Classics Week 2015 - The Grand Finale Red Hat Party

Sunday 26th, 2015

I almost forgot to tell you about THE Red Hat Party.  The Finale.  The one where everyone gets their Red Hats - except for those of us volunteering who got ours that way.  The party was last night at the Mad Mongoose.  This is a cruisers hang out.  Food, drinks, music and FREE wifi and the owner thankfully is Kewl and leaves the wifi on 24/7 so at 7AM in an given morning and you will find crusiers sitting outside the locked bar getting wifi.....well....maybe more like 9am and certainly not after a Red Hat Party, but you get the idea.  And they serve rum.  Sailors like rum.  Oh yeah and this kewl owner is.....from Missouri, Eldon, on the KC side not the STL side.

Owner Connie on the right with her BFF from Eldon MO

I went with the Royals shirt to represent KC

 Anyway, the finale Red Hat Party started at 18:30 so cruises with serious numbers of Red Hat redemption tickets started showing up at 18:00.  Some final negotions were going on as well - "Please....I just need one more regular ticket to get another hat....for my sick little niece back home."  Yeah right buddy!  The line to get the Red Hat started around 18:20.  In the past, people were only able to redeem 2 Red Hats at a time.  Those with numerous redemptions tickets aka big rum drinkers had to get in line a bunch of times to collect all their hats.  However, this year they were able to get them all at once.  There was a scare that they might run out when some heavy hitters were near the front of the line, but there were enough.  Soon the place was filled with people running about wearing their new Red Hat and new Red t-shirt and new Red bandanna with extra hats dangling from their belt or backpack securely.  It was something to see.  

The line for Red Hats

An extra special bonus for Tom and me was that KC's own Nace Brother modern blues band was there to play. We got to meet them and chat before the show and then a bit after.  Tom and I used to go see them play at Blainey's in KC when we were first dating 24 years ago.  They are super nice guys and happy to be playing in Antigua.  They were also really good.  We had not heard them play in many years.  Mount Gay rum brought them in.  Thank you Mount Gay.  We even got one of their new CD's.  Yay - new music.

The actual Nace brothers

Good stuff

Classics Week 2015 - Dinghy Wrangling

Lee and Tom act as a port stern thruster

It's now time for more follow up on Tom's responsibilities as a Dinghy Wrangler.  At first glance it might seem easy.  Don't let the boats hit anything as they dock and undock.  D-uh.  But add in all the normal factors like wind, current, other boats then add classic factors like pre-race, post-race, full keels and full egos and it gets a lot more complicated than don't let the boats hit anything.  Let's take a closer look.

Dinghy port shove while the other wranglers gets the anchor buoy

Tight spot, wranglers getting the anchor buoy

Anchor buoy brings up the chain

Getting the chain on board and set to stop the boat from hitting the dock

First off, the bulk of the boats were med moored.  For those that don't know, this means the boat is back into its slip and the anchor is set somewhere out in front, usually off to one side 45 degrees but not always.  Med mooring is not easy.  We have not had to do it yet - whew.  It takes practice to learn to drop the anchor and then back straight (hard to do because props spin thus pushing you off to the side as you back) usually between two boats already in there, while still letting out anchor chain and stopping short of the dock in back but enough to tie off.  The extra fun twist for Classics Race Week is that the majority of the boats don't take their anchors with them racing.  They don't want the weight.  So, they attached fenders and leave them behind.  But they don't just drop it - boom and off to the races. They attached the fender out a ways so it can be picked back up when heading in.  But picking them back up again while maneuvering back in isn't easy either.  And this is one of the reasons Boat Wranglers or Dinghy Wranglers are needed.  

No engine?  No problem - dinghy engine the recue for sy Synia

Delivering sy Synia to her spot

Also remember that 99% of these boats are full keel boats that don't maneuver all that well at low speeds or in tight spaces.  They are heavy boats.  Sy Synia lost her engine racing day one.  The guys had to bring her in and then out each morning and back in each afternoon.  A dinghy on each side tied to the main wenches acted as the engines and then the skipper was able to steer her out.  Other times it was a simple nudge on the starboard bow or a full dinghy throttle shove on the port stern.

Lee and Tom chatting away with the crew while they wait

There was some kewl down time waiting for boats to go out, chatting with owners, skippers or the crew.  In between morning duty and afternoon often meant hanging out in the Panerai booth drinking espresso or S. Pellegrino new Blood Orange Sparkling Water and eating mini croissants while reading the Wall Street Journal.  Or walking the dock and talking to the remaining mega yacht crews trying to get a private tour.

Re-hydrating

Downtime 

Lee and Tom help Dragonera in - Hi Sarah!

Tom guiding her in - Sarah ready with one of many fenders

Terry (Red Hat) hauls the anchor chain aboard - Go Terry

Now I am going to show you the best captain there is terms of docking at Classics Week 2015.  I was blown away when I saw her dock 51 ft sy Saphaedra.  Tom said she did that each and everyday exactly the same - perfect.  None of the pics are zoomed in.  I was right on the dock when she came in.  Amazing.

Above is the space she has to drop the anchor.

Above sy Saphaedra coming in.

Dropping anchor.  Her dingy was there helping but barely.

Look closer - do you see how close she had to get the anchor to the other boat?

Then she simply alternated using forward and reverse and her wheel to turn the boat and slide her gently back into her tight spot between two boats.  WOW!  

Classics Week 2015 - Have You Hugged Your Tuggy Today

The Flying Buzzard is a ocean going tug built in 1951.  According to last years Classics Week Program She worked until 1987 when she was retired to the Maryport Steamship Museum in Cumbria, Northwest England, where she languished for 20 years.  In 2002 Mike Nelder and Julie Jessop saw her and fell in love with her.  They had no previous experience but gave up their careers and set about bringing her back to life in their own way.  Which means she is a livable tug with whimsical paintings all over her, art made from salvage jobs, bean bags, and eleven big solar panels.

Deck chairs

Tug dog, tug cat was below

Solar panels

Bean bags and paint make a fun deck

They departed in 2008 on a prolonged journey that will eventually take them to Vancouver British Columbia but they don't seem to be in any hurry to get there.  They do deliveries and small salvage jobs.

They were the Committee Boat for Classics again this year and after all the racing was done, they graciously held an open.....tug for anyone that wanted to see.  We did.

Flowers on the boom arm - love it

Did I mention they make art with things they salvage?

Tuggies?  Oh, you want to know about the title - "Have you hugged your tuggy today."  Tom came up with that.  Let me back up.  The first night of Classics we meet four of the crew of the Flying Buzzard at the Volunteers thank you party.  They were off to the side and not really mixing with anyone.  "We don't really fit in." said Doug in his thick Scottish accent.  "We're the tuggies." said Angie in her thick German accent.  And that is how Tom and I came to know the tuggies.  We assured them that if we fit in, they fit in and we started chatting.  See, the Flying Buzzards attracks some interesting characters as she travels long.  Some stay for a week, some a month and others for a year or so.  Each with their own unique story and talents.

Severn, Tom, Doug, Angie

Tuggy and engineer James

Over the next several days, we kept running into the tuggies out at night, off to the side here and there so we had a chance to get to know them all a little better.  This is how Tom finally came up with the phrase "Have you hugged your tuggy today."  Remember all those bumber stickers....have you hugged your kid today?  Have you hugged your dog today?  Have you hugged your bike today?  We shared Tom's idea with the tuggies at the open house and they liked it (especially Doug) but the official t-shirts were already at the printers.  Darn.

An old Irish lifeboat is their sailing dinghy

Sailing around the anchorage

Classics Week 2015 - Dinghy Concert

The second annual classics dinghy concert took place this year.

Stacey and Renee sv Pipe Muh Bligh

Bev sv Aseka, Paul and Jill sv Elevation

Charlie sv My Way, Don and Janis sv Plane to Sea with their dog

This time the venue was mv Partners.

No Vidya, it's not my dish

Hakan and Anna sv Unicorn

Liz and Devon sv Moosetracks, photobomb Ed sv Windswept Dreams

White Chocolate (Dave and Trudy of s/v Persephone) performed with help from a few others at times.  Rock and roll oldies from the 60's and 70's.  

David and Nancy sv Fawkes

sv Margie NOT Maugie (as some S Africans mumble on the VHF! Ha!)

Everyone took munchies to pass.  People dinghy danced.

Lee went up his mast and took pics of the concert.

Concert photographer Lee - too much free coffee at the Panerai booth earlier in the day

sv Allergo with Lee up the mast

It was a good time.  
*Yes, I posted a lot of pics.  I couldn't cut anyone.  Sorry.