THANKSGIVING 2010

I am very thankful this Thanksgiving as I look back on the sailing season. Earlier in the year I got several months work rebuilding a High Definition TV studio that ended in May right before a planned sailboat charter in the Bahamas. The trip to got my sailing juices flowing again. After returning from the Bahamas the revenue from that job also allowed me to sail BIANKA all summer into the fall without feeling the need to seek out employment in this troubled economy. As a freelancer there is no such thing as unemployment benefits. So one needs to keep their wants, needs and budget in check. But, the upside of being a "freelancer" is the emphasis on the word "free". As in freedom. Which is what I had during the sailing season. Most importantly freedom from schedules except those I imposed. I am also thankful for the things I learned. As I  found out schedules (even when of ones choice) can be dangerous things. Like my insistence on joining the Reid Stowe flotilla in June. But, I did learn from that experience that sometimes it is better to sit still rather than push things because of a self imposed schedule. I followed that advice while waiting for and riding out Hurricane Earl in East Hampton in September. I also learned that changing plans is a good thing too. Like when I made change of course and headed to Hamburg Cove up the Connecticut River. A truly nice spot on this earth to experience as a sailor which I visted the first time with BIANKA this year.  I am thankful I finally got there. So there was a lot to be thankful for as I look back and a lot to be hopeful for as I look forward to next season.

NOAA, NO WHA? & THE HAPPY ENDING

Well yesterday started great despite the 3:30 wake up call to get underway. This was to make sure BIANKA and I would be riding the flood current through Plum Gut which began around 5 AM. All was good and we zipped through as planned. But, then things went bad for awhile. I was doing this passage because NOAA weather had said the winds would be southwest for the next two days. Great,  I thought I could hug the coast to Mattituck and on to Port Jefferson.  Maybe make Port Jeff in one day. Well, it was not to be. When I got in the Sound instead of the southwest winds NOAA had been saying the winds were blowing out of the west northwest around 20 knots. Nasty with wind against current flooding into the sound. I quickly decided that heading to Connecticut was my best option. So I headed north to Saybrook Point and the Connecticut River. Where I had a delightful 6 mile sail up the river to a place I had been wanting to go for years. Hamburg Cove. It was as picturesque and sheltered as I imagined it would be.

Being the day after labor day most of the summer crowds were already gone. The Osprey were still here a sure sign summer is still with us. But, along the banks there were other signs that fall was on it's way. Just a little tinge of yellow in some of the trees along the shore fortold of it's coming.

Though it's one of those places I would avoid in the summertime as some sailors I know describe it. Packed full of boats and boats packed full of people there to "party". But, now this time of year it's just a delightful place to spend a day or two until things clam down in the sound. I took the dingy up the creek to the small town of Hamburg.

There were a few marinas and a small general store there. The marinas seem to be full of craftsman who specialize in providing the old classic wooden boats that line it's docks with the proper loving care

and restoring those in need of that too.

So I can't be too angry at the forecasters of NOAA for blowing the forecast because in the end I got to see a truly beautiful spot on this earth with my boat.