Day (Night) One of our LASVA: Charlestown-Provincetown

Finally our LASVA (Long Awaited Summer Vacation on Argon)
Beginning of our three week trip:  Departure at 21:00 on Friday Evening with a destination of Provincetown and no mooring reservation.  After enjoying a dinner of We enjoyed a dinner of sesame salmon with broccoli under sail, Bob takes the first watch until 03:00 while Linda gets some sleep.

First Watch
Overnight, the wind was light getting out of Boston Harbor, but once around Hull, MA the predicted westerly of 10+kt gave us a nice beam reach all the way to Provincetown. From there on, we were doing high 6s and low 7s the whole way.

Arriving Early
Linda took over the helm at 0300 which meant Bob did the longest leg (this is normal) and it was Bob's turn to get some shuteye. With a hot cup of coffee in hand Linda sailed Argon in the dark continuing on nicely around 7kts sailing a bit higher. Bob had predicted landing at Provincetown at 06:00 but given the nice speed we made, it ended up being more like 05:00. We decided we would anchor in the harbor which we have never done before in Provincetown (and learned that getting a mooring at this early hour was not possible anyway). This harbor is mostly over 50 feet deep with very narrow shallower contours near the beach. We have 150 feet of chain plus 100 feet of line for the anchor so we're really limited to about 30 feet of water for safe overnight anchoring with appropriate scope.

Sunrise over Long Point

Completed night sail - We had to dress as if it was October, not August but a wonderful sail and in time to watch the sunrise from our anchorage in PTown Harbor off Long Point Beach

And We Still Had A Whole Day Ahead .....
After a lovely morning nap in the cockpit, we both awoke around 0900 and were happily cognizant that we still had all of Saturday in front of us.  After a relaxing late breakfast of broccoli cheese omelet (with leftover from dinner, of course) and sausage, we noticed an arriving trawler behind us having trouble getting one of the few mooring balls in the area.

Good Samaritan, Bob, helping retrieve their mooring hook

Peaceful view westward off bow

 We took the dinghy ashore to lovely and quiet Long Point Beach.  It is always fairly secluded there since one can only reach by boat.  Flyers, in town, runs a shuttle back and forth and as the day progresses power boats will anchor near the shallow shore.  We arrive in the middle of a rising tide thus were sure to haul chin chin up the beach a generous distance.

Argon at anchor off Long Point Beach PTown Harbor

Near the tip of Long Point Beach

Plenty of seals; no sharks spotted

Time to Venture in to Town
We embarked on a very long and moderately choppy dinghy ride across the harbor towards town keeping our eye out for the impressive 50+' Amel, Ipanema, owned by our D Dock friends, Jose and Magnolia as we knew they were in the neighborhood.  Their schooner was easily spotted anchored on the south side of Flyers mooring field.  We had a wonderful visit on board and were treated to an unexpected snake of spicy shrimp (Jose's special recipe).  We agreed to meet up a couple hours later at a place recommended by other D Dock friends.

Unique drinks at Sage with Jose and Magnolia - our D Dock friends from Ipenema

Indulged in Key Lime Creme Brulee

Monument for Linda's People (she's a Mayflower decent, ya know)

And that was Day 1 of our LASVA (Long Awaited Summer Vacation on Argon) :-)

Photo Album from Friday

Photo Album

Photo Album

Weekend with Friends and Sailing with the Master - 1 Aug and 11 Aug 2014

Lori and Todd Visit from DC
We were thrilled to host Linda's deer friends of nearly 30 years, Lori and Todd, for a weekend in Boston.  Lori and Todd are in the marines currently living outside of Washington DC.  (They were with Linda during the birth of her first son when he was born nearly 8 weeks early as they vacationed together more than 26 years ago - so there is a lot of history among this group.)

Lori chills in the cockpit while docked at Constitution Marina on a warm, sunny Friday afternoon

Todd naps in the hammock

Bob plays killer guitar and keyboards with Tsunami of Sound at Sally O'Brien's in Somerville Friday night

Sailing
Despite low wind, clouds and rain in the forecast we set sail Saturday late morning.  Motored out of the harbor and beyond Deer Island but then were able to hoist the sails and catch some gentle winds.

Todd, Lori and Linda (I love this couple)

"Lori O" lobster boat - coincidental connection to Lori Oneto D'Agostino :-)

BFF

Marblehead for the Night
We grabbed a mooring with Boston Yacht Club (no hats) for an overnight stay.  Met up with Brenton and Jillien for a fun visit over drinks at Jack Tars (forgot to take a pick - but we remember the laughs!).

Moored in Marblehead Harbor for overnight stay

Departing Marblehead Harbor for a leisurely trip back to Boston

Final visit back at Constitution with Gersham and Ajay before Lori and Todd head back to DC

Argon taken from Prairie Gold as we glide northward in the mild wind 

Bill Shaw Jr
We had the most awesome broker for Argon. Bill Shaw Jr. has an illustrious family heritage in Sailing. He grew up immersed in the sailing business as his dad Bill Sr. ran Pearson Yachts for many years. We were lucky enough to have Bill and his wife Lynne join us for a sail and show us all the things we do wrong (lots).

This sail was at the same time as our "super moon" and we were out at low tide - by which I mean REALLY LOW tide. This next picture shows Lower Middle - a spot that is normally two or three feet under water at low tide. This is the first time I have ever seen it exposed

Busy week before taking off
We're getting ready to take off for three weeks of sailing but first we had a busy week between our normal day gigs and three charters including our first ever wedding charter. We picked up the happy couple after their reception at 22:30 and sailed around the harbor until after midnight.  We had that beautiful (super) full moon and a nice light breeze over the beam. Below are some photos of the pick-up at Liberty Wharf in South Boston.

Cubicle With Sails: Charlestown-Scituate

Linda was in a hurry to get started. Bob needed to put a full day of work in.
Around 1400, Linda cast off the lines and my cubicle was underway. My newly setup iPhone hotspot worked perfectly at the dock this week and now while underway!

Passing the recently-purchased Graves Light. Note the construction workers' porta-potty.

Linda motored most of the way out of the harbor but raised the sails (all by herself) out around deer island (I think).  I was doing java.  I finally closed up the office around 17:30 (note to boss, I started at 0630 today)

Enjoying an after-work beer. Note the product placement. Peroni: you know how to reach me

We're heading to Scituate for the weekend where we plan to meet up with friends on Saturday. We had a nice steady 15kt wind but it was on our nose hence all the tacking on our track below. Finally we motored the last couple miles because we wanted to make sure we could get a mooring.

We enjoyed Salmon and squash (from Whole Foods so not really a cost savings over going out for dinner) onboard. Later on we were treated to a surprise fireworks show from the carnival going on in town.

Scituate Morning 

After a nice calm night in Scituate Harbor, we woke up just in time to see the fog come in:

 

 

Sailing with Friends
Good friends Greg and Lee Ann came up from the South Coast to see Argon and go for a spin. Wind was light but Greg still got us going 6kts while at the helm.

 

Photos from Android

Working on a starboard tack	New owners fixing up the place
	Surprise fireworks show in Scituate

Chasing Arthur

What do you do after a hurricane passes? Go out in a sailboat of course.

My son Jon and his girlfriend Lyndsey visited us for the Fourth of July weekend (my birthday), and actually agreed to do an overnight sail with us.  This is a big deal because:

• My son is not a big fan of sailing
• We've never had guests stay overnight with us onboard before.

It turned out to be a bigger deal because the trip up to Salem was pretty extreme sailing.  The forecasts underestimated the wind by... a lot.  We were seeing True winds peak out in the low 40s.  Even Argon was a bit over powered and we ended up with nothing but a reefed Jib and we were struggling a bit.

This was definitely not a sail for inexperienced sailors to be on, but Jon and Lyndsey were absolute troopers about it.

At one point, Linda lost control of a Jib sheet and we had a pretty violent thrashing of the jib happen as well as a very sore and swollen wrist for Linda.  Later on, we noticed that the lowest batten pocket for the jib had torn open and the batten was gone! I assume it happened during this fiasco.

At this point my son says "And you find this relaxing?"  Well, not really at the moment.

When we finally pulled into Salem harbor, the winds were still up in the 30s. We watched a power boat try 5 times to catch a mooring next to us (we nailed it first try).

Birthday present testing
Jon got me a hammock from REI which can be tied up between the forestay and the mast. It's awesomely comfortable. It is also popular.

 

 

Jenga on a Sailboat
Definitely adds an element of challenge.  We eventually switched to blackjack and Jon cleaned up the table (winning a huge pot of fender washers from the spares kit).

Jon and Lyndsey went ashore on the Launch to explore Salem. Later we all went in for dinner at Fins. Much yumminess was had.

Linda in Sick Bay with her sore wrist on ice

Not a great picture but you can see the torn batten pocket on the jib