And Winter is coming...

Updates on our International Friends

On Friday the 25th we had some more international visitors. Dennis and Ank from the Netherlands were on their way down to the Carribean. They contacted me, and were able to sail down and grab my mooring for 2 days. They arranged a dinghy spot at the town dock, since the marina was already closed. 

They will be sightseeing in Boston for a few days and then continue their trip down to the Carribean .. nice !

Their blog can be seen  here : http://www.sy-bodyguard.nl/Index_sailing.htm

Meanwhile our old frends Hjalmar and Britt Marie are continuing down the coast and are in the DC area.We have become Facebook friends, so we are keeping up with them,  http://flying-penguin.se/

I am also happy to see that S/V Mooreglade made it back to England this year. I had not heard from Ted for a while. We have really enjoyed welcoming theses international friends here at the WInthrop Yacht club and be able to host them during their voyages.  http://blog.mailasail.com/moorglade

 Moving to Constitution

Saturday (yesterday) was a busy day. It was time to move over to Constitution Marina int our winter spot. Dennis and Ank decided to to join me, after all what better way to go to Boston than by Boat

Approaching Boston Inner Harbor

Barge has perfect timing to get pushed across the harbor

. After passing a traffic jam right in front of the Boston Harbor Hotel with a fleet of raceboats, and a huge barge trying to anchor, we made it into Constitution by about 10:30. Danielle took the dogs and did some shopping for the parties that were to follow today. 

It always adds to the sailing fun when one runs into a swarm of adrenaline-pumped little racing sailboats.

I don't think this Barge worried too much about anything. I had Ch 16/13 monitored all the time and did not hear any warning about them coming up

Dennis and Ank, my crew from Winthrop to Boston

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Clambake at Susans

We left our Dutch friends on their way to floow the freedom trail while Mark, Danielle and I went down to Cohasset to visit our friend Susan during their anuual traditional New England Clambake.

For my non-New-England friends, here is the description of a Clambake:

This begins with gathering seaweed at the shoreline; seaweed is an important adjunct to cooking the food.

Also important are several round medium-sized stones, or sometimes cannon balls, which are heated in the fire and used to re-radiate heat during the cooking process.

Once the stones and seaweed have been collected, a fire pit is prepared.

The stones used for cooking are then placed in the center of the pit and a wood fire is started, The fire must burn until the stones are glowing hot. . A layer of wet seaweed is placed over the stones, followed by traditional regional foods such as steamers, mussels, quahogs, and lobsters. Side dishes usually include potatoes, corn on the cob, sausages, carrots, and onions. Alternating layers of seaweed and food are piled on top and the entire mound is covered with canvas that has been drenched in sea water to seal in the heat and prevent the canvas from burning. The food is allowed to steam for several hours.

The pit is dug, and the stones are heating up

The rocks are almost ready

Here comes the Seaweed

And it is covered

Now we wait for the Losbsters while we enjoy soups and other food from the grill

Cover is on

The top cover comes on

And some great clams and soup

The clambake was great. Susan has a bunch of really nice and eclectic friends, both from the movie industry and the sailing cruising world. If you know Susan, you would say "What else do you expect" Se we had a great time to talking to everybody, especially Susan's parents and all other guests. Danielle really enjoyed it. it was her first clambake, and the music was great. The lobsters, vegetables, breads, clams and mussels were absolutely delicious. As a matter of fact, my mouth waters as I write this.

Time to check the Lobsters

Time to get the bugs out

And here it is folks !

Halloween Party

After dark fell, we had a small fire pit to hang around, and eventually headed back to Boston, since we had the traditional M/V Imagine Halloween party to go to. We met all our old liveaboard friends, as well as some new ones, with some absolutely hilarious costumes. There was again great food, conversation, and everybody danced the night away until about 1 am when we stumbled back to Waterdancer.

Halloween on M/V Imagine