6/23/06- We launched "Iris" (our 18' Marshall Catboat) after an extensive refit. A few other catboat people were at the dock and wished us well. There weren't any bottles splashed on the bow but I believe we drank a bottle of Champagne at the mooring. I'm sure we spilled some. I hope that counts.

The weather was not so good for a few days so we had to wait for our maiden voyage. We made it out on 6/30/06. What a sail it was. It was my first time sailing in a long time and Lynne's first time ever. The winds were blowing and we put a reef in at the harbor. At the time I thought the winds were over 20 knots but looking back on it I don't think it was that bad. All of the ports, that we rebedded, leaked. I think this was due to the fact that we put them in the day before we launched at 8:00 in the evening (lots of work to do that day). After a few hours of getting knocked around we made it back in wet and tired. Lynne wasn't too sure about sailing being "fun".

Well, looking at the log, I see we sailed a lot that first month. We ventured across Buzzard's Bay to the Elizabeth Islands, also to New Bedford Harbor, and Fairhaven. With each sail we gained experience and I learned more about catboat sailing.

8/5/06 was the Padanaram Catboat Rendezvous which is detailed in the gallery. We came in 15th in the regatta. I'm not sure how many boats were in the race. (Probably 15)

We "discovered" an area I like to call Slocum Cove. It is at the mouth of the Slocum River, between Mishaum Point and Demarest Lloyd. There are many sandbars and shoals but it is a nice place to swim and eat lunch in a catboat.

Lynne took a sailing course at our local community boating center. This was a great idea. It built her confidence in her own sailing ability. We highly recommend any couple, new to sailing, should do this. Now she throws out terms ("Starboard Helm!!, Tacking!!, I'll Keelhaul ya!") like a salty dog.

According to the log we went out 22 times. We don't always remember to write so we'll call it 27. We learned a lot about sailing a cat in Buzzard's Bay. Our ability to "hand, reef, and steer" greatly improved by the end of the summer.