LORD'S PRAYER LOG, Part 139:
Sunday July 1, 2001
Moored Sawyers Island, Boothbay ME.
We visit with Bob, Dawn and their son
Mark. We fetch my '76 Mustang from a near by mini storage facility
and visit some more. I take a short nap to catch up on the sleep I
missed last night. In the latter part of the afternoon, a lightning
strike takes out the electric power on the island. We all step out to
"No Anchovies" for dinner then we tour the waterfront of Boothbay.
We take Jenny to Biscotti's for her traditional summer "steamer"
drink and the rest of us have mocha cappuccinos or other tasty
drinks. Afterward we visit Sherman's, which is just about Jenny's
favorite store in the whole world and we pick up a new book for her to read.
When we return to Sawyers Island the electricity is still out. We all
say good night and retire. A great day on the beautiful coast of
Maine!
Monday, July 02, 2001
Moored Sawyers Island, Boothbay ME.
1200 After a lazy morning, some reading and a pancake
breakfast prepared by Chris, Jenny and I pump up the inflatable
dinghy "Lee Shore". While I am putting the last of the dinghy
together, Jenny pumps out Bob& Dawn's 13' Boston Whaler from last night's rainstorm. Jenny and I review the safety equipment in
the dinghy she then takes Lee Shore for a practice row. Afterward,
we install the 3.3 hp Mariner outboard and she takes it for a spin.
Later we take the mustang into town to do some laundry and pick up a
few things at the grocery store. In the evening we have dinner with
Bob, Dawn, Mark. Jenny reads aloud for a little while before we
all retire for the night.
Tuesday, July 03, 2001
Moored Sawyers Island, Boothbay ME.
We do a little shopping and take Jenny to
the movies. Jenny adds: We see Dr. Doolittle two! This is a
hilarious movie. I recommend everyone see it.
Wednesday July 04, 2001
> Moored Sawyers Island, Boothbay ME.
I hoist the large holiday flag at the stern of Lord's Prayer in remembrance of our
nation's hard-won freedom and of those who laid down their lives for it and
continue to do so. We attend a fair in Boothbay center in the morning,
a lobster bake at Sawyers Island in the afternoon and fireworks at
Boothbay Harbor in the evening. The lobsters at the bake are the
tastiest I can remember having for several years. In the evening the
fireworks are shot from a barge out in the harbor. They rise up,
just below, and into a low overcast that after the show settles over
the region as fog. Often the tops of the fireworks disappear into
the overcast and the really high fireworks vanish completely; some
of them turn the overcast beautiful red and green colors. At the
grand finale the flashes within and outside the overcast give an
eerie sense that one is watching a live battle. For me it somehow
resembles an image that resides in my mind of that historic 25-hour
bombardment in 1814 of Fort McHenry in Baltimore by the British fleet. It
was the experience of this bombardment that inspired American lawyer and
poet Francis Scott Key to write the poem "The Star-Spangled Banner."
The image that brings that particular battle to mind seems most
appropriate on this Independence Day.
Thursday, July 05, 2001
Moored Sawyers Island, Boothbay ME. This is a lazy day
during which the road to Sawyers Island is being resurfaced we
decide to not take the car out while this is going on. We all do
some reading. Toward evening we slip out for a visit to town. Jenny
I have the small fry's Tom Turkey and Mash potatoes dinner at
Ebb Tide; Chris has a burger. Later we cruise around through
Sherman's store and pick up another book for Jenny, since she is
about to finish the last one we got her, and a sweatshirt for her. Then
we all have an ice cream before returning to Sawyers Island. As we walk
down onto the pier to go aboard the boat, there is a full moon lying
low on the southern horizon. It occurs to me that it must be at
about the southern end of its north-south travels, since it is lying
so low. I find myself wondering out loud if this is the reason the
tides have been ranging less than they often do here along the coast
of Maine. This is a curiosity to me because often when we visit here
it is necessary to move the boat to a mooring over certain low tides,
as there is not enough water on these occasions for Lord's Prayer,
with her 5' draft to lay alongside the float.
Friday, July 06, 2001
Moored Sawyers Island, Boothbay ME.
As we are finishing breakfast, I haul out the Nautical Almanac and have alook
at the section on the moon. Sure enough, the moon is at 23 degrees
south declination, which means it is 23 degrees south of the equator
at the present time. This is about as far south as it ranges. In mid
September when we return from our planned trip into Canada, the moon
will be at 23 degrees north declination. The tide prediction for
that time indicates that the lowest tides will be 1.4 feet below the
low datum; Lord's Prayer will not have enough water to remain afloat
alongside Bob Dawn's float then, although just a few days later,
she will. How interesting it is to increase one's understanding of
these interrelationships of the tide and the moon! Jenny,
Chris and I help Bob install a mount for an outboard motor on the stern
of his J-22 sailboat. This task requires drilling four holes in the transom; then
one of us must slither under the seat from forward of
amidships all the way back to the transom, where a backing-block,
washers and self-locking nuts are to be placed onto the ends of the
bolts that will hold the bracket to the stern. Jenny, being the
smallest among us is the one best suited for this task and after a detailed briefing,
she dives in to do the job. Once back there, she discovers a
problem; the backing-block does not fit properly due to a structural
piece at the corner of the stern. Since the task is now more
complicated, Jenny comes out and I jam myself in there. There is
barely enough room for me to get in; once I am there it becomes
evident that the backing block is not going to work with the materials we have even
if we trim a corner off it, as it is too thick for the
bolts. We decide to abandon the backing block and just use big washers.
We already know that this is the way the factory does it, in any
case. And since the motor is light (and only 3.5 hp), the motor
mount does not really need the extra strength of the backing block.
Since I am in there at this point, I mount the washers and
self-locking nuts. Bob turns the bolts, while I hold the nuts. With the
mount secured in place I struggle to back out from under the seat. At
first I do not seem to be able to move; I begin to think I am going
to have to get someone to haul me out by the feet. Eventually I
manage to push myself out, though. By the time I am clear, Bob has
the motor installed on the new mount and he is ready to give it a
test run. He does this and all appears to be satisfactory; we deem the task complete!
Saturday, July 07, 2001
Moored Sawyers
Island, Boothbay ME.
I spend a good part of the day drafting a
letter to UPS about a used computer I shipped insured some
months ago via UPS to Jenny her family in Florida. The monitor
arrived smashed; there has never been any compensation. The story is
actually more complicated, which is why UPS has been weaseling on
their responsibility; the bottom line, however, is that I insured
it, they broke it, and I have not been compensated. I do not enjoy
writing these kinds of letters; I seem to lose my normal
cheerfulness when I deal with these kinds of issues and with this one in particular.
As a consequence, I have been rather poor company for Jenny
and Chris today.
Sunday, July 08, 2001
Moored Sawyers Island, Boothbay ME.
Jenny helps Bob, Dawn clear
brush from their property. Meanwhile I spend a couple of hours
cleaning up the stainless steel on Lord's Prayer by polishing and waxing it.
Later in the day we visit with Ken & Tudy Russell at their
home in East Boothbay and their houseguests Butch Patsy and
Phil Carol; later have dinner with them all at Lobsterman's
Wharf. While we are doing this Bob and Dawn take a nice sail in
their J-22. Later they share with enthusiasm the magnificent sailing
qualities of their new boat in light air. I have not yet sailed
their
boat with them, but I must say I am very taken by the
boat.
Monday, July 09, 2001
Moored Sawyers Island,
Boothbay ME.
I work on my UPS letter in the morning, while Jenny
and Chris do some laundry. Afterward we have lunch at Robinson's
Wharf. Jenny has a burger and Chris has a fried fish sandwich; she
says it is very good but it does not match Bet's Fish Fry! I have
the clam roll; it is terrific. Jenny picks up a fan magazine about
Aaron Carter while we are in the grocery store. She is in a serious
swoon over the young entertainer. She is still reading the magazine
when it is time for bed.
Tuesday, July 10, 2001
>
Moored Sawyers Island, Boothbay ME.
The Aaron Carter magazine is the first thing Jenny picks up when she awakes.
I finish my letter
to UPS; we put it in the mail with a copy to the Better Business
Bureau in Washington. For supper we all share a couple of pizzas from
"No Anchovies" and a nice salad. Afterward Bob, Dawn, Jenny, Chris
and I play a game of "Boothbay Harbor Regionopoly", which is a
variation of Monopoly. I get clobbered!
Wednesday, July 11 2001
Moored Sawyers Island, Boothbay ME.
Jenny, Chris and I take a little auto trip over to Camden, where we do some shopping and
have lunch. Afterward we drive over to Searsport and take in
the Penobscot Marine Museum there. We watch a classic film shot and
narrated by Irving Johnson about rounding Cape Horn in the "wrong
direction" (east to west) in the square rigged sailing vessel
"Peking" carrying general cargo out of Germany in 1929. The storm
scenes are classic - like nothing I have seen and hopefully never see (80' waves).
Even after rounding the Horn against the wind and current they
must sail in a westerly direction against the prevailing winds and
currents of the violent Southern Ocean for some 200 nm before they
dare to tack to the north and take up a course for their destination
in Chile. This is because of the treacheries of Chile's lee shore,
which has claimed many a vessel and many more lives. At the
museum we see many an interesting vessel and display. Mostly
the displays relate to the days of sail but there are some early
motor vessel displays there as well; there is information on Clipper
Ships and Down-Easters, fishing vessels and yachts. There is a
Brutal Beast (a cat boat) on display believed to be the first of the
old Marblehead class (one of the first boat types I can remember
sailing in at perhaps the age of 4 or 5). There is a tired old Herreshoff 12 =
on display as well; we saw a couple of these at Parker's yard in
Cataumet,MA that had been restored to things of real
beauty. There is a display of canoes from as early as the 1800s
including several birch-bark ones; these unfortunately are not of
actual Native American construction, although they are similar to
those that are. I was especially interested in looking at the manner
of construction of these canoes after having just finished reading a
book about the Mi'kmaq Indians of the Maritimes; I had learned from the
book that it was from these Native Americans that our existing
culture acquired, among other things, the technology of the
birch-bark canoe, the toboggan and the snowshoe. We tend to make the
mistake (at least I do) of thinking that all things we know today
are of European origin. It is an enlightening and I think pleasing
experience to receive a jolt of reality and to recognize that all peoples
of this earth have made meaningful contributions to the world, as we
know it today. After visiting the museum we have a short
visit with our friends Don & Lorraine Bruckner. It was very good
to see Don & Lorraine and to do some catching up.
END OF LORD'S
PRAYER LOG, Part 139
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