Kraken Alert

I warned you all about krakens, a month or so ago, and you skoffed. And yet, on a visit to the supermarket today, there was the Weekly World News proclaiming, "Giant Squid Attacks Jersey Shore!" and "Terror From Deep Unleashes Its Fury!" Still you may skoff, but the Weekly World News does not call itself "The World's Only Reliable Newspaper" for nothing.....

Sound Familiar?

Plane crash off Hyannis stuns beachgoers
Pilot swims away with no injuries after engine fails

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff | August 6, 2006

Sandy Griffin was sitting comfortably in a small sailboat off Hyannis yesterday when she heard the sound of an engine sputtering.

She looked up to see a small red and white single-engine plane carrying an advertising banner descend rapidly toward the water.

The plane flew just a few feet over a man paddling in a kayak, she said, and according to police touched down on an isolated part of Kalmus Beach three times before it crashed nose first into the ocean, not far from hundreds of stunned beachgoers .

Griffin, a nurse's assistant from Falmouth, managed to take pictures as her 26-year-old daughter screamed and her 23-year-old son sat in stunned silence.

``It was nerve-racking," she said a few hours later yesterday, in a telephone interview. Minutes after the splashy nose dive , she saw a man furiously swimming away from the plane as rescue boats rushed to the scene.

The crash occurred shortly before 1 p.m. near the village of Hyannis. The pilot was the only person aboard and was not injured, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Murray.

Barnstable Police identified the pilot as Matthew Benard, who is 27 and lives in Melrose. He has been a licensed pilot since 2001, said Barnstable sergeant Ben Baxter , who helped fish Benard out of the water.

``He was upset," Baxter said. ``He was full of adrenaline."

Benard was taken to Cape Cod Hospital as a precautionary measure and released, Baxter said .

Christy Mihos, the independent gubernatorial candidate, was on the deck of his Cape Cod home, about to bite into a roast beef and blue cheese sandwich when he saw the plane go into the water.

``My wife and I were watching," Mihos said. ``You could tell something was terribly wrong." He said the Hyannis harbormaster towed the plane to a sandbar.

``It's a miracle the way the thing went in [that] the pilot is OK," he said.

Mihos said he and his son rushed to their inflatable boat and sped off toward the accident to rescue the pilot. But the Coast Guard beat them to it, Mihos said in a phone interview.

Mihos, who stayed in the water for about an hour to make sure oil did not drip into the ocean, said he never got to finish his sandwich.

Yachty Newport

International Yacht Restoration School, Newport
Originally uploaded by lindachr.

Rosemary and I took a day trip to Newport last Saturday and happened upon the International Yacht Restoration School, a very cool 2 year program where one spends the first year restoring a beetle cat that anyone would think beyond repair let alone worthy of restoration. (The Beetle Cat is a 12 foot, gaff rigged, wooden sailboat first built in 1921 by the Beetle family of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Beetle, Inc., located in Wareham, Massachusetts, is now the sole builder of Beetle Cat boats.)

We were also able to peek in at the "Coronet", a 133-foot schooner yacht built in 1885, also being restored by students at the school.

Windy Thursday

On Thursday, July 27, Dave and I decided to sail from Loveladies to the Surf City Yacht Club. As usual the wind was light as we left the dock. As it has been almost every day in the latter part of July, the wind was very strong once we got into the bay. Surf City beckoned several miles upwind so away we sailed. I think it took me about twenty tacks just to get past the Osprey nest and reach Harvey Cedars. But, it was exciting to be out there on a windy day and we continued on. Once we rounded the big island off of Harvey C. the bay opens up and the wind was stronger and the waves were bigger. The waves were big enough that it was crash and splash all the way. I was getting soaked and my gloves were just wet rags on my hands. I had to tack just about every minute because my hands and arms were too tired to hold the main sheet any longer. But turn back? Never! Actually I kept thinking about it but Dave was 20 boat lengths ahead of me and I couldn't shout loud enough for him to hear me and I didn't want to turn back without letting him know. We had to maintain diligent boat balance to keep from capsizing. I decided to sail closer to the shoreline where the waves were smaller. Dave went further out into the middle bay. The next time we crossed tacks he must have been fifty boat lenghts ahead. But, no matter what I wasn't going out into the middle of the bay beacause of the bigger waves and I didn't want to cross the boat channel. My arms were getting more tired and I couldn't sheet in all the way and so my tacks were not really getting me much upwind payoff. It was almost like I was just reaching back and forth and gaining about 100 feet each tack. Eventually I actually saw the goal line...the Surf City Yacht Club flagpole. Dave seemed to be almost there, about a mile ahead of me. Give up? No way. I think it took me about five hundred tacks to get to the club from Loveladies. But I got there. We sailed around the club and the members there looked at us and I wonder what they thought about these two guys in Sunfishes just out for a lovely day sail. Our sail downwind was about as fast as you can go in this boat with the wind behind you. The boats were about 2/3s out of the water. Off the wind my aching arms recovered pretty quickly. When we reached Maris Stella we turned in to wave to the sisters.

It was a week ago today. I wish that I could go out again.

group minus montclair and rosemary

group minus montclair and rosemary
Originally uploaded by lindachr.

Kraken? We're not afraid of any krakens

oh and stu got a new boom at the harvey cedars marina yesterday and the wind has diminished significantly so we are back in business!!!

Our Federal Tax Dollars at Work

A conversation between Linda and Stuart on the beach this afternoon began something like this: "I think there is a certain point at which the wind speed is too powerful for a sunfish, I'm not sure what that is though."

Today we found out what that is. Linda was literally flying across the bay, waves slamming over the side, thinking to herself, I wonder where Stu is. I hope he comes out soon, I wonder if he sees how fast I am going... Next thing I knew I looked over and saw Stu -- then saw him capsized. Tried to sail over to him downwind and then was going so f'in fast I had to undo the figure 8 knot in my mainsheet and just let it go. Cruised over to him using just the current to find out that his boom had snapped. Kind people on the nearby dock called the COAST GUARD who came by and towed him back home. oh and full disclosure mandates that i also was towed back to safety by a jetski.

Stella !!!

Ready for the Shore

Getting Ready for the Shore

We got the boats out this weekend. Of course, the closest that they got to the water is what came out of the garden hose - but at least they're shipshape!

News from Columbus

it hasn't hit the news feeds yet, but i just got a call from my very good source at the episcopal convention that they elected a woman as presiding bishop.

If its all the same with you judge, I'll take the $30

T minus 30 days & counting until I'm sipping a Loveladies Daiquiri on the deck overlooking Little Egg Harbor.

crap!

they are backordered until 07/07/06

ursprache

Katharine Close, an 8th grader from Spring Lake, New Jersey spelled "ursprache" correctly to become the National Spelling Bee Champion. She is also reported to be a pretty good sailor.

took cher out on cape cod bay yesterday

that's it - thought i'd share... conditions were perfect and a good time was had. the summer has begun. no i did not take this photo but this is pamet harbor, where i went out. the water looks quite calm in this picture, but yesterday there were good sized waves pretty far out. whee.

happy birthday mom!!

fashion

don't even think of showing up at lbi in board shorts this season! unless of course you bring a board. does a sunfish qualify as a "board"?

Dress Codes

cool water

Jodi Hilton for The New York Times
Nick Baggetta, right, got help from a neighbor and fellow state trooper, Ted Downer, in removing items from his home in Methuen, Mass.

Anyone care to guess what these "items" were?

hot drawing action

A drawing of Vanessa's was chosen as the 'student art winner' and published in the San Diego City College's annual art and literary journal, City Works.

Each spring City Works publishes what its student and faculty editors regard as the best writing and artwork submitted from students, faculty and staff at San Diego City College, as well as from the San Diego community and the nation at large.

Full Participation

Allow me to direct your attention to page 88 of 2006-2007 International Sunfish Class Association Handbook. What? You don't have one?

Hot Riding Action

One third, two seconds, and one first. The Champion!