|
Chip Ahoy at its Scituate Harbor dock
as sun rises. I singlehanded across Boston Harbor from Marblehead the
previous day just to see if I could handle it alone. (Jul. 27, 2003)
|
|
Yours truly with my good friend Norm of Scituate (the
photo was taken by another good friend, Norm's wife Joan). Got "a little
color" on the 8-hour sail down you'll undoubtedly notice.
|
|
Chip Ahoy leaving Scituate Harbor past the Scituate Light
breakwater. |
|
"The Great Voyage to Martha's Vineyard" (July 31-Aug
3) which took us only as far as Plymouth in miserable weather. Aboard as crew
for the trip were old friends Jack Collins and his son Vince (at the
tiller).
|
|
The crew of Chip Ahoy in Plymouth,
Mass. That's the Mayflower in the background. |
|
Yours truly at the tiller trying to
see through the fog crossing the 15-mile Boston Harbor shipping channel on our
return from Plymouth. Visibility was well under a mile (usually under 50
yards) all day ... and then we hit the vicious thunder storm and deluge.
(Thank God for GPS!) |
|
After the wet and dreary 4-day
weekend sail down to the South Shore and back (above), days of drying out damp clothes,
sails, charts and books followed. Mold and mildew then became a problem in the cabin.
In desperation, I purchased a Nicro Day & Night 2000 solar-powered
ventilator with a 48-hour Nic-Cad backup battery. I pulled out the Nicro
airscoop and replaced it with the ventilator using the same hole. It's exhausting 700 cubic
feet of air an hour around the clock and has dried out Chip Ahoy's
interior nicely.Over the
2004 winter, I added a
teak
louver to the top cribboard for improved air circulation.For the ultimate in cabin ventilation, in
the spring of 2006 I cut a hole in the foredeck and
added a hatch. |
|
One of my "partners in crime" in
our organization, Chip Faulkner
(really, there are two Chips in a four-person staff!), took the helm of
Chip Ahoy during today's CLT annual staff cookout. "The Chipster" was responsible for "provisions" and you can
see he did a noble job. (Aug. 14, 2003)
|
|
On Saturday, my friend Dave
Rizzo was the Chip Ahoy crew for an afternoon of sailing on Salem Sound
through the Baker's-Misery Islands channel and back. The highlight of
the day was almost losing it (cockpit coaming buried under water) when
the confused skipper of a much bigger sailboat couldn't decide which way he
wanted to go as he approached, regardless of "right-of-way" rules which favored
us and our numerous tacking efforts to avoid him. Thankfully, Dave knows what he's
doing and when to release a sheet too. Just as fortunately, I had added
the transom scuppers kit! (Aug. 16, 2003)
Read "2003
Knockdown" |
|
Yours truly
from the above trip after the adrenalin had settled. (Chip Ahoy has begun to again enjoy its element,
even if its taken until mid-August 2003!) |
|
NEXT |
|
It's never-ending ... but the good
times have arrived! |
