Here’s the email I just sent out to a bunch of friends who are experienced sailors. If you have sailing experience and did not get this email, please drop me a line and I’ll definitely put your email address on the list for future crew calls.
So, yeah…Further and I ARE going to head back home to New England in the next few weeks. No really, we are. Unless, of course, someone here in Naptown offers me a killer job… 😉
Greetings Experienced Sailing Friends!
I’m sending this email to you now that we’re well into the month of May. The time to head north to New England and home is approaching and I was hoping to gauge both your interest and availability to make the journey from where Further is here in Annapolis to her summer mooring on the Merrimack River in Newburyport, Mass. My game plan is to see when you folks are available and interested in making the journey, and then working with your schedules as needed. I’m hoping to have three people along for the trip (two watches of two people) and will coordinate however it works best for all involved. So please, send me a note with any thoughts you might have about timing — even if it’s to say you have zero interest or can’t make it.
A rough estimate makes it a 3.5-day-plus trip from Naptown to Plum Island. It’s about 48-50 hours to Block Island (a bit more to Newport), and then another 24 or so from there to home. My thought is to head to Block Island (I’ve never been and have always wanted to check it out), spend a day or so there and then head for home. Other detours (New York City? The Vineyard or Nantucket?) are certainly possible as well, based on what folks want to do. Or a sprint straight for the destination is an option if your time is limited. Mitigating factors will be weather (of course) and trying to time our arrival at the Merrimack on an incoming tide.
Further is ready to go but I have a few things to finish off before hitting the road (dinghy is at the shop; need a header tank for the water heater or there’s no hot water at sea; I want to install the SSB; etc.) so I’m not heading out for a couple of weeks at least. I was thinking the week of Memorial Day (which is on May 28) or the first week of June.
So…what is your availability and interest for a departure sometime between, say, May 26-27 and June 4-6 (give or take)? If folks’ schedules mean we get pushed back to June 11, well, that’s an option too (and the full moon party at The Boatyard is on June 7…). [Author’s note: I see I got the date wrong for the next party…sorry about that.]
Anyway…again, just looking to see if you have ANY interest and are available to join me and Further as we head into the Atlantic and back home in the coming weeks. I’d welcome any thoughts you might have, and I appreciate you letting me contact you for something like this. I hope you’re all having a fun spring and that you have a fun summer lined up (speaking of which: Further will be in need of crew as she plies the waters of northern New England this summer…).
Best,
Luke
taketotheship.com