!  No really, the odds must be infinitesimally small and hugely improbable (kind of like my bet with the Bruins).

The crew begins troubleshooting in the cabin again.  We loft various ideas of what the trouble might be.  Did we lose the prop?  Is the shift linkage messed up?  Did something break in the transmission?  We shift back and forth between forward and reverse, and throttle up and down…nothing happens except for the engine revving up and down.

Dad and Archie go below to have a look.  Kelly and I stay topside and probably are both thinking the same thing; this is not good.  We have no sail out, and we have no propulsion.  This means we cannot steer and are currently just drifting with the wind (which is still blowing a steady 20 knots), and bouncing and rolling with the waves.

I think sailors, like athletes , are inherently superstitious.  Having two major problems in a row like this cannot bode well for our ship’s karma.  What did we do to make you angry Neptune?  Kelly and I sit in the cockpit waiting for word.

Kelly relays a command back to me from down below, “Shift into forward.”

A few moments pass.

“Back to neutral.”

A few moments pass.

“Shit into forward again.”  I am beginning to wonder what they’re looking at.  I have no other information except for what the state of the transmission should be in.   Thankfully Kelly relays another message back to me, this one a short description of the problem.  Kelly says, “They say they can see the shaft moving when you look in one door, but not when you look in another.”

Ok, apparently we have a magic shaft that only rotates when observed from certain locations, maybe it’s a quantum propeller shaft or something.  Whatever, I await further instruction.

Kelly relays another command, “DO NOT shift into gear!”

I wait another couple long minutes until a new command arrives, “Try it now.”

I shift into forward gear and turn to look behind me.  We have prop-wash!  Fuckin’ A!  Our crew has fixed and conquered another problem that would very likely have daunted a lesser crew.

I add more power and turn back to the north.  I wait until Archie is done with the dishes (he’s still grumbling about the messy griddle) to add full power and come completely back on course.  It felt good to be moving again and if I could do anything to ease Archie’s dish duty (especially after having been upside down fixing the propeller shaft), I was going to make that happen.

Tonight would be an overnight sail to New York City.  Our plan is to arrive in the early morning.  Dad draws up the watch schedule for the night.  It’s a pretty standard schedule.  I was at the wheel when the schedule was made, so it started off with me at the wheel from 8:00PM to 10:00PM, and then on standby from 10:00PM to 12:00AM when dad would be at the wheel.  Archie would relieve my dad at midnight and I would go to bed.  Kelly would be on helm 02:00AM to 04:00AM when I would arrive to relieve him, and he would go on standby until 06:00AM.  Explaining these watch schedules always sounds complicated, but in reality you only need to know one thing when you’re a crew member…who do I wake up.

During my time on deck there was a series of radio calls from United States Navy Warships informing us that they would be doing live fire and rudder tests.  Their position was well east of us, but after a couple rounds of these warnings a new voice came on the radio, this one in a very thick middle-eastern accent, “Please to be telling again what are the coordinates of the live fire?”

My dad and I had a good laugh at this and entertained ourselves by repeating this radio call between ourselves for the next hour or so.  You find any way you can to keep yourself alert during night watches.

Soon we noticed bright flashes off our starboard (right) side – the same general direction of the Navy ships’ reported positions.  We listen for a boom but hear none.  Soon there are flashes every few seconds.  We are hoping that these are the result of the live fire exercises, but were pretty sure that it was only heat lighting.  The storm continued through the rest of my watch, and I would find out later, the rest of the night.

As scheduled, at midnight I go below and leave Betty Ann in the capable hands of Archie and dad.  Minutes after going to sleep however a loud alarm pierces through the darkness of the saloon (the area of our boat that would normally be considered the “living room” or “dining room”, it serves both functions, currently it is also acting as “bedroom” to two sleepy sailors, Kelly and myself).

Kelly and I pop up out of our bunks, and look out into the blackness of the cabin.  I had never heard this alarm before, and certainly Kelly on his first cruise with the Betty ann never had either.  I had no idea what it was, but alarms are never good.  After the events of the evening I think we were both prepared for anything.  What now?  Bilge alarm?  Engine oil alarm?

The engine slows down and Kelly and I look at each other.  We looked like two meerkats on alert with our heads rotating around.  However, the alarm stops and we soon hear the engine RPMs increase  back to normal cruising power.  Satisfied that there is no emergency Kelly and I both crawl back into our bunks and drift back to sleep.

What seemed like a short thirty minutes later we are again awoken by the same alarm; I hope this isn’t going to be a recurring problem.  Actually, I always find that on overnight watches it seems to be when I’m off duty that stuff like this happens.  It’s either some loud noise, or the sails need to be changed, or the jib sheets decide to come free.  I suppose it’s just that human nature thing of “why do the bad things always seem to happen to me?” when in reality it just feels that way.

In any case, Kelly and I are already accustomed to this drill.  Instead of popping into meerkat pose we both just roll our heads and look up at the companionway.  This alarm ends like the first did and nothing happens.  We both return to sleep.

The two alarms are indicated on my watch schedule picture by two squiggly lines in the “12″ box.

June 2, 2011 : 04:00 AM

I am back up on deck at 4AM to relieve Kelly at the wheel.  To my surprise the sky is already beginning to lighten.  I realize that this is because other cruises I have been on were always earlier in the year when sunrise comes later.  It is June instead of the May that this leg usually occurs on.

Kelly and I discuss the alarms from last night, but apart from that not much happened in these early morning hours.  A welcome respite from the drama of the last 12 hours.

Kelly snoozes like a complacent cat in the blue comfy chair while the sun rises.  When Kelly goes below and my dad comes on deck I decide that a snooze in the blue comfy chair is just what the doctor ordered.  The rising sun feels great on my chilled body and I soak up every last drop.  I continually re-position myself for maximum sun exposure as the sun rises and the boat makes minor course corrections.  After my “on standby” watch ends at 08:00AM I decide that I will continue my sleep down in the saloon.

June 2, 2011 : 09:00 AM

Awake at 09:00AM and come on deck to see the Verrazano bridge in the distance.  We are navigating through the entrance to New York harbor and Sandy Hook.  It is a veritable  cornucopia or red and green buoys, as well as permanent lights that mark the multiple channels to these two locations.  Kelly arrives on deck soon after I am up so I didn’t need to go wake him up after all.

Archie makes pancakes which are good and much-appreciated.  As we eat we watch some tugboats getting floated onto a giant floating drydock.  The winds are high which must be making their job all that much more difficult.

Soon after we see the Trump helicopter fly overhead and then up ahead something even more amazing.  There appears to be a tallship coming down the river towards us.  A little closer and we see her unfurl even more sails and soon she us cruising by on our starboard side.  A little research later on would reveal that this is the Maltese Falcon, a 289 foot privately-owned yacht.  Not really a tallship, but a modern sailing yacht equipped with an equally modern “tallship rig”.   Quite a sight to behold.

Soon afterwards we make our standard left-hand turn into Liberty Landing marina.  Remember those winds I mentioned?  We were a bit concerned about our upcoming arrival.  After some back-and-forth with the marina on the radio we discovered that were were assigned a spot that was going to be difficult to get into, with not much room for error.  We raced to complete the required lines for a “port side to tie up”.  It always seems that there is just enough time to get all the lines and fenders ready.  Maybe it’s some sort of conspiracy between boat capitans and marina crew, let’s see how fast these guys an do this.  In any case, it was lucky for us the dock crew was superb and despite the wind attempting to rip us away from the pier, their “capitan” shouted orders around and they quickly had us tied up and safe.

As usual, the boat crew is more than ready for a spot of shore leave.  First we need to tidy up though.  So we wash the boat, wash the people, and then get on a water taxi headed for Battery Park NYC!

Our first stop was PJ Chapman’s (I think that’s what it’s called) for beers where I started with a Sam Summer.  We soon realized that the showers we took back at the marina were unnecessary.  The wind from earlier in the day returned to haunt us as it picked up the water from the nearby waterfall and sprayed everyone nearby.

We paid our tab and took the short walk over to the Tower viewing site.  We also took this occasion to re-fill our wallets with cash at a nearby ATM.

Begin “March to Stone Street” for dinner…

After some aid by our smartphone GPSs and a helpful New York native we found Stone Street, or at least what we thought was our destination.  It didn’t look quite as it was described to us, a cobblestone street with outdoor seating from five or six restaurants.  We’re sailors though, and we saw a bar called Murphy’s and went in. While inside we learned that we were on the “wrong side” of Stone Street, ahhh, that explains it.  Since we were in Murphy’s we decided to have a few beers including a Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat (didn’t get high marks).  Do not recall what the other few beers were, but Kelly and I sampled a few from the bar’s menu.

The bartender was sympathetic to our cause of needing to get to the “restaurant side” of Stone Street and gave us directions.  “You need to walk around the Goldman Sachs building.  The rest of Stone Street is on the other side.” he said.

“Well,” I asked, “Can we just go through the building?”

“What?”  he guffawed, “You can’t walk through buildings!”

Now confident of our final destination and well-lubricated with libations, we resume our march to other side of stone street.  It turns out that we could have done exactly as I was thinking, we could have gone through the “lobby level” and ended up where we needed to be, whatever, no bother.

After a walk up and down the “real” Stone Street checking out the different outdoor seating availabilities, we decide on the Dubliner…might as well stay with the Irish theme.  We have more beer, and I had some pork short ribs which were awesome.

Soon afterwards my cousin Chris showed up and joined us for a few more rounds.  Seated behind us were some Wall Street types who were busy pounding their chests about whatever trades it was they had made that day.  They were loud but harmless enough, and part of the “New York Experience” I guess. As happens when the beers are flowing the time and conversation slipped by and suddenly it was time to go.  Chris led us back to a bridge that would get us back to Battery Park and our water taxis.

We stay inside the taxi where it is warm and soon we are delivered back to Liberty Landing.  We ramble back to the Betty ann where we all have good laughs over the “matchstick boat” story conclusion.  While burying ourselves into our blankets, dad and I come up with a grand bar scheme (a scheme that can only be conjured in the presence of alcohol and has little chance of ever being put into practice, especially after sobering).  Our scheme concerned a wedding party that we had observed earlier:

The Grand Bar Scheme

1. Find a wedding at a marina.
2. Show up dressed as a pirate.
3. Announce:  “I be hired to tell ye of the ways of marriage!”
4. “But first I be needing a glass with ice, for every marriage starts with a strong foundation, like a bed of rock.”
5. [someone gets you a glass with ice] “Ahhh….thank you”
6. “SECOND!  I be needing some RUM!  For every marriage needs some fire!  And you know what, throw some lime in there as well, that can represent the sour spots that will be overcome.”
7. “Now boys, I’m sorry to tell ya, but the ladies be needin’ some flowery shite in there too, so throw in some pineapple juice and call it a day!”
8. Repeat until you are found out.

June 3rd, 2011

We depart Liberty Landing and head up the East River.  I’ve been through this piece of water a few times now and I’m actually getting fairly familiar with it.  My first time through I was a little nervous, you hear all these stories about Hell’s Gate and tug boats and the like bearing down on you.  It turns out, like a lot of things in life, actually “doing the thing” is not nearly as bad as “thinking about doing the thing”.  The waters are actually pretty deep and the channels wider than they look on a chart.  There are a few points where you need to pay a little extra attention, but over all it’s not that bad.

The previous night Chris had mentioned that he would be able to see us from his apartment.  We call Chris to see if he can see us, but we are already past his location.  Apparently that was a grand bar scheme too.

We pass through Hell’s Gate, past Riker’s Island and past Execution rock into the Long Island Sound and suddenly is starts to feel like home, well, home waters anyway.

We discuss our options for the day; it’s early and we’re making good speed.  If we want to hit up Block Island it’d be nice to have as much time as possible to get there, so we decide to make for Clinton or Westbrook instead of the standard Port Jefferson.  This will make for a much shorter trip to the BI.

It’s now sometime after noon and I decide to go below and end up taking a long nap.  When I awake I head topside to see what progress we’ve made.

“We let you sleep, so we didn’t change sails.” says Archie.  We are just off Clinton!  Sweet!

The Clinton marina is actually three of four marines all operating out of one giant maze of docks and slips.  We make our way through this labyrinth and end up coming to a dead end near a bridge that we cannot pass (it’s only 5 feet off the water).  We hear a shout and see a dockhand motioning for us to tie up near him.   We finish making the boat secure, the deckhand seems to like us and says he told the office that we’re a 42′ boat (shorter equals less expensive as they charge by the foot).  Thanks!

Begin program:  Showers then off to find food and beer.

We hear that this place Bills has pretty good food and will be having a live band later on.  Sounds good to us!  We initially are seated outside on the deck and it is 100% gnats…nope, no thanks.  We walk back inside and four seats magically open up for us at the bar.  The stars have aligned for us!

We all order some drinks (I think Kelly and I started with beers and Jack and Cokes).  The band starts, they’re ragtime and really good.  Archie loves it and keeps calling friends to have a listen over the phone, holding his phone out to the band like a 13 year old girl at a Hanna Montana concert.  Can’t blame him though, we were all having a great time.

Kelly and I make friends with the ornery bartender Mike.  And guided by the music at our backs, we slip into an easy tempo of Jack and Cokes, Gin and Tonics, beer, Captain and Cokes, and Jack and Gingers…I think we covered all the bases there.

The night began to gain momentum and for a short bit the band was replaced by a high school band.  We didn’t think they would all fit in the fairly small playing area.  There was a tuba, a sousaphone, trombone, trumpet, keys and a drummer.  The trombone player and the drummer were twin sisters which was pretty cool.  The drummer looked very bored at times, maybe her other band is a metal band and she’s used to playing stuff much faster and louder.  We all enjoyed it though as they were also very good.

Scott Woodford appears for the last hour or so.  After the band stops and the bar is closing (something early like 11PM), we make plans to go out to breakfast with Scott.  He says he’ll pick us up the next morning.  Sounds like a plan.

We bounce our way back to the boat and I crash into my bunk with a water nearby, always a necessity to re-hydrate.

June 4, 2011 : 08:30AM

We may have had a large assortment of beverages last night, but we’re up on schedule and ready for breakfast.  We make the call to Scott and he tells us he’s on his way.  He appears in a big Black Cadillac and we depart for the Turtle Cafe.

The Turtle is a cool little joint with a good menu, more than the standard “bacon and eggs” (although you can get that too if you want.  I have an italian wrap, but the frittata is popular and pulls in both Kelly and Dad.  Laura offers to make a store run and all we can think of that we need is mayo and cheese. She doesn’t believe us at first, there must be something else you need she asks.  Nope, I think that’s it.  She is impressed at our apparent magic skill in managing our ship’s stores, but we seriously cannot think of anything else we need.

After breakfast we head back out to the Caddy to find its battery dead.  This is apparently a “known issue” with this particular vehicle so Scott makes a call and soon his son arrives in a truck with jumpers.  We have a leisurely ride back in the caddy, as we drive down the beach Scott gives us the details on how to get out of the harbor using the shorter “east passage”.  He also mentions how boats have run aground taking that route too.  It’s a slightly disconcerting combination of information.

After arriving back at the Betty Ann we all have our pictures taken in the caddy by Laura.  We also give a quick boat tour to Scott and Laura.  They are effusive in their praise of our water-based home, as everyone usually is when they see this beautiful boat.   We drop our lines and go, but not before I see Scott on the other side heading out on another sailboat to go out racing.  His boat would go on to win their race.

After we make it out the passage we turn left towards our next destination and find the wind nearly dead astern.  We set the sails “wing on wing” and also rig up the gybe preventer (a set of lines that prevents the boom from accidentally catching the wind on the wrong side and being blown across to the other side of the boat, a very dangerous occurrence both for the boat and the crew).  However we soon give up as the wind has slowed anyway.  We bring in the sails (we’re getting good at it anyway) and turn back to one-zero-eight degrees magnetic.

Some apples arrive topsides for a snack and we continue our march to Block Island.

June 4, 2011 : 04:00PM – Block Island!

Inside of New Harbor, Block Island we search for our mooring.  Archie has made preparations in advance with a friend to borrow a mooring.  We are told to search for a ball with GEIB printed on it.  All hands are on deck inspecting the mooring balls as they pass by…nothing…we can’t find it.  Finally Archie ends up spotting it from his position back at the helm, and before the three “young’ens” up on deck.

After making fast we use the air horn to hail the launch because the radio is unresponsive.   Our first stop is the Oar for 16oz Rum Punches, hummus + rare Tuna.  It turns out that our waitress is a wife of a family friend of Archie’s, so they talk for a bit before we decide to head out and explore this island a little more.  The rum punches were good, but not $8 good.

We grab a taxi over to Old Harbor and end up watching the Bruins period 1 at The National and enjoy more beverages (Captain & Coke, Gin Martinis, shot of Jameson, Captain & Ginger).  Archie returns from meeting with friends and we head back over to the Oar to watch more Bruins.

Our new waitress is a little rough around the edges in the social skills area, and Archie recommends to our crew at the table that maybe we can pay the waitress to go home.

Shortly before 11:30 we leave the Oar for the last launch.  We arrive to a dark empty dock.  Ehhh….what’s going on here…where’s the launch?  Kelly heads back into the Oar and explains our predicament.  Apparently the bartender called somebody named “Doyle” and then somebody called the harbormaster. While we wait we all head back into the bar to help them clean up by putting chairs on tables and the like.

Finally the launch driver [Buddy?] shows up and promptly exclaims “So let me get this straight.  You thought the last launch was at 11:30.  It’s now quarter past eleven, and you guys already called the cops on me?”

In any case we get our ride back to boat and all crash into our bunks.

June 5th, 2011

I awake to water bottles quenching my thirst and a blanket, very cozy.  Egg sandwiches are made and consumed before the mind has a chance to object.  Then we see the harbormaster coming over to us.  Uh oh, we all think…clearly he’s here to discuss the events from last night.  As it turns out it wasn’t that at all.  He just wanted to make sure that we had permission to use the mooring and that he was “pretty sure you guys were legit because you didn’t run and hide when you saw me coming.”

As is usually the case, I don’t have any journal entries for the last piece of the trip, in this case Block Island to point Judith.  There’s not much to it anyway, it’s only a 12 mile trip.  In any case, we made back without event and delivered the Betty Ann once more to her summer home in Point Judith.

Chopin – Grande Valse Brillante

Brahms – Sonata C major Opus 1

We left Key West at daybreak on the 18th (I think). We had some nasty rollers off our bow that was causing the boat to roll upwards of 50 degrees. That’s an estimate, but when the sailboat’s prop is coming out of the water because of a roll, you know it’s pretty dramatic. We slowed down a few knots and this helped to alleviate some of the rolling. It was still an uncomfortable night trying to sleep though. We pulled into Ft. Lauderdale Tuesday morning, April 20th. My dad took a taxi to his flight back home (the surgeon would be the same one who did his hip) and the remaining crew (Archie, Larry and myself) took showers and relaxed dockside. We had dinner at a nice restaurant on the water, then the next morning we set sail again for Charleston, South Carolina, which would be my final leg of sailing (the boat is continuing to Point Judith). The sail would take about 3 days of offshore sailing ( 2 nights), and with only three people on the boat the overnight watches were a little long. I was on deck (alone for the most part) from 6 – 9:30 PM and then back up on deck from 2 to 6 AM.

However, just because the sailing was over didn’t mean that my adventure was over. My cousin who was deployed in Iraq was going to be home for the week, and there was a party for him on the coming Saturday. So I canceled my flight and instead rented a car. But not just any car, a Cadillac SRX. It was only $140 for 24 hours, not bad really. It was a really nice ride, and the 70 MPH speed limits in SC, and NC make the miles go by fast. It had a Bluetooth-enabled radio that allowed me to hook up my phone’s MP3 player, so I was all set. Windows down, tunes cranked and singing along, and loving going 80MPH (sometimes 90) instead of the boat’s 8! I made a stop at South of the Border for some “gifts” for my cousin and continued on to Maryland where they live.

Party on Saturday, where I finally got to try a Texas “Shiner Bock” beer that I’ve heard so much about. Then do the DC tour thing on Sunday with my brother, his wife and kids. I bummed a ride with him on Monday back up north, and he dropped me off at the Old Saybrook train station. I bought a ticket from there to Westerly (only $13) where my mom picked me up and drove me back to their house. I was full from road food, but she was making my dad’s birthday dinner of Lamb chops, and they smelled so good I couldn’t resist. Three lamb chops, a baked potato and two glasses of wine later I was an extremely satisfied man.

This morning she drive me back to Johnston (where I live now), I picked up my truck and drove to work….The end.

Whew, that’s the “condensed version” believe it or not.

saw a cool color in the sky that I’d never seen before. went from powder blue by the sunset to deep navy blue opposite. not a cloud in sight, just a single star (or planet I’m presuming). I wish i had my real camera…

saw a cool color in the sky that I’d never seen before. went from powder blue by the sunset to deep navy blue opposite. not a cloud in sight, just a single star (or planet I’m presuming). I wish i had my real camera…

Love’s a battle
can’t never be won
just let it alone
so she can have her fun
she’s out on the town
all the misery-o
if you’re goin out again
just give me a call

she’s a mystery
to me and herself
she might like you
but she loves herself
in her eyes all anger and fear
she ain’t gonna show it
won’t shed a tear

Pre-release version:
No Love

Give it some time,
let nature take hold.
Forests ‘r like hearts,
they like to grow old

And he played the fiddle
while she would dance
short skirt twirled ’round corduroy pants.
Old age, new age,
we’ll meet in the middle
Singing the song of forbidden fiddle

Old rusty dinghy,
brand new cell phone
Best thing about
those they always see you home

He rows his boat
like she goes to the store
Buyin’ brand new clothes
she can’t afford

And he played the fiddle
while she would dance
short skirt twirled ’round corduroy pants.
Old age, new age,
we’ll meet in the middle
Singing the song of forbidden fiddle

Pre-Release Version:
Forbidden Fiddle

Beach full of sand
Aint nothing planned
One thing on my mind

Jump in the ocean
Sun tan lotion
want me to apply?

wet bikini
dry martini
anchor over the side

gonna have ourselves a time tonight

find a cove
that no one knows
listening to prine

cookies and gin
put the hendricks in
another slice of lime

coke and whiskey
chicks are frisky
stars are out tonight

Huggin Kissin
Bathing suit missing
Better close the blinds

gonna have ourselves a time tonight
gonna have a sandy bed tonight
gonna have a sunburn tonight

Alternate version:
Have Ourselves a Good Time Tonight (5)

Kegstands in the air
shotgun or funnel a beer
ice luge
with a shot of jaegar

Short skirt and makeup on
showing off a sexy thong
tramp stamp
that says i’m easy

all the guys think im hot
showing off what I got
and that aint much
but i’m horny

Red plastic cup
gonna go and fill it up
aint going home alone again

Red plastic cup
30 grand just to fill it up
But I’m hooking up again

I won’t call her in the morning
He’ll call me in the morning
hungover looking for
self-esteem

Listen Now!

Ribs in The Oven.PDF

So just stop asking cause when i’m talking to you
I’ve probably already had a few
and if  you aint careful
the next song
will be about you

He’s my grandpa
And I love him
I can’t wait
to see him again
I want to talk
bout the trip we had
And tell him that I love him

I was a boy with a mind so so wild
I ate pancakes
too many for a child
but I felt like a man
with my grandfather-man

I got sick and he understood
Just like the man, that I knew he was
yes he was
perpetually kind,
give his sight to the blind
yes he would

He’s my grandpa
And I love him
I can’t wait
to see him again
I want to talk
bout the trip we had
And tell him that I love him

Every day I wake
I know that he’s with me
watching my path looking out for me
and I know someday we’ll meet again
cause he’s my grandfather man

the killer bees are gay, we’ll find a place a to stay
a hundred miles more
and we can pray

A steak and shake a change of clothes
they’ll be on our toes
but we’ve got a stone to take and I know we’ve got to go,

cause he’s my grandfather man

Listen To It Now:
grandfather_man

“A new search engine! OMFG!!!!”

That seems to be the reaction that a lot of people have whenever a new search engine comes out. There’s a huge fuss about it; Digg, Slashdot, and eventually CNN and MSNBC pick up on it, and everyone holds the new engine up for inspection and dissection. Which is exactly what I’m about to do.

Cuil has received a lot of bad press. Almost everyone has the opinion that “It’s totally not Google.” I don’t think it was their intention to be Google, but to provide something different. Their main focus (at least for now) it seems to me, is to allow you to research something. If you want to find the address of Joes Barber Shop on Main Street, go use Google. If you need to learn about something that you have little knowledge of, use Cuil.

The Name is Stupid

You hear this a lot from people who are bashing Cuil. From the Cuil site:

“Cuil is an old Irish word for knowledge.”

I’m fine with that. In fact, I’m surprised that domain name wasn’t already taken and populated by one of those annoying domain sitters that just buys a domain and puts up random advertising links hoping you’ll click one. In this state of Internet affairs, if you can find a four letter domain name, and it happens to have actual meaning related to your intended business, good for you.

But how do I spell it? It’s pronounced ‘Cool’ but spelled ‘Cuil’.

Personally, since the first news story I saw about it I haven’t forgotten how to spell it. I didn’t have to Google for “new search engine spelled like cool” to find it. I just typed it in. Digg has two Gs, flickr is spelled wrong, yet these sites are doing fine.

Their Search Algorithm Sucks

This is another common complaint. Their search algorithms do provide some random failures, you don’t always gets the correct results, or any results at all, when you search for something that you know exists. You can always tweak the algorithm, and I’m sure they will. However, I think this lack of results might be in part intentional, or at least part of the plan; a way to differentiate themselves from Google.

“Lack of results is a feature?”

Yes. As part of my hypothesis that Cuil is meant for research about something that you know very little about I decided to research the “History of South Africa”. Deciding on a topic took a long time as I am quite knowledgeable on very many subjects. However, on a recent adventure I met a bartender from Cape Town, South Africa. I knew very little about South Africa apart from its geographic location (hint: It’s in Southern Africa, no need to jump over to Google Maps yet). This will be a perfect test for my comparison I decided.

First Search

I typed “History of South Africa” into both Cuil and Google. Cuil provided 129,408 results, Google provided “about” 15,700,000 results. Already the culling (Cuiling?) of the results is apparent. I wonder what could possibly be relevant to the History of South Africa on the fifteen-millionth Google result? To be fair, the one-hundred-twenty-nine-thousandth result is probably not much better, but the point about culling is still made I think.

The presentation is obviously different. Cuil uses a magazine-type layout, while Google uses their tried-and-true list of results, along with advertisements on the right. Both have similar results, with the Wikipedia article “History of South Africa” being near the top (top-middle column in Cuil, first result in Google).

However, the research-oriented approach of Cuil becomes apparent immediately. In the top right is a category suggestion box that lets you see some recommended categories. Are you looking for “Afrikaners”, “South African Politicians”, and more. Curious what an “Afrikaner” is I hovered over that. The category popped open with more search suggestions for Afrikaners like “Boer Republics” (some type of wild pig party association I’m assuming), “Voortrekkers”, and other creatively named items.

The point anyway, is that Google does not provide this. There really is no way for Google to suggest avenues of research about your topic. Maps of History of South Africa? Sure. The first result there is a map of the United States, the first pushpin being “University of South Florida – Center for Africa and Diaspora”, whatever. I had more luck with Google images, one provided a nice 1024 x 1220 map of South Africa. However, the utility of random images during a research task may be fairly low. I’d have to visit the sites that these images are coming from, it could very well be “Joe Shmoe’s PhotoShopped South Africa Map”. You can also search for news. Although in this context I don’t think there will be very much “News on the History of South Africa”

Conclusion

I’d better have a conclusion an a blog entry about research eh? I’m curious to see where Cuil ends up. When their initial investment cash dries up will the VCs be willing to invest more? We’ll see. Personally, I think it would be nice to have an alternative to the Google Monster, but getting a piece of that market share is like trying to eat away at Microsoft. I don’t hate Google by any means. I have a gMail account, I’ll keep using Google maps to get directions and spy on my neighbors, and for the time being I’ll probably keep Google as my home page. But if I need to find out more about Voortrekkers, I might head back to Cuil.

This was taken with a D300, 1 shot per minute, from about 10AM to 3PM