I'm Published!

[Chris Coose]

The Catboat Association, Bulletin No.137, Spring 2005.
Long article on the August Cruise with Ella with photos.
Names dropped:
Woodenboat Forum
Hugh Lane
Steve and Davin Bauer.

I've attempted to copy it to the forum in the past but have had trouble getting the entire story to stick.
Anybody know if there is a text limit?
You wouldn't know it by the cut and pastes.

There will be some of my writing in an upcoming Soundings Mag on the mentality of the catboater as well.

When I get some time I'll try to get the article published here.

[Figment]

Post it in episodes.... A Catboat Saga!

[nutmeg2go]

Being published is cool.

Being published talking about boats is WAY COOL.

Congrats

[JimD]

Can you at least post a link?

[StevenBauer]

Cool, Chris. [img]smile.gif[/img] I was up at the St. Lawrence Monday night for the WMPG Bluegrass Extravaganza fundraiser and saw that Victoria's cover was off. A little premature, maybe? At least she's not in the water yet. What a nerve wracking week this would be! [img]redface.gif[/img]

Steven

[Chris Coose]

August 2004 Trip on Victoria with Ella

This trip sprung from a midnight awakening sometime during a December Noreaster that was shaking my attic bedroom.
It was an out–of-the-dark suggestion from some place in my mind that is mostly dormant these days.
The epiphany was a quiet voice that said, “Due to your current employment status you are able to take the month of August off and go on the boat. Get ready.”
Instead of brushing it off as some reckless whim, I knew that it was likely to happen, which was exciting as hell because I’d never taken significant summer time away from work and the longest time I’d spent aboard Victoria in a stretch was 6 or 7 days.
I went to Lisa (wife) and Ella (7 year old daughter) and included them in the thought and it was unconditionally approved. Especially, in that, no day camp arrangements for Ella had been made for the month of August, so Ella was included in the trip. I doubted Ella would be game and I was tickled and surprised that she was OK with the idea. She remained willing to go from beginning to end.
Lots of spring boat work was perpetuated by the plans. The interior sheathing of the coming was replaced and the tops of the seats in the cockpit were replaced. The cockpit was scraped, sanded and painted.
The afterdeck was rotten from the mortise that was made to take the bottom of the boom crutch. This section of deck was repaired and a new piece was fastened to the coming to accept the boom crutch. A far better arrangement.
Teak trim was replaced on the top of the coming.
This work added at least twice my normal spring load and made for a frustrating time on Victoria at the boat yard, in a not so weather friendly spring.

A missing sail caused the only considerable disruption but that lasted only 3 hours.
The following letter should explain one of the most anxious moments I’ve had in some time. Denise is in charge of the Parks in the city of Portland.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
July 27, 2004

Denise C. Clavette, CPRP
17 Arbor St.
Portland, ME 04101

Dear Denise,

It was about a month ago that I was taking a leisurely Saturday to rig the small sailboat that I’ve had for nearly 30 years.
I’d taken the gaff and the boom out of the cellar and went to the spot where I usually place the sail for the winter and came to find no sail, cover or battens.

I went cotton mouthed immediately as the thought struck me that I’d removed the sail in the fall and gone over to the small grassy area near the breakwater on the Eastern Prom boat ramp, folded and piled it all very neatly and drove off and left it for the winter.

I got to see Missy pretty quickly that morning and she let me know she’d find it if it was around. By this time I was becoming somewhat hopeless because there were few solutions to this problem and they were either wicked expensive or just plain bleak. I tend to beat up on myself some for bone-headed moves and I knew this one was going to be painful in the future.

After an hour or so after seeing Missy, she called and let me know she’d found the gear. She told me it was no easy job and it was Saturday July 3rd, so I’m certain she had better things to do than go digging around in dark basements searching for my gear.

I got out for a sail today and thought about Missy coming through as she did and was glad I live in Portland where municipal employees like Missy work and provide services above and beyond. Thanks also to the people who got that sail to where it was so Missy could find it.

Sincerely,

Chris Coose

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Early summer slipped by quicker than normal as the August trip approached. July presented Low-pressure weather patterns which caused cruising skippers and crew much disappointment. None of my paid work or internal pressures interfered with plans in any way. Family and friends were encouraging and never did I doubt this trip would go off as planned.

What little planning was limited to figuring I needed a GPS and a replacement hand held VHF radio. The list of necessary gear to pack was quite small.
I had some idea that Ella and I might do some island camping so the tent and air mattress went along. The tent and some of Ella’s clothes were the only items that were not used. We wanted for nothing and brought along very little that was unnecessary.

Sunset at Pulpit Harbor

Victoria was built in Hong Kong in 1963 at the Choey Lee shipyard. She is an 18’9” traditional Cape Cod Cat boat, designed by Ronald Carter. She is planked in teak and copper riveted to opel frames. She has a Volvo MD-1 single cylinder 6HP diesel engine as an auxiliary to her large single gaff-rigged mainsail. I have been with and maintained her since 1976. She isn’t great with the wind on her nose but just off the wind she sails along with the best of them. She is a sweetie in light air. She gets a little heavy as the season gets on due to the planking soaking up water.
Her cockpit is large. Her cabin, though split by a centerboard trunk, is spacious enough to hold all the gear and use the v-berths for sleeping at the same time.
She is a perfect gunkholer, drawing a bit more than 2 feet with the board up and she can go to sea under moderate weather conditions.

She is an elegant little cruiser that turns the faces smiling in every place she goes. It was no mistake on the part of L. Francis Herreshoff to pair up a cat like Victoria with a 28’ canoe yawl to write about cruising along the New England coast. Re: The Complete Cruiser

[ 05-26-2005, 06:17 AM: Message edited by: Chris Coose ]

[Chris Coose]

August 2
Portland to Cape Small Harbor.
The first week of the cruise, I was to be solo. As usual, I got excited about setting off and I am aware that this excitement will cause me to overlook important details. This did not happen. When leaving the mooring I felt confident that I was well-equipped There was no fear as there were plenty of resources for me all along the path.
Lisa dropped me at the landing about 3:30 PM. I packed the leaky plywood dump- resurrected skiff on the boat launch ramp and made just one trip out with all the gear that was needed for the trip.
As I cast off the mooring line with a moderate and favorable SW breeze I felt like I did as a kid on any of the outdoor adventures I’d made. I thought how lucky I was to be able to live a life that has been full of adventures just like the one I was setting out on. I sent a message out to the elements that I would be grateful if they were as kind to me on this trip as they had been in the past.
I passed to the NE of Jewell Island at dusk and felt adventurous enough to proceed on.
This turned out to be a good and bad idea. The kerosene running lamps had not been commissioned and I was headed into dark – pretty much unknown waters and anchorages. Light air.
I doused the sail as I approached Cape Small Harbor in a moonless night and anchored in, what I thought, was a good spot. In the morning I looked about and realized the risk I had taken and resolved to not be as impetuous. It was just luck that I did not end up ledged along the banks of the entry river to the harbor. It was the tidal flow that kept me from being hung out to dry on some steep sharp ledges along the bank.

August 3 – 6
Small Point to Eggamoggin Reach for the Regatta.

I am solo with old demons and angels on occasional brief welcomed unannounced visits.

Around Small Point to Boothbay.
A lobsterman’s dream. Light air, light fog and no swell to speak of. The bay outside of the rivers was very nice. The cockpit was sun warm and boring with the thump of the engine.
It was easy to pass some very desirable harbors and coves in the knowledge that I’d be returning with Ella.
I left Boothbay at dawn. No wind with a light and variable wind forecast. It was to be another day of motoring with fingers crossed for a breeze. I was setting into passes that I’d not done before. I’d be passing Pemaquid Point and across Muscongus Bay to Port Clyde and around up to Rockland in Penobscot Bay. With the weather forecast as it was, I felt conflicted. I could putt around and meander into some very pretty spots but being as dead air as it was, there was this feeling to make distance. This was an old demon. To get to the regatta was important but to power all day to say, make it to Rockland, was going to cost in anxiety. The thump and vibration of the engine is hard to take. If the fumes creep into the cockpit it’s just plain nasty.
The turn into the surprisingly strong ebb tide coming out of Penobscot Bay woke me up to the difference these Downeast bays present. After spending 12 years in Casco Bay I’d forgotten how the waters can turn in and out of the glacier chiseled bays like the Penobscot , Blue Hill and Frenchmans. Not to say Casco is pond-like, it’s just different the further east you get. Some 5-10 knots of air out of the SW allowed me to keep the sail full and somewhat helpful.
Mussel Ridge Channel was really pretty and the Owl’s Head Bay had quite a strong tidal flow. Once turning at Owl’s Head for Rockland Harbor, the breeze became quite strong. As strong as any time so far on the trip. There were a couple of schooners coming in and going out which made for a pretty day at the mouth of the harbor. I was glad to shut the engine down and hoped that this would be the change in the trip.
At Rockland I gave Hugh Lane a shout and he picked me up to go home with him for a shower and meet his family. Hugh is a buddy I met on the internet forum hosted by the fine folks at WoodenBoat magazine.
The next day I set out at Noon for Pulpit Harbor on North Haven Island in the middle of Penobscot Bay. Nice breeze out of the SW. I sailed in and hooked with no motor on that day, a very nice and deserved break from the motor. The Camden Hills tend to puff up a sky full of clouds to send across the bay. This was one of those days where there were multiple layers and colors all over the sky. I got some nice photos including that spectacular red sunset sky while at Pulpit.

Pulpit Rock with the Camden Hills making clouds.

Nice quiet night on the hook.
At dawn the wind piped up from the North which caused me to make south out of the harbor and hook around into the Fox Island Thoroughfare. It would have been nice if the wind stayed up but by 10 AM it sort of died off for some powering out into the eastern Penobscot Bay.
Long trip to Woodenboat at Brooklin through the Deer Island Thoroughfare.
More powering that I would have liked.
I set an anchor just above the Woodenboat dock. This would be the most easterly point of the trip. I hoped to try for Isle au Haut with Ella but it was an unlikely trip, considering all to be explored on the return to Portland and I was having to head back to Vinalhaven to pick up Lisa and Ella.

[notwoodbut...]

Hi Chris,

Just finished your article in the CBA Bulletin. A nice story that reminds me to get the kids out there more.

Please continue you posts here along with the color pics. Hope you have some color pics of the whale. I'm afraid the Bulletin's black and whites don't quite cut it.

To non-catboaters, the Catboat Association is at http://www.catboats.org We even have our own little forum!

Thanks,

Jim

[rbgarr]

Thanks, Chriss! Great storyline.