It's December!

A few of the boats in the yard

The yard is filling up with boats, local and foreign, waiting out the winter. They are being hauled, washed down, winterized and blocked up on a daily basis.

As for us, things are slowly taking shape - with emphasis on the "slowly".
We are seeing changes, which is heartening, as most of the work doesn't show.
The windows are finally on and (fingers crossed) leakproof.

The pulpit and pushpit are in position and bedded into place. The new handrail pieces have
been sourced (from 3 different places) and are beginning to be fitted together.
A big headache with the boat is the fact that it is so difficult to find something that simply fits.
Everything has to be tweaked, fiddled with and compromised over. It takes a lot of time :-)

The pulpit is on - it's starting to look like a boat

Chris is replacing the lenses in those of the original hatches that we are keeping, and they look great.
He is also re-anodizing the original stanchion bases and cleats. Although he is getting them done, we aren't sure the new look is worth all the trouble. Maybe we'll bite the bullet and buy new.

It is beginning to get cold. The puddles this morning were covered in ice, a sign that our work patterns will have to change. We are protected from most of the weather by being under cover, but not from temperatures. Today we are re-installing our interior doors, which have been part-way revarnished, in order to try and have a smaller area to heat with our little electrical fan heaters. We have found if we close everything off, we can stay relatively comfortable.

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The end of October saw a great party in the workshop. It was the day before Hallowe'en, several cruisers were leaving or on the verge of leaving (most heading to the south and warmth) and some sort of celebration was called for. The boatyard provided oysters, clams, and the expertise in roasting them. The rest of us provided food and nibbles. I was really glad to have a chance for some roast oysters. The annual Chrismas party at the yard always has them but I am never here to try them out (yes,we have been here for THREE Christmases now, though we did do some cruising between Christmas 1 and Christmas 2!)
First a large steel drum that has ventilation gaps near the base is filled with wood chunks and set alight. This is several hours before the oysters are due to be cooked, so that when you are ready to eat you have a wonderful hot and glowing bed of coals. After tipping the coals out and raking them into a flat layer, a metal sheet, supported by a couple of bricks, is placed over them. The oysters in their shells are emptied onto the sheet, levelled out and covered with water soaked burlap bags. A couple of minutes later the oysters start to open and dinner is served! Bobby the mechanic is the expert chef, and also oyster opener. He pointed out that some of the oysters had a bonus inside! Not a pearl, but a little fingernail sized crab. That was an extra treat, though I noticed my little crab was still wriggling when I ate him! After the oysters, clams were cooked the same way and were yummy. There was also Lucy and Rick's huge pot of chili and awesome finger food, Annette's world famous warm chili and cheese dip, and other offerings of wings, dips, chips and of course, liquid refreshment. The end of the evening saw us sitting around the fire on a lovely autumn night, mesmerized by the flickering flames, sated and mellow.

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There was another local offering a few weeks later. We have been told by several people (and seen the evidence) of deer running into cars, as opposed to cars running into deer. One evening just after the boatyard book-keeper was leaving work a deer at the side of the road ran straight into the front of the driver's side! It knocked itself out and dented the car at the same time. Very shaken up the book-keeper drove back to the yard to get some help. Right away two of the boys rushed out and found the deer length ways in the center of the road, his legs on one side of the yellow line, his body on the other. Not seeing any obvious injuries, the boys hoped that by getting the deer to the ditch at the side of the road he would have time to recover and join his friends. Right at this time a car came flying by, ran right over the deer's legs and kept on going! It was mere inches away from the guys! Although the boys were very lucky not to have been hurt, the deer had all 4 of it's legs broken and had to be put out of it's misery. Why that car was traveling like that is a mystery as we are literally at the end of the road here; it ends at the water. On the plus side, we all had venison stew the next day.

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One of the people who keep their boats here works at Jamestown with the 3 replica boats that are copies of the ones that brought the settlers to the first surviving British colony in America. Whit suggested that we might like to visit Jamestown and promised us a personal tour of the boats. We picked a nice sunny day just before Thanksgiving. We had driven by a few months earlier on a dull rainy day and got the impression of quite a small facility but we were very wrong.
The museum itself is very attractive with a theater and several exhibition rooms. One room was like a forest, another like a boat, one like a London street. There is a lot of interactive content, obviously aimed at the many children that visit. Outside there is an authentic reconstruction of the fort as well as one of the Indian village, both with knowledgeable costumed interpreters. Lastly there are the three boats, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery, all working replicas of the originals. Whit gave us a great tour, and we saw parts below decks that are not normally open to the public. We spent several hours there, and could have spent several more. It's definitely worth going.

Inside one of the Indian houses
- you can touch EVERYTHING!

Susan Constant, the largest of the 3 ships.
The decorative colouring was a way for people to identify the
ships from a distance

Captain Whit


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Mid November saw a doozie of a storm. Hurricane Ida was over a hundred miles away but apparently the combination of her winds with a couple of low fronts gave us quite a ride! It was way more extreme than Hurrican Hilda last year, which didn't amount to anything. The wind blew steadily for two and a half days. Trees were downed, land and roads flooded, houses battered and docks ripped away. The electricity and water were out, but only for a day or so. Clean-up started immediately. These folks are obviously ready and prepared to deal with this kind of weather on a regular basis.

On the left was a paved road leading to the house behind.
All the tarmac has been washed away and the large boulders,
meant to prevent water erosion, have been picked up, hurled high
into the air and several feet inland!

This house, without the protection of boulders, lost most of it's frontage.

The soil was washed across the road to the left and several hundred feet into
the trees on the other side.

One of the downed trees.This area was all under water
and the soil became too saturated to hold the trees up.
In the background they are sawing up another downed tree

Many hours after the storm stopped and the water
subsided the work dock is still under water

The storm is over but the trees are still being blown.
The water has receded from the high mark left by debris,
but normally sits where you see a thin line of reeds
on the right

The local paper has a link to some photos here: http://www.ssentinel.com/index.php/soundslides/play/the_perfect_storm_ida_meets_a_noreaster/

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The town and surroundings are beautifully decorated for the season, especially at night with twinkling lights silhouetting deer, santas, snowmen, trees and houses. I wish I were a good enough photographer to capture them.
We are counting the days to spending Christmas with our family, daughters and grandchildren. We wish everyone the best for the holiday season and for the New Year. May you all enjoy health and happiness.