Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Nordhavn Rendezvous


Our Position is 41°30.664'N 070°42.125'W

Well, it was nice being pampered by the makers of our mighty little ship. We had four days of free meals and open bars, seminars, speakers, boat tours and even an all-day trolley tour of Newport, Rhode Island. The picture is of a chart paperweight/magnifier on which they had engraved the boat name as a memento of the affair which was a nice, unexpected touch.

The owners were all nice as expected and several owners befriended Emily and she left with several nice gifts from them. The Captain left with a little more knowledge of the engines and the myriad of ship systems. What was comforting was hearing that some of the problems I have uncovered (and fixed) over the past couple of years are now being battled by others. My solar panels were the envy of several owners as they battled to keep their batteries charged by running their generators all through the night, while mine were recharged by the sun as I was enjoying the festivities.

We are now nestled snuggly in Hadley harbor near Woods Hole, Mass waiting for some rainy weather to pass through so we can proceed through the Cape Cod Canal to visit with a favorite Aunt and Uncle who live out on the Cape. We may get there by Friday…or maybe not. Schedules are not a cruisers friend, but we are hoping to be in Maine for a Seven Seas Cruising Association party in early August.

Until then, dear reader, I hope you are enjoying yourselves as well.

Tom

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Underway….At Last


Our Position is 41.508551 N 71.385380 W

Well, ready or not, here we come. We’ve got the boat overloaded with stuff and the waterline is barely visible. We had Father Joe and Deacon Bill bless the boat and all the crew and we are now in Rhode Island heading for a Nordhavn Rendezvous (party). We were planning on having many friends over and doing the blessing with great fanfare, but hectic chores prevented that. Our back-up plan is to have another gathering when we again pass through CT in the Fall.

We dropped the dingy and took a quick tour around Dutch Harbor and saw two of our fellow Nordhavn boats also anchored here. It will be nice to talk to other owners and find out what they have done to their boats to make cruising more enjoyable.

It's early morning now and I'm sitting in the pilothouse sipping my coffee waiting for the rising sun to hit my solar panels and start replacing all the energy used overnight. Admiral Kim is out swabbing the morning dew off the deck. Little Emily is still enjoying her slumber down below, unaware of what the day will bring...as am I.

Tom