One of my favorite local runs is the loop around Nanaquaket Pond starting at Stone Bridge. There's something especially refreshing about running by the water and this run offers plenty of water views... of the northern end of the Sakonnet River and of Nanaquaket Pond, an almost-landlocked saltwater pond.
As I said, the run starts at Stone Bridge. Or at least it's where there used to be a stone bridge. Unfortunately, back in 1954 a hurricane came through here and demolished our stone bridge which connected Tiverton (on the mainland) to Aquidneck Island (aka Rhode Island just to confuse it with the colony and future state of the same name). Now, all that remains of the bridge are two stone piers.
Way, way back before anyone built a bridge here, there was a ferry crossing, known as Howland's Ferry, the site of an important event in the Revolutionary War. I'm sure you must have heard of it.
Anyway, back in the summer of 1778 the British were occupying Newport over on Aquidneck Island. I expect they were doing what tourists always do in Newport... hanging out at the beach, visiting the mansions, getting stoned in the bars on Thames Street etc. etc.
Meanwhile the Americans (aka the good guys) were camped in Tiverton doing whatever American soldiers do when they have too much time on their hands. On 9 August 1778 the brave General Sullivan led 11,000 American troops across the Sakonnet River at Howlands Ferry and marched to attack the dastardly British in Newport.
Unfortunately the aforementioned General Sullivan didn't have access to Accuweather and didn't know that a hurricane was about to hit the area. (What is it with this place and hurricanes? Did I make a wise decision to move here?)
The Americans were relying on the French fleet to land some more troops to help in their attack on Newport but the Frenchies got spooked by the hurricane and buggered off to Boston to mend their petits bateaux. In the ensuing Battle of Rhode Island (you must have heard of it) the British, with some unfair help from a few German Panzer Divisions, drove the Americans off Aquidneck and back to sunny Tiverton.
A completely unbiased local historian has written of the Battle of Rhode Island, "Even though the Americans totally failed to take the island, and were in full retreat when the battle occurred, it is often considered an American victory." Yeah right.
Where was I? Where am I? Oh yes, I was telling you about my run. But there is even more history on the rest of my route, so I will save that story for another day...
Anyone who follows sailing blogs is well aware of the mysterious hit-and-run commenter known only as "O Docker". He has been leaving comments all over the sailing blogosphere since bursting on to the scene in May last year with a comment on the EVK4 superblog fantasizing about the "lush life" he leads on the O Dock of Berkeley Marina. Since then his wisdom and wit have become legendary among readers of sailing blogs. I am convinced that the rise in popularity of my own blog in the last year has been driven totally by people who come here only to check out O Docker's brilliant, quirky comments.
In April of this year O Docker won the prestigious Sailing Blog Reader of the Year Award for his funny and provocative comments on various sailing blogs and his active participation in group writing projects.
Now the inscrutable O Docker has taken a bold new direction. He has started his own blog O Dock. Sailing bloggers are trembling in their Sperry Top-siders. How will we withstand the onslaught of the competition from this king of the keyboard, this professional punner, this doyen of the double entendre, this ace of alliteration?
Please do not read O Dock. It will be seriously addictive. You will embarrass yourself in the workplace by spitting coffee through your nose as you laugh at O Docker's jokes. Your spouse will become suspicious of your involuntary chuckles as you recall his witticisms. You will leap out of bed each morning as soon as you awake in order to see if O Docker has written another masterpiece of mischief. You will lose all interest in lesser blogs such as this one...
An excellent example of the quality of photograph that can be achieved with the waterproof Olympus Stylus 1050SW 10.1MP Digital Camera. Note how well it captures the contrasting underwater and above water light, the variety of blues and greens, the slightly blurry look caused by the water and the bubbles...
I think I mentioned before that the reason I didn't sail in the 2009 Laser Masters Worlds in Nova Scotia earlier this month was that my second son had, quite astonishingly, failed to consult the International Laser Class Association website for the schedule of major Masters regattas before setting the date for his wedding!!!
So instead of drifting around St. Margaret's Bay a couple of weekends ago, clad in lycra and neoprene with a few hundred other old geezer Laser sailors waiting and waiting for wind to materialize and races to happen, quite fruitlessly as it turned out, I was....
... sitting at Guilford Yacht Club by Long Island Sound drinking a Dark and Stormy and having a laugh with my two favorite girls.
Yes, all was not lost. I brought my son up to be enough of a sailor to know that the best place for a wedding reception is a yacht club. And please note that, although I am not dressed in the aforementioned lycra and neoprene, I am wearing a very yachtie outfit of blue blazer and khakis.
Damn it. It may be a wedding but I am a sailor.
My two grandchildren (my other son's kids) Emily and Aidan were at the wedding, and of course they stole the show...
Emily was the flower girl. She had been told to walk very slowly down the aisle of the church... and she certainly complied. I was beginning to worry that the organist would run out of tunes before Emily completed her slooooow walk down the aisle, basking in the rapt attention of the congregation.
I think it was my job to keep Aidan occupied through the ceremony. I must have got distracted by something... perhaps my little guy making his wedding vows... and somehow Aidan escaped. Uh oh.
Talking of my son, here is a picture of the bridegroom. Yes this is the same kid from the Little Guy post a couple of weeks back. Cleaned up nicely didn't he?
And here is Aimee, my new daughter-in-law. Isn't she gorgeous?
And here is the happy couple together...
I think I see a keelboat in their future, maybe cruising to Block Island and the Vineyard, perhaps the Around Long Island Regatta in a few years? Who knows...
Susie Pegel (a real Laser sailor) sent me a number of suggestions for Laser sailing songs to help Sam Chapin build his fleet. Susie says that they used to sing a version of Impossible Dream. She didn't give me the words, so here are my suggested words. The tune is very similar to the completely unrelated song on this video...
To sail the interminable race To beat the unbeatable foe Knowing that I will feel tomorrow A stabbing pain in my big toe
To sail while singing this song To see that guy ahead and so far To try when my arms are too weary And I can't wait to get to the bar
This is my quest To follow that guy No matter how awful The burn in my thigh
To fight for the right Without question or pause To be willing to bang the corner Why? Well, just because
And I know that it's probably true When the wind's from the west That guy will pick the shifts like a charm And once more I'll lose the contest
And the club will be better for this That one man, scorned and covered with scars Still staggered with his last couple of dollars To reach the unreachable bar
Here is my first Laser sailing song in response to Sam Chapin's request to write a Laser sailing song. Somehow this is supposed to help him build his fleet?
To be sung to the same tune as a very similar song by the Beatles called Helter Skelter.
When I get to the bottom I go back to the top where I crash
And I tack and I turn and then I go for a splash
'Til I get to the bottom and I see you again, yeh, yeh yeh
Do you, don't you want me to cross you
I'm coming on fast, and I'm going to pass you
Tell me, tell me, tell me, c'mon tell me it right
Well you may be a sailor but you ain't no Scheidt.
Now Laser Sailor, Laser Sailor, Laser Sailor, yeah ...
a-Will you, won't you want me to beat you
I'm coming on fast, but don't let me cheat you
Tell me, tell me, tell me again
You may have a Laser but you ain't no Ben.
Look out! Laser Sailor, Laser Sailor, Laser Sailor, oooh...
Look out, 'cause here I come ...
When I get to the bottom I go back to the top where I crash
And I tack and I turn and then I go for a splash
'Til I get to the bottom and I see you again, yeh, yeh yeh
Do you, don't you want me to cross you
I'm coming on fast, and I'm going to pass you
Tell me, tell me tell me, c'mon tell me it right
Well you may be a sailor but you ain't no Scheidt.
Hmmm. That's a thought. Anybody else out there thinking of going? Anyone know what it's like sailing at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club? Any advice on tourism in Thailand generally?
Now let's see if this idea involves more hours sitting in planes than sitting on a Laser...
It is eight years since September 11 2001. I suspect none of us will ever forget that day.
That summer I had helped teach junior sailing classes at our small lake-based sailing club in Mountain Lakes, N.J. Two families with kids in that program lost parents in the World Trade Center. Here is an extract from the In Memoriam Online Network tribute to one of those parents, Alayne Gentul.
Asked about treasured moments, her husband offers two, years apart.
"We loved the ocean. Our first kiss was on the beach on Wildwood, N.J. It was a beautiful moonlit night, full moon, and thousands of horseshoe crabs were coming up on the beach to lay their eggs. "
"Our son is part of a group of junior Sunfish sailors and a few weeks ago, they had a junior moonlight race. A bunch of kids gathered with boats, some decorated with little glow lights, in this beautiful, still, moonlit night. We had this feeling, in this excruciating slow race, of something of incredible beauty. One of those times in life you'll remember."
