Homeport…. A Weekend at the Dock

Most of our summer sailing consists of a 3-week vacation, out to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. This is a summer where we need to stay closer to home in order to prepare for our big adventure down the ICW and the Bahamas. Spending 24-7 for 8 to 9 months on our boat will give us plenty of boat time and sailing time. Honestly, there is a lot to be said for appreciating the treasures we have near home. You don’t really need exotic places to be happy. So this is just a posting about our weekend at home, at the dock. Feel free to skip it if you prefer more interesting locations. ☺

This was a “prep” weekend – taking care of more things for our longer voyage, only 6 weeks away now.  Much to my surprise, Captain Al decided we should have a new anchor, a Rocna! Our 45 pound CQR has served us well, but the Rocna is one of the best and will be additional “insurance” that we will be safe at anchor in new waters. This 33 kilogram/73 pounds Rocna, is a Kiwi (that means from New Zealand), and is specially designed to “attain its correct setting attitude for quick penetration, regardless of how it hits the bottom. It digs straight in, offers superior holding-power, and will not easily trip out on load reversal.  This represents the best in safety, security, and dependability.”  It was delivered (no shipping cost  – can you believe that??) to our front porch.

Captain Al brings the bow of Kindred Spirit over the dock so that he can remove the CQR and attach the Rocna to the bow pulpit. Wow, that is some anchor. I feel more secure already!

While Al was doing important things like providing us with a new anchor, I was down in the cabin, opening up every nook and cranny I could find to clean it out and inventory the contents. We will need to put every bit of storage space to use. No photos or interesting thoughts about this yet. Give me time……

We had lobsters for dinner that night with our friends Dean and Mary Jo, and their son, David. The lobsters were delicious, courtesy of Stop & Shop’s super sale on the crustaceans AND Dean’s awesome chef talents. Yummy, yummy.

I took an early morning walk over to UCONN’s Avery Point campus. It is a wonderful place to walk. When we lived onboard for those 9 weeks between houses back in 2009, I would do this every morning before heading north to work. It was a treat to do it today.

I discovered some unexpected additions to the Avery Point campus along the path.  Poetry of the Wild connects people to landscape by combining poetry, visual art, and nature observation throughout New London County. According to the Poetry of the Wild Facebook site, The POW project was designed by Ana Flores, an ecological designer and sculptor who has toured nationally with this unique project and is a collaboration of Mystic Arts Center, The Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art at UConn Avery Point and Expressiones Cultural Center in New London. POW features handmade poetry boxes fabricated out of recycled materials that are designed to reflect the chosen texts within them. Boxes are constructed by poets, artists, students and community members. Inside each box resides a poem and a journal for the public to record responses to the work and the site.

I only had my iPhone with me and the light was not the best. I didn’t even know what these boxes were until I returned to the boat and researched it. If you are interested in seeing more about this and reading the actual poems, you can check out the Facebook site or this one Maria Scaglione Photography blog.

If you know me at all, you will know which of the poetry stations is my favorite. I thought these works of art were a very special treat to stumble upon this morning.

We finished our Sunday afternoon by kayaking over to Bluff Point State Park. We even found some acceptable seaglass on our beach walk there.