A cool little storm blew through the east coast this week. I was spending the holidays with my brother in Mass. this year. But with the forecast of 55kts and 18-24″ of snow, I thought it best to return home to my lonely, cold Bristol Channel Cutter, Elizabeth. I’m glad I did, it got rough in the harbor with the NNW wind gusting to 50kts. There’s about a 3/4 mile fetch when the wind is from the North. A few boats parted their lines, bumping other boats next to them. A few boats lost their covers, which flailed around all night causing a horrible racket, adding to the intensity of the night, and an old dock broke in two.

I doubled some of my lines and doubled some of the derelicts lines next to me… I didn’t want him to come knocking on my hull in the middle of the storm. I had removed my cover for some repairs, and decided it’d be best left off for the blow, reducing windage and the potential for a blow out. I figured some snow on my deck was a better option. Here’s some pics and a short vid, which is from the early part of the storm, before it got really crazy. Elizabeth and I survived just fine, stayed warm and we even got a decent nights sleep!

Merry New Year! I’m vacationing in New Hampshire, where the sun barely rises and the snow always falls. It’s been a lovely holiday taking care of family, pondering the meaning of life, contemplating the future, the best cell phone, my retirement, and of course the trip to France.

Here’s a new video short…

Yesterday we hunkered down in Cuttyhunk, while it blew 20kts from the West. We got ashore and explored. Took a walk to the highpoint on the island, snapped a few pics, enjoyed the view of the Vineyard, Buzzards Bay, and the expanse of water to the West. We stopped to smell some roses while we waited for the store to open. Great idea to only open the store 2 hrs a day, 1 hr in the AM, one in the PM. It makes shopping a social gathering. The island is home to 30 year round residents… pretty cool place.

Today we sailed. It was a lovely day for it, 10kts from the SW, with clear skies — most of the day. We find that it takes us an hour to get underway in the AM: from alarm clock to anchors aboard. Having to haul my dink and do last nights dishes doesn’t help.

Currently anchored in Pt. Judith Harbor Of Refuge… not a lovely spot, more like the Motel 6 of sailing. You stop here only because it’s convenient. But you know in the back of your mind, you should wear all your clothes to bed, because the mattress is really gross. The wind has piped up and will continue to do so tonight. Teresa and I are staying on our respective boats tonight, since it’s late and windy. Tomorrow we hope to make good headway with strong winds on our quarter finally. Too bad it’ll be raining.

Here’s some video from today’s sail…

1 picture : 1000 words :: 1 Video : 100,000 words. I didn’t do all that well on the SAT’s. But I did get into an all girls school, so that was kinda cool… Connecticut College for Women. Unfortunately, I got there a few decades too late, and by that time the male to female ratio was not in my favor.

So in the name of efficiency, I’m going to post videos instead of words today. I’ve got a lot of projects to get done before the cruise to Maine and the pending trip to the USVI this winter. And I’ve got a lot of work-work to do to make the money to help pay for the projects etc… Even though I live “the life” and have waterfront property, and can sail around and still work, and all that jazz… I do have to make the money and pay the bills sometimes.

In an effort to summarize, here’s a pic of the trip route, and there are many more pics on my flickr pages.

So the videos… they tell the story I suppose… some of it. Seems that when the shit hits the fan, the video camera is never there to capture it. I’m going to work on some mounting locations so I can roll during the chaos… Jean Du Sud style… Kite Cams coming soon! Parts 1 & 2…

10. Baghdad
9. Outbound Mid-town Tunnel, 5pm
8. The Mall, Obama’s Inauguration
7. Backseat of ric-shaw in Delhi
6. Your dentist’s chair
5. Floor of NYSE
4. Chair lift at Killington
3. Blagojevic’s trial
2. Girlfriend’s bathroom
1. Ben’s laundry room

The laundry room is dusty and linty… not a great choice for the indoor, winter varnish projects I’ve taken on. I’ve tried vacuuming horizontals, verticals, lamp shades; wiping down every surface; removing EVERYTHING in the room… but nothing will decrease the lint in the air. Comfort comes from knowing it’s only one coat deep. I’ve never been ultra picky about my varnish or paint, and this is no time to change that! Here’s the final coat of clear, complete with dust and lint.

Winter blues set in strong with week after week of sub freezing temps. It’s about this time in late January that I just get bored of wearing alot of clothes, like thick winter jackets in particular. I often try to encourage spring by dressing down…. but it never works. I always loved going out on my clam boat throughout the winter while growing up on Long Island. I figured if the clammers go out all winter, so can I. We used to get much pleasure from ice breaking in my 12′ aluminum skiff.

We did have a respite from the brutal cold of last week, got above freezing, so we took the opportunity to get out on the Fatty Knees 7′ dink for a short sail. It was cold, and you can tell my jaw is slightly numb by my slurred speech.