This past Saturday was one of the better sailing days this season. All my friends were busy in fishing tornaments and I went out by myself. It was a blast! We headed for New York City and were sailing around six knots and healed over to my port side. I eventually let the main out some to stop healing over as much as I was because I needed to be cautious. I had my life line on, but falling out of the boat isn't fun no mater when it happens, let along having a line hooked to you and dragiing you along the side of the boat. There was a time when I had to put the camera away as I wanted to be cautious about getting it wet. Eventually, I did let the mainsail out which let me sit more upright and not worry about taking water into the cockpit. I did stop during the day and tried to catch some fish. It was so rough I couldn't even fish, plus the drift was running about 1.7 mph. Not too good for fishing. I had to give up as Lil Provo was rocking so much she was going from strboard gunnel to port gunnel. So I decided to get moving once again before the possibility of getting sick came into play. I eventually ran for cover into Keyport Harbor and tried to fish there, but still the drift was too fast and the sea was still rough. I brought Lil Provo back to her mooring and called it a day.

SUMMER FLYING BY

Miles from shore and only moving at 1.5 knots on a sweltering day isn't fun. Sure it is great to get out and sail, but this isn't what I call sailing.

I haven't been posting regularly as most of my free time has been out on Lil Provo. I just got in and thought I should at least add to the blog. Now is the time to use all the free time available for sailing. That is exactly what we have been doing. That is besides fishing.

Most of the days have been like this, calm and no wind. I have burned more than twice the total amount of fuel used last year and we still have almost three months left. If it wasn't calm, it was the opposite, waves and wind so bad you had to reef your sales or run with one. Plus the first mate is already in his life jacket and holding a mooring bouy. He was in the cabin when it went from bad to worse and came out to white caps and strong wind. If it weren't for the bimini top this year, we really would have had some dreaded days.

We made through some bad days, but still had enough good ones to make you feel like it was still worth it to try. I can't tell you how many days you go out and chase the wind, only to give up and go back to you mooring. But when you try to grab your mooring line, it gets so windy it becomes a challenge blowing you away from the buoy.



I usually don't spend much time in the cabin, but the sun has forced me in there many times this season. With the front hatch open it is very comfortable with a nice breeze blowing through. Sitting directly under the front hatch is close to air conditioning.

I even fished and caught some fluke today. They were under the 18" limit and had to be returned to fight again another day. The Bluefish have really been biting this year. I had days when I could have filled the cockpit with them. Just this past weekend I had something on the line that I couldn't stop. I even tried to chase it so I would keep losing line, but whatever took the hook did not want to stop. I figure it was a shark, but others said it could be a giant stripper. That day I was using full squid for bait and it was working well. I was catching fish this day when I usually don't.

We'll add more over the next few days.