July 16th- Cuttyhunk Island, MA
After about a year and a half of labor Evergreen’s refit has wrapped up. There is still a long list of future projects (she’s a 43 year old boat) but the major systems have all been updated or replaced. More importantly, the boat is seaworthy and sailing.
EVERGREEN- winter deck work under cover
In other news, CATALPA has made her way north and has a new berth on the waters of Lake Champlain. The boat shed looks a little empty with just a few dinghies and a lawnmower in it. We hope the new owners enjoy her as much as we did.
CATALPA’S road trip.
The sail over to Cuttyhunk was great. The wind was about 12 knots with blue skies. I’m really happy with the way EVERGREEN sails. After adjusting sails and center board we rarely had to touch the wheel. The boat gets in a groove and self steers, upwind.
This is the beginning of a summer shake down cruise for us. We’ll be back and forth between our home port and our favorite anchorages to test the boat. So far no issues have come up. We are enjoying our new Engel refrigerator. We still have to lug water out to EVERGREEN but no ice. The new solar panels seem to easily keep up with our increased electrical demands. I changed some of the rigging, mimicking Catalpa’s running rigging. The changes make it easier for me to find the right string to pull. There are more storage lockers. We’re still working on organizing them.
Most of last winter’s work was “quality of life” projects. Much varnish and paint was added. While I eliminated some bright work from the deck, I added some to the cockpit. For a while I was debating changing Evergreen’s name to Rain Forest due to the amount of water pouring into the cabin during rain squalls. 99% of the leaks have been plugged and the cabin is dry as is the bilge (hopefully I don’t regret that statement). Lynne has made extensive repairs to the dodger and has sewn a large awning along with other material notions for the ship.
Midshipman Oliver is also enjoying the extra space afforded by a larger vessel. He’s done his best to spread hair and sand from stem to stern.
Lynne and Ollie at the Cuttyhunk dinghy dock.
Cuttyhunk Island is in full summer mode and seems to be bursting with activity. The island is going through some transformations. The roads have all been ripped up and the municipal water pipes replaced. Apparently there was asbestos in the old pipes. The island is very dusty due to no pavement and many golf carts. We’ll head back to Padanaram Harbor soon. The internet is spotty out here so this post will be uploaded later. We’ll be back out on the bay before the end of the week.
EVERGREEN anchored in Cuttyhunk Harbor.
July 17th- Somewhere on Buzzards Bay
The ship’s clock has stopped! A change of batteries does nothing! It’s going to the clock repair shop next week. Something had to malfunction. It’s a shakedown cruise.