In the Wheelhouse

Capt. Phil had quite a night, Monday night (Tuesday morning, actually.) A call came in from this boat:

She's a professionally campaigned Farr 42. Ultra-light, super-fast...all in all just a wicked sled. She was coming to New England Boatworks, but her engine has quit off Block Island and she needed help into the dock. The problem was, the weather looked like this:

Uh-oh; this is gonna get ugly. Capt. Phil donned his oilers and was off. Bashing his way south off Dutch Island in 20-30 knots of wind and a nasty sea, he called the sailboat, which was doing about 9 knots under a double reefed main alone and was already approaching Castle Hill. So, it was back up the West Passage, around the North End, and down the East passage to try and head 'er off at the pass before the weather hit.

Success! Capt. Phil got her in tow just before the worst of the thunderstorms hit. The only remaining trouble was having enough patience to wait for the weather to clear enough to be able to get through the narrow entrance of NEB. Here's what it looked like right about the time Capt. Phil was hooking up north of the Newport Bridge:

Notice the red spot right on top of him. Ah well... all's well that end's well, even if it takes until 0400!

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