WAKE UP: 5:33 am: The sun begins to peak above the horizon as the hulking inner island car and people transport ferry throws a wake (wave) through the anchorage rocking the crew awake. Jeanie prepares the espresso maker (have we mentioned this is a well equipped yacht?). Over coffee (hot water with lemon for Jeanie), the crew discusses the upcoming day.
PLANNING: Doug has been closely monitoring weather in hurricane season. He warns the weather is degrading Friday and Saturday with winds gusting past 50 knots and seas predicted at 8-10 feet high. Mind you, figures are averages so may be less or more depending on location. Captain Charlie and crew make the decision to sail today for Nantucket where we will use a mooring (block buried in the bottom of the anchorage with chain and big ball on the end). From here, we will cheer on crew member Doug as he captains one of the International One Design (IOD) sailboats with 4-5 crew in the Nantucket IOD Invitational Regatta. Current plan is to hunker down in Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard through the storm then return back to Newport for RADAR replacement (unfortunately connection fix did make it better but still intermittent outages requiring more drastic measures before heading off shore).
WEIGHING ANCHOR: As Paradigm’s crew gets her ready to go to sea
securing everything that may fly around the cabin with different sail tacks
(angles) and waves, our neighbor, 152-foot top sail schooner Shenandoah’s crew picks
up her anchor and furls 7,000 square feet of sails. For the past 59 years, this
19th century sail training vessel has carried a crew of 9 with 30 students
(4th -12th grade) at a time on week long journeys of self-discovery.
More than 17,000 people have climbed the tall ship’s masts and slept in her
bunks. Paradigm’s anchor up and stowed, the boat heads out of the harbor under
engine charging the house batteries.
SAILING AWAY: At noon under glorious blue skies with cool, 14 knot winds, the main sail and Reacher (Genoa front sail) are hoisted as the boat settles into a comfortable beam reach from the side wind. Charlie and Doug alternate at the helm with Doug as navigator. Jeanie switches between deck tasks deploying and trimming sails plus preparing tea and creating a wonderful lunch. Geoff is busy helping above and below—wherever duty calls including a turn at the helm. Tami is perched at the computer, typing away on the blog that Jeanie started. After 4 hours & 15 minutes and 28.1 nautical miles (nm), Paradigm glides into Nantucket Harbor. The crew makes picking up a mooring line and securing it to the bow looks easy. Time for afternoon tea and Jeanie’s amazing brownies.
Welcome to Nantucket!
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