by Bill Miller

Here are some pictures from a two day race we did September 28th and 29th. Crew is Zac and my son Tom. The start was off Stonington, CT, finishing in Gardners Bay, Long Island the first day, then back the second day. We are just starting to realize that whatever this wind was, it was "bigger than a bread box". Later on there would be no smiles on our faces. Predicted 15 to 25 by that computerized voice on NOAA. No one said a three day Northeaster!! It freshened to 30 to 40 knots; Sunday was even worse. The committee boat put up the life jacket flag. We had to check the flag chart to see what it meant. (It is the letter Y flag.) Very important! If we had not been wearing life jackets we would have been disqualified from the race. But even more important, a safety consideration, as one boat in our area sunk that day and another multi hull got flipped. As skippers we should set guidelines as to when life jackets go on. Besides, in 55 degrees they provided a feeling of warmth. No argument from me or crew.

In one picture you see Little Gull Island Light house in The Race, the slot between Long Island and Fishers Island where all the tides of the sound have to "race" in and out twice a day. In normal conditions the seas are pretty rought there. This picture looked calm compared what we were in for. Off to port we could see a line of white caps. It was where the 3 to 5 knot tidal current was ripping into these seas. As they say in my native state of Maine, "It were a good one!"

A breaking sea caught me in the port jump seat. I was soaked. My crew laughed like hell. The whisker pole you see was not to be for long. A good gust caused us to broach and the pole was no more. Bent to form a 90 degree angle. What a ride! Despite everything it was a rush to see her plane down seas for 30 seconds at a time. Once in a while a following sea would catch us and we would be standing in 2 inches of water that came in the rear of the boat. But it ran right out. (There is a filler to close this gap; almost.)
Once the whisker pole broke life became much more difficult (my crew feels it cost us first place). Instead of 30 degrees each side of the wind we now had 10 degrees. Or the jib would crack back like a cannon. We reached out and back to save the jib from ripping apart. The last 7 miles was not a fun ride. The committee boat was fighting to hold position. We found out later that he could not anchor as he felt his line would break. He just did circles trying to hold a GPS position. We asked the boat ahead of us in the racing class if we could have a mark at the finish as we didn't know if the committee boat was taking time. We started our clock when he said finish. We planned to add our time to his (we didn't keep our own time).
We pull into Deering Harbor, Shelter Island in a state of shock. It took me a long time to figure out how to mix three drinks. Like in slow motion.

A great party at the Shelter Island Yacht Club. Lots of camaraderie. No one got hurt. But no one I talked to had any stomach to beat up wind against that stuff the next day. Next morning it was howling 40 knots steady. The Race committee came on the radio at 0730 and said the Sunday race is cancelled. How we got home is sort of like a story from "Plains Trains and Automobiles". We begged a cab driver to take us out to Orient Point for $15 when the rate was $20. No money for tips. We had blown our cash tipping the musicians at this great French Restaurant in Greenport the night before. After a few rounds of "God Bless America" what can one do? Order another bottle of wine! First class everything but very expensive. A great time. Lousy musicians but as long as "America the Beautiful" and "God bless America" are on the charts they will do well. Rich one day - Poor the next!!
We went back on Tuesday to bring Magic III back. New London, CT by car then the ferry, then the cab (same one we didn't tip but we got him this time) ride back to Greenport. Then another ferry over to Shelter Island. Then a mile walk to the Yacht Club, then launch ride out to Magic III.
We had a great sail back to Watch Hill in 12 to 15 knot winds. Our last sail of the season.

Bill Miller
Magic III #1901
Watch Hill, R I