8/21/97 Cruising with the Kennedys By ELIZABETH RAU Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer The excursion on the Kennedy yacht was the most public event so far of Mr. Clinton's vacation on Martha's Vineyard, where he is in retreat until Sept. 7 at a secluded house in Edgartown owned by Boston developer Richard Friedman. Hundreds of people waved to the president, shouted greetings, and snapped pictures as they stood on a dock in this rustic fishing village on the western end of the island. After the sail, the president, wearing khakis, a gray sweatshirt from the Vineyard's Farm Neck Golf Club, and Topsiders with no socks, walked over to a crowd of admirers, who launched into a chorus of "Happy Birthday." Mr. Clinton turned 51 on Tuesday. "Hi, everybody," he said with a grin. He apologized for the zealous Secret Service agents who were keeping the crowd back, and then took one last wave. "See you later," he said. "Bye, kids." Mr. Clinton's fondness for the Kennedys dates back to his youth in Arkansas. When he was a teenager, he shook hands with President John F. Kennedy during a high school trip to the White House. A few years ago, during another vacation on the Vineyard, he went sailing with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her long-time companion, Maurice Templesman. Last night, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg and her husband, Ed, hosted a private dinner party for the Clintons at the Schlossberg summer house on Gay Head, with its sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean. Rumors that the president was coming to Menemsha created a stir shortly after noon when Sen. Edward Kennedy and his wife ,Victoria, and Kennedy's son, Ted Jr., left a taxi and motored a dinghy to a 50-foot, blue-hulled wooden schooner called Mya which has been in the Kennedy family for years. Children fishing for crabs, minnows and jellyfish put down their nets. Parents got out their cameras, and freckle-faced boys, with hair bleached blond from the sun, peered through binoculars for signs of activity on the water. Just after one in the afternoon, Patrick Kennedy, the senator's other son, dressed casually in shorts, a blue short-sleeved polo shirt, and boat shoes, ambled down a dirt road and headed to the Mya. Kennedy was surviving on a few hours' sleep, having just returned from a week-long trip to Brazil, Chile and Argentina to talk to South American leaders about the North American Free Trade Agreement. As he turned a corner, a Chevy Suburban suddenly appeared in his path. His cousin stuck her head out the car window. "Hey," said Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, "how are you?" "Hi, Caroline," replied Kennedy. She offered him a ride. He politely declined, preferring to stop by a deli in the area to buy a lemonade and a banana. A short time later, Mr. Clinton arrived at the boat where he was greeted by the Kennedys, including Caroline, whom he kissed on the cheek and hugged. By this time, gawkers were near hysteria. "Bill!" shouted one boy, egged on by his parents. "Have a nice sail, Mr. President," screamed a woman, wearing a straw hat decorated with a black-eyed Susan. "Ted," yelled one man, "do a good job." As the boat sailed away, it passed another sailboat, The Joshua. Aboard, Richard Scherr of Rhode Island played "Hail to the Chief" on his sax while friends waved signs and flags. Mr. Clinton, of course, waved back. Patrick Kennedy reported later that the president talked effortlessly about everything from Marco Polo to the Middle East. "He's so well-read," said Kennedy, "his free-association on any subject is pretty good." The political conversation was subdued. At one point, Patrick Kennedy, his trip abroad still fresh in his mind, argued that free-trade agreements in South America should have strong protections for the environment and workers' rights. Kennedy later acknowledged that he may have gone overboard a bit, telling the president something he already knew. "Dad goes, 'Easy, Patrick, who do you think you're talking to?' " The schooner sailed around the waters off the island, then anchored off Cape Higgins for lunch. Besides a fruit salad, Mr. Clinton also ate a few slices of freshly baked bread. He did not go swimming. He did, however, sail the ship for a while and, in fact, skippered it back into the channel. Mrs. Clinton sat in the cockpit, chatting much of the time with Kennedy family members. The president's daughter Chelsea was not aboard. She returned to Washington to see several friends off to college, and is expected to return to the Vineyard next week. As the boat returned to the dock, the crowd, for some inexplicable reason, started singing "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles. "We all live in a yellow submarine," they belted out, "a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine." Senator Kennedy gave the thumbs-up sign as he left the boat, and Mr. Clinton posed for pictures with Coast Guard personnel who provided security. The Clintons climbed into their Chevy Suburban Silverado to return home, and stopped briefly in Chilmark for coffee. Patrick Kennedy later gave the president high marks for his sailing skills. "The big thing is to go out and not feel seasick. Some people can't make it out of the harbor, for getting seasick. The president's not like that. He's a good sailor." Previous editions | About The Providence Journal's Writing Program | E-mail us | Writing-related Web links | Back to main Copyright © 1997 The Providence Journal Company Produced by www.projo.com