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Marblehead Chapter 1
Jul. 10th, 2003 05:51 pmIt's been so long, I dont' even know where to start, but I'll jot memories down as I remember them befor I have to take the kids to soccer.
It was amazing. Possibly the most amazing, life altering thing I've ever done. I remember as a kid sailing on smaller boats and being so envious about the big boats. The atmosphere, the crew, the boats themselves. And here I am playing with the big boys. It's a dream come true for sure.
We left early Monday morning. We were supposed to be at the dock for 5:00 and leave at 6:00 but I overslept and didn't get there until 5:30 - which was fine, since nobody else got there until 6:00 and we left at seven. The weather was calm and sunny. We motored out of Mahone bay and eventually put up sails. At about 8:00 we had breakfast. We had english muffins, bacon and cheese as well as fruit and yougrt for everybody. It wasn't bad. We worked in shifts. From 10:00 to 16;00 there were three hour shifts and from 16:00 to 10:00 they were two hour shifts. You were on a shift, then you were "on the dot" which meant you were on call a shift - you could relax, but you coudn't change out of your wet gear, and then you were off a shift, then back on a shift, then off a shift, then back to the start. Every one was staggered on the shift, so you were on with different people as the day progressed - though mostly I was on with Shane and Big Steve. The "on the dot" was my lingo - and it stuck. When Thom did up the schedule a tick meant you were on and a dot meant you were on call, hence, on the dot shift, or doing the dot. The first night it rained. I was down below sleeping and I thought I saw lights. I assumed it was the guys changing the sail with flashlights, but it was actually lightnening. I got up and went forward to get my wet gear to get ready to go on deck. When I went forward I grabbed the mast (which goes through the hull) to steady myself - until I realized that it was basically a really big lightening rod and it was probably not the best thing in the world to hold on to during an electrical storm. I got my floater suit on and went above. When I went above I found that we'd been hit by lightening while I was asleep and that much of the electronics weren't working anymore. Thom said that he had gone below on a number of occasions to make sure we weren't taking on water - that the bottom of the boat hadn't been blown out. Apparently I missed the whole thing. It was raining, and the lightening was lighting up the whole sky and everything around. You could clearly see the world as if it were daylight for seconds at a time. All the while the boat is healed over on it's side and beside us in the water dolphins are swimming. I swear that nothing could possibly be more exciting than that night.
The next two nights are a bit of a blur. Actually, the whole trip is a blur - it felt like one long day witha bunch of naps in between. The third night - when we were almost into marblehead I almost hit a tanker because I misread the radar. Luckily Shane noticed the bow wake just in time for us to alter course. The thing that sticks out in my head the most about the last evening was, again, us healed over, in the dark of night, trying to dodge the unseen, and the discussion between Thom, Shane and I was the fact that probably only 5% of the whole world could appreciate, let alone, enjoy what we're doing. And we LOVE it.
Ok, kids to soccer. More later.
It was amazing. Possibly the most amazing, life altering thing I've ever done. I remember as a kid sailing on smaller boats and being so envious about the big boats. The atmosphere, the crew, the boats themselves. And here I am playing with the big boys. It's a dream come true for sure.
We left early Monday morning. We were supposed to be at the dock for 5:00 and leave at 6:00 but I overslept and didn't get there until 5:30 - which was fine, since nobody else got there until 6:00 and we left at seven. The weather was calm and sunny. We motored out of Mahone bay and eventually put up sails. At about 8:00 we had breakfast. We had english muffins, bacon and cheese as well as fruit and yougrt for everybody. It wasn't bad. We worked in shifts. From 10:00 to 16;00 there were three hour shifts and from 16:00 to 10:00 they were two hour shifts. You were on a shift, then you were "on the dot" which meant you were on call a shift - you could relax, but you coudn't change out of your wet gear, and then you were off a shift, then back on a shift, then off a shift, then back to the start. Every one was staggered on the shift, so you were on with different people as the day progressed - though mostly I was on with Shane and Big Steve. The "on the dot" was my lingo - and it stuck. When Thom did up the schedule a tick meant you were on and a dot meant you were on call, hence, on the dot shift, or doing the dot. The first night it rained. I was down below sleeping and I thought I saw lights. I assumed it was the guys changing the sail with flashlights, but it was actually lightnening. I got up and went forward to get my wet gear to get ready to go on deck. When I went forward I grabbed the mast (which goes through the hull) to steady myself - until I realized that it was basically a really big lightening rod and it was probably not the best thing in the world to hold on to during an electrical storm. I got my floater suit on and went above. When I went above I found that we'd been hit by lightening while I was asleep and that much of the electronics weren't working anymore. Thom said that he had gone below on a number of occasions to make sure we weren't taking on water - that the bottom of the boat hadn't been blown out. Apparently I missed the whole thing. It was raining, and the lightening was lighting up the whole sky and everything around. You could clearly see the world as if it were daylight for seconds at a time. All the while the boat is healed over on it's side and beside us in the water dolphins are swimming. I swear that nothing could possibly be more exciting than that night.
The next two nights are a bit of a blur. Actually, the whole trip is a blur - it felt like one long day witha bunch of naps in between. The third night - when we were almost into marblehead I almost hit a tanker because I misread the radar. Luckily Shane noticed the bow wake just in time for us to alter course. The thing that sticks out in my head the most about the last evening was, again, us healed over, in the dark of night, trying to dodge the unseen, and the discussion between Thom, Shane and I was the fact that probably only 5% of the whole world could appreciate, let alone, enjoy what we're doing. And we LOVE it.
Ok, kids to soccer. More later.
