Season's end
Jimcox31@aol.com
Sat, 5 Dec 1998 23:54:08 EST
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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Greetings all -- La Nina has been kind to the East Coast, so Jim Harrison and
I took advantage of it for one last sail of the season. It was virtually
shirt-sleeve weather with temperatures in the low 70s. The day had dawned
cloudy with fog and light rain, but by the time we hit the launch ramp at
Rocky Point the rain had stopped. We silently motored out into Chesapeake Bay
with Jim's MinnKota motor. There was almost no wind and the water was glassy
smooth. The fog persisted and we found ourselves in a very charming world of
our own -- a world with no horizon. The silence was awesome as there very few
other boats out. A little after noon the sky cleared and a weak sun, low in
the sky, sparkled on the water. We slowly circumnavigated Pleasure Island,
running aground gently in a few spots -- but with a keel that swings up it did
not stop us, or even slow us down much.
After we rounded the Craighill Channel Range Light we passed between the
island and the shore and noticed that workmen were doing outside work on the
Fisherman's Inn, a favorite place of ours. We stopped at their dock and
talked briefly with one of the new owners who revealed some of their plans for
the place. They are adding a whole new area for outside dining and plan to
emphasize their appeal to boating patrons. All of this we found positive and
agreeable.
Back at the cove we anchored and celebrated the end of a remarkably good
sailing season with a beer and some appropriate classical music. A very
satisfying end of the season we agreed. After all, sailing in December is
almost unheard of here!
Back at the launch ramp, Jim removed his centerboard to see how well his past
winter's sanding and painting had survived the 1998 season. (Today's sail,
Jim said, was his 36th of the season!) The centerboard looked pretty good I
thought.
Jim Cox
P-15 # 1836 Gemma
but sailing aboard Jim Harrison's boat "Hooked"
Baltimore, MD