Return to Seasons

Today was a beautiful day to be on the water. After sleeping in a bit, I got up when Jeff returned from town, where he went to find Internet, to work on his online course. And, since the boat is essentially an 11 x 37′ room, it is hard to sleep in when someone else is onboard.
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Saturday morning we wore up early to get the Genoa bended on before the sea trial. We had plans to meet with Phil, our surveryor, at 9 am for coffee to get reacquainted and ask a few questions about what we would cover during the course of the trial. We met at Common Grounds, a great local coffee shop in downtown Branford, and enjoyed a quick meal with Phil while runners and other early risers swarmed around us.

When we met back at Bear, Hal, the broker, was there as well as David and Jeannie, the former owners. After we chatted for a bit, Phil said that we could go over some of the systems while still tied up at the dock and that David and Jeannie could come back later for the sail. We quickly got to work, going over the information that Phil had collected back in February during the initial survey. We discussed the more important repairs and safety equipment and then he jumped in the lazarette and began to tackle some issues he had found with the electrical systems.

Phil checking out the batteries in the lazarette

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Today was a busy day aboard Bear. After our first night sleeping aboard, we were surprisingly well rested this AM. The yard was quiet last night and, after the last train came through the nearby station, it was just us and the crickets.

Up around 8, we decided that the first order of business was to head over to West Marine to pick up some line. One of our goals for the day was to wash and measure many of the lines for the running rigging, so we picked up some thin line that we could use as messenger line, to tie to the halyards and send aloft. This saved us from having to climb the mast and re-thread all of the lines we needed to measure. We learned that the the main halyard needs a new splice and that both of the furling lines and the lazy jacks need to be replaced. All of these lines were really dirty, coated in mildew and dirt, which made the wash water a nasty brown-green hue during the wash process. I’m lucky that Jeff has a high tolerance for ick!
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Today was my last day of official teaching, only a few more meetings, a bit of grading, and the always-too-long graduation ceremony to attend before I am officially free. I have begun to gather our gear for our first summer aboard Bear, our new-to-us Tayana 37. About a week ago, I prepared nine bags of gluten-free pizza crust mix. I don’t think we will have storage room in the galley for 12 types of GF flour, so I am planning to mix up few of my favorite recipes, sans wet ingredients, and label them with cooking instructions. These baggies can be shoved into small nooks and crannies amongst our other provisions, which will take up much less space than the air tight containers do on my kitchen counter!
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Last week, I began photographing women who live and work on the water for a new photographic series funded, in part, by the Puffin Foundation. I was welcomed aboard by three lovely women who I met via Women Who Sail, a Facebook group of knowledgable, helpful, and supportive women sailors. I have sent off the film for processing but wanted to share a few test shots I took digitally. I am currently looking for women who live or work aboard boats that will be in the Long Island Sound or Chesapeake this summer. Please pass along the information in the link below to ladies who you think would be interested. Thank you for your assistance!

https://www.returntoseasons.com/2014/03/09/call-for-women-sailors/

Megan inspecting the mast