Don't tell my garden but I am cheating on it. This affair has been going on for years now and the relationship between me and my weeds has become quite strained. It started innocently enough when I answered an email from one of my relatives. He was looking for crew to help him race a J24. At the time, what I knew about boats could fit in a teaspoon of seawater and I had a pretty romantic notion of what sailing was about. I figured that I could compensate for my lack of knowledge with some wicked kitchen skills and imagined I would spend the races below decks manning the well equipped galley where I could keep busy opening wine, cutting up cheese blocks and putting out appetizers. If you have ever raced a small sailboat, you are probably laughing at this image. Racing is not quite that genteel and often, a smooshed peanut butter sandwich or a granola bar are the only items on the menu. Something in the game hooked me though and a few years ago I bought a boat with a friend. We've spent a couple summers racing it at a local club and the abject terror has softened into pulse pounding fun. Time on the water is addictive and my garden is suffering from some neglect. It's hard to serve both the land and the sea.
A few scenes from today's Appleton Rum Harbour Race: A bermuda start from the Northwest Arm, then around Hens and Chickens Shoal at Point Pleasant and into the Harbour with a raft up at Bishop's Landing. Amazingly, the diminutive Luna took second place.
