Ocean Racing

Because it was Mother’s Day, last Sunday’s activities were Jennifer’s choice. She thought it would be fun to check out the Volvo Ocean Race. The Ocean Race is an around-the-world sailing race that began in Spain last fall. The racing boats are now making a three week layover in Boston before beginning the final leg of the race across the Atlantic to make quick stops in Ireland and Sweden before finishing in St. Petersburg. Boston is the only stop the boats made in North America. Much of the race route was in the Southern Hemisphere.

While the boats are in Boston they occupy a temporary Race Village set up in the parking lot next to the Federal Court House on Fan Pier. They have work areas where adjustments and repairs can be made to the boats, temporary docks, concessions and attractions for visitors. The Race organizers are putting on concerts and festivals and hosting regattas for high school and college athletes and amateur sailors. When we visited the village they were racing the ocean racers in the harbor. We saw several matches. The course was two nautical miles long and the boats sailed it twice for each race. At speeds of around 20 knots the matches took about five minutes each. We didn’t always have the best view and no one in the family knows much about sailing but it was still fun to watch them. It was particularly interesting to watch because the harbor was busy. While we were watching the races a tanker came in and there were many water taxis and pleasure boats on the water.

The rest of the afternoon of the afternoon was also fun. After spending some time at the race village we walked along the Harbor Walk to the New England Aquarium, where we watched the seals in the outdoor tank for a while. The seals at the Aquarium have always been one of Boston’s best free attractions. After that we cut through Faneuil Hall on our way back to catch the T. We saw the tail end of a street performance on our way. An escape artist got out of a rope and a straight jacket while dangling upside down by his ankles from a pyramidal frame about 10 feet off the ground. It was fairly impressive.

The dark spot on the day for me was that still not completely recovered from the previous week. I had an unhealed blister on my heel that made walking increasingly uncomfortable as the day went on. By the time we got back to the T station I was limping rather badly and ready to call it a day.

Walk for Hunger

Last Sunday Maura, Jennifer and I walked in the 40th annual Walk for Hunger as the Ellett Family Team. As a team we walked a total of 41 miles. Maura and Jennifer walked to the lunch stop at Daley Field, 10½ miles from the starting line on Boston Common. I parted company with them after lunch and finished the 20 mile course, arriving back at the Common tired and footsore but proud of my accomplishment.

We got up bright and early on Sunday morning to take the T downtown to check in and start the walk. We completed our check in and headed out around 8 o’clock. The first few miles were very pleasant. The weather was almost perfect for walking, cool but not cold, with a high overcast most of the day. We set a good pace for the first several miles. Maura at first thought she might want to do the whole 20 miles but she started to get tired around mile 6. By mile 8 she was almost ready to quit. With some encouragement, Jennifer and I convinced her to continue to the lunch stop where we took a long break. Walking 10½ miles is a great achievement for a six-year-old and I’m very proud of her.

After lunch I said goodbye to Maura and Jennifer and continued with the walk. My legs and feet were already starting to get sore and by mile 15 I was limping along, but I kept on with it until I reached the end of the course, finishing around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The second half of the course was lonely and painful but I would happily do it again. Maura and Jennifer took the shuttle bus back to the Common from Daley Field to enjoy the free festival there and were waiting to meet me when I staggered up to the final checkpoint. I checked in, received a certificate of achievement for completing the course and collected a free ice-cream before collapsing on the grass. It was a long day for everyone but on the whole we enjoyed ourselves and felt good about helping to raise money to feed the hungry. We are planning to walk again in two years and may make the Walk for Hunger a regular family event.