Old Port Cove Fitting out in West Palm Beach, FL
Sunrise At Old Port Cove We are just glad to be here.
Jodi Goes Up The Mast When a line gets stuck, someone has to go up to clear it. Jodi was the lightest, so she got to see the view. We hauled her up with the main halyard and winch, just like she was a sail. Unlike a sail, however, she had a safety line with attached to her harness with a one-way clamp.
Bob Checks The Reefing Gear Reefing is reduction of sail area by drawing some of it into a bunch at the bottom of the sail. This function is essential as otherwise a strong wind will overpower and possibly sink a boat. Here Bob tests the main sail reefing gear. Notice the unused sail bunched along the boom.
Crowds As you can see, Old Port Cove is packed with boats this time of year.
Hawkins Goes For The Goodies There is a certain risk to cooking on a small boat with a small dog. No, he couldn’t quite reach the meat this time, but maybe tomorrow’s meal will be different…
Storm No, this was not taken in the North Atlantic. Our calm little cove can get really nasty when a Norther breaks through. Yes, there is a reason we use a 44 lb anchor on a 34 ft boat.
Why Is This Man Out In The Rain? Because he didn’t have a heavy enough anchor or enough line on it. Notice that his anchor lines are going out to the side of his boat? Notice that his boat isn’t pointed in the same direction everyone else is? This is because his anchor has come loose and he is dragging downwind into everyone else, or maybe the rocks that line the cove. He was able to catch the ground again before he broke anything. However, a few days later in another storm, he dragged into us and he wasn’t so lucky. We have a steel boat, his was fiberglass. When waves and wind push a fiberglass boat under the bowsprit of a steel cutter bow, the fiberglass suffers. He lost several stanchions, a lifeline, and suffered much damage to his hull and dingy. We had a square inch of paint chipped off. For those of you that wonder why we put up with the worry of rust, see why we bought a steel boat?
Hawkins Looks Over The Sill. Another cutie dog picture.