OSSPMC again!
Well we did it again. Not content to let our pathology of winter cruising end with exploits in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009, Tim and I set out again this year. We opted to take his Beetle Cat, and our chosen weekend, December 18 and 19th turned out to be one of the most mild OSSPMCs yet. But don’t worry, we managed to find a little surprise. I picked Tim up at his house in Rhode Island and we drove to North Falmouth where we found his tender full of ice. Some laugher and clubbing with an oar dislodged the ice, and Tim and I resolved to ban the use of the word “cold” for the weekend. We rowed the boat out to Tim’s Beetle Cat (the only boat left in the harbor) and set out.
We soon discovered the breeze favorable for a jaunt across Buzzard’s bay, so we made for Marion. (Or, as we said, we decided to “get our Mari-on.”) We arrived just as the wind and sun dissipated, leaving us to enter and explore the harbor with powered by a pair of oars set in makeshift oar locks. (Score one for Timmy for thinking of those.)
We were pleased to find plenty of uninhabited homes (if you haven’t read these adventures before, you’ll soon see why that’s important). Tim and I celebrated our landfall with a snack from the quaint Marion General Store.
Gettin' our Mari-on.
Temps (And Temptations)
The clerk recommended we walk to The Wave for dinner, and along the way we discovered a lovely coffee shop and a Cumby (to stock up on Doughnets, another element whose purpose will become clear later.) After a great dinner, Tim and I rowed more than 2 miles under a full moon until we unexpectedly hit ice in Planting Island Cove. We turned around and found our target: a home without any lights on, and a solid pier. I set tied my hammock to the pier railings. Tim “med-moored’ to its pilings and set up the boat’s cover and went to sleep. By the time the overnight temps dropped to about 28 degrees, Tim had uttered the banned C-word (cold) four more times than I had.
In the morning, we got a better view of our accommodations.
Hammock and Beetle Cat. Not our pier.
It's not as warm as it looks.
We cast off from our borrowed dock-home and headed back to Wild Harbor.
Underway
Doughnets – an OSSPMC Tradition
The discussion was focused on this year’s acronynm until Tim spotted some floatsam (not jetsam) on the horizon.
Floatsam on the Horizam
We debated how long it would take to get to whatever it was. Tim estimated 20 minutes; I said it would take less. Tim’s guess was pretty good because 21 minutes later (a duration that meant Tim was now trailing our word-game by three), we discovered the floatsam to be an abandoned Snark sailing dinghy, which we tied to our stern and took home with us.
The Great White Snark
We parked the Snark…
Parked Snark
And put the Beetle Cat away for the winter.
Derigging the Beetle Cat
And, now – the name of this year’s trip – Operation Snark, Self-Propelled Marion Cruise! See everyone again next year!