Letters force open a can of tunafish. The marvel of this is that nowadays Chicken of the Sea can be purchased in Ziplock Bags: All you need is a good set of teeth to tear into this new packaging. Randy Randall Marston’s Marina Saco, Maine
Race encounter was ‘unsettling’
Mike’s report from the clamflats Went clamming with oldest son Kevin recently at Hog Island. He was up here in Rhode Island for a visit. Kevin had been looking forward to going clamming for some time, and especially now that he has been living in the Philly area, where there is no clamming. It was “like digging doubloons,” as my friend Jon always says. Fresh littlenecks soon become the Captain’s special Clams Casino recipe — under the broiler until the bacon on top gets crisp. Now we catch up on some summer dream reading and voyage planning with a plate of spicy casinos; chilled, crisp Chardonnay; and a little lemon, and don’t worry, Denise had her own setup just the same one chair over. Go to a restaurant and get six skanky clams for $12 and more. Here we had the freshest, sweetest clams, and my own recipe with fresh minced onion, garlic buttered cracker crumbs, pepper sauce, lemon juice, bacon, and a few other herbs and spices, and we pigged out on them — at least 25 per person, maybe more, lost track after the fifth plate full and third goblet of wine. Capt. Mike Martel Bristol. R.I.
Good teeth will open tuna pack We enjoyed very much Gay De Hart’s story in the July issue (“Capt. Mom and the Revelation,” July), about sailing with her family on their Ensign. Everyone was safe, and apparently they all had a good trip. I also appreciate her honesty in admitting they could not open a can of tuna for lack of a can-opener. However, this also tells me that there were five people on her boat and not one of them had a knife. Not a Swiss Army knife, not a Leatherman, or a rigging knife or even a good old Boy Scout knife. Nor, I guess, were there any tools: no screwdriver, no pliers, no hacksaw, and no Vice Grips, any one of which could have been used to www.pointseast.com
I recently found myself sailing into the middle of a schooner race out of Camden. The experience was unsettling and frightening. I am writing this in the hope of eliciting some feedback from some experienced skippers in regard to the situation and what I might have done. To wit: The schooner fleet was racing from Camden eastward toward Islesboro. The wind was brisk and a bit gusty from the southwest, so they were all on a beam or broad starboard reach and making good speed. I was sailing my 27-foot sportboat, heading south, beating to windward on starboard tack, also making good speed (eight to nine knots). I was north (to leeward) of all of them. My inclination was to try to duck behind them and avoid their race. However, I realized that ducking one would put me right in front of others, but then I would be on port tack and have no speed. I didn’t have just one or two to avoid — there were a lot of boats coming and not a lot of space between them. So I decided to pick a gap as best I could and continue on south (still on starboard). I passed in front of one vessel with no problem — he simply turned a few degrees farther off the wind and sailed behind me. However, the next vessel gave no indication he was going to give way to me, and we were very close to a collision. So I began to luff and slow. Just as I did that, he started to turn downwind, now directly toward me. Fortunately, I didn’t slow too much and was able to return to my course and pass a few feet in front of him, but the crew of the boat was yelling and gesturing some very unpleasant things in my direction. My understanding of the rules is that I was clearly the stand-on vessel. The fact that they were racing gave them no rights, and they were certainly not constrained in any manner regarding ability to maneuver. That being said, I’m generally not suicidal and don’t challenge larger, heavy vessels if I can avoid it. In this case, though, I didn’t have the option of turning around or waiting for them to run their race. What should I have done? Readers’ thoughtful replies would be appreciated. Jim Love Pittsfield, Maine Points East August 2012
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