I just discovered I never did a blog on whipping a line – one of the more basic marlinspike skills. Rather than trying to describe my favorite method using a series of photos, I decided to make a video on the subject.
To celebrate the captain's birthday, he wanted lobster for lunch, so we decided to take a day trip to Gloucester (Yankees pronounce that Glos-tah). This entailed taking Lin to work so we could borrow her car and heading to Cape Ann on the North Shore of Boston just around rush hour. Rush hour in Boston is any time of day ... further complicated by summer tourist season. We left Lin about 8:30 am. We stopped en route only for a Dunkin Donuts coffee (America runs on Dunkin' … free coffee on your birthday) and a quick breakfast nosh. This 60 mile trek from East Walpole should have taken just over an hour. At 11am, we finally crossed the causeway leading into Gloucester. The captain drove and remained calm, patient and amiable as usual. Luckily, he is selectively hard of hearing in his right ear because the first mate groused about traffic all the way. Gloucester, by dint of its prime location on the coast, has always revolved around the maritime trades. Made famous by The Perfect Storm among other things, it's now gentrified somewhat for tourists, but still a working, commercial fishing port. We've visited many times, by land and sea, and thoroughly enjoy the whole Cape Ann area. But Gloucester, in particular, has a certain working man's allure and appeal to these sailors.
We'd done a little homework as to where we might find a good spot for lunch that we hadn't tried before and had narrowed it down to two or three places. We settled on a lobster shack kind of place on the water appropriately called the Blue Collar right in the downtown. We each ordered a bowl of New England clam chowder and split an order of twin boiled chicks (two “chicken” lobsters, i.e. lobsters weighing about 1 pound each). Blue Collar is a no-nonsense restaurant that offers only the basics: lobster, lobster rolls, chowder, peel and eat shrimp, raw oysters and corn on the cob. Everything a good Yankee needs for lunch. You can get your beer next door and walk it over. The atmosphere of the place is in its surroundings.
The day was perfect … warm and sunny with a light breeze as we sat under colorful umbrellas at rough wooden picnic tables. The salt in the air was heaven to our senses. We miss Nine of Cups at the moment and this was a palpable reminder of her. We watched as lobster boats worked their way to the wharf below, unloading their catch. The crew of Dog & I especially caught my attention. My, my, my … toting those lobster traps and crates definitely keeps some lobstermen in fine trim.
The schooner, Thomas E. Lannon, filled with tourists for a harbor cruise, slid out of her berth and past the historic Cape Pond Ice House.
Sea gulls soared overhead and cried as they passed. Some followed the lobster and fishing boats in and out of the harbor; others were content with tourist leftovers and discards ashore. When we finished, there was very little remaining for the hungry gulls.
We drove a bit further along the coast for awhile then headed inland towards Ipswich and Rowley. We figured we'd end the day in fine form by stopping at the 1940s Agawam Diner for pie. Just listening to the waitress recite the list of freshly baked pies had us mesmerized … apple, cherry, pecan, blueberry, coconut cream, lemon meringue, peach, chocolate cream, pumpkin, custard, blackberry. We'd died and gone to pie heaven.
Sated to capacity, we waddled back to the car, battled 2/-1/2 hours of North Shore traffic and arrived just a few minutes late to pick up Lin at work. (Oops!) It was David's birthday and the tardiness was forgiven. No, we didn't need to eat dinner … just in case you wondered … but we did slosh down a bit more wine before playing a rousing game of partners Pitch with Lin and Matt.
All in all … a fine way to celebrate another birth year past and another year beginning.
Since we haven't owned a television for the past 20 years, we tend to watch lots of movies on board. We have some favorite sailing movies that we've watched over and over. They're not strictly “sailing” movies per se, but they are all sea-related. Here's a list of a dozen sailing movies we recommend … not in any particular order. We've given a short synopsis of each and why we specifically liked them.
White Squall
Jeff Bridges is captain of a traditional sailing schooner used as a training vessel for teen-aged boys.
It deals with coming of age for young men in need of discipline as well as the vagaries and sometimes horrors of life at sea.
The Bounty
There are several versions of Mutiny on the Bounty, but we like this one the best with a very young Mel Gibson as Christian Fletcher and equally young Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh. In addition to the historical significance of this movie, having visited Pitcairn Island and met some of Fletcher's progeny, this movie held lots of interest for us.
Longitude
We thoroughly enjoyed the book by Dava Sobel
Captain Ron
Kurt Russell plays an eccentric captain who is hired to teach a family how to sail a “yacht” bequeathed to them by a long-lost uncle. It requires a large dose of “suspension of disbelief”, but is a great laugh.
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
It was the novels of Patrick O'Brian and the stories of Horatio Hornblower that first inspired David to want to go to sea. This Napoleonic-era epic about a determined British naval captain in pursuit of an elusive French war ship provides lots of history, an interesting view of the tough life at sea for sailors and some thrilling sea battles.
Around Cape Horn
We first saw this documentary at the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine and later purchased it at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. It's fearless Captain Irving Johnson's black and white film account of rounding Cape Horn on a square rigger in 1929. It's wonderfully entertaining and the footage is nothing short of spectacular.
All Is Lost
This movie was panned by many sailors we know, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. A solo sailor (Robert Redford) crossing the Indian Ocean in a sailboat, collides with a shipping container and uses his ingenuity to try to save the boat and himself. As we have realized time and time again, when one thing goes wrong, it all goes wrong. Yes, he made some bad decisions, but we found ourselves wondering how we would have handled all the problems he encountered.
In the Heart of the Sea
David's brother, Paul, just turned us on to this movie-version of Nathaniel Philbrick's non-fiction account of an early 19th century New England whaling ship holed by a giant whale. This account was the inspiration for Herman Melville's 1851 novel, Moby Dick. Great cinematography and a riveting story told from a different angle. Critics panned it, we liked it.
The Perfect Storm
This disaster drama/thriller movie was released just as we began our life aboard Nine of Cups. It scared the crap out of us because it proved that you just can't predict nor control Mother Nature nor Neptune. A New Bedford fishing vessel off Canadian waters and a yacht heading to the Caribbean are both caught in the collision of Hurricane Grace and an unnamed nor'easter. The weather conditions were “perfect” for the storm of the century. The Andrea Gail and all hands aboard were lost at sea. I still shudder when I see the size of the waves that capsized her.
Titanic
I know, I know … another disaster film and it's not about “sailing” on a sailboat, but we really like it. Beyond being a classic disaster/love story, the takeaway from this movie for sailors is the issue of hubris, being too sure of yourself and getting cocky. Whenever we think we've mastered some thing, we find ourselves time and time again, humbled by Neptune. The Titanic was considered “unsinkable” … Neptune didn't think so.
Cast Away
Tom Hanks is a FedX exec whose plane goes down in the Pacific and washes up on a deserted island. It's a story of perseverance, self-reliance and ingenuity. We wonder sometimes how we'd survive if Nine of Cups went down and we were forced to fend for ourselves in some desolate place. Of course, it might be harder without an ice skate, a soccer ball and a plastic porta-potty enclosure to rely upon, but then that's the challenge.
Life of Pi
Once again, we had read Yann Martel's novel first
I know there are lots more that we've forgotten or omitted like all the Horatio Hornblower flicks for more sea adventure and Captain Phillips for a realistic look at piracy on today's oceans. Then there's Dead Calm and the thriller genre, and we haven't seen the latest Kon Tiki movie, but we had to whittle down the list.
So … what's tops on your list of favorite sailing/sea-related movies? Can you give us some recommendations?
Click the title or the picture and you'll be taken to the Amazon information page. All of these links are affiliate links provided for you convenience. If you purchase a movie, we get a small commission and you pay nothing extra. Win ... win!
Following are links to some of these movies if you prefer to rent or buy them through Amazon Instant Video.
Hi there and welcome to Just A Little Further!
We are David and Marcie Lynn and we've lived aboard our Liberty 458 cutter-rigged sailboat since 2000.
What began as an urge to travel slowly and economically at our own pace ended up an adventure of a lifetime.
Well, here we are ... nearly 90,000 miles under the keel, 5 continents, 5 Great Southern Capes, 36 countries and almost two decades later, still taking one passage at a time and going just a little further.
