ladylog

•15 July 2009: A mere four days after launching, the LADY is rigged and ready to sail. Crew for the day was Nicolas Fiszman, on a 2-3 hour sail that ranged within an approximate triangle marked by: Endicott College, Beverly; Naugus Head, Marblehead; and Winter Island Light, Salem. The new floorboards performed well, and although pumping was required, this was chiefly due to water taken in over the side, rather than through the hull. I was forcibly reminded that [A] powerboat wakes must be taken on the beam, to avoid taking on enormous amounts of water over the bow and [B] that the mouth of Beverly harbor is a nasty stretch of water and best avoided.

•12 October 2008: Our fifth and final mission to Coney Island of the 2008 season was crewed by Oliver and Guy Boisvert, with Richard Schroeder joining us on the island, and Campbell Seamans providing escort and mooring services on the return voyage. The presence of the senior Boisvert made this the first multinational visit to Coney Island. No Canadian flag was planted, however. The birds that dominate the island in the summer months had moved on, leaving behind numerous nests (lightly built out of heavy materials) on the normally inaccessible rocky backbone of the island. Here we found much evidence of the summer camp that once existed here, and a bronze stamp left by the USCGS on some long ago survey mission to the island. Probably unrelated to this was the large keg of beer found abandoned in the islands' central shrubbery.

The voyage to and from the island was pleasantly uneventful, making it quite possibly the finest sail of a somewhat truncated season. A NNE breeze made for an easy beat to the island and a fabulous run home. On the return, we were escorted by Bufflehead, with whom we then rendez-voused on her Juniper Point mooring (Juniper Cove being bone dry in the extreme low-tide). An extraordinary end to a brief but very successful season.

•20 August 2008: This date marks the fourth in the LADY's series of missions to Coney Island. Crew included Campbell, Oliver, and their friend Wesoly Hanger. We got an earlyish start, leaving Juniper Cove before noontime on a clear day with a rising tide and a freshening breeze. The freshening breeze part made me nervous because I knew it would make some or all of my crew uncomfortable if we had to go on the breeze and the boat began to heel. But it was off the breeze all the way to Coney's little cove, where we made a neat little landing, and set to work. Our task, largely organized by Campbell, was to build a shelter or shelters on the island using only "nature." In practice, this consisted largely of flotsam and jetsam. We did build a gauzy, permeable kind of lean to, and Wesoly contrived a latrine. Other projects included a fireplace (Campbell was sore that I would not actually build a fire), a patio, a tower for Oliver to match mine, and a lot of general sand and boat play.

At some point while I was preoccupied with the lean-to, the LADY not only went aground, but was left high and dry. Getting her back into the water proved very taxing. Beginning to think about the time, I consulted my phone, only to find it was dead. Shortly thereafter I got it wet. I had absolutely no idea what time it was, no way of letting anyone know of our whereabouts, and my hope that the breeze would die down as evening approached grew faint. There was nothing for it but to head home: a dead beat all the way back to Juniper Cove.

From my perspective, conditions were almost perfect. But Wesoly quickly became frightened of even the slightest heeling, and Oliver soon joined him. Campbell seemed remarkably determined not to crack, and professed great faith in me and in the boat, while visibly working to suppress his own fear. I was very very proud of him, and I felt terrible about the others. If I had had a phone, I probably would have taken them ashore on Peaches Point or Naugus Head and called for a pick-up. Finally, as we got into the lee of Juniper Point and Salem Neck, the seas calmed down (there had been a lot of spray), and the wind mellowed out. We got ashore at what turned out to be almost seven pm, to find a terrified Cathy driving up to the cove to see if we were safe or visible. Her next step would have been to call the harbormaster. We took a deep breath, walked up to the Willows and had big pieces of fried dough for dinner.

•1August 2008: The season has gotten off to a bumpy start on the logistical end, as we needed to fabricate new shrouds, something that required the aid of my esteemed uncle Richard. However this gave us time to address some of the boats leakage issues and make some other needed repairs and modifications. The good news is that my older sons, Campbell and Oliver, have conquered their fears of the boat, and we have undertaken another expedition to Coney Island (not the famous one), making our first low-tide landing there. Weather and time were both pressing, and we were not able to stay as long as we would have liked, but we are hoping to make at least one more expedition there before the season is over. Regrettably the camera was not working. This was our third attempt at a Coney Mission this summer: the first was stymied by fog, and turned into crab-fishing trip (including a heroic anchor rescue by the skipper); the second was aborted when the port-side shroud gave way.

•August 2007: The Lady participated in the Classic Wooden Boat Show at Hawthorne Cove Marina. Although many people, especially older folks, were surprised and pleased to see a Brutal Beast afloat, the Lady was leaking, and perhaps not yet really in "show" condition. We had a great time, but we did not win any citations, and we were not invited back. Oh well.

•Thursday, 10 August, 2006: These boats are very aptly named. My hat is off to the three generations of children who sailed them, capsized them, and got extremely wet under even the best conditions. LADY has been rigged and sailing since last Sunday, and on Monday, Tuesday, and again today confirmed that in any breeze above a moderate 10-12 knots, taking a Brutal Beast on the breeze is almost synonymous with taking on water. On the other hand, off the breeze, she handles like a dream, and she's fast. Wow. Meanwhile, my wife and sons are too frightened to sail on her any more. Today's sail took young Campbell and I to Coney Island, a rugged, birdy half acre of rock, sand, and scrub, which lies about a mile and half from our anchorage. The sail out was in very mild following winds, and we made the island pretty easily, spending a little bit of time exploring and picknicking, and building a cairn out of beach rocks. The sail home started off well, but crossing Salem Harbor's mouth, the breeze came up, and Campbell was ready to panic again. I remember feeling the same way at his age (and older, for that matter). Still, a pretty great day on the water.