41:29.08N 71:19.01W

TravelingLight
Randall B Griepp
Thu 8 Jul 2010 17:41

July 7, 2010  11:30 pm

 

I have to start with a correction. The name of the place we topped off the gas tanks at Martha’s Vineyard is spelled “Menemsha” not the corrupted misspelling that was in yesterday’s report. The critique came from a very highly respected source, the Skipper’s Mother. I stand corrected and highly impressed. The skipper credits years of proficient Scrabble playing for this acumen. As to the origin of the name the Skipper says it is a “Gay Indian” name and insists that one of the harpoonists (is that a word?) in Moby Dick was a “Gay Indian”. I will have to check the veracity of this information in the beautiful leather bound copy of Melville’s book that Sean gave me as a going away gift at the dock in Huntington. We do not allow “baloney” on Traveling Light. As to Gay Indians I will get to it when I get a chance. I guess, since I found out that there is a highly sophisticated audience following these musings I have to be careful in saying what I say and how I say it!

Back to the shenanigans of the day. We left Martha’s Vineyard early in the morning motor sailing most of the way to New Port. We got a call from Eva early in the morning. She apparently found out about the trouble with the autopilot from the blog. She advised the Skipper “not to fool around and go get a new one in New Port”. That was good advice as the events later in the day proved. We called from the boat to have them order the processor. Verizon beat AT&T but even that reception was spotty making intelligent conversation with Brewer Street Marine in New Port impossible. Then we remembered that we have a Satellite Phone. It actually worked! Then Tulin called to say a final farewell before she flew to Istanbul today.

And then the inevitable happened, the “toilet gremlins” struck David. Have no fear the Skipper is here. The Skipper calmly said: “This is one boat problem that I know how to fix” and went on to proudly demonstrate his skill, acquired over years of battling the gremlins, of course accompanied by a lecture on how to prevent the gremlins ever entering that awfully tight space that is oddly called “the head” on a boat.  I had heard that lecture given to many a victim of the gremlins and had committed to memory verbatim long time ago.

We arrived at the New Port Yachting Center Marina after fighting(!) cloudless skies, and two inch waves around 2 pm. MRT in signal flags colorfully  tattooed on his left leg (Mark is his first name) the technician from Brewer Street Marine met us at the dock and went to work in tight quarters in a hot cabin right away. The diagnosis “bad processor”, need a new one. It is on its way; it should arrive tomorrow 9:00 am. The Skipper and the Crew were glad that he had listened to his wife notwithstanding the misgivings he had when he finished that early morning call from Eva.

We left the hot cabin and went to “Red Parrot” Bar recommended by MRT, “second floor is better, nice view, food is great”. Around 4:30 we had a late lunch and early dinner. We all agreed that the hostesses were better than the food and the view. Then we did some shopping; bought grapes, cherries, watermelon, dish towels, a tong for David’s turkey bacon special, visited the sights and briefly watched a grass court tournament on the grounds of Tennis Hall of Fame. We also took pictures in front of the oldest  functioning synagogue in US. After sun set the weather cooled quite a bit to allow us to stay on the boat for the night. Otherwise I had other plans for the night at the Hotel across from the marina. The Skipper made it clear that he would never do that! We used  the facilities and the showers in the Marina. Lots of space and no gremlins there!

 

July 8, 2010  11:30 am

Got up at 6:00 am. Thick fog, visibility about 500 feet, water mirror like. Fog cleared with sun up, blue skies with white cumulus clouds in the distance. Around 8:30 David and I went out for breakfast, Skipper stayed on the boat anxiously awaiting MRT’s arrival. Breakfast was good at an old tennis players hang-out next to the Hall of Fame. The way things are going I might not get a chance to put my newly acquired cooking skills to test and all that effort Tulin put in to teach me the intricacies of edible cuisine will be wasted! We did more shopping, bought two buckets with our names on them to empty our stomach contents if need arises. We also bought sticking hangers to better organize our limited living spaces. We again forgot to get the spray paint that we will use to leave our names for posterity on the wall in Horta Harbor. Back at the boat we found MRT hard at work. The new processor is here, hurray! But wait it is not compatible with the old compass that drove the old unit. Search begins anew! Fortunately the B&G Rep. in the area happened to have a compatible one in his house. As I am writing these lines Mark is installing the whole contraption. We still do not know whether it will work. That remains to be seen during the sea trials coming up shortly. As you might have gathered we had a lot of time at our hands, which explains the detail and length of these remarks. Keeping our fingers crossed for the sea trials.