July 2015 Boat Nuts

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July. We watched the Provincetown fireworks from the deck of a friend's house. It proved to be a lovely night with lots of oohs, aaahs and wows. Since the 4th fell on a Saturday and fishing for fluke runs Sunday - Thursday, Captain Dave was on the road back to Woods Hole to pick up the Richard & Arnold at 1:00 AM. It was a good time to travel, but he was really tired when he set out off of Noman's Island at 5 AM. He still thinks he's forty years old. There are just a few boats working the area now. Dave counted six. Some of the fellows are fishing closer to Nantucket, but for Dave the distance would add a couple hours to his already tiring day.
We are talking and planning a trip with the Richard & Arnold this fall. If all goes well we will head out in October. First stop  - Block Island since I've never been there. We will follow a plan, but we know that sometimes wind and tides dictate when and where we go. Our plans include stops in CT, Montauk, City Island, Sandy Hook, Cape May, the Delaware, Chesapeake,Orient NC, Darian GA and the inland waterway through to Florida. I hope to be able to blog along the way, maybe sell a few books as well.

In other news, our son Bob launched his 36' Harris on Thursday and yesterday he had it going 19 knots skipping across Cape Cod Bay. It has taken 3 years of work to get it back in the water. He put in a new/rebuilt engine, new fuel tanks, lots of fiberglass work. It took so long because he could only work on it when he wasn't on his three week rotation aboard the tugboat Yellow Fin in the Gulf of Mexico. The nut really doesn't fall far from the tree. Boats, boats, boats. Like father like son. And I'm proud of both my sons. Jackson loves the water, has a run about boat of his own and is a talented carpenter who is building beautiful homes.

And oh YES, the book is done and should be available at Amazon around July 20, 2015. Look for The Fishermen's Ball by J. J. Dutra and let me know what you think. It's a murder mystery set in Provincetown in 1938-39, a little different from the last one but still has some fishing included.

Nautical Twilight is still available, also on Kindle for those who use the lighted screen. I finally broke down and got one so that I could read at night and not disturb Dave with the light. I like it well enough but I still take a book to the beach because you can't see the screen in the sunlight. Mostly my grandchildren use it to play games, something the captain doesn't like, but I'm all for technology if it is tempered with lots of outdoor play time. It is recommended that for every hour of computer time a kid should play three hours outdoors. Sounds right to me. Fair winds fellow boat nuts, see you soon.

Fluke season is off to a rough start. It's the forth day in and today there was tragedy in Menemsha Bite, MVI. The Robert C went down. Captain Dougie was pulled from the water and he is reported to be safe. Dave told me this when he phoned from the island this evening. It seems two boats collided and the Robert C went down in minutes. Dave said he didn't see it, but heard the Coast Guard on the radio. Six or seven boats were fishing the bite.  Dave said he's not sure how it happened. Like so many of the boats, Dougie fishes alone. As Dave is fond of saying, "Too much work for one man but not enough money for two." Fishing alone is how most of the guys manage, so I can see how these things can happen. The other boat, the Peddler is safe, but most likely out of commission. Capt. Walter and Capt. Dougie are old hands at fishing, so this is a terrible accident that neither could have imagined. The  Robert C was a beauty, I don't know her details, but she looked like a Stonington Dragger. She was old, wooden, heavy planked and currently hailed from New Bedford. She was a beautiful old girl. The men are safe and that really is all that matters in the long run. Say a prayer for our men and women at sea. Remember our fishermen. And don't forget to give thanks.

Update - June 2015

After much hard work, long hours, and an inpouring of money the Richard & Arnold is back to work. Dave says she's better than ever. The engine: a complete overhaul done by RCS Diesel Service in Ludlow MA has put the boat on a smooth coarse. It is not using oil, doesn't smoke, and has more power. I can't say enough about the efforts at RCS, great mechanics, all business, and fair prices. Thanks to Mike Miner and all the men who worked on it.
The new wheelhouse was a challenge. It's amazing how much stuff accumulates in a small space after thirty plus years, but on a boat it's all necessary, well most of it. It took months to replace everything from the old wheelhouse. We knew the wheelhouse needed changing when one day, out at sea, Dave showed me how the old house was moving. Literally swaying on its foundation. So glad to have the new one in place, bolted and fiberglassed in.  Everything had to come out of the old house and either be refitted to the new one or new equipment had to be purchased. All the important electronics are back in place, radar, depth sounder. The steering and autopilot are working. Hydraulics up to speed. Radios, computer, tracking device, antennas, have been rewired in. Safety equipment, deck lights, EPIRB in good working order. Only the odds and ends left to do, things like shelves for tools, hooks to hang oil-gear and a soft seat for the mate (that would be me) will all be done as we go along, because  now the fishing begins and when Dave is fishing there's not much time left to do anything else.
Dave took the boat to Woods Hole last month for squid, but he got a late start due to the massive amount of work to the wheelhouse, and the squid didn't come in jumbo numbers so he came back to Provincetown Harbor. He brought aboard a thousand pounds of lead for needed weight in the bilge. He then changed nets and end-for-ended the wire on the winches. He left for Martha's Vineyard last Tuesday to fish for Fluke. Now we hope for a good season to put us in shape for travel this winter. The boat is ready, Dave is looking forward to taking her south. I'm excited, nervous, worried, and making lists of a million things that need to be done before I can cut the ties to land. Things like auto pay of bills. What do I do with all my house plants? What clothing should I bring, how much linens, blankets, etc? How much food can I store? Yes it is exciting, but the idea of leaving my grandkids is almost heartbreaking. My feeling is that everyone will survive one winter without me. I'll keep up with kids on face-time. And I should have more time to write. Right?

Time and busy winds moving quickly as Northeasters come in cycles. The winter winds have been wicked this past month. The boat remains at the wharf, vulnerable. We are hoping the winds leave her undamaged. So far, so good.  We are transitioning, hoping to have the engine back in the boat before Christmas, then the real work begins for Dave. He's already put new fuel tanks in. What a job. Thanks to Mike Winkler, Jon Salvador, Marcey's Oil, and Wesley Medieros, we are off to a good start.  RC Motors is completing the engine and we are hoping for a Christmas present, having the engine back in place will be wonderful. In the meantime we find surprises everywhere. Dave is using space from the previous tanks which were much larger, for the hydraulic tank, he's installing it now. We will be carrying 500 gallons of diesel fuel. Sometime in the coming year we are hoping to rig the boat with sails, but one thing at a time, engine first.  We need the engine for fishing, but perhaps we can use sails for transitioning, for efficiency. I know we both love to sail, so its something we are looking forward to trying.

Transitions, land and sea, can have strange effects on the body. The inner ear can give you sea-sickness. When everything is moving, the feeling can causes other types of illusions and body distortion. On a  trip last September from Martha's Vineyard to Provincetown I had an unusual experience, at least I wasn't fearful of the feelings that I felt that day. Now, I think I know why old sailors call the boat 'her', as if it were alive.  I was sitting on fish boxes watching and listening as the world pass under, above and beside me. I watched the water as it undulated, peaked, cupped, crested, and waved. The constant motion caused an optical illusions, for what else could I call it. When I looked from the sea to the railings, the wooden structure that caps the sides of the boat, the wood became alive. As I looked at the Richard & Arnold, I could see the wood in motion. The wood was moving, swirling, swinging like a body dancing. It appeared as if the molecules in the wood were moving together as part of the world. I watched what shouldn't be moving - move. Not like the whole boat was wobbling or that the vessel's structure was shaking, more like the planks that made up the boat were still alive. It has got to be one of the strangest experiences I've had while out on the water and I've had a few. The illusion was most likely optical, but perhaps it was my overactive imagination. Whatever the cause, she came alive to me.

The Richard & Arnold is waiting patiently. She's doing just fine.

Heading in the right direction

We're heading in the right direction again. After a couple of weeks of "Oh M,G. The doctor said what?" Not only has it been awfully cold, but we spent hours in the E.R. then an overnight in Boston hospital only to be told that once every 10 or so years they see someone like Dave. Can't explain it, but looks like you're going to live. Our medical event has put life and death in perspective and now we can get back to where we were before all this medical broo-ha began. Even with the bitter cold, the engine is back in the boat. Shelves have been built, fuel tanks installed, batteries in place, hydraulic tank in place. Now fuel lines, hydraulic lines, and about a million other things and then the boat will be moving on her own again. I know for a fact that this will be the last in a long line of updates and overhauls to our dear Richard & Arnold. The new wheelhouse seems much bigger, although it is only six inches bigger on each side. I wish I could help out with the work, but Dave said I should just keep writing. He's doing all the work so that he can again go fishing this spring and summer to pay for next winter. In the fall we have plans for a trip south. It will be the reward for all the effort. I'm so proud of the work that's been done to the boat to preserve her. She's almost 90 years old and the way she's been maintained she'll last another 90 years. Hopefully she will have someone like Dave to take care of her. We are working to make it possible to take the boat on a trip. Heading south next fall to see friends and meet new ones. We have a goal, a destination and the willpower. I know I have at least one more adventure in me and I know Dave wants to have one winter when he won't have to shovel snow.
My latest book is just about done, I'm on the fourth rewrite. It has been professionally edited and now I move toward publication. I'll do the same as I did for "Nautical Twilight". I'm too old to wait for an agent or publisher to find me. I'll put it out there and hope for the best, just like we are doing with the boat.  Stay warm everyone, Fair winds and God Speed.
I am pasting part of the cover for the book, The Fishermen's Ball. Let me know what you think.

Thank you to our Veterans for their service to our country. Thank you for helping to bring freedom and peace to those who do not understand the joy of it. Thank you for your sacrifice so that we may live in this beautiful place we call America. You deserve more than one day of recognition, you deserve thanks everyday.

Much is happening around the Richard & Arnold.


This past week was a doozie, but thanks to Mike Winkler is turned out to be exciting and without difficulty. The old wheelhouse came off the boat. What a state it was in! I understand it was built by Alfred Silva when he owned the boat back in the 1950's.  He's the same man who did the beautiful model fishing boats that were on display at the Pilgrim Monument Museum last year. Then the Detroit 871 came out and went for a truck ride to Springfield. On the way to the mechanics we went through a snow storm in Middleboro / Taunton area, what a surprise, I was expecting sun after we crossed the bridge. The new wheelhouse is on the boat, again our thanks go to Mike Winkler. Dave is now working on the fuel tanks. We will most likely need to replace them while the engine is out, but here is another issue we didn't put into the budget. I will keep the faith and help where I can, but it looks like this job falls squarely on Dave's shoulders. The engine will be out of the boat for a few weeks, then the real work begins. Pumps, wires, exhaust, electric, and all the other things that are attached to the engine. To me its a real puzzle, but with a bit of inspiration, faith and money, it will be done.








What follows is a summery or synopsis of the book I have been working on. Let me know what you think. The manuscript, 57000 words, is looking for a publisher, or I'll do it myself, whichever comes first. Thanks to all my friends for their support and kind words for my first book, Nautical Twilight. Of coarse there is fishing in this one as well, but that is not the main theme. The Fishermen's Ball is  mystery and murder, fiction and history and I hope you will enjoy it.


The Fishermen's Ball. 

Judith J. Dutra        Fiction / Mystery

Alonzo Rodrequis jumps ship in Provincetown Harbor and swims for his life. He is rescued and taken in by the Diogo family who live behind the family's ship chandlery. The stranger is given a job on a fishing boat, Fanny Parnell, owned by Davy Souza. Meanwhile the Provincetown Fishermen's Association wants to raise money for the victims of the hurricane of September 21, 1938 by holding a big dance. Manny Diogo volunteers for the advertising committee, attending meetings a with town leaders, businessmen and fishermen. A few weeks pass and Davy learns that Alonzo has been seeing his childhood friend and love interest, Mary Diogo. They have words and Davy tells Alonzo to find a job on another fishing boat. When Alonzo is found dead, Provincetown Police Chief James Crowley find himself on his first murder investigation. Davy is a prime suspect. And then a gold coin, a gift from Alonzo to Mary Diogo is discovered. Unfortunately, Mary does not tell the complete truth about Alonzo or the coin and puts herself in grave danger. There is a second coin and when Jimmy-the-fish-buyer is found dead in his office Chief Crowley reaches out to the state police for help.
The murderer is hiding in plane sight, insulated in the community, a committee member for the fishermen's ball. He has plans for himself and will stop at nothing, for he is a smuggler, a traitor and a murderer. During the night of the ball, Mary, a loose end, is whisked away to a waiting boat. A race to save her ensues. Davy sees what is happening to Mary and chases after the car heading for Railroad Wharf. Chief Crowley has been watching Davy and orders his patrolman to get the car and head up the wharf after him The chief heads in the opposite direction to where a group of well armed men have been waiting to catch smugglers in the act of  an offshore rendezvous. Davy is shot while trying to take over the trawler. Mary saves him from being thrown overboard by striking the murder on the back with a boat hook. The man is pitched into the sea with the role of the vessel just as the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Morrill appears and everyone witnesses the man lose his balance, hit the rail and disappear into the water. Davy is taken away on the cutter while onboard the confiscated vessel we learn that securing our shores and the murder of Alonzo are connected through subterfuge, German immigrants, and Prussian gold treasure.