While the cats away....

The mice will most certainly play!  Kate, Olivia, Craig and I had a fun couple of days while Maggie was hanging out with Charlotte, having fun as well.  We went to the Herreshoff Maritime Museum which is dedicated to the education and history of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company and the America's Cup competition.  Capt. Nathanael Herreshoff is a world renowned yacht designer and builder, including many of the America's Cup winners.

Riding to the museum

Liv's pointing out where she is supposed to be going....

Dan's friend Pete donated his "S" boat to the museum

Simply Beautiful

Inside the boat barn

We were witness to the Commodore sailing race of the local yacht club.  We had a front row seat since the starting line was right in front of our boat anchored in Bristol Harbor.  The boats were all different sizes as they headed across the start line every 2 minutes and headed around Hot Island.

Olivia and Kate even got their 2 scoops of ice cream!

Sitting on the jib

The ferry 

Kate's daisy chain

A storm was brewing, the wind picked up and these guys came out to play and do some tricks.

The wind was creating quite a chop, so we picked up Maggie at the dinghy dock.  It was a wet and wild ride for sure!  Here is a picture of Kate after we arrived back at the boat.  We decided to move to a more protected anchorage over by Hog Island because the waves were 2 feet high and making me a wee bit sea sick.

Mount Hope bridge from the protection of Hog Island for the night

We sailed back up to Barrington to pick up a boat part that was mailed to Uncle John and Elaine's house.  

It's hard to sail when someone is sitting on it!

This cool boat was in the marina where John and Elaine keep their boat, where Elaine kindly brought our part to us.

Familiar Faces

Good Friends are like Stars.  

You don't always see them, 

but you know they are there.

-old saying

What a sight for sore eyes, some familiar faces from home.  Maggie's friend Charlotte finally arrived in Barrington!  I didn't realize how much I was missing home until our friends showed up.  Sure, we are on this great adventure and it may seem like we don't have time to miss anyone back home, but I do!  And I know Maggie does.  Even Olivia didn't want to leave John and Elaine's house....she grew attached very quickly.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with the Lutz family and our second visit with John and Elaine (Dana's uncle).  We took the Lutz's for a sail in the bay on a (very) breezy and beautiful afternoon.  Charlotte spent the night with us on the boat and then Maggie spent the night at Uncle John's.  Here is a photo tour of our time spent together.

Fun in the kayak

Too nice not to swim

Getting ready to sail

Kate, Charlotte, Morgan, Olivia, Maggie

Dana relaxes in the sun

It's 5 o'clock somewhere right?!

BFF's

Bye Bye!

Aftermath of romping in the mudflats

Sunset at John and Elaine's

Yummy dinner for all

Maggie rides the carousal that Uncle John and Dana's dad rode growing up

Charlotte, Uncle John, Maggie, Morgan

Muddy feet!

July Video of the Month

If you want to view it fullscreen, then click the right lower corner of the video.

Dinghy Driving 101

We have an inflatable dinghy that is our transportation from the boat to shore and vise versa.  We use it nearly everyday, sometimes multiple times a day.   And because we are anchored more often than not, it is definitely considered a lifeline.  When the sea breeze is blowing, the ride can become wet and even cold but the kids like it that way.  The faster the better and the bigger the waves, even better.

Riding in the dinghy is great fun and everyone wants a turn to drive.  The girls are learning the rules of the road, how to start the motor, steer, switch the fuel tanks, pump the gas and tie up to the boat or dock.

The younger the child, the more difficult the steering lesson.  Maggie can steer from point A to point B with no problem.  However, the fine art of letting the approaching boat know your intended coarse is a bit sketchy.  She likes to head right for them as if to play chicken.  Kate needs some bigger muscles to pull the crank cord hard enough to start the motor.  Sometimes she gets it and sometimes she doesn’t.  She has a need for speed and loves to drive FAST!  When Olivia is steering, you’d better not be in a hurry because she weaves back and forth.  Our path often looks like a drunken sailor is on board. 

The more crowded the anchorage, the more dinghies there are motoring to and from.  Block Island was by far the busiest dinghy traffic we have experienced so far.  Craig equated it to a pond full of energized water bugs on steroids.  We went ashore to go into town one afternoon and the dinghies were lined up both sides of the dock and 2 dinghies deep.  We had to crawl into someone else’s dinghy to get to the dock!  It is quite entertaining, makes for good people watching if you are a spectator on the dock.  We have found that everyone is a good sport and courteous about it.

Lookin' good Kate

Wet and wild ride!

Dinghy Dock in Block Island

Sometimes the dinghy ride is good for catching up on your sleep

Waiting...

Since leaving the Barrington Yacht Club, where we stayed for Craig's test.  Which by the way, he is extremely relieved it is over but anxious for the results.  While we awaited the arrival of our friends from Dallas, captain Dan graciously allowed us to stay on Pete's dock again.  We motored over to Swansea in the pouring rain.  I sported my new foul weather gear and stood on deck to point out crab pot buoy's so Craig could navigate around them.  We (I mean Craig and Dan) got some much needed projects done on the boat and ordered necessary parts.  We went for a great sail in the bay one day, did some boat school, gave the boat a good bath and played on the beach.  We even got to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics (at Dan's)!   Then we hoisted up the UFO looking antenna and voila, we can now watch the olympics on the boat!  We get about 3 channels and luckily, one of them is the olympics.  So, consequently, we are staying up too late watching!  This is a special occasion, of course, and we told the girls not to get any bright ideas.

Olivia coiling the dock lines

Nice job!

Mmmm, fresh crab for lunch

Doesn't this look fun?

Full moon over Swansea

Playing in the hose

Beach bums

Mmmmm, chocolate cake to celebrate Craig's test being over (homemade on the boat!)

Local farm fresh, grilled corn

The Tooth Wars

Olivia had a loose front tooth before we left Dallas.  She told our dentist on her last visit days before departure that she was saving it until she was on the boat.  She wiggled it and wiggled it when we were in Florida and even on our passage north.  However, I guess she lost interest because she stopped wiggling.  UNTIL Kate announced her bottom tooth was loose the other day.  We thought it would be fun to up the ante and have them race to see who could get theirs to fall out first.  The reward:  a double scoop of ice cream!  That got them wiggling like crazy, for a little while anyway.  UNTIL Kate was biting on the string of her dress and it made it really loose.  “Oohhhhliiiiviaaaa!  Kate’s tooth is really loose, you’d better get busy!”.  The 2 of them sat down and got to work.  It didn’t take long, maybe an hour tops, for Kate’s tooth to come out.  Bless her big competitive heart, Olivia worked enthusiastic for another hour to get her tooth out.  Woo Hoo!  Kate came to me afterwards and asked if Liv could have a double scoop too (since they both lost their teeth on the same day).  YES, of course!

By the way, Olivia's other front tooth is loose too!  Maybe she'll get a triple scoop.