The sun is warm and the breeze fresh here in Bermuda. ADVENTURESS and her crew slipped between the coral heads and made landfall last Sunday, the 18th of November. Although I have had many exciting experiences here in the past few days, I thought it might be fun to describe the sail here, as well as some of the mechanics of an offshore passage, for those of you who might be curious how one sails a large, gaff-rigged schooner 600 miles across the Gulf Stream. 

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Michael Norgang

Sitting comfortably in the dog house of Adventuress with the wind howling outside and the boat pitching with every gust and swell, I enjoy thinking about the chain of events that have led me here as delivery crew on Adventuress.

About three years ago I was hired by Rockport Marine and was one of three carpenters to begin restoring this same boat. My first day at RMI I was instructed to pull a garboard plank constructed of two inch thick teak that was through-bolted and tightly fit. In the words of my project manager, we were going to "take a look." With a feeling of trepidation, but with Taylor Allen's encouragement, I took a two inch chisel and proceeded to demolish what, at the time, was the most expensive and exotic piece of wood I had ever touched.

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Westward

This past weekend I attended the Classic Yacht Symposium at the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island. Held every other year, the symposium is a sort of academic conference for classic boat enthusiasts of all stripes: owners or aspiring owners of classic yachts, as well as builders, riggers, sailmakers and sailors. 

About two hundred people assembled for a full day of papers in the Hall of Boats, the main display room of the museum. Although it was a particularly raw spring day and the hall never quite warmed up, there was something powerful about sitting amongst examples of some of N.G. Herreshoff’s finest designs.
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For anyone who has even the slightest affinity for boats, a visit to the New York Yacht Club on 44^th Street in Manhattan is a treat. The building was built in 1899 and designed by Warren & Wetmore in the Beaux Arts style; its limestone façade is fitted out in a whimsical, nautical style with windows that protrude like the transoms of galleons. The main dining room is fitted with large hanging knees, and the effect is so shippy, you half expect your peas to roll gently off your plate.

But the jewel of the club is the Model Room, space that displays a huge collection of full and half hull models of some of the most famous designs in the world. Brendan and I had the opportunity to visit this room for an International Yacht Restoration School reception at the club. On entering the party we could not help but be drawn to the wall of models, and to press our noses against the large glass display cases of fully rigged miniatures chronicling the history of the America’s Cup competitors.

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