Niew-Amsterdam

Before the Dutch settled this island at the mouth of the Noortrivier in 1624 as a defensive position to maintain their colony in today’s Albany, they traded with the Indians here since 1611, from their ships. 

In 1613, a Spaniard mulatto, born in Santo Domingo, arrived here as crew on the Jonge Tobias, a Dutch trading vessel.  At the end of the trading season, rather than having to travel back to Holland with the ship, this Caribbean guy hitched up with a native girl and cashed out on his salary by persuading the captain to leave him in Manhattan with eighty hatchets and number of knives as trading goods, plus a sword, and a musket.

And so Juan Rodriguez became the first immigrant to New York City, 401 years ago. 

Tonight Peregrinus anchors near where the Jonge Tobias may one day have anchored.  The skyline certainly looks much better now.

At the left edge, The Empire State Building, illuminated in red.  Right of it, with a white spire, the Chrysler Building.  In the center, the World Trade Center buildings (WTC One opens Nov 3, 2014), and to their right, Wall Street and Downtown.

The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, Gatsby and Nick live in West Egg, the Buchanans live in East Egg, and Jay spends many a night gazing across the bay at the green light at the end of Daisy's dock.  But what separates Jay from Daisy is more than water.

Fitzgerald's imaginary locations were based on places he knew.  The action is in Long Island, in the road to New York, and in the city itself.  West Egg is Great Neck (at Kings Point); East Egg is Port Washington (at Sands Point), and tonight we spend on a mooring almost in the middle between the two, in Manhasset Bay, Gatsby's impassable gulf.

To navigate, press the arrow keys.

The map is interactive.  Pan east to see Oyster Bay; pan west to see New York.

Late lunch on a rainy day

Peregrinus came with a full Amel-branded dinner set in melamine, a dinnerware material that evoked memories of childhood among the crew.  It is not ideal for microwave use because it warms up as quickly as the food itself, but otherwise it is perfect for a boat: it is light, resistant to breaking or chipping, and looks great after repeated use.  One day in the children's department at Arango in Miami we came across these melamine Alphabet plates and bowls, and snapped a set right away.  These are made by Design Letters, which secured permission from the Arne Jacobsen estate to use the font he designed in 1937 for the City Hall in Århus.

The serving fountains are Alessi’s Programma 8, by Franco Sargiani and Eija Helander, a collection originally designed in the 1970’s and extended in 2005.  Aside from being rational design pieces, these are practical because they go from oven to table to dishwasher.  The Programma 8 tray, not shown, is ideal for carrying all the pieces in one trip when dining on deck.

Notice there’s no wine on the table?  We are beginning to run out!

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The most solid discovery that I have ever made is that I can no longer waste time doing things that I do not want to do

--- Domenico Vacca

The view after sunset at Cold Spring Harbor tonight.  Tomorrow we sail for Oyster Bay.  iPhone 4S.

Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory

––– Peter Guttormsen.

The Alférez on deck.  Scituate, 8 october 2014.

The forest in the sea

Yesterday we flew a fourth sail for the first time: the mizzen ballooner, as it is known in the U.S.  The French, however, call it the foc d'artimon, which translates mizzen jib.  In Spanish: foque de mesana.  But in reality it is a mizzen spinnaker, and like any other spinnaker, one must fly it as one might a kite, yet this one almost flies itself.

The months of exercise on Slangevar and Rumble Bee held us in good stead.

In this photo, you can see deployed the mizzen sail at left, the main sail center, foreground, and the ballooner behind the main sail.  Not pictured: the genoa sail flying forward of this small forest of cables, ropes, antennas, spars, and cloth.

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This sail is quite uncommon.  It can only be used when the wind blows from 80° to about 170°, i.e. the wind flows from about perpendicularly to almost from behind in relation to the direction of travel of Peregrinus.  Also, winds should not exceed 15 miles per hour.

We had a sailboat under power come and circle us completely as we sailed East under four sails yesterday in Long Island Sound.  Guess they wanted to have a peek.

Unlike our other sails, which are new this year, this one is vintage 2002.  The colors have bled.

Sunset in Woods Hole today

From the aft deck of Peregrinus.  

We celebrated our arrival with fresh Scituate-sourced sushi prepared by chef the Captain.

Tea party town

The original Party took place in 1773 but we celebrated our arrival to Boston yesterday by figuratively dumping the contents of a satchel of Earl Grey.

And it has to be figurative because (1) this is a no-dumping zone, (2) the EPA and the Coast Guard are known for having no sense of humor, and (3) this is a public log.  

Heh.  One wonders what Samuel Adams might think if he knew that dumping a bit of tea in the harbor is again illegal?

Grace

Janet and Tony, she originally of Reading in Berkshire and his family from Northamptonshire, made themselves our hosts in Gagetown and environs (we even spent a wonderful evening rafted up behind Ox Island, near Oromocto).  We are inspired by their creativity, craft, warmth, and energy.  

Janet took this picture of Peregrinus from the deck of the Thomas Gage and sent it to us recently.

Peregrinus in the mooring field at Gagetown Creek, Saint John river.  Photo by Janet Ratliffe from the Thomas Gage as it departed on yet another exploration of the river, 10:25 AM 4 September 2014.  Canon PowerShot SX240HS, ISO 100, 1/1250".

With Brio

Leah and John kept one of our favorite blogs as they traveled from Mexico, around the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of Central America, and all the way to Maine this year aboard Brio.

We had a fun time meeting them aboard Peregrinus in Bailey Island, Casco Bay, and we look forward to meeting them again across the pond!

Brio as seen from Peregrinus' stern as it departs from Waier Cove, Bailey Island.  This was our last stop in Maine as we headed South.  7:26 AM 3 October 2014.  iPhone 4S, ISO 50, 1/849"