Hello and welcome to the Vacation Page
Over the course of two lovely weeks in July, Sandra and I (sans kids) were fortunate to enjoy a 4056 mile auto trip to the Northeastern United States. Talk about your weather windows, (although it was fairly warm on a couple of days) the heat wave that had gripped the region broke and we were able to enjoy some milder weather than we are accustom to at this time of year. The main purpose for our trip was to attend a Cape Dory rendezvous in the beautiful coastal town of Onset, MA (off Buzzards Bay and at the end of the Cape Cod Canal). Both before and after the rendezvous we had planned stops which we thought would be fun and interesting, thus this page is divided into sections coinciding with a different phase/place of the journey. We have not included thumbnails to facilitate download times. Please enjoy the tour.
Chose a link below OR scroll down to view the entire page of pics.
Erie, PA
Mystic Seaport, CT
Cape Dory Rendezvous, Onset, MA
Cape Cod, MA
Presque Isle Light House
The schooner Pride of Baltimore was departing Erie for Michigan and Ontario on the morning we were in town. We drove out to Presque Isle to watch her raise her sails, but she was headed dead to wind (what little there was), and motored out of sight!
The Brig Niagara is a replica of the vessel that fought the British in the War of 1812. She is shoal draft and the architect took the space from the crews quarters below decks. Even I at 5' 7" had to stoop big time in the crew quarters. The officers mess had significantly more head room. I don't recall her LOA, but she has a tiller as opposed to a wheel. My kind of boat!!! (Niagara's home page.)
Return to Top of Page
Talk about your high wire acts, here we have a rigger tarring the standing rigging aboard the whaler Charles Morgan. There was no such thing as Risk Management aboard this vessel!
This catboat is something this inland sailor is not accustomed to seeing. Although not my cup of tea, it is a pretty boat!
Here we have the ham of the south (my 1st Mate) escorting the doomed horse.
The Dead Horse Ceremony. Exactly what is it? Well, we were told that sailors were paid one months wages in advance for signing aboard a vessel. And that many of them never made it aboard with the loot (i.e. brothels, bars, and Shanghaied (I hope that is the corrrect spelling) etc..). So, for the first month they worked "for free". At the end of the month, they celebrated by making the horse out of what ever was available, paraded it around the ship, raised it to the yard, and over it went! It is some how tied to the farmer who bought an old nag etc... Anyway, you get the picture.
Sailing school on Mystic Harbor
What a beautiful little wooden Ketch
A New England Oyster Boat. The big red barn behind the boat houses the construction of a replica of Amistad, which is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2000. From there she will make her maiden voyage in OpSail 2000.
Return to Top of Page
Dories on Parade! It's a graceful sight, and one that gave me goos bumps!
Just to show how we all beat to windward on Saturday, here is a pic of one of the CD 28's splashing away!! Although it was windy, it was great sailing!
The graceful Heather Ann - A Cape Dory 30 Ketch. Leo and Ruth Anne, we had a truly enjoyable time. Even if you did rig the drawings for Bob and Paula! If anyone is ever in need a nice shore side respite, you should give The Lonesome Dove B&B a try (an easy drive to Mystic, et. al.). You WILL NOT be disappointed! And Leo thank you for the wonderful sail on Sunday. Hopefully you were not is as much trouble as I was upon our return! BTW, Ruth Anne, how do the chairs look?
Captain and 1st Mate of the S/V Allura II, a Cape Dory 30 Cutter. Gary and Liz McDonough were gracious enough to allow Sandra and I the opportunity to participate in the group sail on Saturday. We are very thankful and are willing to return the favor should the occasion ever arise.
Rhapsody's Captain and 1st Mate aboard Allura II. Sandra and I were both overly concerned about the dreaded mal de mer, but thankfully neither of us succumbed. The only close call we encountered was when Sandra was on the coach top to windward and Gary and I decided to tack. My 1st Mate was not a happy camper and quickly let us know! She doesn't like the low side!!!
Close quarters! Wildings (I think), Heather Ann, and in the background and unidentified Cape Dory. Is that Ruth Anne or Paula Ohler with the camera (aboard Heather Ann)? Sure would like to see the pic!
Closer yet!! I think this is Tony Betz's 33' Cape Dory Wildings?
And last but not least, the "King of Hot Beer" "hey, you guys got any cold beer"? Mike Thorpe aboard the Cape Dory 27 "Lady Jane". I wouldn't swear to it, but I think his crew has grown from "his friends", to include the crew of The Cape Dory 25 R&R (Rick & Ron). And on top of that, he questioned mine and Leo's seamanship on Sunday for having Heather Ann's boarding ladder in the water! Look again Mike! :>)
Although I have no photographic proof, I was introduced to the Captain of the S/V Kerry Deare of Barnegat, a Cape Dory 28. Armond, who sailed in and found himself in the thick of the rendezvous, used his dink to meet and greet a score of Dorians, and then set sail with the tide the following morning for points farther north. I have personally enjoyed his web page for some time. It was a pleasure to meet you Armond.
And finally, a very special thanks to Chris Reinke for all your work! We all know the amount of work and coordination this type of activity requires and you did a spectacular job. I don't know if we will be able to attend the next rendezvous, but we sure are going to try. Ruth Anne MacDonald thinks we should ship Rhapsody to the Great Lakes and come that way. What a trip that would be, but not enough time I'm afraid. Anyway, thanks Chris. Hope to do it again soon!
Return to Top of Page
I kept trying to get Sandra to take just one more step in order to improve depth-a-field, but for some reason she just wouldn't listen. The North Atlantic is so pretty!!!
No there is no need to call Green Peace, that's me not something washing up on the beach. I don't know why it is that crew mates have these communication difficulties, but later when Sandra decided to take a swim, it was the all too familiar story! She thought I said "you are a bold one" but actually, I said "it's a cold one". Guess who got blamed????
SLATER, YOU #$%@ @#$%^$!!!
Well, I guess that's it. TTFN.
Return to Top of Page
We hope you enjoyed the tour, and we welcome your comments and suggestions.
Return to our Sailing Page