I've been looking forward to this excursion for a few weeks. I recently started a new job and this is the first chance we had to host someone from my new workplace. Jim works with me in the inbound marketing group, but on hardware projects (I do software). He brought along two of his kids and three of their friends.
Rachael, Alena, Sara, Kristin & James joined us for the day.
We motored out of the KYC mooring field and since the winds were quite light, we set up our Spinnaker. The colorful sail proved a popular backdrop for the requisite photo op on the bow.
We then settled down for some serious sailing. The spinnaker pulled us along at 4kts (out of a 6 kt wind). Rachel proved to be a great help in setting up the spinnaker and also in trimming it.
Alena, Sara & Kristin attend the local creative arts high school and were the ship's entertainment... sitting on the side deck and singing out over the bay. (I have an iPhone video clip of this that I need to get on here somehow.)
We enjoyed a nice lunch from Mike's subs, along with some extras from Vicky and Jim.
We had plenty of time to enjoy the sun and take photographs. Jim is also an avid photographer and he got a nice one of Vicky and I on our boat.
We sailed east along the northern part of the Raritan Bay. As we got further east, the wind picked up and we had to douse the spinnaker and take out the jib. We sailed on to the West Bank Light (one of the "spark plug" lighthouses on the bay that we have yet to visit). Just before arriving, the wind picked up a lot and we realized the winding line for the jib was tangled, so we had to head into the wind and figure out how to untangle that... it added a nice touch of drama. So we brought in all the sails and motored around the lighthouse, posing for photos along the way.
We then headed back to Keyport at a nice slow pace (using the mainsail). Jim took the helm for a while.
The entertainment committee switched sides to stay in the sun and kept up the singing for a good while. When they started dozing, I woke them and asked them to put on their lifejackets (yes, I can be a killjoy at times).
After we passed old orchard shoals, we turned the steering over to "Otto" and I noticed people starting to conk out all over the place.
We had to set Rachel up with something more comfortable after seeing this...
Arriving back in Keyport, Vicky picked up the mooring and we headed right in to get some drinks at KYC and then dinner at Bertucci's.
After dinner, Jim and crew departed for DE, and we met up with the Miller's at KYC for sunset.
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