Once again, Steve Blecher's 53' J-160, Javelin takes a tried and true, mostly Dartmouth grad, crew on a summer cruise. The Crew:
Steve (Dartmouth '64) boat Javelin, home port Westbrook, CT
Rick Van Mell (Dartmouth '63), boat Vanishing Animal, home port San Francisco Bay
Michael Luskin (Harvard '73) boat Turtleheart, home port Mamaroneck, NY
Jess Gregory, boat Sea Hawk, home port Keyport, NJ
A fun romp planned to stretch Javelin's legs to familiar ports of call. Jamestown, Cuttyhunk and Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard are always great stops, especially visiting with Jeffrey Blecher and family, then out to Nantucket, back to the Vineyard, then into Newport on the route home to Westbrook.
That was The Plan, and Shopping List, but you'll just have to read on to see what happened when the wind hit The Plan!
Pictures by xxx and Rick Van Mell, and are grouped between days. There may be even be a few movie clips too.
The table below summarizes daily runs and the date is a link to that day's log. Elasped time is generally time under way and has sometimes been adjusted for lunch stops. Cells with a darker background color represent changes from the original Plan.
JetBlue #16 touched down at JFK 25 minutes early at 14:53. Steve, as planned, picked up Rick on the departures level, door 7, and they are in their way back to Scarsdale by 15:06. Well, that was the easy part. New York traffic is back to, or worse than, pre-pandemic levels and it was 1:40 minutes to get back to Scarsdale.
While Rick & Steve were wrapping up shopping, Jess checked in with Steve that he had arrived at the house in Scarsdale. Checking out two full shopping carts, Steve and Rick rendezvoused at the house with Jess by 17:40. The goodies were quickly sorted into the freezer, fridge and carrying bags, ready for an early - 0700 - departure on Friday morning. Dinner was takeout from the Scarsdale deli, followed by watching Steve's Yankees pull out a ninth inning, come-from-3-runs-back victory.
It was 06:58 when we departed the Scarsdale driveway heading for Javelin. Breakfast of oatmeal and coffee consumed, Steve had already picked up deli sandwiches for lunch and also rounded up Michael and his gear. Which, together with Steve, Jess and Rick's bags, plus all the food, were neatly stowed.
We arrived at Westbrook at 08:30 and, pushing three carts full of gear, everything was quickly stowed aboard Javelin. Rick sorted food into the freezer and fridge, with breads on the counter near the microwave, and fresh tomatoes, potatoes, onions, lemons and limes on the counter just forwad of the galley sink. Meanwhile, Steve, Jess and Michael removed the covers from the wheel, brought the halywards back to the mast from the positions forward, coiled the shore power electrical cord, and singled up the dock lines. At 09:12 we cast off and and backed out of the slip, arriving at the fuel dock by 09:17.
The port fuel tank took 26.2 gallons (at a cost of $102) and two bags of ice were added to the freezer. With a reminder to the dock crew tht we would be returning on Friday, July 1st, we cast off and headed out the channel heading for Jamestown at 09:23. Rick remarked that we were 14 minutes ahead of our 2021 June cruise departure time of 09:37.
It was cloudy and cool, with about 7 knots of wind from the southwest. We were heading east, and with a favorable current, were soon doing about 9 knots over the bottom, faster than the wind speed. We cleared the east end of Long Sand Shoal at 10:13, Bartlett Reef at 11:08, where the southwest wind had increased to 10 knots. We rolled out the jib at 11:13, which added a tenth or two to our speed and decreased the gentle rolling from left over swells. Passing North Dumpling at 11:42, we entered Fishers Island Sound under now sunny skies and a beautiful day.
Our deli sandwiches were quickly consumed as we passed Latimer Reef Light at 12:04 and rolled in the jib so we could set the main as the wind hit 10.7 knots. At 12:28 we passed from Connecticut waters into Rhode Island waters at Watch Hill and hoisted the main. With the wind far aft and some rolling sea, we rigged a "preventer" to keep the boom securely on the port side. The we set the aysemmetrical spinnaker. Javeling was in her glory as the wind slowly began to build and the speed began to climb.
By 1400 we were making 9.8 knots headed for Point Judith with 14 knots of wind. As the wind strengthened, it backed more southerly and the apparent wind came almost abeam. We did our best to "hold high" to safely clear Pt. Judith as the breeze increased to 17 knots and speeds hit 10.5 knots. Clear of the point, we headed down as puffs reached 17 - 19 knots. Discretion being the better part of valor, we dropped the chute at 15:10 and continued into Newport/Jamestown under main alone.
The entrance to Narragansett Bay is a classic. To starboard the cliff-top row of 1900s mansions has the aptly named monicker "Castle Hill." Castle Hill Light opens a window for pictures of the majestic structures with towering roof and palatial lawns. Fort Adams guards the entrance to Newport Harbor, while to Port, the quaint house on a rock of The Dumplings gives way to Jamestown on Conanicut Island. We arrived off the Jamestown Boat Yard at 16:16 and were secure on mooring D-5 by 16:23.
Now it was time to issue sheets, towels and pillowcases to make up our bunks. Then rig the grill on the stern rail to grill our steaks for dinner. With the wind still in the 17 - 19 knot range, it was hard to get the grill lit - compounded by a first-of-the-season "forgot to turn on the gas valve" moment.
We celebrated with some nibbles and libations as Steve put the steaks on the grill and Rickk fired up the generator to run the microwave for the baked potatoes. All was well - except for an unpredicted black cloud to the northwest. Cellphone radar confirmed that there was a stray cell slowly advancing to the southeast that looked like it would pass over us. Indeed it did with Steve, in foul weather jacket, handing down the steak at 18:32.
The steak and salad were quickly consumed, but the small microwave took multiple passes to finally send forth steaming, soft potatoes as a second course. "Javelin Sundaes" finished off the meal. A lively constitutional discussion, led by lawyer Michael ensued until we all turned in about 2130.
Saturday morning dawned clear and calm. With a short run to Cuttyhunk planned for the day, Skipper Steve took pity on the cook and let Rick sleep to 0645. We enjoyed, by Javelin standards, a very liesuly breakfast of McHank English muffin, egg, ham and cheese sandwiches, with a side of Michael's delicious banana bread.
We departed under power for Cuttyhunk at 0835 with only 3 knots of wind. After clearing down East Passage past Breton Reef. we turned east and passed Sakonett River and approached the entrance to Buzzards Bay. With wind now southwest at 7.4 knots, at1048 we set main and jib and changed course to sail past Cuttyhunk and aimed for Gay Head on Martha's Vineyard. We were then making a very good 6.2 knots in only 7.4 knots of wind.
It was such nice sailing after we passed Cuttyhunk that we set the spinnaker and headed down a bit into Vineyard Sound. We could sail 25 degrees lower and kept up 5.1 knots in 7 knots of wind. As we approached Gay Head, at 1258 we gybed around to port and headed back toward Quick's Hole. Now we were going 6.7 knots in 8 knots of wind. As we approached Quick's Hole, dropped the chute and powered through Quick's Hole. Once through, we dropped the main as the wind dropped under 5 knots and powered on into Cuttyhunk Harbor.
Steve had made our first dock reservation on January 6th, and changed in April. We arrived at Cuttyhunk at 1453 and advised the Harbormaster of our arrival - already noting that there already was a boat on our reassigned spot. "Stand by," was the reply -- several times until they acknowledged it would be some time before they sorted things out. Meanwhile Steve gently jockied Javelin in the harbor fairway - which is fairly narrow, with shoal water outside it. Finally, at 1613 we were assigned dock space at the ferry dock, having determined that we would be leaving before 0945 Sunday morning when the first ferry arrives. By 1633 we were secure at the ferry dock with double finders and fender boards protecting out topside paint. That idling didn't add much to the track length, but it added over an hour of engine time in the log
The harbormaster was good enough to come and pick up Steve for a round trip to the Lobster Shack on the main dock, which was our original space, and now a 10 minute walk from the ferry dock. Steve returned with four freshly steamed lobsters with melted butter, and Rick had the coleslaw and corn redy to match up. A tasty dinner was enjoyed by all. As we were finishing up, a big seagull landed on the wide expanse of the dock with the head of a lobster. It was riveting watching the bird peck the meat from the head. Meanwhile two more gulls watched from the roof of the old Coast Guard station at the head of the dock. They didn't challenge the big guy for a share. We thought it might be fun to spread our 4 heads on the dock and watch what happened. Indeed two black-backed gulls arrived and a small one tried to join in, but size matters and won out. Everything, right down to the legs was picked clean by the birds.
As we headed for our bunks at 2130, and knowing we had 52 miles to Edgartown and Nantucket planned for Sunday, Rick told Steve he could roust him at 0630.
"Tap," "Tap-Tap-Tap," "Tap" on Rick's cabin door elicited a "Beep-Beep" from Rick. Rolling over and looking at the time, it was 0600. So much for a timed wake-up call.
The breakfast plan was as simple as it usually was for days with miles to track. Yogurt, berries if you want them, and Michael's banana bread did the trick. We even swept up the last of the lobster shells from the dock before we departed. Michael confirmed that all the meat had been found and only shells were left. While we were cleaning up we discovered there was a lobster body on the top of our dodger. We wondered if one of the gulls who had seen us put out our goodies returned it to the boat as a "Thank You".
"The Plan" had us rolling off the 26 miles to Edgartown for lunch with Steve's son Jeffrey, then on to Nantucket, another 26 miles east. The forecast for tommorow is for southwest 15 plus knots, with gusts to 35, before a cold front with rain and thunder arrives late afternoon or evening. Heading east would be a sleighride if the forecast was true, but the planned return to Edgartown on Monday would be right into the teeth of the wind and waves. After - only a short - discussion, we all agreed on the expression "Gentlemen don't beat to windward." And, having confirmed that all of us had been to Nantucket before, we scratched Nantucket from The Plan. As we say, There was The Plan, then the forecast hit The Plan.
We departed the ferry dock at 0749 under clear skies and 7 knots of wind. We were delighted to have flown the spinnaker on the first two days of the cruise, and at least for the morning, it looked favorable for today. After powering out of the harbor and through Quick's Hole the wind slowly started to increase. By 0856, under power at 8 knots plus a favorable current, we were doing 9.2 over the bottom. With the true wind climbing to 9 knots, we killed the engine and set the main and spinnaker. By 0902 we were making 8.3 knots under sail with 15 knots of wind.
The wind increased to 16 knots as we arrived at the east end of Middle Groud Shoal off the West Chop headland of Martha's Vineyard. With a change in course ahead of us that would put the wind on the beam, we dropped the chute and rolled out the jib at 0958. Well, the wind gods were apprently offended by our precautions. Here are our log readings:
Time
Direction
Speed
0928
261
16.2
1029
075
7.5
1038
078
7.2
1045
166
3
1053
203
7
1057
218
9
1059
221
10
1104
225
11
1110
230
10.5
1121
210
9.6
We even turned on the engine for a few minutes when the wind was at 3 to get past East Chop. The 20 minutes from 1100 - 1120 was great close hauled sailing in the Edgartown channel. At 1121 we dropped sails and powered into Edgartown Harbor and picked up mooring #30, being secure at 1148.
Steve left a message for his son Jeffrey, and when he called back they agreed we would go for an afternoon day sail about 1330. The crew had a casual sandwich lunch.
Jeffrey arrived by 1330, and we were off the mooring at 1342 for an afternoon day sail. The wind was up from the south southwest as we headed north out the Edgartown channel toward Cape Poge to the east. By 1437 we rounded green # 6 at Cape Poge in 14.2 knots of wind making 7.2 knots. Heading west for East Chop we passed R2 at the top of Edgartown channel at 1458, making 9 knots over the bottom in 12 knots of breeze. At 1522, doing 9.3, we rounded East Chop buoy and headed for Edgartown. Jess got the Tiller Tweaker award when he hit 10.6 in 17 knots of wind.
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We tacked our way south down the channel and entered the harbor at 1630. We discovered a small powerboat on our mooring, and after a round of disucssions with the Harbormaster, we moved on to mooring 31. Jeffrey and most of the crew headed ashore in the launch to go to Jeffrey's house and take showers. Rick stayed aboard to work on the log and showered there before joining the crew ashore.
We all rendezvoused at the house where Jeffrey's wife Jen and daughter Livi (Olivia) made us most welcome. Their 14 year old daughter Ella had established a small, thriving business designing and selling Martha's Vineyard themed stickers and distributing them to local stores to sell at prices ranging from $3.50 to $7.00. You can see her beautiful designs at Studio Eyeland. With Ella off to camp, Livi had become the distributing agent (for a commission, of course) and she happily showed us their latest design, presented with style and grace.
Dinner was at the Boathouse - delicious as always, including a good picture of our whole group: Michael, Jess, Steve, Livi, Jen, Jeffrey and Rick. We were back aboard shortly after sunset at 2019, stowing the colors, and turning to chores. Steve headed for his bunk by 2100 and we all followed shortly thereafter.
Steve was just starting to make coffee when Rick emerged from his cabin. "I am considering calling a meeting of the Amalgamated Foredeck and Cockpit Crew Union, Local 57, to file a grievance for executing the Royal Flush wake-up call at 0600 on a lay day with no float plan." Barrister Michael, quickly sprang to the Skipper's defence with, "Yes, but if we want to go sailing before the wind gets too high we should start early." A standoff was declared, and a breakfast of scrambled eggs, Little Smokies and hot biscuits nourished the crew.
Already we could hear wind in the rigging. Turning on the sailing instruments the early morning readings, at the mooring well protected in Edgartown Harbor, were 18.4 at 0842, 20.1 at 0829, 20.8 at 0959, and 24.0 at 1154. Our chores for the day included trying to find out why the horn was not working, fill the port water tank, and get the holding tanks pumped out. Plus the never-ending log updates.
Sloth begets sloth. With no urgency to get anything done, the day slid by. Wind readings, as you see above were recorded. The pumpout boat arrived at 0921 and our holding tans are now empty. Repeated reviews of the various ipad and phone storm radar presentations showed rain back at home in Scarsdale, and as close as Newport, and our early morning picture below shows the harbor as dark as it has gotten all day.
We disconnected the main halyard form the head of the sail and secured it along the rail in its normal position. Then we put on the sail cover to keep the predicted rain off. With the wind gusting, Steve decided, quite obviously, that leaving the mooring and trying to tie up to a floating "water barge" to fill water tanks was likely to be a challenge. That tas now postponed until tomorrow.
Still enjoying the full feeling from last night's Boathouse dinner, lunch followed The Plan, but in a light version. Steve's tunafish salad was served up on toasted english muffins for Steve and Jess, or lettuce and tomatoes for Rick, and just plain yogurt and strawberries for Michael. We had all been so good that we rewarded ourselves with two of Laurie's cookies each for dessert.
To get some exercise, Rick, Jess and Michael hailed the EYC tender for ride ashore and a forty minute walk around Edgartown. It was a good chance to get some pictures of the grand homes lining the harbor and some of the landmark buildings of the town. There was the County Courthouse, a candlemaker's cottage, a stunning whaling ship windvane, and four churches. The Federated Church raises the classic white spire easily seen from the harbor and it is gleaming in our dark-sky picture. This same church also displays a plaque commerating an anti-slavery speech by Fredrick Douglass November 29, 1857.
Back aboard by 1420, we again tried to solved the "horn not working" issue. After again lifting the floorboards and checking the battery terminals, Michael could squint into a narrow area and see what appeared to be a distribution terminal post with many small wires firmly attached. WE discounted the idea that a wire had been disconnected when the batteries were changed. That left us with two likely choices: either the switch has gone bad or the horn has gone bad. We can't get to the switch without taking the whole binnacle apart, or the horn without getting to the top of the radar mast 10' off the deck. Wedetermined to leave that for the yard to address.
By 1600 the radar begins to look like a line of rain is approaching close to Block Island --- and maybe we will finally get some weather.
Yogurt and fruit were quickly consumed and we were off our mooring at 0822 heading for a day sail. Steve targeted Tarpaulin Cove, on Naushon Island, part of the Elizabeth Islands, as a lunch stop. Tarpaulin Cove, in the ealry 1800s, was a busy port with over 2,000 sheep and farming on the island providing provisions to "whalers and coastalmen."
With only 4 knots of wind, and that directly on the nose, we powered our way west past the East andWest Chop headlands of Martha's Vineyard and down Vineyard Sound. We arrived at the broad, and desserted, Tarpaulin Cove at 1101. The lighthouse, built in 1891 was the sole sentinal for the cove. We circiled slowly, and then set sail in 7 knots of wind and sailed close hauled southwest in the general direction of Gay Head. Javelin was in her element as her speed built to 7.1 knots in 7.9 knots of wind - pretty remarkable for a design built 25 years ago.
Lunch sandwiches consumed, we turned back east a set the spinnaker. With the wind building from the southwest, we hit 9.6 knots in 16 knots of wind at 1338. We celebrated flying the spinnaker for the fourth time this cruise, and, as best anyone could remember, it was the first time in 25 years that we had set a spinnaker on each of four days in a row on a cruise.
As we passed West Chop, as it did last Saturday when we first arrived in Edgartown, the wind started playing tricks on us. First it veered to west southwest, then west, then north of west. All this time we were trying to stay off the shoals at East Chop. We tip toed through 12 foot depths, much shallower than 7' deep Javelin preferrs. Clear of East Chop things were no better as out preferred course to R2 at the top of the Edgartown channel was dead dow wind. We tried trimming the main all the way in and essentially sailing "by the lee" with the wind just over the port quarter. That lasted nicely -- for a few minutes, then the wind went northwest, north, and finally northeast - all in a metter of minutes. We sailed Javelin in a circle trying to keep the spinnaker full. Even as we tried to take it down, it tried to wrap around the headstay. You can see the tiny circle in our track in the picture below.
With wind at 028 degrees at 3 knots, we dropped all sail and powered back into Edgartown harbor. Since we have, happily, done much more sailing than powering on this cruise, and being on a mooring with no shore power hookups aat night, our batteries we running low. Charging typically happens where we are running under power for hours aat a time getting to destinations. Now our engine time out of and back into harbors was hardly enough to recharge the batteries. Javelin's refrigeration system works best when under engine power, and the out of and into harbor time was generally enough to keep the fridge and freezer cold. We ran the generator at the mooring to get the batteries back up to charge. Our reported engine hours in the log above includes many hours used for charging purposes. We're not complaining, it's much better to be sailing than powering from place to place!
Arriving in Edgartown, we stopped at the "water barge", a small floating dock between two moorings where a water hose from shore was available. We filled our tanks before returning to mooring #31. Steve grilled our second steak dinner to perfection, and it mated perfectly with a large salad.
Last night we had put Javelin at the top of the list for holding tank pumpout this morning. We expected about 9:30, so plenty of time to have a Javelin special McHank breakfast. Light wind, cool temps and a delightful breakfast started us off. About 0900 we were listening on VHF chanel 16, and the harbor master channel of 74, when we heard another caller request a pumpout. The reply came back that the pumpout boat operator usually didn't operate on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Hum? Steve checked in and sure enough it was not likely that we would be having apumpout any time in the near future.
So we dropped ourt mooring at 0936 and headed for Cuttyhunk. Though the direct route would be about 26 miles, Steve wanted to check out Mattapoisett Harbor on the north side of Buzzards Bay - where he had not been in many years. So we expanded the route to go through Woods Hole and across Buzzards Bay to Mattapoisett Harbor - adding about 15 miles.
It was light air all the way to Woods Hole but then the wind started to build going across the Bay. The 3-bean soup lunch was finished just as we entered the Mattapoisett channel. Lots of boats, but alost plenty of available moorings f one wanted to spend a night. We got pictures of the anchorage and the waterfront and headed back out to Buzzards Bay.
The southwest wind was blowing almost directly from cuttyhunk - our destination. So it was going to be a beat to windward all the way down Buzzards Bay. It was lightly whitecapping and blowing 11 to 12 knots when we got to the end of the channel. thinking it might increase as the afternoon wore on, we tucked in a 1st reef before hoisting the main and setting the jib. At first it was a good balance, but the wind backed off and it was clear we needed more sail. So we shook off the reef and sailed on with full main and jib.
As we tacked south, we passed the outer channel markers of New Bedford. There is even a line from the sea chanty Blow Ye Winds that goes, "They send you to New Bedford, a famous whaling port, they give you to some land sharks to board and fit you out." There were two nice cruisers heading out, looking like they were heading for Woods Hole. Shortly thereafter we tracked a boat on AIS which turned otu to be fishing trawler which passed close astern of us.
Michael drove Javeling to weather, skillfully maintaining the balance of sailing too close to the wind and slowing down, and too far away form the wind, which is faster, but takes you longer to get to your destination. In generally 10-11 knots of steady wind Jaavelin salied along at 7.2 to 7.8 knots. As we approached Cuttyhunk on the last tack west, Rick noted that the helm was in shade, and (since he tried to avoid being in direct sun for too long, asked for a turn at the helm. The old racer soon emerged and with the wind at 10.4 knots Rick nudged Javeling to 8.4 knots - with a big grin on his face.
By 1630 we were into Cuttyhunk inner harbor and tied to an endtie by 1644. A few nibbles and a pan roasted chicken thighs with onions and mixed veg dinner put smiles on the crew's faces. Topping it off with Michael's banana bread, the last of the strawberries, and touch of whipped cream wrapped up the evening.
Under way at 0735 we slipped out of Cuttyhunk headed for Newport. Clear, sunny, comfortably warm and with a northwest wind at 6 knots. By 0831 the wind had built to 9.7 knots and we set sail. To weather and ahead about a mile was another boat sailing a similar course. By definition, a sailing race is "two boats in sight of each other." Javelin, being the rocket she is, slowly worked off the distance between us. At 0928 we passed to leeward of her and by now had determined that she was Arrowhead, the next step down in size from Javelin: a J-46, about 48' (Javelin being a J-160 at 53'.) It was an absolutely perfect morning of sailing, generally making a little over 8 knots the whole way, at least as fast as we would have under engine power.
An hour later it was sails down near the Brenton Reef Buoy (once used for America's Cup races)and we arrived in newport at 1114. We were assigned New York Yacht Club mooring 506 and, with a new chart showing where they were, including GPS coordinates, Rick shortly had a waypoint to steer for and we found it easily.
Rick & Sandy's friend Nancy Hill and family had moved from Mountain View to the Providence area several years ago amd we invited her to come for an afternoon sail. The NYYC launch delivered her aboard at 1254 and 5 minutes later we were under way. We did a Newport Harbor tour, where you may not find a bigger concentration of mega yachts in one place on the whole east coast. Particularly big sailing yachts. Towering aboave all was the 175 foot mast of the 125' long J Boat Hanuman (not like Javelin, but like the boats raced in the 1930s America's Cup). In one picture at the Newport Shipyard docks there are at least a dozen boats probably averaging $20 million apiece. Similar power yachts were also in abundance. Smaller in size, but equally impressive were many of the 12 Meter class boats that raced in the Americal's Cup in the 60s and 70s. Weatherly, Intrepid Columbia and Nefertiti were all there.
The wind returned from the northwest and set st sail and headed up Naragansett Bay under the Newport Bridge, heading in the direction of Bristol. With Nancy at the helm, we overtook the classic and beautiful brig Lynx. It looked like she had a training crew aboard and flags flying from the mastheads and mizzed gaff, she was quite a sight. We turned around and headed back just after passing the Pt. Sandy light on Prudence Island. Once again we spotted a boat ahead and again we wre able to overtake them. Wanting to keep our spinnaker flying record going, we sharpened up to pass west of Gould Island so we wound have a better angle to fly the chute back to Newport. the agile crew made short work of the hoist, but the wind was both light and shifty. We did manage to keep it going all the way back under the bridge where we took it down and powered back to mooring 506.
After wishing Nancy well, we cleaned up the boat and ourselves and headed ashore for the Thursday night NYYC all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. Note the menu option in the pic below. the javeling crew did it justice, from shrimp and oysters, to lobster, swordfish, salmon and tenderloin, and staggered on to at least sample the many desserts. With an early start home to Westbrook in the morning, the crew turned in early.
Steve's target departure was 0545, but it happened that Michael was stirring when Rick went to the head at 0445, and Jess heard us and we all decided that we ight as well get up and moving. Steve was up in minutes and we dropped the mooring and headed out before sunrise at 0516.
The cool of the morning made for light fog and the sun rising through it made for a nice picture. One reason for our early departure was a forecast of southwesterly winds, originally up to 20 knots in the afternoon. Not a fun ride into wind and seas. Though it was a cool 10 knots as we approached Pt. Judith at 0638, the wind backed off as the sun burned off the fog and the wind slowly decreased to around 5 knots and then even less.
Our luck also included a current shift in our favor and our speed-over-ground (SOG) held around 9 knots as we raced from Pt. Judith to Watch Hill, and on through Fishers Island Sound past North Dumpling into Long Island Sound. We even hit 10.2 SOG past Bartlet Reef and Long Sand Shoal. It was autopilot sailing all the way with the wind dropping to less than a knot as we crossed the last waypoints into Westbrook. We arrived at 1153, just under 7 hours, a very fast run.
It was a great cruise with some of the best sailig weather we have had. We enjoyed many hours of 7 - 12 knot sailing which is perfect for getting the most out of javelin. We managed to fly the spinnaker on 5 of the 6 days we sailed, certaily a first for any June cruises, and rivals the number of days of many three week Maine cruises. Hope you enjoy the log and pictures, and that you get to experience some of this great cruising if you are so inclined.
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