We are Home

[RicM]

Karen & I would like to thank all the wonderful people we met at the NE Rendezvous this weekend. Karen in particular was surprised at how much fun it is to party on a dock with really cool people who share something in common with you, DUH! I have lots of pictures I will share & post. Right now I am still exhausted from 11 hour return trip, 5 hours of which was straight into a 20kt headwind & sea down Buzzards Bay, a notorious stretch of water for a reason. As I heard many times this weekend, "the boat will take more than you can". Two more aspirin and back to bed! Thanks again all!

[RobS]

Ric, sounds like it was a very good day to be on an Albin...

Erika & I agree 100%. We knew the location would be excellent but the socializing certainly exceeded expectations and made for a truly enjoyable weekend.

Although I had to take my share of Red Sox blah blah blah I was well behaved and left my Yankees windbreaker in my bag and even refrained from mentioning a football game played in early February.

[jcollins]

11 hour run? You NE guys are a hearty bunch. We were just under 2 hours and we took the long way home to enjoy the ride. The bay was 1-2 with a fairly light wind. Too bad we couldn't get the link-up to work. Something about MAC vs. PC?

[RicM]

The ibuprofen has started to kick in. Yes, I said 11 hours, which I will never, EVER do again. Running to the SW down Buzzards Bay in the afternoon is well known to be a madman's particular hell, with an unrelenting short chop and blowing spray. We could only manage about 9 kts, and at that Karen lost a crown. We somehow spun the prop on the bow thruster (which we discovered while approaching the gas dock in Harbor of Refuge in Sandwich MA (East End of CC Canal), filled the holding tank, ran out of fresh water and beer, and of course the rum was all exhausted Saturday evening. We were a bedrageled crew when we docked in Wickford at 6PM (we left Boston at 6AM). Thankfully faithful Dave was there with fresh rum supplies and to help us slide into our slip without the benefit of said thruster. We had a great time, met wonderful people, got Karen more interested in the cruising life, and saw another side of a great American city. The video conference was stymied by a poor internet connection (less that 100K). I could get a better connection on the Wifi in the hotel lobby, but they wanted a lot of extra money to host our cookout in their nice new lobby. Next year all seem to be thinking Essex. Karen & I are discussing an exploratory expedition in September to Essex to reconnoiter.

[jcollins]

Next year all seem to be thinking Essex

Essex, MD. would be a nice long run for you if she is getting into the cruising life. <smile> 10 minutes for me.

We had 2 members attend via car. John (Transition) had to take care of pet problems and couldn't bring his boat. Chrissy and Rene (Sassafras) had starter problems.

Now you know what it's like without the thruster.

[RicM]

Essex CT! Please! The thruster is helpful but not required, I was actually pleasantly surprised at our manuevering ability once I realized that it was gone. The problem was that I discovered it after I had started my approach to the gas dock, in a 20 kt breeze, requiring some quick adjustment. I think perhaps I will test a quick burst in the future before docking starts! That then led to my reluctance to attempt the pumpout which was way in the back of the rather constricted harbor. These things always snowball as the trip prgresses.

[RobS]

We somehow spun the prop on the bow thruster

Should just be the shear pin accessed by lifting the motor off the flange in the forward V. Hopefully the A/C unit does not make this more of a task than this should be...

[RobS]

Ric,
When we snagged one of the rigs on the troll on Saturday my first thought was to use the thruster to spin the boat around and then run up the line to free it up - glad I didn't as I may have been the one with the "finger on the joystick" when she decided to spin - I would've surely not fealt too great at that moment. Even so, motoring the boat around to run up the line didn't prove too successful now either did it

[RicM]

I have replaced the shear pin once already, on the delivery from Stamford last year I was not aware that I had to "rest" when changing directions with the joystick and went from one side to the other too quickly. The shear pins come in packages of 5 so I guess it happens on a regular basis.
Don't worry about the rig or the $2 tip, Rob, it takes A LOT more than either of those items to get my panties in a bunch. Life's too short, and except for this past weekend, seldom involves enough fun unless you go out and make your own. Let's go fishing at the Block this summer![/i]

[Legacy]

Glad you all made is home safe and sound, it was a pleasure having you all here in Boston.

Learned a few things too:

Boston bass run far and wide from RI pogies (only reason I can determine for the slow fishing);

there are boaters with more (and better organized) fishing gear than me;

if you write the agenda, you;'d better keep a copy!;

you don't have to be in the Bahamas to enjoy a great Goombay Smash;

Yankee fans can be down right pleasant and funny;

Pyrat rum rules;

Cake keeps just fine on an Albin;

Albin 1, Tiara 0;

and of course, take attendance before pulling away from the dock so you don't forget your one-legged pal!

Essex next year will be fun and give a shout if you are ever in Boston again.

Rick & Colleen

[RicM]

Rick:

I'm still trying to get back to normal this morning (cars go so FAST!) but I would like to extend the warmest thanks for your hospitality to Karen & I this past weekend. We had a great time, learned a lot, made new friends, saw a whole new side of a great American city, have a ton of stories to tell, and the repair bill is (so far) one shear pin, about $3, the cheapest part I have ever purchased for a boat.
BTW, any time you would like to catch stripers big enough to KEEP I will be happy to take you fishing with some Wickford pogies down here.

see:
http://www.projo.com/sports/tommeade/sp ... ef4bc.html


Seriously, thanks again, it was a fantastic time.

Ric & Karen

[RobS]

Rick:

Seriously, thanks again, it was a fantastic time.

Ditto that - As I said in my PM earlier today!

[Pitou]

Lot's of fun with great crew!!! New places / new friends. Pics a little later .....

Ric, I'm glad to hear faithful Dave was there to meet you at the dock ... sorry for the thruster problems and I do hope it is just the shear pin.

Joanie and I had a ball with EVERYONE .... you've gotta love those ALBIN OWNERS!!!

Unlike Ric we had a short journey home. We left the dock at 9:30 and were off of Gloucester/Rockport by noon with the trolling rigs in the water and the last of the Goombay Smashes in hand. (We all sure did do some damage to that jug Saturday night!!!) Tried to troll the last 7 miles ... then the wind and seas picked up and dark skies ahead by 2:30 & we headed for the barn with t-storm alerts on the Wx.

Thanks to Rick for hosting at Constitution Marina, Ric & Karen on Time after Time for hosting cocktail hours, to the crew of the Joint Venture for hosting an enjoyable morning on the water Saturday for some bass and flounder fishing. I have some new gear to engineer thanks to John & Marcia. Rob & Erika you guys were real sports for the big road trip and shuffling your gear for the 2 night stay. And thanks to all for a great meet and greet !!!

GOOMBAY SMASH : Makes 1 Gallon +/-. Throw the hook & spend the night for this one !!!
2 cups Dark Myers (any dark will do)
2 cups Clear Mount Gay (any clear will do)
2 cups Mount Gay Coconut Rum (any coconut rum)
1 1/2 cups Apricot Brandy
2 cups OJ
2 cups pineapple juice
fill the remainder of the jug with ice .... this needs dilution .... serve on the rocks in a non-insulated glass (more dilution) and enjoy!!!

[JackK]

Sounds like everyone had a real good time. Sorry I couldn't make it.
Hope to make the next one though.

Jack

[JoeH]

Rick -- thanks for organizing a great time. Pat and I enjoyed meeting everyone and sharing stories. We'll certainly be back to Constitution Marina a few more times this season. It's only a 1 1/2 hr trip from Scituate. I feel for Rick and Karen, I've been on Buzzards Bay and thank God I don't have to navigate it on a regular basis.

Everybody was great and I thought I was the only one with problems with the Albin. A great boat, but the company could have used a little more thought when designing certain aspects of it.

Hope to see you all sometime in the future.

All the best and smooth boating.

Joe & Pat H

PS: Followed our Tiara friends back to Scituate. Not only did they loose their Port transmission they lost all power in their 5 batteries. I guess the Albin isn't all thet bad after all.