Aug 6, 2011

I find it amazing that Deason has been able to integrate himself into all working aspects of the docks. He is in love with the Sea Tow boat and it has been all he can talk about lately. I need to find a way to get him interested in the electrical shop and refrigerator maintenance departments, so he can be our repair man too!

Aug 2, 2011

Dahlia helping to wash the boat after we got back!
Coming by Nobska Light on our way back to MacDougalls.


Our second day at anchor was beautiful, swimming, boating, eating, more swimming, after such a great day I feel guilty even mentioning the storm. At about 8pm the wind picked up, and the clouds rolled in. At first it appeared as if the storm was just going to miss us, but then it got really dark and the rain became torrential. Then I heard Deason ask Chris "why we were getting hit by ice cubes". For about five minutes we got pelted with almond sized hail, and it was SO loud when it was hitting the whole boat. At the time, I was thinking that I can't remember being in a hail storm on the Cape. There were probably plenty of storms like that over the years, but I never noticed it being inside a house. It is amazing how attuned we get to the weather, some times it is all we talk about...what's the forecast?....where is the wind coming from? and I use to never even consider it before living aboard. Fortunately, those storms never last long, and after an hour the wind died back down, and it was quiet as can be again!

Aug 1, 2001

We got to take the boat out again, I had hoped that we would have gone on more trips by this time, but work and weather always seem to get in the way. We went to Tarpaulin Cove again. We always gravitate to that spot....I think we all like that it has a secluded feel to it. We spend most of our time at the dock, so when we do take the boat out, we like to be away from it all. Its nice and quiet there. We didn't see any deer this time, but we did see a herd of cows on the beach which Dahlia loved, and we had a great sunset the first night.

July 28, 2011

I can't believe Deason has already completed 5 weeks of the 8 week sailing school. We knew he was going to like it, but we didn't know that he was going to love it. He races down to the yacht club everyday, and hates to have to miss a class. He even likes rigging and de-rigging the boats. He knows more about sailing than I do...just ask him!
He is now in the Opti-1 class. They sail these little Optimist sailing dinghy's, which are designed to be a single hand sailboat for kids, but when the kids start out they double up, one kid on the tiller, and one on the main sheet. They sail out in Vineyard Sound, but to get out of the inlet of the harbor the kids get towed by a powerboat that the instructors drive. The kids who sail the 420's get to sail out of the harbor, but I am sure they don't want a bunch of eight/nine year old kids clogging up the inlet as they try to tack back and forth on their way out of the harbor. Its much faster and safer for everyone if they get towed.

July 28, 2011-Post by Deason

In sailing school we sail opti's and prams. There are 25 kids in my class. Sometimes the rigging is hard and sometimes it is easy. When the lines are tangled in the sail the rigging can take a while. We get towed out of the harbor by a motor boat. When you get out of the tow line you have to clip in the mainsheet to the bridle on the boom before we can sail. We sail out to the buoys and race around them. When we sail we go 6 knots on a windy day, or 4 knots when it is not so windy.

July 27, 2011

Dahlia would be completely happy if someone would read to her all day!
Chris's shoulder is healing faster than he or I expected, his range of motion is almost back to normal, and he has even able to swim. Thank goodness for small miracles...it would have been a bummer if we were held up by him not healing. As of right now, we are planning on leaving around Labor Day. My last night of work will be August 21, and then we will spend some time just tying up some loose ends, and be ready to leave on any nice day.

July 24, 2011

In the beginning of the season, when Deason started working with the dock staff again, he came home with a pocket full of money one day. He informed us that the dock staff was tipping him for helping them. We told him that he was not to take money from the dock staff because they work hard for their money, but if a customer or boat owner wanted to tip him, that was fine. We made him return all the tips that day to the staff who had given him the money, but apparently they have found a way to give Deason tips anyway. When he came home with this envelope filled with cash....all I could do was laugh.