last day of MDI summer racing . . . sigh

Woke up on Sunday morning, race day, with the same melancholy that I had felt for the last few weeks (end of summer and all), and the day was finally here.  We, the crew of Eventyr, would be sailing together for the last time.  It's not just the end of a season, it is forever.

It's sad.

But it's good . . . 

(Skip Wilson photo)

It's been joyous, challenging, and so, so fun.  And my crew-mates, my friends - they're the best in every way. 

Eventyr, 2013 MDI Cruising Class Series, FIRST PLACE
(me, in blue hat, in center)

Trophy!

Eventyr owners have bought a power boat, so Eventyr is for sale. The time is right for them to do this.  They've had many years of sailing and racing, so how perfect it is that we could help them win this last season's championship.  Nice way to end this chapter in their lives and begin a new one.

We're really happy for them . . . 

. . . They're going to have such fun with their new boat . . . messing about and poking around the down east coast . . . without us . . . 

. . . waaaa . . . maybe the boat won't sell . . .

Eventyr                                                  (Maine Sailing Partners photo)

We came up with an idea:  FOR SALE, EVENTYR J-42, WITH CREW

Anyway, so off we went on this last day.  It was a beautiful day.  The wind was moderate, the sky was blue, and you could see forever.  

This race would not count in the final standings.  It was "fun" event - a pursuit race, but still competitive.  We were hoping and planning to do well, like usual.

pre-race strategy session

The course was pretty straightforward and easy with a few long upwind tacks and a couple broad reach and downwind spinnaker runs around Baker and the Cranberries.  There was time for me to take a few photos.  I don't think I was too annoying.

serious
- look at the mountains!

view from in front

"time for a little something"
- winnie the pooh

girl power!
so, all girl crew next summer?

"a little light, a little light"

"so, what do you think?"     Hello?  Fore deck guy?

uh, oh, view from behind

Finish! (4th)  Thanks for a great season!

cookies and beer!  and memories and sentimental thoughts

I'm left with not really knowing what to write.  I admit I'm feeling a little lost.    

You know when something just works, when something is just right?  I don't think it happens often with a group of people because of dynamics and emotions and egos.  But the "just right" happened on Eventyr because of respect and patience and honesty and laughter and compassion, and more laughter - and sandwiches and beer and chocolate.    

And sailing - off Mount Desert Island.  So beautiful.

I am happy.

Frederic Edwin Church

Mount Desert 

oil sketch on paper

1850

O’er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,

Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free,

Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam,

Survey our empire, and behold our home!

- Lord Byron, The Corsair

White Sails on Somes Sound

On summer mornings
I rise
to quiet softness,
golden luminescence,
blue atmosphere translucent,
mirrored layers of sky
mountain
and sea.

Fitz Hugh Lane

Entrance to Somes Sound From Southwest Harbor

1852

Then
the afternoon southwest breeze
shatters the mirror
with headers and lifts
and I ride the wind
through light and lucidity,
white sails 
on blue-green waves
of Somes Sound.

Maurice de Vlaminck

Sailboats at Chatou

1905

Race Day!

I got back from NYC on Saturday night and went racing off MDI on Sunday.  It was a perfect way to ease back into island life, although, like in NYC, I was surrounded by art - awesome, inspiring scenery.

Norwood Cove, Southwest Harbor

It was a perfect summer day for anyone, but for those of us who were sailing, the conditions could not have been better.  The wind was blowing 10-20 knots, south to southwest.  And sunny - the sky was summer blue with ever-changing wispy clouds.

South of Cranberry Island 

The course took us from Greening's Island in The Great Harbor south out to Bunker's Ledge, then east past Cranberry Island, over to and around Baker's Island, and finally west past Sutton's Island and to the finish off Northeast Harbor.

South of Cranberry Island and Islesford

Excellent Sail Trim

Covering the Competition

We were in third place for most of the race, and our strategy was to stay close to the competition - not go off on some wild tangent hoping we would guess right.  We didn't make mistakes as a crew.  Our tacking and spinnaker sets and takedowns were all good.  We communicate well with each other and we love our "skipper".  He's a hero.  He shares the helm with Phyllis, herself a "world-class" sailor. 

Heading Back to the Rock

Uh-oh, Light Air Ahead . . . patience

Then, in between Sutton's and Great Cranberry, the wind lightened, died, shifted, then  v-e-r-y   s-l-o-w-l-y  filled in from the southwest.  We decided to stick close to the north shore of Great Cranberry, expecting the wind shift and we found ourselves with the best advantage of getting/drifting to the wind sooner than the other boats - we kept inching closer and closer to the wind line, not much control of the helm with the boat auto-tacking.  Our concern was catching a lobster pot, but finally, poof!  the sails snapped full and we gradually picked up speed, distancing ourselves from the competition who were left stalled, frustrated, and impatiently waiting for the new breeze.  

Race Committee

We got the gun!  First place finish!  Thanks, Shearwater, great race!  Hooray Eventyr!  Cold beers and chocolate chip cookies all around!

Back home to Norwood Cove.

Our Competition . . . nice race . . .  (hi, john)

We are officially the boat to beat in the MDI Series.  Two wins in a row!  

Summer Racing

So happy to be sailing again.

Sailboats

Pierre Auguste Renoir

1885

I'm back at it after many years of children, jobs, and busy schedules creating shifting priorities.  But sailing has always been a part of my life., if not through my own experience, than through my husband and my collegiate sailor daughter.

I began sailing and racing when I was about 10 in Bluejays on Long Island Sound.  Then around college age, I became a wooden boat "purist" in Mystic, Connecticut - until I moved to Newport, Rhode Island and discovered J-24s.  So fun and fast and competitive!  And then my oldest daughter was born and we moved to Maine.  That's when life shifted.

Girl With Sailboat

Edmund Charles Tarbell

1899

But my girls are all grown up now and I have time again, I mean my own time, and I've gained perspective on what I really want to spend my time doing, like racing sailboats for one.  Three years ago I was invited to join a crew on a J-42 and I've been racing with them since.  We compete well in the fleet, but more important is that the other people on the boat are pretty wonderful, as friends and sailors.  We laugh a lot, and kick butt on the racecourse, too.  Summer Sundays can be no better.

"Eventyr"
(Maine Sailing Partners Photo)

Of course, the views of MDI from off shore are amazing and I never grow tired of the quality of light, color, and composition of the mountains, islands, water and sky.  These were the first breathtaking views of the artists who came to MDI one hundred and fifty years ago.  They traveled here by boat, quicker than the overland routes of the time.  And it was the mountains that came into view first, from many miles away, assuming it wasn't foggy and stormy.  Then it would have been awe and fear inspiring.

Off Mount Desert Island
Fitz Hugh Lane
1856

"Rising in unique configuration from the sea . . . is Mount Desert Island on the Maine coast.  Peculiar to its topography are the conjunctions of sheer cliffs and ocean plane, and of evergreen, pink granite, and northern light."   (John Wilmerding, The Artist's Mount Desert) 



I will miss racing this Sunday because I've just arrived in NYC - art center of the universe!! I'm here for a week of art immersion, attending the Lincoln Center Institute and as many galleries and museums as I can fit in seven days.  I will post from here this week.

. . . connection (?) . . . MDI . . . sailing . . . art . . . roy lichtenstein . . . nyc . . .

Sailboats Through the Trees

Roy Lichtenstein

1984

I like this Roy Lichtenstein . . .