A new way to measure rainfall

Now I have a new way to measure rainfall-  

not in inches, but in time: How long will it take me to bail a dory before I can row it? 

Dory full of rainwater after a few days of stormy fall weather here in Gloucester, MA.....

...and after half an hour of steady bailing.

UPDATE:  December 10, 2014

After another few days of rain, I had company this morning when I went to the docks to see about bailing...Alex, a fellow member of the Gloucester International Dory Racing Committee, brought his hand pump.

I prefer hand-bailing with a sturdy re-used plastic bottle.

Bailing, bailing, gone!

and another update: February, 2015: A new way to measure SNOWFALL!

6-8 inches of slush-water under the snow

Since the dories are kept in the water year-round, the snow and slush has to be removed as well as the rainwater,  so that they will be ready to row on a good winter day. 

Gates

There's a saying that goes, "The road to a friend's house is never long."

I have another saying: "The gate at a friend's place is never a puzzle."

I get a certain satisfaction, when I arrive at a friend's yard, in being familiar enough with their gate to breeze through it, no matter how persnickety the latch may be.

Sometimes you have to lift and pull, or push and jiggle. You only learn these things through experience-  coming and going over time, visiting, dropping off muffins, returning a book.






It seems to me that gates and latches in New England are particularly quirky- just like my wonderful friends.

                            

Rowing the Grand Banks Dory in Gloucester Harbor

You may think that winter is not the best time to start learning how to row a dory off the coast of New England,

but you don't always get to choose when an opportunity like this will present itself.

A warm day with calm seas and no wind can be the perfect time to go rowing, especially in winter, when there are few other boats in the harbor.

Kind and patient friends (Peter Parsons, James Tarantino and Hilary Frye) invite me to row with them as a "dory mate."

I'd much rather row than sit there as ballast in the boat.  I'm slowly learning how to handle the two oars evenly and make the boat go where I want it to.

Staying warm is not a challenge when you are working hard to help move a 400-pound boat.

                                                                                                                                                                photo by Peter Parsons

rowing with Hilary Frye just as a snow was starting. photo by Peter Parsons

And just look what I get to see!

 
 
 
 

Ten Pound Island, Gloucester (MA) Harbor 

photo by Peter Parsons

 

a snowy owl! 

photo by Peter Parsons