Log of s/v Bellerophon

We arrived at Fishers Island at 1 bell in the first Dog. The YC crew gave us a hearty welcome and inquired whether we'd like lobster delivered to our boat, live or cooked. We declined, thinking only of Carol's American Chop Suey. We struck the private signal and flew the Commissioning Pennant, thinking it was more appropriate to the setting.





I tried to look up Dave Burnham, and have hopes that I will be able to make contact with him over the weekend.

We're thinking they may not appreciate evening colors, since this place seems to close up at 5pm.

Conanicut to Fishers Island Yacht Club. Left at 5 bells in the morning watch. Motored to Pt Judith with Carol at the helm. Set sail to Watch Hill Passage via 1BI. Spoke the Mystic Whaler along the way, rendered and received passing honors. Wait, what's that adangle from the Whaler's starboard bow? Egad!





Strong southwesterly as we plodded west toward Watch Hill Passage. Quite a bit of heel from time to time. No rail meat onboard so we'll just have to hold on tight.

After a few hours at Ft Adams we took the ferry back to Bowen's Warf and had lunch. Right next to us was the Tall Ship Spirit of Bermuda. We noticed, much to our dismay, that the crew's drying laundry appeared to be part of the exhibit. Carol felt compelled to mention it to a member of the crew and the problem was corrected.







An Oompah band serenaded us while we waited for the trip back to Jamestown.

We started out at about 9 for Newport but the first ferry was full so it was 1030 by the time we got underway. We hopped off the ferry at Fort Adams and toured the ships there.

The forecast called for 80% chance of showers, but we must have been among the 20% because it was beautiful all day. During the first watch it looked like we were going to get wet, but the edge of the storm passed just to the north of us, and we stayed dry.

We tested the new cocktail, uh, that is, cockpit table, and called it an early night.

Wednesday,5 bells in the first watch. We left the dock early in the second dog, and had a great sail down to Potter. The wind was fairly strong,15+ knots, so we sailed "jib and jigger" the whole way. That sail combination seemed to work quite well for us, and we had a pleasant cruise. Ironically, when we left Edgewood the air temp was about 93. When we got to Prudence, the temperature had dropped to the mid-70s. Jim even had to put on a jacket. Here's Carol in the picture starting her vacation (aka "nesting").

I took this photo at 7 bells in the first watch, just as Steve was starting to fade.

Grand total of about 220 CW contacts and about 250 phone contacts, plus assorted bonus points.

We took a break from operating and made a heck of a dinner -- grilled ribeye steaks marinated overnight in a vacuum bag. We watched the sun set and let the gennie run for an hour or two before we got back on 80m. Here are a couple of sunset shots that I managed to get.

Just makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Right, SW op and official Field Day "Elmer" N1SW assembles a G5RV jr, which later turns out to be not all that useful. Above, a heaving line gets the feed line over the spreaders. Below, our SW op tunes up the rig.

Steve works a small pileup on 40m. Note the intensity of the poise, and the professional position of the microphone.











Brad's attempt to track up rack up the contacts while Steve takes a break.

6 bells in the forenoon watch and our CW station has arrived! Ernie did a touch-and-go to pick me up so I could help him get situated on his mooring and raise his antenna. Unfortunately his dingy engine was giving him a little trouble and he had to drop me back off using the same method. Fortunately Ernie's brine factor is pretty high and he executed a near-perfect drop-off.





Here's a great photo of Steve on the bow of the phone station checking the anchor and the generator. I left him onboard for a couple of hours while Ernnie and I got things situated.













Here's the phone station flying November-Bravo-One-Radio-India, our club callsign.

The captain arose at 1 bell in the forenoon watch and put on the coffee. Steve was still in bed, comforted by his hand held. Kind of a frightening sight but still worth a picture.

We spoke to the sailing vessel Destiny, off Warwick Light and headed this way. We'll wait til they round Sandy Point and then rig fenders and lines for a starboard-side raft. Good thing, since the cannon is on the port side.

We left Edgewood at about 3:45 headed for Prudence Island. Strong northwesterly blew us down the bay to PC in about an hour and a half. It was a gorgeous sail!










We were just anchored when the skies started to get dark and it blew at 30kts out of the northwest. The skies looked pretty ominous for a while, and then the rain swept through. Fortunately it didn't last long, and after an hour or so we were able to enjoy a cocktail and some cheese and crackers.








By the time we were done with cocktail hour, a nice rainbow had formed on the far shore. It might be hard to see.

The father and son combination sets sail for the Kickamuit. How people have the energy to deal with kids is beyond me. I wonder if you can drug them?

Here's Dom trying to figure out how to row.

And Don trying to figure out how to fish.

As the rain moderated Saturday afternoon we hailed the launch and went ashore to "The Oar" for drinks and some food. Martinis go great with sushi tuna.

The evening was gorgeous, clear and dry. After a few more cocktails we decided to call it an early night so we could get a head start on Sunday's passage home.

We left Block at about 5 bells in the morning watch and encountered strong winds and 3-4ft seas. We managed to sail for about 2 hours but then struck the jib and staysail and motorsailed until about 7 bells in the forenoon watch.

Conditions made for an ugly, sloppy trip... the seas and wind were both right on the nose and it was impossible to make headway under either sail or motor power directly toward Pt Judith. We ended up with just the main and the mizzen motorsailing.

It was still necessary to tack several times before the seas finally started to moderate off of Narragansett. It wasn't until Whale Rock that we managed to strike the main and mizzen and continue just on engine power. Definitely not an enjoyable trip, and most certainly a "blue blanket" passage. Here's Scott at the helm, with several layers and a wool cap on.

We never knew that Hinckley made a center-cockpit Ketch. And we never knew we'd see an ugly Hinckley. Note the seamanlike furling of the sails and the forward hatch open to the storm.

Looks like a nasty front coming through. Fortunately we're secure as can be expected on a town mooring in Great Salt Pond. You know what happens here during a storm though... it's a free for all in the anchorage!

We pulled a page from Cap'n Duckie's book and soaped down the deck. We'll use the rain to wash it all away. And we expect quite a bit of rain! Beyond the storm line, though, it looks pretty clear.

We got to use a pretty impressive array of onboard toys Thursday and Friday! First, coming into Dutch Harbor we used radar to navigate the mooring field and then a handheld spotlight to find a free mooring. Then on the way to Block we encountered... fog! Lots and lots of fog. So I got to try out the automatic foghorn after 2 years of just looking at it. Needless to say, it worked great. Radar was a big help out there too!

We woke up Friday morning and hailed the launch at Dutch to make sure we paid for our mooring. Apparently we are the exception -- they must have said "thanks for being so honest" a half-dozen times! We set sail for Block at about 2 bells in the forenoon watch. What a great sail! After short-tacking out of the west passage we made for 1BI, managing to tack only twice. Got some great views of Pt Judith Light as we sailed by.

At 8 bells we encountered heavy fog, and sailed for the last 2 hours with about an 8th of a mile, relying just on radar. We pulled into Great Salt Pond and were on the mooring by 5 bells in the afternoon watch. We had our choice of moorings! The place was empty. We took the launch into shore and then a taxi to Ballards. We stopped at a few places on the way back, but all the bars on this side of the island are closed. Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow!

The Off Soundings Watch Hill to Block Island race ended somewhere during the first dog watch and the entire fleet sailed into New Harbor. Good thing we got here when we did.

We just finished our cigars and are about to hoist the cocktail flag.

Scotty arrived in town a few days ago and was kind enough to provision the boat for a four day sail. I flew in from Atlanta on the 3pm flight and drove straight to the boat. We set sail at about 5 bells in the second dog watch for Dutch Harbor, arriving at about 7 bells in the first watch. The wind held til north of the Jamestown Bridge, and then we motored into Dutch Harbor. We picked up the first available mooring and will deal with the boatyard first thing in the morning. Entering a crowded mooring field in pitch black was definitely an interesting experience. Thank goodness for tons of flashlights.