When I was a young adult... who am I kidding? When I was a teenager, I had a Beetle Cat sailboat. I bought it in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts when I was fourteen. I earned the money quahogging.

I spent that summer refurbishing the clear cedar-planked, oak framed, fir sparred boat. When I put the boat in the water and sailed it for the first time, it was marvelous running before the wind. I named it "Scud". For the next four years, it was the only Beetle Cat in Warwick Cove.

Why "Scud"? One might ask. Mind you, this was long before the Persian Gulf situation, so the missile was not even a glimmer of a thought.

"Scud" or "Scudding" or "Scudding Clouds" are the vapory clouds we see ahead of a storm as we see in these photos. These are the fast clouds driven in a straight line ahead of the storm. Ahead of the wind. Running before the wind. They are spectacular and hypnotic in their speed. As was my Beetle Cat running afore the wind.

Pre-Storm Blue Sky: Lone Tree

Pre-Storm Blue Sky: Lone TreeScudding clouds on the north side of a front as a storm moves in upon Narragansett, Rhode Island.

Pre-Storm Blue Sky: North Shore View

Pre-Storm Blue Sky: North Shore ViewScudding clouds on the north side of a front as a storm moves in upon Narragansett, Rhode Island.

Scudding clouds on the north side of a front as a storm moves in upon Narragansett, Rhode Island.

See more views from Narragansett Avant la Tempête, Narragansett Avant la Tempête: Ahead of the Storm, Narragansett Avant la Tempête: Water Colors, and Narragansett Avant la Tempête: Tidepool Reflections.

© Keith R Wahl, Made From RI/Made From RI Gallery, 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Keith R Wahl and Made From RI/Made From RI Gallery with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Photo from our Made From RI Gallery portfolio display "Seascapes/Shoreline" (all photos are available as prints, canvas wraps, framed works, cards, or many other formats).