BUSY EAST COAST SUMMER'S
July to December 2005
The last letter I sent out was just before the somewhat busy New England summer with the owner and his family. Timoneer was taken to Nantucket Island for most of the USA summer months. The boss has a holiday home there (well, more of a massive house on the water); he and his family used the yacht for numerous cocktail parties and entertaining dinners. It wasn’t all-bad though, as the captain was reasonable with the extended stay in one location and gave most of the crew a day off per week.
I kept the weather websites close, and waited till the swell built up from some of those devastating hurricanes in the south. In wake of the destruction brought often 3-4 feet of beach breaking swell, with good sand banks and a dropping tide, well, it was very nice. Being 6months without waves can play havoc with the mind, dreams seem too real, and the next swell is always when you are leaving. Plus the ‘You should have been here yesterday’ comment, was almost a death penalty to those who dared let it past their lips.
Enough about the waves. Onto the one and only charter that Timoneer and I have ever done. The owner raffled of the yacht for a days charter for a local charity. The crew were prepared for the worst, loads of champagne, a cracking lunch by the mighty Penny (chef), and we were ready. Lift the anchor was the command through the crackly 2way radio. Slowly we eased out way out from between 2 monster powerboats, the windlass churned the chain slowly into the belly of Timoneer. It was just before the 100-foot mark we noticed something a lot of people have never seen before, or ever will! A perfect over hand knot in the chain, yes! A knot in 19mm link chain, not an easy fix by any means. The decision was made to dump the chain onto the bottom and tie a big float to it and sort it out later, as our once and only guests were becoming unsettled. We had to just get the hell out of there, and go sailing.
Out the channel and the wind from aft, up with the spinnaker. That somehow became twisted and ended up back on the deck for a quick fix. Nothing was going right! The bonus was that our newly acquired guests were in awe as to how complex these big toys can be, and there was a never ending form of excitement. The charter guests had fun, and made it a different experience for most of us aboard.
Most of the time was spent on standby. Ready to pick up the owner in the tender, for a quick meal on the yacht, or to have a few friends around for dinner.
I did manage to organize my self enough, to have a night away from Nantucket and get up to Boston to catch up with Conner, a past crew member. I caught the ferry, then the bus and made it in time to see the Boston Red Socks play an awesome game of baseball. This is the first and only game I have ever been to, and to experience the world champs on there home pitch, was quite overwhelming. Conner had by chance scored some great seats, not to far from 1st base. The game was a close one, with some massive home runs hit, and a foul ball landing no more than 2 feet from where we were sitting. The chap who caught the ball had been coming to the stadium since for 10 years; this was his first game ball. Made me think that it didn’t happen that often, and I was very lucky to be so close. The night ended with a few brews at the local bars, and me asleep on the roof of an apartment building.
The time in on Nantucket Island was drawing closer to an end. A regatta was on at the island just before we left. The old 12meter America’s Cup yachts came out from Newport, with a few kiwi favorites, KZ7 and KZ5. Good to see the yachts still on the water and managing to win a few races too. The regatta had a classic division with some beautifully restored yachts, full of varnish and brass fitting’s. The final’s night party was a really cool, free beer and cold-water oysters, shucked right in front of you. A live band and all on the white sand, very nice!
I left Nantucket, and sailed back to Newport. We docked up there for a few weeks, with a few of us from the yacht making the journey inland to my captains wedding. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the edge of the great lake Michigan. A fantastic long weekend away. Great wedding at a beautiful venue over looking the lake. Some good friends and free beer at the Miller brewery tour, good times, and nice to be away from Timoneer for a few day’s.
I made it back to Newport a little jaded, but glad to have seen a little more of the interior of the US. It was off again, this time the travel was south. Heading down into the bottom end of Long Island sound for a few days of cocktail parties for the owners son. They went all smoothly, I’m not cut out to be a waiter though.
Heading south again off the east coast in an eddy off the warm water Gulf Stream current. The fishing lines were out and set. 3 big eye tuna around 15-20lb, a double strike with 2 20lb Wahoo, and couple of Mahi Mahi to make up the trifecta.
The yacht was heading for Savannah, Georgia. To the ship yard there to have some pretty massive work done. Both the mast were to be pulled out, stripped down, serviced and painted. Not just that the yacht was coming out of the water, having the superstructure (top part) painted along with the antifouling too. It was to be a long 3 months at work, and little did anyone know just how much had to be done.
But it wasn’t all bad, by no means. Timoneer had a few extra hands for the yard time, which turned out to be a not bad bunch of guys. We frequented our local pub, Tubby’s a fair bit, and how we didn’t get kicked out I don’t know; it’s the south I guess. Thursday night was oyster night, shuck your own around a table with a hole in the middle, some classic local people turned up for that one.
I had a pretty good look around savannah itself, the city is very different to most of the US city’s I’ve been to. Very old style building’s, and the moss hanging from the trees looked like an old mans beard, feeling that it had been there for a while. The southern folk are very friendly, and inviting and made new friends on each venture out. They get into their Halloween too, with all manners of costumes and actual trick or treater’s! New to me that is. A few of the crew got dressed up in costume and headed down to the local. I went as an evil clown, well sort of evil I suppose. Awesome night out with a few more yachts joining in the party, who were sheltering from the hurricanes in Florida.
Just a random story for ya-all. The kiwi electronics engineer and my self went to Wal-Mart to check it out. If u haven’t been to a department store in the US, then let me tell u, what ever u want u can get it, and at super cheap prices (good sales pitch A). We were just wondering around, looking at all sorts of stuff. But what caught or eyes were these golden slippers, and for $7 dollars you couldn’t go wrong. They were brought to keep the toes warm in the fast approaching winter, but got taken out to the bars on a few special occasions. We had a few weird looks as you would expect, but I bet their feet were not as warm or as comfortable as ours, he, he…
Back to the shipyard, when the yacht arrived there it was about 30C days, and 90% humidity. By the time we left in mid December it we had had some freezing cold days where the temp wouldn’t get above 10C, and down to 0C at night. Did I mention the bugs! Mate, never ending. These little tiny ones yiou could hardly see, vicious bite too. I think my body became dependent on the insect repellent by the end of the stay there too, I went into withdrawal!
The masts were removed by a 200-ton crane with a hoist height of 190 feet to lift the main mast out and lay it down. The shipyard lifted the yacht out of the water using a big syncrolift, they made a cradle support mistake on the first attempt and put a small hole in the hull. Luckily it was right over a water tank and only filled up that compartment, freaky though to have a hole in the hull and not really have to be to concerned. They lifted us out again in 4 day’s time; it was sweet as this time, and into the shed for painting.
The time went quickly there, with all the work underway, and a few problems to sort out as well. As December arrived, so did all the rod rigging, which had been sent away to be serviced. It was crunch time! The Yacht had to be in Antigua for the 26th of December to pick up the owner, and the masts and the yacht needed to be put back together and sorted out so we could leave. The next 2 weeks were hard out, big days and cold nights working on the masts, and deck. We got the masts back in all okay with a few hassles as u could imagine. The day came to leave Savannah, I had been working till 2am the night before getting all the deck gear back onboard, there was stuff just piled up all over the aft deck. Such a mission to stow away at sea, and to make matters worst it started to rain and the sea came up!
Finally arriving in Antigua, all aboard was worn out, it had been a long month with a 5-day trip thrown in the end of it. I made it 2 hours to spare, having to clear in customs, then clear out again as I was off home to NZ the next morning! It made the Caribbean beers taste so much sweeter!
On the plane in Antigua, didn’t make the take off awake, due to an exceptionally large night out, which set the tone for the rest of the 22 hours to get back also.
The green pasture and long white clouds over the north island greeted me on Christmas day as the plane landed in an unusually sunny Auckland. Getting home and seeing the family was great, it had been a year but didn’t feel like it at all. I had until the 24th of January in NZ, which was a fairly long time, and a big list of things to do in that space.
My brother (Shaun) and I worked hard to get our sailing dinghy painted and in the water for a blast around the Kawhia harbour. We didn’t finish it before New Years Eve, so it was left and I made it up to Auckland to have a great night out with friends viewing and dancing to some of NZ’s best Dj’s, cheers Geb, Andre, and Dragon.
It was back down to the farm, hook the trailer with the dinghy on the back and out to Te Waitere on the west coast for the annual whaleboat regatta. Having a sail on a small boat again was awesome. The wind was blowing, and capsizing a few times was just going to happen. Catching up with all the locals out there again, and having cold beer on tap for a good price was a great end to a magic day.
New Zealand turned the weather on in January, there is usually plenty of rain about, but it stayed away most of the time. I spent a few days up the Coromandel Peninsula with Mum and Dad, and Shaun. Fat, Juicy scallops and fresh fish, so nice to be back home. My Dad and Shaun had plucked the scallops of the ocean floor off the Coromandel Coast, and if you get the chance, try them in the raw, wicked!
I was on the move again, this time to catch up with some good friends in the Bay of Plenty. I’d been organized a ticket to see a world famous in NZ band, ‘Fat Freddy’s Drop’. They went off, the lead up band ‘Kora’ was awesome too. It was a night of smooth and grooving Dub beats, with a twist of jazz thrown in.
I had been watching the weather closely, and decided it was the time to head out to my old local break for a few days of absolute chill out and catch a few waves. There isn’t a lot to do out at Keriteheri Beach, besides surf, and relax. 3 days of camping on my own, surfing, reading and sleeping. Very nice, and a much needed break from everything.
The next move involved a plane to Dunedin to an old school friends wedding. I had never been down that far south, and Dunedin is a very cool city. The sun shone the whole time I was there, and my mates wedding was a huge success, good friends and plenty of the local Speights brew to consume.
The experience of the ‘Big Day Out’ was too hard to resist. Shaun and I hit it hard, first beer at 11am, with heaps of local and international acts playing all day, it really is a big day out, when it finishes up at 1am. Huge amounts of fun, and so cool to hang out with the bro again!
The airport loomed, tickets all sorted, goodbye till next year Mum and Dad. On the plane back to the Caribbean. Great fun at home, a little too busy, but I need to earn some cash again.
I’m in Antigua at the moment, been back here for a few weeks now. It’s hot and sunny, with the tropical rain in the evenings. The yacht is in good shape, and looks smart next to all the others with our new paint job.
The plan is to head to Panama for a month and a bit, then through the canal, and up the pacific west coast to Mexico. A few guests there, then off up the rest of the west coast to Alaska for the summer. Should be a serious eye opener!
Well, it’s long and needs to end, I hope u have not let your mind wonder to often, and life is good where u are. Be safe, and take care, till next time.