Bumbre

Cruising from New England (Martha’s Vineyard) to the Out Islands of the Bahamas in a Cal 28, from October, 2003 to August 2004.

ICW: November 2003

by Harman Stinson, November 30, 2003

I woke up early the next day, around 5AM hoping to be able to sneak out of the creek before day break. Up on deck I decided it would be wiser to wait for some more light before venturing out. So at about 5:55AM when the light of day started to brighten the horizon to the east we headed out of Indian Creek. Jen was just getting up, but if we wanted to have any chance of making Norfolk that day we needed to maximize the light of day.

Maiden Voyage, May 2003

by Harman Stinson, May 31, 2003

We bought our sailboat in November, but by May we had yet to take her for a sail. As I explained to my nervous wife how to release the dock lines we prepared to for our maiden voyage. It was nothing much really, just a nice sail around Boston Harbor, then an overnight in Hull, Massachusetts, at the entrance to Hingham Bay, but since we were departing from Hingham, this wasn’t the most ambitious plan. We just wanted to start to get to know our new friend a little.

Paradise Found and Lost, August 2003

by Harman Stinson, August 31, 2003

We had not been out on the boat in over a month–a few weddings and visiting friends and family had kept us away–so by the time August came, we were ready to do a little cruising in the warmer dryer summer months. I had been on the boat for a week, doing work on her and getting her ready for a long weekend of cuising the Elizabeth Islands.

Summer Loving, June 2003

by Harman Stinson, June 30, 2003

For our first voyage from our new home port, we wanted something simple. And since we hadn’t outfitted the boat completely, we needed a destination with a restuarant, or it would be cheese and crackers for dinner. We went down to the boat Friday night in order to wake up on board and head out to our next destination as early as possible: Mattapoisett.

Untying the Lines, October 2003

by Harman Stinson, October 31, 2003

There we were, all three of us–my dad, Jen, and myself–lying in our respective beds. I was listening to the rain patter on the deck wondering thousands of things at once: “Did I forget anything?”; “Is it going to stop raining so we can get out of here in the morning?”; “Is this really the smart thing to be doing with my life, instead of slaving away behind a desk working for the man?” I didn’t know the answers to any of them. But I did know one thing: I was about to find out whether or not I was ready for this trip. Perhaps I should digress and go back a few days to when we were frantically getting ready to go.