​Saturday 7/20/19 -It’s Monday, late morning.  We have been motoring under bare poles (no sails are up) for about 90 minutes, en route to Nantucket, having left Martha’s Vineyard after two days of exploration.  I’m sitting in one of my favorite spots on passage - the cockpit settee, looking out over the vast ocean within the Nantucket Sound.  The boat is on auto-helm, keeping us within a channel between multiple shoals (shallow water) that would love to claim a sailboat like this, dragging a 6-foot keel through the water.  Great time to reflect on the weekend we spent on Martha’s Vineyard.  Who is Martha, Avery continues asking...Let’s find out.

Friday 7/19/19 - Waking up to 2 giggling toddlers is better than, well, an alarm clock telling you to go to work.  Perspective.  A good night’s sleep, even though glued to a wiggly 4-year old, can really recharge the battery.  I was ready for our first true day of vacation.
 
We all threw on clothes, finished our grocery order for the boat that would be delivered later in the day (after boarding), and we were off to breakfast.  The sun was shining and the puddles from the previous night were slowly dissipating, as we followed the same path from the previous night, along cobblestones streets next to the harbor.  In the daylight we could see the hundreds of boats at anchor, moored along countless docks, hear the seagulls squawking good morning, and watch the tourists bustling along the waterfront.  The town was abuzz with activity already and it was only...11am?!  Holy sh*t, how long did it take us to get ready?

Thursday 7/18/19 - Welcome back, friends!  Or perhaps you’re new.  Welcome!  In between those smutty summer novels, forced on you by your book club, enjoy a passage on the high seas.  If you’re really at odds with human interaction, go back in the archives of the blog and take a passage with me.  But for now, let another journey begin...
 
It’s Friday evening, 10pm Eastern time, July 19th.  I’m sitting at the navigation table, raised a few feet above the rest of the salon of “Perfect Summer”, the 49-foot Juneau that will escort our family of 6 from Newport Rhode Island to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket (and back, we hope) over the following 6 days.  The kids, Avery (now 16) excluded, are all asleep in their respective bunks.  Charley and Nora are snuggled in the Starboard (right) Aft (back of the boat) cabin, while little Ruby Tuesday is sleeping in the Port (left) Aft bedroom.  Avery will join her when she’s done with whatever teenagers do on a boat at anchor.  Tara just finished showering in the forward head, located in our bedroom, which I can’t possibly refer to as the “stabbin cabin” ...this is a family trip after all.