Thad
08-19-2002, 01:16 PM
That is the question. I was going to the Opera House race at Nantucket in the 42' Alden Yawl FIREBIRD this past weekend. We finally got off the float Friday afternoon at 5 after a little rig tuning , changing the fuel filter, and stowing our gear and the gear for the owners family cruise to follow. (The owners wife did the stowing and a great job of it) The breeze was SW and freshened as the evening went along. We were headed outside the Cape for the Pollock Rip Channel.
The crew is Brian, me, and three of his lifelong friends -- only one a sailor, the other very pleasant and funny fellows who kept the tone light to the best of their considerable abilities. There were bilge pump problems but she is not really leaking that bad. We had a little hand pump and a bucket and a few buckets full over the side every few hours kept things in control.
We are ripping along! That is the thing to keep in mind, just ripping. Still in the Bay there is some chop with the breeze SW 15-20, but we are on a close reach SSE and driving with a high cut jib, main and mizzen.
Around 10 I pass the tiller to Brian's friend and go below for some rest. Friends have left an hour or more ahead of us and we can hear them calling but they can't hear us. Range is the thing. We are going something beautiful! blasting along. Truth be told she was creaking all over the place with the stress of sailing. Around the partners, from the bulkheads, lots of noise around me there in the bunk.
One o'clock I get up. Brian has hit the hay. Bob has the tiller and says "This is terrific!" The noises inside the boat are not heard in the cockpit. We can see lights from Provincetown over Race Point. Highland Light is off the starboard bow and we are closing with the bouy flashing ahead. Overhead the stars are shining bright even with the hazy atmosphere. Outside the Cape in 20 knots of wind SW the chop is minimal with no sea running. Now the stresses of the Bay are gone. One fishing boat shows well outside of us and a few car lights can be seen moving along the shore. After a couple of hours we have opened up Nauset Beach light, we are running about a mile off shore. Brian came up and bails and takes over the helm, I go back to the berth.
Back in the cockpit before dawn we can see fog making up and then we are in it just as the sun dawns over the rolling sea. We are riding the tide with the breeze still SW but 10-15 now and soon to go W in our favor. Depth is 40-50 feet and our circle of fog is maybe 100 feet. We see one little fishing boat at the edge of our visual circle as we cruise along. Our crew emerged with the dawn. Brian got the stove going for tea and coffee. All available eyes peeled we rolled along motor-sailing for the bouy and the East end of the Pollock Rip channel. We heard the groaner before we saw it in the mist. Then shortly we were in the rip and the question was raised.
What was raising the short breaking chop we drove through? We still had 40 feet of water, but the fisherman who gave the horn blasts were probably at the edge of the shoal. The shoal is mostly about 20 feet there with the channel 40. The tide was sweeping South and then West into Nantucket Sound around Monomoy Point at maybe 2 knots. We were going 8 over the ground at times with little effort, the sails luffing as we motored to windward though there was little wind. That little rip right past the bouy was the only clear evidence we saw of the motion around, with that one boat and quite a few birds, mostly gulls. Then we were through into the Butler Hole and bore off for Nantucket.
The Westerly held enough so we could sail much of the way through the Sound. Slowly the fog lifted and there passing off to starboard were Brian’s friends who had left ahead of us. In range the radio did work. They had been making 9 knots further out from shore and had layed to waiting for the tide to turn. We were that blip they had seen on the radar as they followed us through the rip. We motored into Nantucket, picked up a mooring and took in the scene on that hot August day on the Island. The crew went swimming.
Brian decided not to do the race after all (the family was coming), but we had one wonderful sail outside the Cape. It would have been fun to see more of the Pollock Rip than our circle of fog. I know Monomoy Island is too low to be much seen but we saw none of it, only the beautiful water, birds, and a couple of bouys.
I decided to forgo the race party since we didn’t race and took the noon ferry to Hyannis passing the 12 meters in their prestart maneuvers with the other classes stretched out to the East on their reaching leg, Brian's family met me at the wharf and I drove the car back to Marblehead, home before 5. 18 hours to Nantucket (95NM), two days round trip.
The crew is Brian, me, and three of his lifelong friends -- only one a sailor, the other very pleasant and funny fellows who kept the tone light to the best of their considerable abilities. There were bilge pump problems but she is not really leaking that bad. We had a little hand pump and a bucket and a few buckets full over the side every few hours kept things in control.
We are ripping along! That is the thing to keep in mind, just ripping. Still in the Bay there is some chop with the breeze SW 15-20, but we are on a close reach SSE and driving with a high cut jib, main and mizzen.
Around 10 I pass the tiller to Brian's friend and go below for some rest. Friends have left an hour or more ahead of us and we can hear them calling but they can't hear us. Range is the thing. We are going something beautiful! blasting along. Truth be told she was creaking all over the place with the stress of sailing. Around the partners, from the bulkheads, lots of noise around me there in the bunk.
One o'clock I get up. Brian has hit the hay. Bob has the tiller and says "This is terrific!" The noises inside the boat are not heard in the cockpit. We can see lights from Provincetown over Race Point. Highland Light is off the starboard bow and we are closing with the bouy flashing ahead. Overhead the stars are shining bright even with the hazy atmosphere. Outside the Cape in 20 knots of wind SW the chop is minimal with no sea running. Now the stresses of the Bay are gone. One fishing boat shows well outside of us and a few car lights can be seen moving along the shore. After a couple of hours we have opened up Nauset Beach light, we are running about a mile off shore. Brian came up and bails and takes over the helm, I go back to the berth.
Back in the cockpit before dawn we can see fog making up and then we are in it just as the sun dawns over the rolling sea. We are riding the tide with the breeze still SW but 10-15 now and soon to go W in our favor. Depth is 40-50 feet and our circle of fog is maybe 100 feet. We see one little fishing boat at the edge of our visual circle as we cruise along. Our crew emerged with the dawn. Brian got the stove going for tea and coffee. All available eyes peeled we rolled along motor-sailing for the bouy and the East end of the Pollock Rip channel. We heard the groaner before we saw it in the mist. Then shortly we were in the rip and the question was raised.
What was raising the short breaking chop we drove through? We still had 40 feet of water, but the fisherman who gave the horn blasts were probably at the edge of the shoal. The shoal is mostly about 20 feet there with the channel 40. The tide was sweeping South and then West into Nantucket Sound around Monomoy Point at maybe 2 knots. We were going 8 over the ground at times with little effort, the sails luffing as we motored to windward though there was little wind. That little rip right past the bouy was the only clear evidence we saw of the motion around, with that one boat and quite a few birds, mostly gulls. Then we were through into the Butler Hole and bore off for Nantucket.
The Westerly held enough so we could sail much of the way through the Sound. Slowly the fog lifted and there passing off to starboard were Brian’s friends who had left ahead of us. In range the radio did work. They had been making 9 knots further out from shore and had layed to waiting for the tide to turn. We were that blip they had seen on the radar as they followed us through the rip. We motored into Nantucket, picked up a mooring and took in the scene on that hot August day on the Island. The crew went swimming.
Brian decided not to do the race after all (the family was coming), but we had one wonderful sail outside the Cape. It would have been fun to see more of the Pollock Rip than our circle of fog. I know Monomoy Island is too low to be much seen but we saw none of it, only the beautiful water, birds, and a couple of bouys.
I decided to forgo the race party since we didn’t race and took the noon ferry to Hyannis passing the 12 meters in their prestart maneuvers with the other classes stretched out to the East on their reaching leg, Brian's family met me at the wharf and I drove the car back to Marblehead, home before 5. 18 hours to Nantucket (95NM), two days round trip.