Bonding
If I am walking down the street and I see someone wearing the same shirt that I’m wearing, I don’t think, “We have the same taste in shirts, therefore we could be friends.” Perhaps if I order the same chicken…
We Might Be Nuts
You know how when your kid is born, you love them, but you don’t know them? Quickly they develop personality traits, idiosyncrasies and physical characteristics so that you can not only identify them from a mile away, but so that…
Summer Starts
Michael told me last night that summer starts June 21st. Bullshit! Summer is my favorite season of the year and I consider myself an expert at recognizing the starting signals. The excruciatingly high pitched tone of the ice- cream truck…
Can’t Always Be This Good
Teenagers and grandparents galore for a Saturday morning sail on June 9th. The crew: Grandma E (pretty in traditional blue and white sailing style), Zachary (backward baseball cap, Georgetown tank top, Joshua (reflective sunglasses-too cool), nephew Nathaniel (clean cut Cornell…
Friends Aboard
We don’t know many sailors. Our hometown isn’t landlocked, but in the Hudson River Towns you’re more likely to meet kayakers, soccer parents, bikers, skiers and pilates lovers. So I was pleasantly surprised when my long time friend Lori called…
Togetherness
My worry was really building as the week days passed by. To my surprise, it was none of the traditional sailing fears that were surfacing; what if Michael falls off the boat?, What if we hit a whale?, and so…
Playing in the rain
Mid fifties and raining, but still fun on mother's day. Once we realized we could put up the bimini, it was even more pleasant! Plus, we are still psyched from our first squall on Gerty last week. 35+kts frontal wind…
Crew 1.0
Last night, Saturday April 29th we had our first local guests aboard. Maxine, Michael, Kathryn and Rob were terrific crew! The wind was easy breezy blowing at 10 knots from the South on a calm sea. We hit the Connecticut…
Spinnaker Halyard Trouble
After using our new asymmetrical spinnaker for about three hours, we had one significant issue. The flip-flop block at the top of the mast sawed through the spinnaker line. Another hour of sailing and I think the sail would have…
Sailing Season Has Arrived!
Sailing season has arrived! Thus far it’s everything I hoped it would be! Michael had been futzing on Gerty all winter here and there, but we really started prepping her for the season around April 7th. We painted the bottom…
Happy Sail for Happy Sailing
Jill and I had fun visiting Doyle's sail loft on City Island. We picked up our new sail and had a protective patch added to the bottom of the leech of our Staysail while we waited. Visiting a proper sail…
Does the Jib Get Hung-up on the Inner Stay?
Several people have asked, “Does the jib slide easily through the slot between the forestay and inner forestay?” Our answer, “usually, but we expect things to be even smoother in the spring.” When the true wind exceeds 10 knots we…