Small Reach Regatta 2014! Return of The Hog!

OOOOooooHHH SNAP! Its that time again!

Its the Small Reach Regatta 2014!

TA Ta TAAAA! (trumpets)

Yes, I took this picture swimming.

ENTER Stage Left: CIRCE, as she enchants Odysseus sailors!

"She opened her gleaming doors at once and stepped forth, 

inviting them all in, and in they went, all innocence... 

She ushered them in to sit on high-backed chairs, 

then she mixed them a potion--cheese, barley 

and pale honey mulled in Pramnian wine--

but into the brew she stirred her wicked drugs 

to wipe from their memories any thought of home." 

(The Odyssey ch. 10, Fagles)

Of course, the worldly Intrepid Reader of GISAmateur Style knows that soon after the sailors were turned into little piggies and run into pigsties,

"...sobbing, squealing as Circe flung them corns, cornel nuts and mast, 

common fodder for hogs that root and roll in mud." 

(The Odyssey ch. 10, Fagles)

This year the SRR was again held at the Hog Island Audubon Camp where we checked our humanity at the door and wrestled, rowed, and sailed our boats up and down Muscungus Bay!  Snort-snort fellow piggy sailors, its sailing time!

Scout and I arrived at Muscungus Bay a few days early, and met up with GreenMountain John who has just finished an absolutely stunning François Vivier Ilur! Heartstopping is an adequate word to use on WAXWING. She is the FIRST and so far THE ONLY Lug-Yawl Ilur on the PLANET. You saw it here first, folks. And lots of other places too.

GreenMountain John rowing in, like a BOSS

OOOOOOHHHH MY GAAHHHD 

The only Lug Yawl Ilur... IN THE WORLD

Just two boats, cruising in Maine.

On Wednesday other boats started showing up.  The Small Reach crowd is pretty core.  A few trailers came in with technical issues, from blown tires to the axle falling off one trailer, but they still made it. Broken trailers are not an issue for a Small Reacher, it is imperative that the Regatta is reached! All solutions are acceptable, including lashing the axle back on.  Who needs U-bolts?

Dont despair, Lashing Man is here!

So Ill be honest here, this year I have some fewer pictures than usual since I was having some camera battery issues.  Also, this year the Regatta was a little more calm and I just enjoyed the splendid company, good food, and wonderful water-time with friends I see once a year.  Lots of repeat boats this year, a few new ones, and we did enjoy a visit from a Tancook Whaler.

The first day was a long row (about 4 miles or so) from Hog Island to the southern tip of Friendship Long Island to a little cove that is protected by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust on Neds Point.

Cove at Neds Point.  Very pretty.

NO SRR is complete without the legendary WOLFISH, Crazy Charlies Washington County Peapod

Super Salty Mike with his well traveled and storied Melonseed, PEPITA
I LOVE this boat, and Mike is just the greatest saltiest sailor evAR!!!1!!
(Intrepid Readers remember PEPITA from this picture in 2013)

El Jefe Professor Denis and his Carpenter.  More on this later!

Funky-Funk Andrew and PHOEBE!
Andrew is my homie. (homey? homee?)

Capn Paulie and Goat Island Skiff KATHLEEN MARIE
After a year in exile, they return triumphant to the Small Reach Regatta

Sausage Brian returns with KEEL BASA, his Lillistone Flint.
Sausage Brian is eating sausage in this picture.  Circe got him realz good.
KEEL BASA is the first lug-rig Flint IN THE WORLD!

After lunch, we had some breeze and sailed back to Hog Island.  As I was walking out to SCOUT who was bobbing merrily on her anchor I got distracted talking to our Fearless Leader Tom and slipped on a rock.  No big deal.  I got wet, but saved the bag, and climbed into Scout and got her ready to go for some sailing! As I was about to retrieve the hook, I looked down for something and noticed that there was red water in my aft cockpit and my legs were a little worse for the wear...

 

So that was fun.  These guys wouldnt stop bleeding either.  Blood on my towel, blood in the aft cockpit, blood in the bilge, my new shiny floorboards, everywhere! I just mopped off and went sailing. Sometime later, one of the many medical professionals at the event gave me some cream to put on them, but I had already given them a good scrub in salt water.  Remember: I Viking! (I took the antibiotic cream anyway, barnacles can be full of nasty).

Enough pillaging, back to the sailing!

Sweetest boat, Hylan Beach Pea, steered by oar.  Really wonderful boat in so many respects.
New addition to the SRR.

Matinicus Peapod.  She leaves nary a ripple in the water, as it closes up right behind her.

Tancook Whaler VERNON LINGUINE bearing down on us!

VERNON LINGUINE passes us in her slippery noodlely way

Denis and his Carpenter under sail AND oar because lets be honest, its a lifeboat.

OOoooOOOoo 18 Joel White Shearwater OCARINA.
I love this boat for its simplicity, it just speaks.

Piratey Ed in his Ness Yawl ghosting alone. Ed lives in NH, which means we should go sailing!

Capn Jon FINALLY makes an appearance in TWO-HEARTED (Phoenix III)
Hes sailing with his FIL, Hank, who was kidnapped by Capn Jon
from his grandfatherly duties to go sailing. Atrocious crime!

PHEW there are a lot of grey skies going on in the above pictures.  I need some SUN and BLUE MAINE SKY, Hmmmmm Hmmmm! On the second day we sailed back down to Harbor Island which has a beautiful beach and harbor and is a great place for lunch! No camping, but the beach is available for day use, and there are trails around the island with cliffs on the east side with some beautifully clear water which probably has great snorkeling.  The bottom of the harbor seems like it is good holding ground for those that sleep aboard.

Scout is at anchor at a distance.  Goat Island Skiff BLEAT is foreground, right side. PEPITA is on the left.
The pulling boats always get to the beach first, notice the three in the foreground.

Susan with her Yawl-Dory ELYSSA

YES I love this ghetto style! There is nothing more sacred than utilitarianism. It works.

So heres another Dennis in WHISPER a modified Tom River Skiff.
Unfortunately, I did not get a good long look at this boat, and didnt get to sail it either.
I regret this, because it looks like a lot of fun, and it has a lot of sail.
More downhaul might be a good idea on this rig, but Dennis knows his stuff.
Look at that sky!

Capn Jon, my Lovely Wife, and myself stopped by at Broad Cove Marine and grabbed
some tasty lobster rolls ($10!).  This is now one of my favorite lobster stops.
We left the regatta and renegaded this much needed lunch stop!
Note Scout down on the dock.

On the last day, we did some very interesting sailing.  It was a long summer sail-day, with many circumnavigations of islands, and a nice beach lunch stop.  This was the end of a wonderful week on the water.  I spent three days sleeping in the boat, three sleeping ashore in a tent in a wild patch of woods with my Lovely Wife, and I left feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to rock for some more sailing!  Sailing! I want mooooorre!

Fleet working up between Oars Island and the mainland.

DON"T MESS WITH THE INSTIGATOOOORRR!

This is the kind of shot that really symbolizes the SRR for me.
Lots of beautiful small boats, great scenery, and fun times.
What more could I ask for during my vacation?

Capn Nathan ghosting along in his lovely Kingston Lobster boat.
He can really sail this thing, he would ghost in and out of tight harbors with current, no problems.

So, heres a Sea Pearl 21 and a Herreshoff Carpenter.  Many people will often name drop Herreshoff
and Sea Pearl 21 in the same sentence.  Well, Ron Johnson is the designer of the Sea Pearl 21,
and he was "inspired" by the Carpenter, but the Carpenter was designed as a lifeboat. The Sea Pearl is a machine.
The Carpenter rows OK,  needs wind to move under sail, and it very stable, but its not the Sea Pearl.
They may share relatively same hull shapes (flat bottoms, etc) but performance wise its another story.
They are different boats, and to mention Herreshoff and not Ron Johnson is disingenuous. 

Another comparative picture for those Sea Pearlers that are interested.
The Carpenter is a lovely boat, but its quite specific.

Capn Jon FIL Hank flying wing-and-wing in SCOUT!

After all that sailing, it was high time for the legendary last night lobster-fest.  This is where we get together in a communal fashion and eat, drink, and be merry together before parting the next day.  Lobster, chowder, and puffin are usually on the docket, all delicious foodstuffs after a great week of sailing.  Funky-Funk Andrew is all about pairing wine with puffins, for instance.  There is music and song, stories and laughter, biting mosquitoes and starlight.  We bond over our plates, our love of sailing, and our shared communal spirit of sailing small boats.  Small Reach Regatta is the high point of my sailing season, and it comes slow, passes quickly, and leaves me stoked until the ice clogs the rivers and bays.  

Capn Jon piles his plate high with food, and carries his lobster below, opening up valuable plate space!
Take note, rookies!

"I am going to eat your babies."
(Real quote from Funky-Funk Andrew while eating the lobster roe)

The crowd gathers around the dessert and to hear GreenMountain John play some pipes!

PUFFINS TO EAT

"This wine pairs wonderfully with puffins!"
Funky-Funk Andrew sends it home again!

Until next year, SMALL REACH REGATTA!