Over the years since, CHRISSY and I have hauled a lot of traps together and taken thousands of people with us. As time afforded, I have sporadically done a great deal to improve her and to restore her to the way she looked as a fishing smack. Some of these improvements included retopping her and replacing her interior, making a new set of spars and sails, and installing a number of used engines. In mentioning the engines, I should also mention that with the help of Senator John Kerry, Congress passed special legislation allowing CHRISSY to be documented and making it legal for her to have a power plant. Now, back to our fishing trip.

The reason for laying CHRISSY to is so that she’ll stay put while I take Alden up forward and patiently instruct him while he helps me raise the mainsail. Furthermore, in spite of the fact that we are not moving, I have maintained complete control of the vessel. With the main up, and as CHRISSY is lying side to the wind, I can head her up by trimming in the main, or head her off by straightening the rudder. And when I both straighten the rudder and trim the main, the boat gets immediately underway. From here we make a quick tack and head out past the paint factory toward Ten Pound Island.

You may have noticed that I keep a reef in the main, as this makes CHRISSY a lot more manageable. In case you are wondering, we use the jib for long passages only, not when hauling traps. As we approach Ten Pound Island and I get my bib out, Alden gets the gaff off the cabintop and Perry tells you that our buoy colors are red, green and yellow. Perry then points out our identification buoy that hangs from the starboard shrouds.