It has become very hot in the Chesapeake, and we are anxious to get under
way. With all appointments completed, we
head north in the Bay in 90+ degree weather under power as there is no
wind. Add daytime heat to the heat
generated by the engine and you can only imagine how unpleasant it has
become. Tidal currents are in our favor,
so we suffer on, transiting the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
and head out into Delaware Bay. At sunset the temperatures begin to moderate
and the ever present flies descend – not as bad as in previous years since now,
after several weeks, we seem to have swatted the last one. We round Cape May
just before sunrise and continue up the New Jersey
coast, reaching Sandy Hook and the entrance into New York harbor just after sunset. We are tired but considerably cooler and
looking forward to a peaceful night’s sleep at anchor.
The next day we must wait until 2 pm for the currents to
change and allow us to scoot through the Verrazano Narrows and up the East
River, at times reaching 11 knots of speed over the ground while passing the
spectacular skyline of one of the world’s iconic cities.
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| Looking downstream on the East River with the Statue of Liberty in the distance. |
We pull into the
welcoming harbor
of Port Washington at the
western end of Long Island Sound and pick up one of their free mooring balls.
The next morning we indulge in one of my favorite grocery stops – the large
Stop and Shop which actually has a dinghy dock right on the harbor. Restocked, we decide to head back to the
Sound and work our way eastward to Port Jefferson. The wind is minimal although the day is
overcast. We can see the look on
cruising friends’ faces who are moored next to us. They are tempted to join us, but it is a good
thing they decided otherwise.
Immediately upon reaching the Sound, the wind switches 180 degrees (on
the nose) and pipes up into the mid twenties.
Our wind instruments provide a graphing capability, and the wind speed
graph show a line going directly up, confirming that we made the wrong choice. We
are in for a pounding, and we cut our losses by turning into the well sheltered
anchorage at Northport in an ever thickening fog.
Come morning, things have greatly improved, and we continue
on to Port Jefferson with a sufficiently early arrival to allow us to explore
the town and have a delightful “linner” (combination of lunch and dinner) on
the dock overlooking the harbor.
We are headed to the Thimble
Islands, a geologically interesting
section of the Connecticut coast just east of New Haven. Our friends, Ted and Sally, have a mooring there
which they graciously have allowed us to use.
We look forward to spending two days with them as they guide us through
their home waters. It is a lovely area
that reminds us somewhat of Maine,
with numerous pink granite islands sporting beautiful summer homes and outlying
barren isles with cottages.
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| Out buildings and landscaping on one of the most developed islands in the Thimbles. |
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| And the polar opposite - a cottage on stilts build into a rocky outcropping. |
We take a
local tour boat ride and hear about the natural history of the area. The following day our friends take us into New Haven to walk through the grounds of Yale University
and visit the Peabody Gallery, famous for its collection of dinosaur fossils.
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| A stroll amongst the dinosaurs - the brontosaurus turned apatosaurus, and now, again as of a few weeks ago, renamed brontosaurus, towers above the others. |
It has been a fun and informative reunion with cruising friends who were sadly unable
to venture south this winter.
We are off to a Seven Seas Cruising Association Gam in Essex, CT, about five
miles up the scenic Connecticut River from the
Sound. The Gam is held in two adjoining
yacht clubs, and we are welcome to use their facilities. As with other gams, we alternate educational
opportunities with socializing with fellow cruisers. Speakers include weather
guru Chris Parker, Sara and Monty Lewis, the developers of the Explorer
Chartbooks for the Bahamas,
the bible for Bahamas
cruisers, friends Scott and Kitty on Tamure who have done two
circumnavigations, and our friend Marymarie, a relatively new cruiser who gave
an outstanding presentation on the transition to full time cruising.
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| In one seminar on safety we even deployed a liferaft. |
No visit to Essex is complete without
strolling through this quaint New England
village with its century or so federal style homes and the ritual Monday night
sea shanties at the Griswold Inn, built in 1776.
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| A typical New England scene - the park in central Essex overlooking a cove with swans. |
We depart for Fisher’s Island,
an island at the eastern end of Long Island Sound that purportedly is VERY
exclusive. We take a rental mooring in
the harbor and head into the marina to pay.
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| From our mooring, a local boats sails into the harbor on a quiet evening. |
They are happy to take our money, but we are not allowed to dock
there. Rather, there is a dinghy dock at
the yacht club at the other end of the harbor.
We have no problem tying up there and take our bikes ashore to
explore. We head west along the shore
road and see nice but not overwhelming houses.
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| A home and stone fence along the accessible roads |
At that end of the island we find
a school and ferry dock with one closed restaurant and wonder where any
development might be. Heading east along
the south shore, we navigate around a golf course with million dollar views
towards the Atlantic and the famous Race Rock
Lighthouse.
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| The southwestern shore of Fisher's Island with Race Rock Light in the background. |
Further on we discover a
bike trail, but in a short distance it angles back to the road where there is a
guard house. We stop to ask permission
to proceed and are informed that the remainder of the island is closed to all
except the residents. Yes, this must be
exclusive section of the island. The
next day, from the water, we see huge mansions dotting the rolling hills;
mansions that don’t wish to be subjected to the prying eyes of sightseers. We
have been told that one would recognize the names of many of the landholders.
Our next stop is a mooring in the village
of Noank,
CT., just down the Mystic River
from Mystic proper.
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| The attractive lighthouse in Noank at the entrance to the Mystic River. |
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| The view of the village of Noank from our mooring. |
As aficionados of
traditional boats, we can’t pass up Mystic Seaport’s annual wooden boat
show. We have tickets good for two days,
so we bike into Mystic and spend a few hours, the day before the show opens,
enjoying the Seaport’s permanent exhibits. The whaling vessel, Charles Morgan,
dominates the setting. It has recently
undergone a five year restoration culminating in a cruise around New England for several weeks last summer. The cruise was undertaken for historic and
scientific reasons as it has been over 100 years since any whaling ship has
been in service. We had a wonderful
visit with one of the deck hands from the voyage who recounted fascinating
information gleaned from the experience. The next day we opt to take the dinghy into
Mystic (there are steep hills between Noank and Mystic that I hadn’t
remembered!), giving us the opportunity to view the boats on display from the
water side.
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| Freedom in the foreground with the Charles Morgan behind |
To our surprise, one of the visiting boats is the 104 foot Trumpy
fantail motor yacht, Freedom. It is the
sister ship to the presidential yacht Sequoia.
Immaculately restored, she is open for boarding, something unheard of at
most shows. We make a beeline to board
before the crowds arrive. I have entered
the world of Gatsby – with varnish so glossy that it functions as mirrors,
gleaming brass fittings and trim, and elegantly upholstered furniture.
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| The dining room with saloon behind in the interior of Freedom - I am checking out a book on the history of the vessel. |
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| The fantail seating area - just the place for a sunset cruise. |
This is
how the very small “other half” lives, and it is a treat for us to have a
glimpse. Many other boats are also on display from traditional sailboats from
the Herreshoff era, to work boats, to beautifully restored launches and motor
boats.
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| Another perfectly restored gem |
It is all a feast for the eyes.
But, perhaps the highpoint of our visit to Mystic is a dinner we enjoyed
with son Bryan and his family who live nearby.
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| Beth, Bryan, and Isabella join us for dinner in Mystic. |
It has been six months since we’ve seen our new grand daughter, and we
just can’t take our eyes off her.
Fortunately, we’ll be seeing them all on multiple occasions over the
next couple of weeks. (And then there’s the description of what happens when a
10 month old mistakenly takes a bite of a jalapeno dill pickle, but that’s
another story!)
So, we’re off to Newport
for a little over a week’s stay. We
enter the harbor just before a significant front is due to arrive and have most
of the anchorage to ourselves, allowing for plenty of scope and swing room when
the winds pipe up during the middle of the night. The next day we notice an
unusual number of tall masts in the area of the Newport Shipyard, and, out in
the water of Narragansett Bay, sailboats with
high tech carbon sails are whizzing by. We have arrived just days before the
start of the Transatlantic Race 2015, and the shipyard is full of the
multinational fleet. There are a slew of
Open 40’s and 60’s but the eye catchers are two newly launched boats – Rambler
88, the new replacement for George David’s Rambler 100 which holds the
transatlantic monohull record, and Comanche, a 100 foot racing machine, which is
considered the likely winner and soon to be new record holder. These are
cutting edge boats with canting keels, foils, and black carbon sails – quite a
contrast to what we had just seen in Mystic.
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| A view of Comanche owned by Silicon Valley billionaire, Jim Clark - note the extremely wide transom and foiling daggerboards |
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| And a few slips down is another of Clark's toys, the 136 foot J-boat replica Hanuman which races on the traditional boat circuit. |
Our anchor spot right on the
channel out of Newport,
gives us ring side seats as the boats come and go from their practice sessions
with their professional paid crews. We will stay in Newport through the 4th
of July weekend, giving us time to visit with family, attend to chores, and, for Burt, re-bed a
leaking window that he had just done a few weeks ago in Annapolis. Yes, the old adage still stands true;
cruising is fixing things in exotic places.
