Sunflowers

Today while driving home from our house in Rhode Island I came to a huge field of sunflowers.

I really like this picture because you can just see the tractor in the background.

More flowers. So pretty. Wonder what will become of them?

Regatta sailing

Yesterday and today I spent sailing with my son who was skipper, in the Leo Telesmanick Beetle Cat Boat Regatta. There were 23 boats registered and 20 participated. There were four categories- junior, women, men and ancient mariners (which is the largest group). The Beetle Cat boat is a wooden boat, single mast and made in Wareham, Massachusetts (Cape Cod area). It is a really pretty boat and very sturdy, not the fastest boat but dry, usually. The first day we climbed into our boat about 9:30 am and got out about 4:00pm. We sailed in 5 races- there was very little wind. Our first two races were not spectacular but we did improve the last three. Today there was a lot more wind. A lot. Not my favorite sailing conditions. I didn't grow up sailing as did my children so nothing about sailing is intuitive. And I am not comfortable with "puffs", gusts, and heeling. I warned my son that today was really going to test me and to be patient. He is a really good sailor-really good and was really patient even when I messed up at the finish line of the first race and cost a place in finishing. He sails better when there is wind (I think because you really have to focus and pay attention unlike when there is a little bit of wind and you get bored). There were three races today. We started at 10:00 and finished about 12:30. We did pretty well overall and even though we didn't win any "hardware" I feel pretty good about where we ended up.

This is a picture of my son sailing the boat early in the season.

This picture gives a better view of the boat.

This picture my son took after we were finished racing and heading home Saturday. Can't complain. Life is good.