We are sitting in Newport,
still twiddling our thumbs, and waiting for a weather window to make the long
dash to the Chesapeake. The tropical storms and hurricanes keep
coming and one, Leslie, just seems to be dawdling and wandering around the Atlantic. She is
of no danger to us in a harbor, but out in the ocean there are sizable swells
that would make for an uncomfortable voyage, to say nothing of the fear she
might take another unexpected change of direction and head towards us. So, impatience finally gets the best of us,
and we decide to take a more protected route down Long Island Sound. Here you
are controlled by the timing of currents.
The first obstacle is the Race, formed by the narrow passage joining
Block Island Sound and Long Island Sound where the water depths change
dramatically. We zip through at greater
than hull speeds and spend a calm night anchored along the north east shore of Long Island.
The next morning we get an early start as we want to arrive
in the protected harbor of Port Jefferson, Long Island
before a strong cold front passes through with winds predicted to reach 60
knots. We cover the forty miles on a
fast beam reach, pull into the harbor, and anchor in the protection of a high
bluff. As the wind continues to build, the harbor fills with other boats
seeking its protection. When the front
finally passes through we see over 30 knots for a brief period of time, but we
know that out in the Sound things are much worse and not far away, at Coney Island,
a tornado has been spotted. Port Jefferson looks like an interesting town with a mix of
very expensive homes along side regular neighborhoods. The harbor entrance is formed by sand dunes
and stretches of beach. We would love to
explore, but the weather keeps us on our boat.
Our final destination on Long Island is Port
Washington, just a stones throw from La Guardia airport.
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| House near Kings Point outside of Port Washington - notice view towards NYC |
Another well protected harbor, it caters to
cruisers – even the grocery store has a dinghy dock. Here we provision for the trip to the Chesapeake and socialize
with other cruisers who are awaiting a weather window to head south – we are
definitely part of the fall migration now.
Leslie finally heads off to Newfoundland,
and the winds and seas moderate so we can begin our passage.
The morning of September 11, 2012 dawns with crystal clear
blue skies. We leave Port Washington
early to make the beginning ebb (favorable) current through Hell’s Gate, the
passage where Long Island Sound merges into the East River.
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| Coming into Hell's Gate - notice the disturbed water |
Although we are just past slack, the current is strong enough to make the boat
feel squirrelly underfoot. We are flying
past Manhattan
at over 11 knots when we realize it is just after 9 am on a day so similar to
one eleven years ago. It is a very disquieting experience. The Empire
State Building
and the Chrysler Building sparkle in the strong
sunlight.
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| The Chrysler Building on a beautiful NYC morning |
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| The UN buildings from the East River |
Then, between several other
buildings, we glimpse the new One
World Trade
Center tower.
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| One World Trade Center rising from the ashes of the original World Trade Center |
It has reached its full height, but we
understand it is still several years from completion. If we had been in this same position eleven
years ago we would have witnessed jets impacting similar towers. Those painful
visuals haunt us, and it is difficult to gaze off in any other direction until
we begin to leave Manhattan
behind us. Now it’s time to dodge the
fast Staten Island Ferries that are accompanied by two security boats each.
Otherwise, the commercial traffic is fairly light as we pass by the Statue of
Liberty and head out into the Atlantic.
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| The Statue of Liberty waves good-bye as we leave NYC harbor |
We have 140 nm of open water sailing, or should we say
motoring. The strong winds and big
swells are gone, and we stay about three miles off the New Jersey coast. We are making good time and realize we should
round Cape May at dawn with a favorable current going up Delaware Bay, so the decision
is made to make the entire trip to the Chesapeake
in one hop. We are in communication with
one boat about an hour ahead of us, and he is riding the currents the entire
way. But, being just one hour behind results
in an unfavorable current for us come mid-afternoon, and we slog up the last
reaches of the bay and through the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal, pulling into
an anchorage just west of the canal about three hours behind our friends – that
is what an adverse current can do to you. After 224 nm and 35 hours underway,
we are happy to be in the Chesapeake, away from
any brewing Atlantic storms and safely anchored in the Bohemia River
for a well deserved night’s sleep.
The next morning we head into Harve D’Grace, a short
distance away, and take a dock to do some serious cleaning as we haven’t been
at a dock or had access to a fresh water boat wash since mid-June. The hull and deck are caked with salt, and
the canvas bimini and dodger have a serious case of mildew. It’s a long day of scrubbing, and we collapse
into bed after a delicious dinner cooked for us by the boat docked next to
us. Our neighbor, a full time livaboard,
must have seen our state of exhaustion and kindly brought over a gourmet meal –
another example of how thoughtful the cruising community can be. We are most grateful. Grateful, that is,
until we wake up the next morning to find we have been infested with bugs of
Biblical proportions that have stained the deck and canvas. Two more hours of scrubbing later…
So, it’s a quick hop down to Annapolis
where we secure a mooring buoy in front of the Naval Academy
and await the arrival of Burt’s brother and sister-in-law. Our guests tour the Naval Academy
while I borrow their car to do some serious grocery shopping. Then, it is off
to St. Michael’s, an historic town on the Eastern Shore. We were here years ago by car, but now enjoy
the approach by water. It is Sunday
afternoon, and the stream of boats leaving this popular destination makes the
plotted course on our GPS quite unnecessary.
We have just missed the final “log canoe” sailing race of the weekend,
but one of the boats is viewable onshore.
These narrow, traditional sailing craft built out of well hewn logs are
similar to the Bahamian sloops – they employ a sizable crew, on boards that
extend far beyond the gunnels, to counter balance the tall rig and huge sail
plan, resulting in boats that can really scoot in a breeze.
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| One of the log canoes packed up after a weekend of racing |
We explore the Chesapeake Bay Maritime
Museum which houses an extensive
collection of traditional boats, a boat restoration facility, and a myriad of
exhibits describing the history and industries of the Chesapeake.
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| This restored lighthouse is the centerpiece of the museum |
No trip to the Eastern
shore is complete with out sampling some crab, and we enjoy a late
afternoon snack overlooking the picturesque harbor. The next morning we take time to walk the
side streets of St. Michael’s, enjoying the many attractive restored homes and
gardens, before setting sail for the Severn River, near Annapolis.
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| Typical home along the streets of St. Michaels |
The weather is taking a turn for
the worse, so we anchor in a secluded creek off the Severn
and enjoy a sunset accompanied by the sounds of ospreys and herons. The next morning it is blowing stinkers, so we
make our way back to mooring field in Annapolis
to wait out the blow. The combination of
high winds from the southwest and an unusually high tide result in flooding and
the closure of some streets and sidewalks, a phenomenon we have heard about but
never witnessed in Annapolis.
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| Flooding along the Annapolis waterfront |
We are now back on our own again. It’s time for errands and boat chores. Burt is making improvements in the electric
system in anticipation of adding solar panels in a couple of months and
rebuilding a head. I’m doing laundry, bookkeeping, and scraping some peeling
varnish. But it’s not all drudgery – cruising friends have pulled up to a ball
near us, and we spend several evening visiting with them. In the past year, our list of cruising
friends has grown astronomically – we rejoice at the reunions but feel sadness
as we eventually part ways.
And finally, it is a football Saturday here in Annapolis. The Academy is playing VMI, and there are
still tickets available. So, we hop on
our bikes and weave through all the traffic to the stadium where we score
general admission tickets. That gets you
the right to sit on a sloping lawn in the end zone corners. These might not be
the best seats in the house but they are cheap, roomy, and in the shade which
is a pretty good deal on a hot, sunny afternoon. We are used to Big Ten football with all its
hoopla, but the military takes it one step further. While the band may not be quite as big,
neither Michigan nor Ohio State
can order up two F-18’s to scream over the stadium right before kick-off.
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| Two dots in the sky are the jets - and they do make a lot of noise |
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| The Midshipmen march into the stadium |
There
are plenty of other traditions on display and, best of all, the Midshipmen come
out victorious.
Shortly we will leave Annapolis
to travel 15 nm south to the Rhode
River and the site of
this year’s Seven Seas Cruisers Annapolis Gam.
We have volunteered to help with the set up, and following the Gam, will
return to Annapolis
to attend the first few days of the annual boat show. After that it’s off to
warmer waters.
