Palm Beach to Miami

After a couple of nights anchored in the Palm Beach area, it was time to move on to Miami. We were underway by 3:00 Monday morning with the promise of sunny skies and light winds. We would be in sight of land for this whole leg of the trip. Our route straddled the 3 nautical mile (from land) mark. Some of you will know why, and some of you won't. It didn't take long to realize we were in a contrary current, so after talking to another sailboat who was closer to shore than we were, we hung a right for about a mile and we picked up about a knot of speed.

We have been without a knot meter since sometime in Long Island Sound. There is a little magnet encased in a plastic fin on the paddle wheel which enables the rest of the instrument to count revolutions so it can calculate your speed through the water. Apparently saltwater was able to penetrate the joint in the plastic and rusted out the magnet. Of course, I wasn't sure that was the problem until I left the paddle wheel inside the boat for a couple of months and the rusted magnate finally blew out the plastic (OK, I'm still not SURE). We get our speed from the Chartplotter/GPS that gives us our speed over ground which is more important to us than speed through the water. But it is nice to know your speed through the water as well, because it makes you more aware of the currents and lets you know if the boat is performing properly. We should have our new paddle wheel when we see my folks in a few days.

Monday turned out to be beautiful other than this squall that kept trying to get us (right now anything above 50 degrees F is beautiful to us). When it finally got us, it brought just enough wind for us to put some sail out. We were able to get a fresh water rinse on the genoa. A hard thing to do when you're too cheap to frequent marinas.  Then it was back to just the motor.

This was the week of rainbows.

The day was uneventful until we reached Government Cut in Miami. Then the Coast Guard did a securite on the VHF concerning cruise ships in Government Cut. We couldn't understand what they said---(as side note...we are not Coast Guard bashers. We love them, have a great deal of respect for them, and really appreciate what they do. But we often can not understand their announcements on the radio. When they talk on the radio, they have a routine they're required to follow which among other things, includes what sector they are from and then a "break"! Then a pause. Up until this point everything said is clear and understandable. Then they get to the real message they are trying to deliver. Here, they morph into teenage pronunciation--real fast, reduced intelligibility, then trailing off altogether. When that part is over, they make a strong recovery for their grand finale-- OUT! So basically, we normally get everything except the point of the message.) Anyway...we called them to verify no cruise ships were leaving the channel and that we were free to enter. They said no, the channel is closed because there were more than 2 cruise ships at port. We knew this was wrong, and I explained we would enter through Government Cut, and then turn on Lummus I. Channel to go south of Dodge Island on our way to Key Biscayne. This keeps you away from where the cruise ships are berthed, but the Coast Guard told us we could not enter. Another sailboat radioed us that our route was "legal", upon which the Coast Guard said no no no no. So we did a few circles around the inlet while Lisa called the Coast Guard on the phone, and after some "discussion" she was able to verify we would not be machine gunned down if we proceeded in. After that--no big deal.

 

A new house being built right in front of our anchorage.

We entered Biscayne Bay and dropped our anchor on the west side of Key Biscayne. It was quite peaceful and beautiful.

 

Doesn't look like much here, but the Miami skyline is quite stunning at night. We spent 2 nights anchored here and loved it. And it was warm enough to sit in the cockpit at night!

Wednesday, we made the 3.5 mile trek to Dinner Key Mooring field, where we will keep the boat while we visit family. We were finally able to get off the boat for the first time since Titusville. Then the winds came Friday and today. We got a ton of rain today with a lot of wind. Several squalls brought wind in the lower 40s, but most of it has been in the 20s and low 30s. We're a ready to do some walking.

Fernandina Beach to Lake Worth

We waited a week hoping for a weather window to go "outside" and sail south, but it was not to be. The week after Randy and Carla left was a wee bit on the chilly side with plenty of wind to boot. I even got to wear "big boy" pants which are normally reserved for cold offshore overnighters. "Big boy" pants fill up the hamper twice as fast so they are reserved for special occasions.


Lisa all bundled up.

On December 12th, we finally left Fernandina Beach via the Intercoastal Waterway. We were more than ready to head south for warmer temperatures.

It was great to be moving again. We spent the next few days motoring during the daytime and then anchoring at night. We anchored in St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Titusville, Melbourne, and Ft. Pierce.

We arrived at Ft. Pierce early Thursday afternoon anticipating strong thunderstorms through the evening. We don't like the anchorage at Ft. Pierce where most boats tend to anchor, and decided on a different spot near the inlet. It was so exciting to see beautiful blue and green water again. Just as I dropped the anchor, the temperature dropped 10 degrees and the rain and wind hit us. Fortunately no thunder and lightning. The rain didn't last long, but the wind kept up until the wee hours of the morning.

When the rain stopped, we were treated to a beautiful reminder that we will never need another ark.

Ft. Pierce has a good all weather inlet, and the channel markers are lighted, so we had our anchor up shortly after 5:00 am on Friday and slowly pounded our way out the channel. We knew it was going to be a bumpy day,but we were ready for a break from the ICW. The channel was rough, but once we turned south, it was just twisty and bouncy. We were able to sail all the way to Lake Worth and entered the Lake Worth Inlet at 1:30 pm with the anchor down before 2:00. It was a really brisk, fun sail between a beam reach and a broad reach the whole way. Therapy.

We are at anchor between Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, waiting for a weather window to head to Miami. There is a fixed bridge north of Miami that we don't fit under, so the ICW is not an option. We wouldn't do it anyway, because there are something like 22 restricted lift bridges between here and Miami.

We are very much looking forward to seeing family around Christmas time.

Fernandina Beach with the Randy and Carla

We spent a terrific couple of days and evenings with Randy and Carla. They stayed in an area hotel because Carla said they needed time to talk about us behind our backs.
I kept forgetting my camera, so these pictures are courtesy of Randy, Carla and their red camera.


The Hootons (pronounced Hu-tawwwn) on Fernandina Beach.


Carla just had to get a picture of the white sand.  Need your sink fixed?


On day 2 Carla represented the Hooton family in accepting the "longest distance travelled to visit Nicki May in November" prize. The toaster features extra wide slots, and yellowish bars on one end to make it easy to identify the push down handle for easy operation. Oh, and it has been marinized, so that quadruples it's value.

We keep exploring ways to attain endangered species status.


Chilly dinghy ride back to the mooring field.

We had a great time with Randy and Carla. It was a bit cold while they were here, but at least it was sunny and dry. We bid a sad goodbye to them Saturday night, so now it is time to focus on our migration south to the Miami area.

Charleston, South Carolina to Fernandina Beach, Florida

Our time on Dewees Creek/Long Creek was not the most fun we have ever had, but we accomplished our goal--to keep our boat in the creek and not outside of the creek. We like to "drive" between the lines. The winds were to be from the north, so after 2 nights we moved just inside the mouth of Long Creek where it intersects with Dewees Creek. The strong current in these creeks is tidal and is quite impressive. Basically, it switches direction every 6 hours. When the winds are light it's no big deal, but when they pick up, it gets interesting. When the tide was with the wind, we were stress free, but when it opposed the wind, we went flying from one side of the creek to the other. So we did anchor watches on the ebb tides. We were not able to leave on Friday the 13th, because the winds were still a bit strong, but we were able to leave early Saturday morning. The north winds created flooding the morning we left, so even the 2 foot tall grass that protected us through the week was going underwater at high tide. It actually looked pretty cool--especially since we were leaving. We needed to go offshore so that we could get some rest.

There were a lot of boats that had been stuck in the Charleston area waiting for weather, so we had plenty of company as we left the jetties and pointed south. At least one boat got stuck on the jetties outside of Charleston. A lot of the jetties on the east coast are under water at high tide waiting to catch the unaware. We had a new moon (which means no moon), so the stars were spectacular--you see, my glass is half full. Once again, we had wonderful weather. We sailed as long as the wind was there, then motorsailed. We made it to St. Mary's Inlet (at the border of Georgia and Florida) Sunday morning, and continued on to the small town of St Mary's.

An old Presbyterian Church in St. Mary's.

St. Mary's is a small, quiet town which is very friendly to sailors. They have a Thanksgiving dinner for cruisers every year--which is a big draw. We met a lot of nice people during our week there. Among them were fellow Texans Rick and Linda from Sojourner. Rick's a retired police officer from Mesquite, Texas where Lisa and I lived before moving to Frisco. I even got to watch football on his boat--he has a TV--go figure. Lisa and I really enjoyed our time with Rick and Linda.

On a side note...having a Texas registration sticker on your boat or dinghy works as well as walking a cute dog to pick up a date. Texans spot you and will talk to you, and they are out here. If you are in New York, the locals will start talking to you about President Bush. He's from Texas, so they assume he's your daddy. So if you are lonely, or need a dose of common sense, raise the Lone Star to the starboard spreader, or slap a Texas registration sticker on your dinghy and your problem is solved.

I found this pretty lady standing in front of a house at St. Mary's.

I whistled at her and I finally got her to look.

We left St. Mary's and grabbed a mooring ball at Fernandina Harbor, which is just across the state line. Our friends, Randy and Carla, are going to meet us here for a couple of days around Thanksgiving. They're driving all the way from Cleburne, Texas (what was that about common sense). We haven't seen them since leaving Texas, and are looking forward to their visit.

Solomons, Maryland to Charleston, South Carolina--Almost

A pretty Cabo Rico anchored near us in a creek near Solomons. You guessed it--on Mill Creek.

We stayed an extra day so that we could make a grocery store run. After a couple of days in this anchorage, we made our way south to The Great Wicomico River.


Yep, Mill Creek again. They must have had a lot of mills in the old days. Northerners need to stop making fun of my brother Darrell and my other brother Darrell--if you catch my drift. 

This is one of our favorite places. We stopped here for several days on our way north. The trees are trying to change to their fall colors.


An older Valiant 40.

The forecast called for very strong winds for a couple of days, so we had planned to stay here to ride out the weather before proceeding south. We ended up staying for 3 nights. The nasty weather never materialized.


This was the sunset on the second night. Blow this one up.

On our third night, we met Dave, Nancy, Chris, and Josh from Liberty. We had a really nice evening with them. They're from Texas, so you know they're good people. And they make the best conch fritters we've ever tasted.

The next morning we had a wonderful, brisk sail to Deltaville. Winds were 20-25 knots just off the stern, and we had a fair tide.

The following day, the anchor was up at daylight and we had another very breezy sail to Mobjack Bay. Once again, the current was with us. It was nice that we were able to actually sail almost all the way down the Chesapeake. OK, now I'm glad we have a sailboat and not a trawler.

Our next stop would be to get in position for the first leg down the ICW. We decided to try the anchorage at Hospital Point in Portsmouth, which is basically at mile zero on the ICW. So we left Mobjack Bay and had another awesome sail, wing and wing with the Genoa poled out, all the way to Thimble Shoal Light. The wind died right on cue--it was time to enter the busy ship channel which leads to Norfolk and Portsmouth. Norfolk has the largest navy shipyard in the world, so you see quite an impressive collection of steel as you float by. The ships managed to dodge us, and our anchor was down by mid afternoon. The anchorage worked out better than we had anticipated.

The first leg south on the ICW is not our favorite. There are 9 bridges and one lock, all with time restrictions, and the first possible anchorage is 57 miles away (remember, sailboat). Oh, and about 9 million other boats from Canada and the US trying to do the same thing. It's sort of like the start of The Turkey Trot or a 10K race that is well attended. You walk the first couple of blocks because there is not enough room to run at first. That's how it is at the bridges. Big boat jams.

Our anchor was up at 5:30 the next morning. We had to be at the first bridge for the 6:30 opening or we would have to wait around until 9:00. It was before the time change, so it would remain dark until about 7:00. We really didn't want to do this section in the dark, but it worked out just fine. Thankfully everything went smoothly the whole day and the anchor was down well before dark.

We were off at first light the following day and were able to sail across the Arbermarle Sound. We even tacked back and forth. We were tempted to sail around a bit longer just for fun, but we had to make it to the Pungo River anchorage before dark. When we got to the Alligator River, we had 20-25 knots of wind on the nose, so it was quite bouncy. We had the anchor down in the Pungo River anchorage just after 6, and then we got the dinghy down to go visit Fred and Debbie from Early Out. They also have a Caliber 40 like ours. We had a really good visit with them.

The weather was nasty the next day, so we stayed put. We spent most of the day studying charts.



The following morning was still cold with a light drizzle. When we weighed anchor, 2 wayward crab pots came up with the anchor. Did I mention it was cold? And wet? And there weren't even any crabs for our trouble. Fortunately, it wasn't much of a tangle and we got our anchor back without much fuss.

We hadn't walked on land for many days, so we decided to make a short trip (even for a sailboat) of 14 miles to the town of Belhaven. We did lots of walking, did laundry, dumped a shower full of trash (it's a sailboat), and made a couple of trips to the grocery store. It was a much needed stop.

Next stop was South River, which is off the Neuse River. We went several miles up the river and anchored near a creek. We were supposed to get strong winds, but they never materialized.

Our next leg was 204 nautical miles. The plan was to leave South River early Friday morning, go out the Beaufort, NC Inlet, then make landfall Saturday afternoon through Winyah Bay Inlet near Georgetown, South Carolina, and then anchor in Minim Creek.

There was a gale around Hatteras the night before we left, but the winds were supposed to be down to 20-25 knots from the Northeast by the time we were to arrive at the inlet. Then they were supposed to drop to 15 to 20 by afternoon and continue to weaken.

Our anchor was up an hour before the sunrise, and we made good time to the inlet. We were halfway out the inlet when the Coast Guard decided they wanted a tour of our boat. We could have told them we don't do drapes or cutesy wall hangings, so no good ideas from us. That all went as smoothly as we could have hoped for--and no fines. They were very polite and friendly, as were we. It never ceases to shock us how young these guys and gals are. We forgot to take a picture of their boat (with the machine gun on their bow) rafted up to us...oh well, maybe next week. That whole process took about 30 minutes.

The seas were sloppy as expected, and the winds were dead on the stern and weaker than predicted. The winds died to about 4 knots apparent so we rolled in the sails and cranked the engine. Although we had to motor nearly the entire way, it was a beautiful trip. The 2 days were beautiful, and the night was beautiful. We had 35/64 of a moon, but it was bright and beautiful. Lisa was beautiful. I was worried we might get very cold--there was a frost warning inland, but it was very comfortable the whole way. We made it to our anchorage at Minim Creek before noon on Saturday.

High winds associated with Ida were predicted to hit our area Tuesday night and last through Friday. So after resting up for a day we took the ICW south to Dewees Creek, which is about 8 miles north of Charleston. Skipper Bobs (cruising guide) gives this creek the highest rating for wind protection. Now I love Skipper Bobs, but miles of 2 foot tall grass wasn't what I had in mind as protection from the wind!

Our plan, subject to change, is to leave here Saturday, go out the Charleston Ship Channel and head back in at St. Simons Inlet in southern Georgia. We are thinking of taking a peek at Brunswick.

Annapolis...

Our time in Annapolis went by very fast. We were able to get some boat projects done, and then we met Karen, Jessie, and Zak for the sailboat show. The weather was beautiful and we had a good visit with the Kuykendalls. After a couple of nights on the boat, Karen and Zak left to visit Will, Sarah, and the new grandson Holden. Jessie stayed with us. After Zak flew back to Dallas, Karen came baaaaaaaack to the boat. No, it wasn't October 31st.

 

Spa Creek, a week before the boat show.

This guy is in his boxers trying to unwrap the Island Packet's anchor rode from his prop. The power boat cut it too close and motored right over the IP's anchor rode. The IP was anchored right next to our mooring. This is not Long Island Sound where there is space between anchored/moored boats.

 

At the top of the list of things to do while in Annapolis, was to fine tune our davits. The cross braces had a tiny bit of movement in them when we were in rough conditions. I also was not comfortable with the way they were connected to the davits, so we sold Lisa's liver and had Kato make this brace for us. The liver didn't cover the cost, but it was close enough.

A place for the flag is always a problem if you have solar panels and big davits or an arch. The only place to put it where it won't shade the solar panels is on top of the davits as far back as possible--which looks dorky, but hey. We incorporated a flag holder on our new brace, but I suspect there will be too much vibration from the flag when it is windy. I may have to clamp another holder directly to the stainless tube on the davit. Of course everything is custom sizing.

 

This is new math. Not Japanese, Chinese, or Korean math, but good old red blooded American made math, corrected with the more friendly purple pencils. Karen told us they were bringing one bag each. Jessie's bags are still on the floor out of the picture. Blow the picture up and count. I need more packs of purple pencils--or maybe just one red one. Karen's explanation is very simple. Backpacks don't count as bags. She should run for Congress.

 

Karen and Jessie preparing to leave.

Our beautiful weather, finally came to an end. It got cold and rainy the last couple of days that Karen and Jessie were with us. The rain and cold continued until we left Annapolis.

 

A better view.

Note to editor: it was Jessie, then it was Jessi, and now it is Jessie again. I tried to convince her to try Gessie--but no way Jose'.

As I said, the rain and cold stuck around. We finally left Annapolis on October 19th and made it safe and sound to our anchorage near Solomons off the Patuxent River. We finally saw the sun, though it was in economy mode--at least it wasn't raining. I'll say it again. We are very thankful we have a full enclosure for the cockpit. OK, so we aren't real men, but we are more comfy. We had a good downwind motor sail with a fair current. The anchor was down before 2:00 pm. It appears as though the anchorages may be a tad crowded as we head south.

Atlantic Highlands to Annapolis

Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey is one of our favorite stops, and we were looking forward to spending 4 or 5 days there. The anchorage is in a beautiful setting at the end of a large mooring field. While the high bluffs with their pretty trees provide excellent protection from southerly winds, the breakwater on the north side can be breached at high tide if a strong cold front (north winds) blows through. It was Monday and the weather was supposed to be nice until Wednesday afternoon, when the forecast called for a nasty cold front to blow in for several days. If we stayed, the following Monday or Tuesday would be our next chance to proceed south towards the Delaware Bay. The cold front was supposed to be a strong one, so we were a little nervous about sitting it out at the Atlantic Highlands anchorage--which had become quite crowded making us more nervous. At about 6 o'clock Monday evening, after many visits to our weather sites, we decided we should push on south. Because of the weather forecast, we decided to skip Atlantic City and Cape May and go straight through to the Chesapeake. If we could make it to the C & D Canal on the north end of Delaware Bay before the front hit we would be fine.

Our big concern was the timing of our arrival at Delaware Bay. As noted in a previous post, Delaware Bay has very strong tidal currents, which can potentially cut your speed over ground to less than half. If a strong wind opposes the current, creating square waves, it can be really difficult to proceed at all--and very hard on the boat and the crew's ribs. There are also a lot of ships on Delaware Bay.

At 5:40 am Tuesday, after 25 minutes of hosing the tenacious mud off our chain, we were on our way. I was informed not to start hauling the anchor until the coffee was 100% perked and in a thermos. The coffee was in the thermos at 5:15. It was another incredibly beautiful day with very light winds on the nose. The "off shore" section between Sandy Hook and Delaware Bay is a bit odd, because we are never more than 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 nautical miles from the coast. So land is in sight the whole way.

Coast Guard off the New Jersey Coast early Tuesday morning. These vessels set and retrieve sea buoys and other aids to navigation.

It was still light when we passed Atlantic City, so we weren't treated to their gaudy light display this time around.

After dark somewhere between Atlantic City and Cape May, it appeared this journey was about to end. A "vessel" suddenly appeared dead ahead with 6 very bright spot lights shining on the water, and 2 bright red navigation lights. There were no green lights visible. It was obviously bearing down on us, so I swerved 90 degrees to try to avoid a collision that very quickly was starting to look certain. The change in course didn't seem to be working. Lisa was sleeping, so I thought maybe it would be quick and she wouldn't feel anything--not nearly as bad as the gulag. After a few moments I was starting to hope that it was a Coast Guard helicopter. Then it became clear it was a military aircraft which flew right over our mast at a very low level, and at a very slow speed. I never heard the engines until it was right over our heads. After it passed us, it veered off and kept on going. I could almost hear the crew falling out of their seats with laughter as they looked for their next victim. Our Homeland Security having fun while at the same time guarding our coast. I'm all for being able to do 2 things at once. I picked my heart up off the cockpit floor and put it back where I think it is supposed to go. On our way up the coast we had a similar experience, but it was at dusk so I was able to make out the plane (it was a twin prop with one of those large disc antennas like an AWACS plane). I keep telling you Obama is stalking me.

We entered the Delaware Bay at 12:45 am. The winds were very light from the north, so the forecast was still right on. The shipping traffic was very busy, but for the most part we were able to stay just outside the shipping channel. We made it to the C and D Canal at 8:10 am. The winds had just started to pick up into the mid 20s and it had started to drizzle. As soon as we entered the canal everything smoothed out nicely. News alert: the weather report was pretty accurate--that's like lottery odds (don't know or care if the bad north winds ever hit the coast or not, but the light wind, nice weather part was right on).

The drizzle stopped and the rest of the trip was uneventful. At 5:00 pm on Wednesday our anchor was set in a beautiful cove on Broad Creek, just off the Magothy River. We stayed there for 2 nights and then made the short 13 mile trip to Annapolis.

Anchorage on Broad Creek.

On the bay near Annapolis, just off the Severn River.

Mooring field past the bridge on Spa Creek.

We plan to be on a mooring ball (first one in a long time) for 3 weeks or so. The main reason is the Boat Show, but we'll be able to order stuff we need, and do some boat projects that are easier to do when not anchored. One of those is to shorten the chain on the primary rode from 300 feet to 200 feet. We need to raise our bow a bit.

The weather seems to be turning cooler. Mid 50s at night and mid 70s in the day--beautiful. Why do I suspect it's 105 in Dallas?

Long Island Sound To Atlantic Highlands

After a few days in Oyster Bay, we weighed anchor and headed west to Manhasset Bay. The city of Port Washington is on Manhasset Bay, and let me tell you... OK, now I'll tell you--while we were there, the Canadian Geese voted to designate Port Washington a human preserve. Anyway, we had a string of nice calm pretty days, so we were able to get some boat projects done.



One of the projects was to finally varnish our cockpit table. Even though it is small, it has multiple sides which needed at least five coats each. We tried to outsmart the table and hang it from the bimini and dodger supports so that I could varnish all the sides at one time. Even though it was calm, we did get a lot of small wakes. You get the idea. Right when you are putting on the finishing touches, the boat rocks, the brush splats on your beautiful work introducing air into the varnish, and then varnish gets on your nose.


So after 2 coats I gave up and used this normal set up. In the mornings I was able to sand and put one coat of varnish on one side and the edges, then flip it 4 hours later varnish the other side. That means our cockpit was trashed out for 5 days.


The wind and rain finally subsided.

Very bad weather was on the way, so we headed back to Oyster Bay for better protection from northerly winds, and to fill up the water tanks . This time the forecast held and the rain and wind arrived as advertised. It was a bit chilly too. We had the worst winds we have seen at anchor in the Long Island area. We have seen stronger winds under way on Long Island Sound a few times, but those winds and rain always died down by the time we made it to the anchorage. This time it blew and rained for about 3 days. On our way out of town, we filled our water tanks at the fuel dock--right in front of a huge sailboat +/- 100 feet which belongs to the guy that owns the New York Knicks. We have seen it tied up there a couple of times. I wanted a picture, but it was raining.

It was time to start our trek through NYC on our way south back to the Chesapeake. We really wanted to get through the East River and NYC before Tuesday, because Tuesday the UN goes into session for a couple of weeks. The Coast Guard shuts down part of the East River while the UN is in session. There is an alternative route, but it is easier when the entire river is open. I would rather we spend money protecting the big flies that bite my leg, than those who seek to destroy us in the UN, but once again, I have been overruled.

We needed to be at Throgs Neck Bridge by 6:30am for the wild ride through the East River (hey, if you are used to sailboat speeds, it's wild). So we returned to Manhasset Bay for the evening and had the anchor up at 5:30 the following morning. We passed Throgs Neck Bridge on cue and rode the strong current all the way through NYC and then south to Atlantic Highlands on the north end of New Jersey. The anchor was down by mid morning. We made it through the Buttermilk Channel and past Governors Island before they shut more sections down for a parade of boats. Lots of stuff going on this weekend because of 911. This afternoon they will shut down part of the Hudson River for a high speed boat race as well. Stinkpotters on steroids. There were a lot of ships to dodge, but people around here deal with that every day.


Our return through NYC.


One of the ships we passed after going under the Verrazano Bridge.

There are large anchorages for large ships north of the Verrazano bridge. You have to be on your toes, because it's not always easy to tell if a ship is anchored or not. Then after you identify one as being anchored, he decides it's his turn to move. They move a lot faster than we do.

Lisa has finished her box of Tagamet, so she can go to bed now.

We plan on staying here for a few days, but have to check the latest on the weather. Until next time...

Block Island and Long Island Sound

We left Sag Harbor and made the short 14.5 mile trip to Orient Harbor and anchored behind Long Beach again. From there, our plan was to go to Block Island, then head to the East Passage on Narragansett Bay. We would anchor near Buck Island, and then work our way around to the West Passage, and try to find a spot to drop the hook between Goat Island and Newport. We are told Newport is crazy, but we wanted to see it at least once. It is one of the world's major yachting centers both sail and power.

From Newport, the plan was to head to Massachusetts and the Elizabeth Islands which are off of Buzzards Bay. First stop would be Cuttyhunk, and then a bit further east to Hadley Harbor off of Woods Hole. From there we would cross the narrow Vineyard Sound and explore (as much as possible) Martha's Vineyard, Chappaquiddick Island (I will refrain from any comments), and Nantucket Island. Because we plan to be at the Annapolis Boat Show, we decided not go to Maine this year. Perhaps Maine's notorious fog played a small role in this decision. We really want to go to Maine sometime in the near future--hopefully next summer.

Our sail to Block Island was wonderful. The weather was beautiful, and the winds were perfect. We had a strong urge to just keep on going.

Block Island Is about 6 miles long and 3 miles wide. It has a harbor that is about 1 mile long and 3/4 mile wide. The island belongs to Rhode Island and is about 12 nautical miles south the mainland. It is about 35 nm from our anchorage at Orient Harbor on Long Island.

A good bit of the harbor is taken up by undisturbed shellfish beds, and a large part of the the harbor is taken up with mooring balls--mostly private. They say there is room for over 1000 boats to anchor in the harbor. We heard that weekends in July and August are very crowded and more so on holiday weekends, so we timed our arrival on a Monday. We could not believe the congestion when we entered the harbor--on a weekday. We arrived early afternoon and dropped anchor in 42' of water in the first spot we considered adequate. Then we hung around to make sure we held and that other boats wouldn't drag onto us. The pleasure boat traffic going in and out of the harbor was unreal. The island is close to Long Island, Conn., RI, and Mass. So there are a ton of potential visitors all summer long. Block Island has a bad reputation of poorly anchored boats dragging when the wind pipes up, so we were a bit nervous and on guard.

Like many other boaters, we pay attention to how boats around us anchor--their procedure, their ground tackle, the amount of scope, how close they are to other boats etc. All was looking OK until just before dark a Hunter 36, which was a charter boat, showed up and anchored very close to us. I won't go into it other than to say it was a Chinese fire drill and he maybe had a 2 to 1 scope--which was mostly rope (for those of you who aren't boaters, the text books say if you have all chain use a 5 to 1 scope in normal conditions, and 7 to 1 scope if it's stormy // if you use rope use a 7 to 1 scope in normal conditions and 10 to 1 if it's stormy--mind you VERY few adhere to this. The longer the scope the less chance of the anchor pulling out or dragging.). And he promptly called the launch and they went to town. The following day, I was about to take a shower, looked out the window and saw the Hunter was about to weigh anchor. So I quickly got half dressed (the important half), and Lisa and I grabbed some fenders. He was driving the boat zig zagging all around dragging about 40' of rode and his anchor--then the rope jammed in the windlass--and he kept driving around. He went across our bow (about 12 feet in front) dragging his anchor, blew down (it was windy) to within a couple feet of our boat on the port side (he started on the starboard side), where we had fenders ready. He reversed out of trouble just in time and went to a marina. It was a miracle that his anchor didn't hook our chain or that his rode didn't get caught in his prop. We knew the marinas and mooring balls were full, so he must have gone for fuel or water and would have to reanchor. We waited until we saw him reappear and mercifully anchor right outside the fairway about 300 yards away from us. So I took my shower and Lisa spit up blood.

 

One of the dinghy docks at Block Island.

Block Island really is pretty. It was quite hot, but we walked the town and enjoyed the day. We will probably not go back because we could never feel that our boat is safe from other boats there.

Hurricane Bill caused us to cancel our Narragansett Bay, Buzzards Bay, and Vineyard Sound agenda. We decided to head to Oyster Bay which is mid Long Island Sound on the south shore. There is reasonable protection there, and it would get us further away from Bill's projected path. And we know from Ike, that the projected path is just a guess.

Back to Orient Harbor behind Long Beach.

So, to catch a fair current, we left Block Island at around 5:30 am and headed back to our anchorage on Orient Harbor. We started out with a brisk sail with some good wave action. Since the wind was close to our nose we had to tack back and forth, but it was fun sailing. We had to motor the last couple of hours since the wind died down.

Once again, to take advantage of a strong fair current, we were on our way at 5:30 the next morning. It was a bit foggy when we left and then it got worse. We would not have been able to proceed without radar and a chartplotter. The fog stayed with us most of the way, but by late morning visibility finally improved. We made it through Plum Gut with no problems and rode the fair current all the way to Port Jefferson--a bit over 50 nautical miles. We debated continuing on to Oyster Bay, but the current was turning against us, so we just ducked in at Port Jefferson.

House at Port Jefferson.

Now I hear Obama is going to be at Martha's Vineyard this weekend. I told you he was stalking me. We kept our change of plans a secret. We are relieved Bush is no longer president, because we all know he was responsible for Katrina (I don't think Ike was his fault since it hit Texas). We have full confidence that B. O. will protect us from hurricanes this year.

After reviewing the weather updates we decided we could stay a day at Port Jefferson before continuing on to Oyster Bay. The winds were very strong at our anchorage making it very undesirable to make the long dinghy ride from the anchorage to the dinghy dock, so we never made it into town. After listening to weather again we decided we needed to move on. So at 2:30 pm we upped anchor and started the 25 mile trek to Oyster Bay. The change in plans caused us to have a foul current the whole way. The winds were between 25 and 35 knots about 30 degrees off the bow. The only good thing, was the wind was not opposing the strong current. When we were leaving Port Jefferson, a Catalina 30 tall rig was coming in with a loose forestay. He was able to keep the mast up using a spinnaker halyard. The bobstay had parted causing the bowsprit and pulpit to rise up under the pressure of the forestay. Fortunately he made it into port with his mast still in the air.

Partly cloudy, slight chance of rain...

The winds were strong, and it was bumpy, but we were in the lee of Long Island so it wasn't too bad. We were trying to outrun the swells from Bill as well as strong thunderstorms headed our way in the Long Island area. We beat Bill's swells, but not the thunderstorms. We barely noticed the storm because the winds were already quite strong. We dodged another one.

Just before we turned into the inlet, the winds died almost completely. We made it to our anchorage just after 7 pm.

Sag Harbor.

Once the threat of bad weather passed, we left Three Mile Harbor and made the 10 mile trip to Sag Harbor. We were told it's a great stop and not to miss it. We agree, and ended up staying a week. There are a lot of very large boats both at the marina as well as anchored out in the harbor.

 

Pretty wooden sailboat.

 

This boat was anchored right next to us. The pump out guy told us it belongs to Billy Joel. Beware of the pump out guys, they know all the dirty secrets.

 

This guy was on our other side. Lisa doesn't like him because he has a loud generator.

 

These guys were behind us.

Despite the mega money here, we really like Sag Harbor a lot. It is very boater friendly, it's a nice town to walk around in, and it satisfies the five I's of cruising:
1) I need a good place to anchor.
2) I need a place to land the dinghy.
3) I need a place to do laundry.
4) I need a grocery store.
5) I need a Post Office.

This is every bit as important as reading, riting, and rithmitic. Next up is Block Island.

Back to Oyster Bay, then Port Jefferson

The tide wasn't due to turn in our favor until early afternoon, so we decided to leave late morning. This way, we would only have 2 or 3 hours with the current against us. So we took the dinghy back to Stony Creek for some breakfast. The breakfast was good, but all the other customers had colds, so we were anxious to get outside to fresh air and get moving. Unfortunately it was raining, so we tried to hold our breath waited until the rain died down some. As soon as we stepped out the door, the rain picked up again so we had a wet dinghy ride back to the mother ship, where we weighed anchor and turned the bow back towards Manhasset Bay.

The winds were brisk, and the sound was a bit choppy, the progress a tad slow against the current, but it was good to be sailing. It drizzled a bit and it rained a bit--we love our cockpit enclosure. Lisa was able to take a nap while Zak and I sailed. When the winds and the rain started to pick up some more, the weather babe emerged and informed us that the new forecast was predicting damaging wind, large hail, with a slight risk for a tornado (a typical daily summer forecast on the Chesapeake, while in Dallas it would be sunny and 103 degrees). So we opted to go to Oyster Bay since it was closer than Manhasset Bay, and we could get there before dark (lobster pots are a problem).

We saw 1 system mostly miss us to the north, and one system miss us to the south. The highest gust we saw was only in the upper 30s, so we dodged the bullet.

Eight and a half hours after leaving the Thimbles, we had the anchor down in Oyster Bay. We had a bit of rain that evening, but nothing severe. We were to meet the Whites the following morning, and were thankful that it was to be a sunny and pleasant day.

A proud Grandpa Zak with his 6 week old grandson Holden.

 

Zak and Holden with the perpetrators, Will and Sarah White.

Will and Sarah are doing a great job with their new baby.

 

That would be Greeeaaat Aunt Lisa.

We had a really good day visiting Will, Sarah, and Holden.

The following day we left Oyster Bay and headed east to Port Jefferson, where we anchored just outside the large mooring field. As soon as we dropped anchor, we watched as a large sailboat weighed anchor to leave the bay. He seemed to be having some difficulty raising the anchor, and when it came up there was a tire hooked to it.

 

We were closer than we wanted to be to an empty barge mooring. We were relieved when this guy showed up with no barges, otherwise we would probably have needed to move.

A lot of sailors told us not to miss Port Jefferson, but the guide did not make it sound that great. The dinghy dock cost $10 a day, and we did not find a laundromat, but other than that we really liked it. We like to walk a lot, and there are steep roads lined with beautiful trees. The town is pretty with lots of small shops.

One thing we've noticed in New York, and especially Long Island, is that the credit card does not work too well. All the small stores and most of the restaurants only take cash. The grocery stores will take the credit card. We don't know if it's a New York thing, or a result of Obamafinance.

 

Kind of hazy leaving Port Jefferson the following morning.

Zak at the Helm.

We were headed to the east end of Long Island, referred to as the fish tail--because the shape resembles a fish tail. Our plan was to anchor close to a gravel beach on Orient Harbor.

At the end of Long Island you wrap around south and then west to enter the fish tail. Shelter Island is in the middle of the fish tail, and provides a pretty cool cruising ground. Upon leaving Long Island Sound you go through a narrow cut between Orient Point (the eastern tip of Long Island) and Plum Island to the east. This narrow cut is called Plum Gut, and it's very strong tidal currents make it the key to the timing of your trip. Since we were east bound, we needed to arrive at Plum Gut on an ebb tide. We didn't mess up and are glad we didn't. We had a perfectly calm day, but the action of the water in the cut made it obvious you would not want to be going against the tide--or in bad weather.

We anchored off the gravel beach, which according to the guide we could dinghy to and walk on--which we did. They had some confusing signs, and we found out later that you can no longer dinghy to the beach and take a walk. The Greenies are "protecting" some kind of bird and only those with permits can enter, because those without permits will make them die.

The next day we took the dinghy to Greenport (a very long dinghy ride) to check out the town. We also had to find the train station where Zak was to leave from in a couple of days.

The following day we upped anchor, made a brief appearance in Three Mile Harbor, and then circumnavigated Shelter Island. We ended up taking a mooring for 1 night in Stirling Creek which is in Greenport.

The following morning we were in the dinghy at 4:38 am (we missed our 4:30 target by 8 minutes) to get Zak to the train by 5:00 am. The schedule said the train was to leave at 5:30, but the locals (including a police officer) said it left anytime between 5:00 and 5:30 depending on the mood of the conductor.

At the station, there is a marquee that reads "Alec Baldwin says to watch the gap" (between the boarding platform and the train). Sheeeesh. Normally I would step in the gap, but since Alec Baldwin says not to, I think I better not.

That went off without a hitch, and Zak watched the gap--thanks for the heads up Alec. It was sad to see Zak go, we had a really good week with him. He had a long day, arriving in Austin sometime after 9:00 pm.

We were able to do laundry, and get a pump out, then sailed to Three Mile Harbor where we anchored. Once again bad weather was in the forecast, but nothing happened--that's a good thing, not a bad thing.

We hiked to East Hampton (3 miles each way), walked past all the fancy stores, then left the busy area and walked down some quiet roads with very impressive estates. We never get tired of the large and beautiful trees.

Next stop is Sag Harbor and a mail stop.