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My Day Sail in the Perquimans River June 25, 2005 Today was glorious, but I’ll start with yesterday. It was Friday, and John came down to lace on my main sail and make some minor adjustments to my rigging. Then, as quickly as he had arrived, he left me to sit and contemplate the water lilies some more. No excitement that day. But…nine people came down today! Nine! For a sail! There were John and Susan Christenson, Wendy Jewett, Carleton and Mettha Davenport – all big wigs in Hertford that had something important to do with my being here at this dock – or existing, for that matter. My crew were Janet Benton as Skipper, Anne Haas, Joan Ernst and John Ernst as crew (although I think John probably had trouble not being captain!). Here is most of the motley crew, with oars at the ready: Wendy, Mettha, Susan, Joan, Carleton and John
And here are Captain Benton and First Mate Haas
It was a pleasant crowd, taking rowing in stride as we pulled away from my dock out into the River. It is not easy, but Janet got them pulling together. Wendy seemed to be thrilled with the idea of rowing – which was unusual for these humans. They do pitch in, but she is probably the first crew I’ve had that showed any real enthusiasm for rowing.
The most frequent comments were conjecture on what it was like for Abraham Sanders and his family and slaves to sail and row one of these under full load all the way to Edenton and back! Or, for his family to “hop in” and row to church or to town! We put the sails up and headed toward the swing bridge. When the bridge tender protested that boats usually “motor” through, John let him know that we had up to six “motors” on the oars. We “motor-sailed” through the swing bridge (with only four people-power motor), sailed up wind (as much as I can) to what they called the “highway bridge,” motored through that against a stiff breeze with my sails luffing, and then sailed for a glorious hour on the wider Perquimans River. It was about the same route Monty and John took me last September on my arrival into Hertford. Janet let Carleton have some helm time, which I think made his day, or even his week.
There was a lot of discussion between him and John over what I could “do” under sail. So I showed them! And they were impressed.
At almost 1500 (3 pm, lubbers) Carleton turned me back toward Hertford and we flew down wind under the highway bridge. The swing bridge tender responded to John’s call by perfectly timing his opening so Carleton could sail through. (The timing was critical because down wind under sail I can not be stopped by oar power!) A gentle gust of wind pushed us through in no time and we were back in Hertford Harbor. Carleton brought me to a smooth landing at the dock and the guests departed with smiles on their faces. Janet, Joan, John and Anne furled my sails and tied me into my berth, and now I sit here dictating the story of this magnificent day. Good night until my next day on the water. Miss P
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