Minister’s Point
Sea Gypsy shivers in the outgoing tide as I haul in and cleat down. Passing over a series of shallow shoals, I slip into the channel where the tall spars of the many vessels in port come into view. To quote Melville, “The sea is a broad highway of nations,” and if that’s true, then Chatham is its parking lot. I have to pay attention to the water and to the other skippers who may or may not know the channel’s rights of way. There’s always the skipper who will sail straight at you, believing that he has the right of way because he has the bigger boat. But that rule only applies if you’re in a narrow channel where the bigger boat can’t navigate safely. Otherwise, the boat underway has the go-ahead. But try telling that to the day sailor standing atop a fifty-foot flying brid
