Sailing

My pal Parker and I are planning a little sailing trip. 

We've done lots of sailing together over the years, mostly in the little wooden sailboat I built about 10 years ago. Its been a bit since we had a sailing adventure, having done bike trips the last few times we've gotten together.

When Nancy and I were down at her parent's place in Falmouth (on the Cape) in August, I was laying on the beach looking out across Vineyard Sound and started daydreaming about the possibility of sailing around Cape Cod. 

Cape Cod is shaped something like a arm making a muscle. Falmouth is where the arm pit would be, Chatham is at the elbow, and Provincetown is where the clenched fist would be. My thought was that we could leave from Falmouth, head east towards Chatham, and then move North along the outer Cape up towards P-Town.  

It would be natural to take my boat, but Parker also has an old wooden boat that's been sitting at the edge of our yard for a few years waiting for me to get some "free time" to fix her up. Of course that hasn't happened. If anything she's just lost a little more paint sitting under the tarp.

I've always been interested in Parker's boat. It's a ketch, which means it has two masts -one behind the tiller- and leeboards, which are like a centerboard, but there's two of them and they mount one each on either side of the boat. The boat also has two enclosed spaces that serve as positive floatation should we swamp or take a big wave over the rail. 

So, when I proposed the idea to Parker, he jumped on it and I suggested we use his boat. It would mean some work on my part (he lives out in California), but there was time and it'd be good motivation to get her back in shape. 

Now our trip is less then a week away and I've done some preliminary work on the boat, but I've got to hustle to pull things together.