|
What I did on my Summer Vacation
 Pete and Tracy Richmond truly are the
perfect cruising couple - not only do they live-aboard
their Antares catamaran full time in Annapolis - they also
cruise extensively at every opportunity - on their own, with friends and family.
This past summer, they traveled up the Atlantic coast
to Maine - picking up friends, family and the occasional
lobster meal along the way!
By taking shifts, Pete and Tracy spent the first day
going from Annapolis to Block Island - a 24 hour run.
By the time they got to Block Island, they were in
fog as thick as pea soup!
They were often joined by friends and family. This
time Scott and Lisa joined them for a 3-day weekend.
Scott lives on a Hatteras 53 and Lisa on a 46 Chris
Craft Constellation. Scott, loves to fish. Pete writes:
 "Our timing was perfect, the dawn was breaking
as we arrived and promptly set out 4 rods. We were not
disappointed. Although only one tuna was landed, we
had several bite and a few good fights. The conditions
during the trip were 15 to 25 kts and up to 10-foot
rollers. We had to reef the sails to slow down to 8
kts., the upper speed for trolling for tuna."
"We decided that mussels would be great for dinner.
With Scott and Lisa, we set out on our adventure to
collect dinner. All of us were used to finding mussels
any place there were rocks - but not in this case.
We decided to try the other side of the island (off
Block Island) and set out on a trial cut into 10' high
bushes. In one area there were several tidal pools and
that's were we struck gold. In a few minutes, we collected
174 mussels. Scott later commented that this was the
strangest fishing trip he had ever been on!"
If it wasn't fish or mussels, then there's always lobster
- and there was lots, too! One of the pleasures of cruising
is buying lobster's from the local fishermen. With beer
in hand, Pete would go bartering with the locals aboard
his dingy.
It's clear that Pete and Tracy's favourte past time
is fishing...
"When you tow four fishing lines and you get a
fish onboard and you have the people we had on board,
by God, we're going to get this boat stopped and get
that fish on board. That's important, because that's
sashimi on top and tuna steaks underneath."
Thanks to the shallow draft, they were able to go places
were many other boaters could not.
"...Our shoal draft allowed us to tuck up for
better protection and isolation. Going ashore, even
if the weather wasn't perfect, was always fun. Each
island or town was different. You never knew what was
around the next corner or on the other side of the rock
- but we were never disappointed."
Link on photos below for a slide show of Pete and Tracy's summer vacation. |
