Bill de Neergaard's Summary of the 2010 Corintihian / Little Ship Club Cruise to Maine
30 July to 7 August 2010


Family and Friends

We are home after 2 weeks in Maine and The Corinthians Annual Cruise, Sat. July 31 through Saturday, Aug. 7th.

We put our names on The Corinthians website under 'Crew Available' including brief bio information, about a month before the Cruise began. We were late putting our names on the web site since we were planning to drive to Maine, visiting relatives and friends and also attending the Cruise's 5 events onshore by car as "Drive-Alongs", of which there were 14 other Corinthians.

To our pleasant surprise, we received an invitation 2 weeks before the Cruise's opening dinner for a berth aboard Joe Rocchio's 47' Catalina sloop, ONWARD. Linda Pasley, chair of The Corinthians Crewing Committee had put in a good word for us when Joe Rocchio,, a new Corinthian attending his first Cruise, called her inquiring about getting a crew. After speaking to Linda we called Joe to thank him and accept his invitation.

In the ensuing 2 weeks there were email exchanges and phone conversations between us to the point where we felt we had hit the jackpot – a good sailor, friendly, interesting and good chemistry. Also during that period we learned much about Joe and ONWARD from his website, www.onward.ws, including his photograph and reading the boat's log for all of 2010 (a prodigious effort but enjoyable reading)

We planned to arrive at Boothbay Harbor on Thursday, July 29th, 2 days before the Cruise's opening dinner, unless he needed us sooner to help move the boat or render other assistance He suggested we come aboard Thursday as soon as we arrived.

Joe picked us up in his rigid inflatable boat (RIB) for the 5 minute run to his anchorage. The next few hours were spent in conversation and learning about the boat, electrical and plumbing systems, etc. We had researched restaurants and invited Joe to be our guest at Robinson's Wharf Restaurant, 5 minutes from the Boothbay Region Boat Yard where Onward was anchored out and where the car would stay during the Cruise. The lobster dinner was a winner.

The first boat casualty of the Cruise occurred close to our mooring as we were enjoying a Dark and Stormy before going ashore for dinner. FORTUNA, a 38' X-Yacht that sailed up from Chesapeake Bay, misinterpreted what could be confusing buoyage and sailed over a rocky area and went aground. We saw it coming and tried shouting but too late. One of our guests jumped into the dinghy and together with another dinghy was able to free the boat. FORTUNA had also had a mishap in the Cape Cod Canal where it was washed briefly onto the rip rap edge of the canal, damaging the mid section of the keel. Damage from the two encounters kept her out of the water for repairs for the entire Cruise. P.S.: All the crew members were placed on other boats.

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Joe Rocchio is tall, handsome and muscular and hails from E. Greenwich, RI and has graduate and post graduate degrees in [chemistry]. He spent a number of years, before retirement in’07 living in Annapolis and heading a government research laboratory in Washington,DC. He has 3 grown children and sailing has been part of his life for years.

Three years ago he decided to live aboard year-round, bought ONWARD and sold his home. The elaborate and carefully planned electronic and electrical systems on the boat reflect his input during construction. Joe is a very detail-oriented person as you would expect in a highly educated engineer. Before leaving an anchorage, he plots the day's course meticulously on his electronic chart plotter, entering numerous waypoints to the destination. This procedure makes it easy to adjust for course changes during the day as situations occur. His goal in navigation is to have a number of backups, ie- paper charts, several GPS units and other backup equipment in case of any system failures. He is a long-distance, solo sailor which adds to the need for careful planning

The skipper's cabin is at the aft end of the boat, with double bunk and attached head with shower. We were in the forepeak guest cabin with double bunk and adjoining head and shower. See website above, for detailed boat layout.

Each square inch of storage space from stem to stern is filled with every conceivable spare part, medical item, etc, etc and enough foodstuffs "for 3 months". The skipper’s impressive back-up mentality, carefully arranged and labeled covers ALL emergencies, mechanical, electrical, electronic, plumbing and human plus personal items from the sale of his home. Joe is a voracious reader, pleasure and reference, so book shelves are full. He keeps a computer inventory of every item on the boat and its location.

Joe likes to cook and bake and is very good at it. Among his culinary accomplishments we enjoyed were 3 kinds of Biscotti, pizza and chili. (See his web site). He often bakes soon after arising. For breakfast, he offers one of his specialties, a bacon omelet – place several frozen, precooked bacon strips in a pan, break an egg or two over the bacon, stir and serve. It’s simple, quick and good.

Friday morning, the 30
th, we pressed Joe to do some boat chores. I polished stainless steel and Helene cleaned leather seats in the salon. Joe and Helene conferred on his experience cleaning the leather, showing her before and after photos and a battery-operated cleaning tool he came across and has used successfully. When Helene finished one settee, the result was ‘like new’. A day or two later she successfully attacked another settee with similar success. At midday, Joe and I went supermarket shopping. After a late lobster roll lunch abard, we enjoyed a light dinner - soup, salad, wine and Biscotti.
Saturday, July 31st, opening day of The Cruise, registration took place in the main building of the Boothbay Region Boat Yard from 1500 to 1630. The Skippers' Meeting at 1700 and the heavy hors d’oeuvres cocktail party at 1730 took place in one of the Yard’s new, winter storage buildings. Drinks were byob (bring your own booze).

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At registration everyone was given a ditty bag that included name tag, key ring, brochures, a beautiful light blanket with Corinthian and LSC logos and an attractive 75 page, bound Cruise Book with detailed information on daily races, each harbor visited, census, facilities, etc. The book was an outstanding accomplishment by the Cruise Committee.

There were 180+ people and 43 boats registered for the Cruise. This included 14 Drive-Alongs and 32 Brits from The Little Ship Club, our 'sister' organization in London. Two LSC members sailed their boats from the UK to join our Cruise.

The Little Ship Club was founded in 1927, 7 years before The Corinthians, with similar purposes, makeup and annual member events. About 10 years ago after periodic visits to the LSC by individual Corinthians, we invited interested members of LSC to join our Annual Cruise, sailing aboard our boats or chartering. Two years later, LSC extended the same invitation to The Corinthians and the tradition of sailing together every 2 years on alternate continents was born.

The opening event of the Cruise on Saturday, cocktails and heavy-duty hors d’oeuvres, was a spirited event with Corinthians reconnecting and greeting our 32 Little Ship Club guests. Throughout the evening, waiters brought new varieties as well as old favorite hot and cold hors d’oeuvres to the serving table. They never ran out. In addition to mixers and ice, there was a large, dinghy-size tub filled with beer and soft drinks on ice at no charge. The quality of the catering service and the food was outstanding.

At 0815 Sunday morning everyone tuned in to VHF channel 78 for the first day’s announcements by the Cruise, Race and committees relevant to the day's social and other activities. Channel 78 was monitored throughout the day each day by all our boats for the duration of the Cruise. Lobstermen also use this channel and occasionally make unflattering comments about our transmissions to which we smiled and responded with silence. At 0900 a parade led by the current master or a past master of The Corinthians, began forming in the anchorage area and proceeded single file out of the harbor to the race starting area. As a past master I was asked to lead the parade today aboard ONWARD. This daily parade is a long-standing Corinthian tradition.

There were 15 to 25 boats racing each day, divided into 3 divisions, First, Second and Leisure. Today’s race was a Corinthian first for our skipper and for ONWARD so he elected to race in the Leisure Division. Unlike the other 2 divisions ours allows the boats to cross the starting line anytime within a 10 minute window after the Leisure D
ivision’s starting gun. This avoids the congestion at the starting line experienced by the other racing divisions in which each boat tries to be the first across the line after their starting gun. In our division the committee boat records the time each boat crosses the starting and finish lines.

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Today's race was a 27 mile run (23 miles from the starting area) with a 6 hour time limit - any boat not finishing within 6 hours of the starting gun is designated dnf, did not finish. The start was at the East entrance to Booth Bay Harbor off Linekin Neck, continuing East on the Gulf of Maine, turning NE around Allen and Burnt Islands and heading North, up St. George River to Maple Juice Cove, our anchorage for the night.

A premier Cruise event, the lobster bake, took place in the evening in Maple Juice Cove at the waterfront home of our Cruise Committee chair, Wallace Savory. Wally's grandfather purchased a this large tract along the shore of the Cove, at the turn of the century. The caterers did a splendid job in food quality and service. The event was a resounding success with Wally very generously hosting all refreshments. Since there was minimal space at Wally’s float for dinghies, two local lobster boats were hired to ferry people to and from the party.

The 0815 VHF announcements signaled a new day on the Cruise with division races to Rockland, 24 miles away. Shortly before 0900, the parade formed in Maples Juice Cove and then proceeded at a comfortable speed to the starting line. For reasons known only to the Race Committee, they led us from one possible starting area to another before settling on a location 2 miles East of Mosquito Island that shortened the race to 14 miles. The race course took us East through Two Bush Channel then North to the finish line off Monroe Island, The entrance to Rockland Harbor was 2 miles NW around Owls Head. Similar to yesterday, the weather was sunny with light winds.

Each port of call on the Cruise has a Corinthian, designated as Port Captain, acting as a host or know-it-all, usually a resident of the area, to whom any questions can be directed. Special dinner arrangements were made for Corinthians at Amalfie Restauranr on the Rockland waterfront. Port Captains George and Grace Hallenbeck were on hand at the restaurant welcoming Corinthians. A prix fixe dinner had been arranged which included the most popular menu selections. It was ideal weather for dining on the patio and the food and service excelled. Joe, Helene and I had an enjoyable evening together..

Tuesday, August 3
rd was a lay day allowing Corinthians and their UK guests to enjoy all that Rockland and nearby Rockport and Camden have to offer. Another sunny day enhanced plans for shore side activities. First order of business aboard ONWARD was Dress Ship. Joe had bought a new set of signal flags which we tied in a line in the prescribed order and flew in one long line from bow to masthead to stern. At each end, the first and last flag was suspended just above the water. For fun we attached a partially filled bottle of a wine we didn’t like to the end flag off the bow. Not exactly protocol.

Rockport Harbor is the next harbor North of Rockland and is my favorite Maine harbor. From the ¾ mile-wide harbor entrance to the narrow head of the harbor, 6 miles away, the views on both shores are of beautiful ,wooded estates. Bernard Guerlain, Helene’s brother-in-law and one of my favorites in Helene’s family, has lived in Rockport for many years in a home close to the water and easily visible when entering the harbor.

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During a 2 day visit with Bernard before reporting aboard ONWARD, we made arrangements for him to drive to Rockland on our lay day and come aboard, check out the boat and then have lunch ashore with Joe. We called him Tuesday morning and said it would be too difficult given his painful knees to come aboard our anchored boat but we would have lunch together. He asked what we would like to eat and I reflexively said, “lobster roll”, impolitely, not necessarily reflecting Helene’s and Joe’s preference.

We met at noon near a marina dinghy dock and Bernard had a bag of 4 lobster rolls and beer. He asked if we might enjoy eating on his patio on this lovely day. We agreed. We sat at a table with umbrella on his patio which is at the foot of a gently sloping rock garden hill surrounding the house, 180 degrees from left end of the house to right end, with bushes, trees, flowers, grass and bright sunshine. It was just beautiful. After a couple of hours, we were chauffeured back to our dinghy. It was a delightful afternoon with Bernard and Joe enjoying each other’s company and getting acquainted..

The Rockland Yacht Club extended an invitation to Corinthian boats to participate in their weekly Tuesday night races. Joe thought it would fun if we could get a couple of experienced Corinthian racers to join us. I immediately thought of John Hilton, a frequent shipmate and one of the Corinthian’s better sail trimmers and John’s skipper, Bill Kimbell of MADRIGAL, a top racing skipper.. With an OK from their spouses, both came aboard about 1830 for the 1900 first gun of the evening’s races.

Bear in mind that ONWARD is not a racing boat. It is fitted out for cruising and never raced before this week. It has excessive tonnage being fully loaded with gear for long distance, single-handed sailing. Also the masthead wind indicator, important for sail trimming, was temporarily non-functional. Additionally, ingress and egress from the cockpit was through a zippered window, port and starboard. The 5 evening races were a combination of triangular and windward, leeward courses with each leg being fairly short. ONWARD was the largest boat in the fleet of 20-25, the smallest about 20’. No sooner had ONWARD tacked around a turning mark and settled in on a new course than she had to prepare to tack at the next mark.

The humorous banter by Bill and John relating to the boat’s various dissimilarities to a racing sailboat, as they called tacks and adjusted sail trim, were accepted by Joe in the same light-hearted vein they were given and his quick-witted retorts raised the level of humor a notch higher. We didn’t bring the Rockland Yacht Club’s racers to their knees but the fun level aboard ONWARD , the only Corinthian boat competing ,was obvious.

A call to Bill’s wife, Kiran and Ginny Hilton on MADRIGAL revealed that dinner was ready. Since Helene had dinner planned for ONWARD and since Bill and John required our dinghy, now on davits, to get back to their boat, the suggestion was made by Bill to raft up with MADRIGAL, now tied up at the dock, pool our dinners and have a ‘victory’ party. The 7 of us gathered in ONWARD’s spacious cockpit and enjoyed a festive evening together regaling the ladies about how ONWARD buried the competition!

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At 0600 next morning, ONWARD silently cast off from MADRIGAL with Ginny handling their lines and returned to our anchorage 10 minutes away.

Wednesday’s race, 13 miles from the mouth of Rockland Harbor, East across West Penobscot Bay into the Fox Islands Thorofare between North Haven Island and Vinalhaven Island, East along the Thorofare, then starboard around Zeke Pt. and into Carver Cove, our anchorage for the night. The fine weather and fair winds prevailed again today.

The 0815 announcements mentioned 2 events scheduled for the afternoon in Carver Cove: a dinghy race and a kite-flying contest. We would skip the former and enter but latter.. Also, in an effort to promote meeting new people, the Cruise Committee assigned boats to raft together in twos or threes in Carver Cove.

Joe and I unpacked the kite, spending more time than expected putting together all the pieces of our 6’ long dragon kite with a menacing, wide open mouth, impressive wingspan and a 12’ ribbon trailing from each wing tip. With brisk winds Joe and I climbed on the stern, dragon I hand, and prepared to launch. Trying time after time we were unable to get the dragon to climb higher than 20-25’ before diving into the water. After each dive, we retrieved the undamaged kite, emptied the water out of its long tail, waited a short time for drying out and tried again. This procedure was repeated numerous times with similar results. After an hour or more, we threw in the towel, gave up. As we sat salving our damaged egos, we noticed a boat close by that was flying an identical dragon kite which was casually an leisurely approaching the ionosphere.

Joe’s Spring trips from the Bahamas to Maine and Fall trips going the other way have not provided enough time for Joe to visit Annapolis and participate in any of his Corinthian Annapolis Fleet’s gams. To reconnect he invited all Annapolis Corinthians on the Cruise to come aboard ONWARD for a pizza party on Wednesday night in Carver Cove.
The evening was a tour de force for our captain. With 13 Corinthians seated around and near the cockpit table, one tray of onboard-made pizza came up to the cockpit while the next was baking. Tray after tray was served and washed down by an endless supply of red wine. At the end of the evening, the smiling guests left shaking their heads at the gourmet wizard of ONWARD.

Thursday, August 5
th was overcast, the first morning without sun. Today’s destination was Candle Cove on Seven Hundred Acre Island across Gilkey Harbor from Dark Harbor on Islesboro Island, a run of 24 miles. From Carver Cove, we sailed East out of the Thorofare into East Penobscot Bay, then North past Eagle Island and Cape Rosier, around the North tip of Islesboro Island, South on West Penobscot Bay, East across the North edge of Seven Hundred Acre Island into Gilkey Harbor and South into Cradle Cove.

Today’s sail to Cradle Cove was a circuitous route requiring careful piloting. For the first few hours of the race, the wind diminished to periodic calms causing some boats to drop out and motor. We persisted as Onward kept making some headway. Our persistence was rewarded when the following wind increased to the mid teens and thick fog set in. It was all hands on deck watching for buoys, rocks, small islands and lobster pots. I was on the helm keeping the boat from yawing in the following seas and Joe was negotiating safe courses using radar and the chart plotter as the boat surged ahead. Helene concentrated on what could be seen ahead. Fortunately the fog began to lift with improved visibility and sighs of relief as the wind continued to move the boat at a fast clip. We have not heard the race results but believe we got a 3
rd place or better.

Candle Cove was the occasion of another Cruise tradition, the Salty Pot Dinner and Contest to be held in one of the empty winter boat sheds at the Dark Harbor Boat Yard. Each boat brought a dish, made aboard, enough to feed 8. When all the dishes had arrived, a committee of four judged each dish for first prize – best tasting, originality and ease of preparation underway. This year the judges were busy sampling 40+ dishes while people stood with plates and utensils in hand waiting to attack. In previous years every one on the Cruise cast a ballot> Drinks were byob.

In addition to the contest dishes, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and soft shell squirting clams were available, all in abundance. It was another great event and once again, the caterers raised the bar on this Cruise.

Friday, August 6
th. The 4 races of the Cruise are in the record books so no races today or tomorrow. The 0815 announcements reminded us that tonight there would be a barbeque at the Lyman-Morse Tenants Harbor Facility this evening. Following the 0900 parade, the fleet sailed to Tenants Harbor on their own. Tenants Harbor is a 23 mile run: exiting Cradle Cove, South on Gilkey Harbor to West Penobscot Bay, continue South on the Bay, SW into Muscle Ridge Channel after rounding Monroe Island. At the West end of MR Channel round Whitehead Island and proceed West 2-3/4 miles to Tenants Harbor.

It was beautiful day with a light winds. We left Cradle Cove when the parade disbanded and motor sailed at a brisk pace to arrive at Tenants Harbor in time for a Lobster Roll and draft beer lunch ashore. Transiting the Muscle Ridge Channel requires special alertness by the crew as this body of water has one of the densest population of lobster pots in Maine. Additionally, many pots have 2 buoys some of which are difficult to spot.

We entered Tenants harbor before 1300, picked up what we hoped would be a rental mooring and not private, lowered our dinghy from the davits, conveniently and easily and headed toward the Cod End Restaurant which we spotted and which had a dinghy float.
We totally enjoyed our lobster rolls and draft beer on the patio, under an umbrella at the water’s edge. Our cup runneth over. A leisurely afternoon followed. Joe and I explored the harbor in the RIB including Long Cove an adjacent, large body of water suitable for additional Tenants Harbor anchoring.

The barbeque was held in one of the large winter storage/building lofts of the Lyman-Morse facility. Chalk up another winning event of Corinthian camaraderie and food and service of commendable quality by Crazy Dave Caterers. A side attraction: Mock-ups of a 70’ and a 100+’ sailboat in a large ship building loft on the floor above our party. Visitors were permitted to board both boats. 7.
Saturday, August 7
th, the last day of the 2010 Annual Cruise. The course from Tenants Harbor to Boothbay Harbor was 24 miles. Leaving the Harbor and passing Bell G1, proceed SW along the Gulf of Maine coast turning WNW around Burnt and Allen Islands and then past the southern tip of Linekin Neck and NW into Boothbay harbor. At the completion of morning announcements and the parade out of Tenants Harbor, we headed for Boothbay Harbor in sunny, breezy conditions. It was an enjoyable sail, motoring only when the wind was dead ahead.

With Joe’s agreement we planned to leave ONWARD as soon as convenient on Sunday morning in order to reach Anne Lohr’s home in Warren, RI that evening. Anne is off on Monday and we wanted to celebrate her birthday with her and leave for NYC Tuesday when she goes back to work. For almost 20 years we did annual., long-range cruising in their Moody 42 along the East Coast, the Windward and Leeward Islands to South America. Franklyn died a year ago.

The three of us had been keeping the boat clean throughout our 10 days aboard so our head and cabin got the full treatment when we arrived at Boothbay Harbor.

The windup dinner was held in an empty winter storage building at the Boothbay Region Boat Yard where opening day registration and festivities took place.

The program following the windup dinner is always the highlight of the Cruise. Tonight’s event raised the bar with well received creative innovations. Two choral groups of Corinthians and one of our UK guests rendered original songs to everyone’s delight. The applause showed everyone’s appreciation for all the effort put into each rendition.

The presentation of the Nothing Award continued the creative innovation of the evening’s program. Bill Kimbell, skipper of MADRIGAL and John Hilton, a crew member, were the dual presenters who kept everyone laughing and involved throughout. Each one participated in a humorous recitation of the misadventures of each of almost 15 selected nominees before presenting the winning recipient of the 2010 Nothing Award. They were well rehearsed, competent speakers and actors who maintained the traditional high quality of this annual event in keeping with recognized Oscar-winning presenters, Angelo Del Re and Dick Woods.

There were high spirits everywhere as the 180+ Corinthians and Little Ship Club guests celebrated what so many thought was one of the best annual cruises - just a half day of fog in 8 days of sunny weather, top notch food quality and service by our caterers , ideal ports of call, well planned events, good follow-through by Cruise leaders and best of all, an enviable level of camaraderie at each event. Kudos to all who had a hand in planning and executing a super Cruise.

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Helene and I enjoyed our 10 days aboard ONWARD. Joe is a good shipmate and skipper, seeing to our needs and making us feel welcome. We hope Joe realized one of his goals for this Cruise – to meet many Corinthians, engaging them in conversations and making friends. Toward that end, Helene and I as veteran members, did our best to contribute. We used every opportunity at shore side events to introduce Joe and expand his Corinthian contacts. He is gregarious and relaxed in conversation with new friends and leaving a good impression.






































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