Douglas Arvidson is a past winner of the WICE/Paris Transcontinental International Short Story competition. His short fiction has been published in Paris, Prague, and in literary magazines in the United States and he was recently invited to be a staff writer for the Prague Revue, a cutting-edge, online literary journal (http://bit.ly/1mMT6ZC). The novels in his fantasy series, The Eye of the Eye of Stallion, include The Face in Amber, The Mirrors of Castaway Time, and A Drop of Wizard's Blood. His new novel, Brothers of the Fire Star, was selected as a finalist in the ForeWord Reviews 2012 Book of the Year national awards and as a finalist in three categories in the 2013 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards: Action Adventure Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Young Adult Fiction. It has become part of the pantheon of Pacific literature and is now included in school literature programs. Brothers of the Fire Star is an adventure story set in the Pacific during World War II and concerns two boys of different races and cultures who escape the island of Guam in a small sailboat when the Japanese army invades. They must then struggle to survive as they master the secrets of the ancient Pacific navigators. Appropriate for young adults as well as adult readers, Brothers of the Fire Star is available on Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com (http://amzn.to/1j3axVk) and Crossquarter.com. Visit the author's website: douglasarvidson.com



Friday, June 19, 2009

Cape May and Up the Delaware Bay to Greenwich, N.J. Where We Leave the Boat for Repairs

Terry and Bill Negotiate the Cape May Canal

We may have set a record--for an Alberg 30--going up the Delaware Bay from the Cape May canal to the Cohansey River. We had the wind behind us, the tide with us, the engine helping us, and the jib out. As we left the Cape May canal and plunged along farther out into the bay, the ocean swells coming in behind us rose up bigger and bigger until we were surfing down their fronts. At one point, I saw 9.2 knots on the GPS.

The object was not a pleasant day on the water, but rather to get the boat into a safe harbor and contemplate what to do next. We were taking on 5 to 10 gallons a day through the rudder post and the prop shaft packing glands and we could not reach them to tighten them down. The weather had been abysmal for three weeks and was scheduled to continue that way.

Brother John had flown home, as scheduled, from Atlantic City, and Terry joined me for what we hoped would be a nice week or so finishing the cruise to Onancock. We were also joined by sailor who has been plying the Delaware in his own Alberg 30 for the past 20 years. Bill had offered to help us up this notorious small body of water, and we accepted.

After just five and half hours, we were at the entrance of the Cohansey River and an hour later, we turned into the wind and current and slipped up against the dock and tied off. That night, it continued to rain hard and we continued to take on water. By morning, we made the decision to haul the boat out here and get done what needs to be done. The boat fix-it guys here know Alberg 30s, have a great reputation for excellent work, it's close to home, and we have friends/family here.

So, the boat is "on the hard" waiting for much needed attention, and Terry and I are back home. I'll be driving up there checking on things and hope to get the boat back in the water and finish the trip in August or September. Meanwhile, I'll keep up my ususal blog here, every few days.
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1 comment:

  1. claudiaJune 19, 2009 at 7:34:00 PM PDT

    have enjoyed the tales of sails and look forward to more the end of summer; meanwhile I'll keep tabs here for more of "Doug's World".

    ReplyDelete

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