October 13, 2020 The new canoe is beautiful, light (32 pounds), easily handled, and fast. BUT MY GOD IT IS TIPPY! See video here: https://youtu.be/WdKqQzTVpQ8 I finally got going after two dips in the Neck River, after figuring out paddling a skinny canoe is like riding a bike: a) You have to know how to
Proof of Concept
October 3, 2020 Tardis went one long cruise and one short one, on anchor for the most part, giving the new electrical arrangements a good test. The first cruise went east into Narragansett Bay with stops at West Harbor, Fishers Island; Point Judith Pond; Potters Cove, Prudence Island; Sakonnet Marina (3 days so Molly could
Off the Grid
August 27, 2020 We’re holed up in Sakannot Marina, Narragansett Bay, waiting out bad thunderstorms that actually caused tornadoes back home in Connecticut! The picture is from Mystic Seaport, where I’ve been looking at the extremely shallow anchorage in the Mystic River just north of the museum for something like 35 years and finally have
Covid Canoe and Cruising
July 22, 2020 I have been working on a little strip-planked canoe called a “Nymph” for about a year, but it is pretty complicated process, and I kept getting sidetracked by travel, the big boat, political campaigns, etc. — until now, of course. With the pandemic and the long process of getting my eyes
Finishing Touches
June 13, 2020 With some cataract surgery coming up and my distance vision so-so, I have been hesitant to go out on the water lest I whack a kayaker or two So I haven’t rushed to get the boat launched. Also, local cruising would be about it, since traveling state-to-state is still a little problematic.
A Challenging Project
May 31, 2020 We were in no hurry to get Tardis north from Florida, both for the safety of ace haulers Chadd and Tracey and because they were concerned that if they traveled to the New York area, they would face 14 days of quarantine going back. We had planned to spend the summer in
No Gas, No Smell, No Weight, No Speed
May 3, 2020 The question of a dinghy for Tardis has always been a quandry. I could see myself rowing into the WoodenBoat School or Mystic Seaport with all the old salts nodding approvingly. (“Now there’s a wood boat guy. No rubber ducky for him.”) But where to store it and how to transport it
The Trip South
April 21, 2020 I struggled with the title to this very boring post. Getting from Cedar Key back to Fort Myers wasn’t a cruise, which implies something relaxing. It wasn’t a “dash”, since I had plenty of time to get back and make my haulout and plane reservations. It wasn’t a journey, which implies exploration
Cedar Keys
April 13, 2020 On one of those lists like”One Thousand Places to See Before You Die” Cedar Key would rank 7,413th — but at least it would make the list. The charm of the Cedar Keys are their isolation (60 miles from Gainesville and Ocala) and the town’s reputation as an artsy/hippe/fishy town that has
The Trip North — Crystal River
April 7, 2020 Yesterday I was down at the shop sorting junk (by myself) when I began to think how I used to detest meetings after 40 years of them. But a meeting with coffee and bagels and some of my nicer associates wouldn’t be bad right now. So the Peggy Lee World War II