Narragansett Bay to Sandy Hook with lots of fun and sunshine in between

After an easy, but no sail, passage from Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, we made the decision to hole up in our old marina - New England Boatworks - for the uncertainty that was Hermine.  Greg's brother, Jay and nephew, Jack joined us on the passage and we shared a nice meal in Newport before they headed back home.  It was great to have them on board.

Jack, Jay and Greg

Though Hermine hung around longer than we would have liked, the impact on us was moderate.  The marina is well protected inside high earth berms and a high hill on the northeast side - just where it needed to be for that storm.  The wind was brisk, but we saw no more than 35 knots on our instruments.  The rain was almost inconsequential.  Much different than what Florida experienced.  We took the time to do tons of laundry, work on the perpetual refrigeration issue, and Greg was very busy keeping up with his work.

After the seas finally subsided, we headed south on Friday, September 9.  Light winds down the Bay gave way to brisk winds as we neared Point Judith.  We hopped into the Harbor of Refuge and made our way up into the Point Judith Pond - a quiet anchorage near the oyster beds.  We have gotten to a point where we try really hard not to bash into heavy seas with wind on our nose, and those were the conditions if we had kept going down Long Island Sound.  Instead we enjoyed an afternoon of sunshine on the hook.

Anchor up next morning, a nice ride in calm seas and sunshine brought us up the Mystic River into the sweet town of Mystic, Connecticut.  Mystic is a fun town to explore and the highlight is the Seaport Museum.  Though we have visited before, we decided to do so again.  One highlight was a lecture at the Nautical Instrument shop where the resident expert explained celestial navigation in a way that was very easy to follow.  Greg has taken courses in this topic (many years ago) and appreciated the explanation and banter this gentleman engaged in.  Greg said it was the best description of how this arcane science works that he's ever heard.

Later we had a short exchange with the blacksmith/foundry worker who represented the role these people had in the seaport years ago.  We learned about the irons and steels that were common then, and saw thousands of old tools they hoard!

We had an enlightening half hour presentation at the Planetarium.  We learned that we would be able to see Mars, Saturn and Venus in the early night sky - at least until that full moon took over - and where to look to identify them.  He discussed the importance of the North Star, several constellations, the Southern Cross, and explained more about lattitude and longitude, which was fun after the navigation expert gave us his basics on this.  We also got lucky to be in town on Sunday night, so hit the local Margarita's to watch the Patriot's win their season opener at Arizona.  Go Jimmy Garoppolo!

Early Monday, we headed out through the Railroad swing bridge (the line that runs all those commuters into NYC) and enjoyed another beautiful day on the water.  There is not much in the way of anchorages as you make your way down Long Island Sound.  We chose Milford Cove, just off Milford, Connecticut expecting the wind would move West for the evening.  Not to be.  We had a very rocky night until about 3 in the morning, when the wind finally subsided a bit.  Whew!

Dream Catcher sailing Long Island Sound

A short 18 miles later, we cruised into Oyster Bay, past Billy Joel's Tudor mansion and dropped the hook just off Sagamore Hill, Teddy Roosevelt's Summer home.  Oyster Bay is on the north side of Long Island about 15 miles north of City Island.  It is amazingly protected with lots of room to anchor and a view of beautiful summer homes.  After a quiet starry night we weighed anchor and motored the short distance to City Island where we would  anchor until morning to catch the tides through the East River.  A strong thunderstorm blew through just about the time Sharon was preparing dinner.  Always a tad scary when you are living through it, we were happy the anchor held and it was over in short order.  The rest of the evening was clear and splendid.  The lights on the Throgs Neck Bridge reminded us of the Newport, Rhode Island bridges wearing their "string of pearls".  Laguardia was buzzing with lights that from our distance reminded us of lightning bugs on a summer night.

Billy Joel's mansion in Oyster Bay,
soon to be another's as it is up for sale

Thursday morning dawned clear and sunny as we hauled anchor and motored our way toward New York City.  We could already see the tall buildings in lower Manhattan.  It is very important to time your travel when transiting the East River.  The currents can run up to 4 knots, especially through Hells Gate - thus the name!  It is also one of the most exciting journeys imaginable with so much to see and photograph.  We passed 78th Street where Courtney lived after college.  We saw the raised walkway where we had taken our pictures during her move-in!  Her apartment was only a half block away.

The boat floated under nine bridges, Throgs Neck, Whitestone, past Laguardia and Riker's Island, under a railroad bridge, then Hellgate, Queensboro, the Williamsburg Bridge, the Manhattan, and finally the Brooklyn Bridge.  The current through Hell's Gate increased our speed from 5 to 10 knots!  By the time we reached the end of the East River (the waterway connecting Long Island Sound with the Hudson River at the bottom of Manhattan) the captain had dodged several ferries, large motor vessels, numerous tourist harbor boats, coast guard speed demons and NYPD boats.  At last we reached lower Manhattan where there is a helipad where we saw a half dozen commuter helicopters buzz in and out, and two constantly busy ferry terminals.  Then we rounded the lower point of Manhattan and headed across the Hudson to Liberty Landing Marina.

Hellgate Bridge

Our knot meter (speedometer) left is how fast the boat is traveling over water,
the right is how fast the boat is moving over ground.  The difference represents
the amount of current pushing us along.

Queensboro Bridge

Radio City

Brooklyn Bridge with Freedom Tower behind

Staten Island Ferry Terminal

We chose to stay in a marina for one night so we could visit the 9-11 Memorial and play a little bit in the City.  Liberty Landing Marina is in Jersey City on the Western shore of the Hudson River.  From this vantage point the view of the city is amazing!  You can hop on a ferry for $6 (senior discount), and 15 minutes later get dropped off right at World Trade Center.  One thing NYC does well is move people.  Ferries, buses, trains...it is an amazing process to watch.

The 9-11 Memorial is beautiful and somber and brought back many memories of that awful time.  One cannot help being so sad all over again.  It is, however, a wonderful tribute to all who perished.  Even on the Jersey City side, there is a memorial called Empty Sky that focuses on the place where the towers once stood and honors the New Jersey residents who lost their lives that day.  Soaring high above the memorial is the new and beautiful Freedom Tower with its spire pointing toward the heavens.  The second tower is still under construction and is about 1/3 of the way done.  A gorgeous greenway, office and shopping space, and a yacht basin where large yachts were docked all occupy the area where there once was rubble.  It was wonderful to see how beautiful it all is today.  We finished the day with a wonderful meal at the Liberty House next to our marina where we watched a nearly full moon rise over the city's magnificent lights.

Freedom Tower

Empty Sky Memorial

View of the city from marina

View from our dinner table

The next morning we headed out and got some great shots of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty then sailed south to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, dodging ferries, tankers and huge transport vessels.  New York Harbor is a busy and intimidating place where you feel as small as you feel in the open ocean.  Everything is larger than you!

Central Railroad of New Jersey, next stop after Ellis Island for immigrants

Ellis Island

Lady Liberty

We had planned to continue down the Jersey coast today, but winds and seas on our nose changed our minds.  So, we will be here in Sandy Hook, NJ for a couple days awaiting a better weather pattern.  Tomorrow, we plan to take the Seastreak back to the City and visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Greg has never been and Sharon hasn't been for years.  We will let you know how our travel goes from here.

'Til next time -

Sunshine, swimming and friends - what could be better!

Wow!  Another month has gone by and still we are enjoying a dry, sunny New England summer.  For all of you dealing with sticky, hot weather, give a call and you can come visit anytime!

We got very lucky upon our return to Newport.  After a couple of nights on the hook (that would be the anchor to you landlubbers) we called for a mooring on which to leave Dream Catcher for several days while we drove north for appointments.  We were told there was no space available, but while we were chatting with the harbormaster, a voice came on the radio and offered us his personal mooring to use as he was heading to NY in his sailboat for the New York Yacht Club's Summer Cruise. We were welcome to use it for no cost!!  How lucky is that!  So, we tooled around the harbor, found him at the fuel dock, handed him a coveted bottle of wine and thanked him profusely.

Our time in Massachusetts was short and fun - dentists, doctors, and most importantly, a visit to Sharon's best hair stylist.  Time with family and lots of provisioning ensued.  And then, upon our return to Dream Catcher we connected again with our friends Cynthia and Jim on Neverland and shared a wonderful dinner at our mutual friends' Roger and Chrisy in their newly renovated Jamestown home.  So much fun!  We love these folks and so enjoy sharing time.  Thanks Roger and Chrisy for your always lovely hospitality.  (We were too busy chatting and catching up to remember to take photos!)

That same week in Newport Greg gathered all the parts and tools to install our new windlass, the machine that deploys and then lifts the anchor and 200 feet of heavy chain.  This project took a lot of planning to acquire the right windlass to fit the bow of our boat perfectly and was a step up from our old windlass (bigger and better).  Greg also had a backing plate custom made from a high end shipyard in town.   He was happy to find a reputable place that could create one out of metal and, in the end, was not expensive.  A naval architect had to create a perfect template, then a machinist carved a 3/8 inch thick alluminum plate to be a perfect match for the deck-mountd windlass (which was quite expensive)!

The project took about three days and required Greg to spend too much time inside that tiny anchor locker, folded up like a pretzel.  Sharon's job is to be the runner for whatever tool Greg needs.  The job went reasonably well albeit not without its hitches.  The space under the deck where the motor is attached to the deck unit is narrow and we had to jimmy the thing around a few times, but finally got it set properly.  Then, the electrical devices had to be changed: solenoid, switches, heavy battery cables.  The best part was turning it on and trying it out. A delightful success!

Greg inside the anchor locker, directions handy
(he is sitting on very bent knees wedged between two walls)

Once we were certain the windlass was installed and working properly, we headed north again to New England Boatworks to gather our new chain - the correct size this time!  Of course, it was the one day it poured.  Soaking wet, Sharon on deck with her foot on the control pedal and Greg on the dock assuring the chain was fed in without twisting, we easily slipped 200 feet of 5/16" chain down into the anchor locker, in a few short minutes.  As Sharon said then and keeps saying - the thing works like "buttah".  Smooth and silent.  Wonderful!  Such a welcome improvement to the Dream Catcher systems!

New Maxwell windlass - a beauty!

We followed all that work with a week on the hook at Wickford, just outside the main harbor.  We kept Dream Catcher in Wickford Marina years ago where we met our friends John and Grace. Our time in Wickford included sunny days hanging around, swimming, walking around town and a delightful evening at John and Grace's lovely home. We love these two!  Thanks for the special dinner John and Grace.  Oh ya, Greg worked most days...but, still had lots of time to enjoy

How fortunate are we to have met some wonderful people whom we hope will be lifelong friends along this fabulous journey we're enjoying!

During our second week in Wickford we picked up a mooring from Wickford Yacht Club (we had to pay for this one - darn!) so that we could head back north to Massachusetts.  This trip included a few more medical appointments while we stayed with Greg's mom, always enjoyable - and his siblings often stop by when we're in town.  Sharon also spent a delightful evening with her sister Cathy, we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner at our friends Marilyn and Bob's in North Reading, a too-quick visit with friends Kevin and Debbie, and a comfortable stay at Nancy and Ted's beautiful home, in Boxford lovingly dubbed "Moore's Country Inn."  You can see we fit a lot in!!

When we returned to Dream Catcher we brought Nancy and Ted back with us.  After a quiet evening on the mooring we headed out early Tuesday, down the West Passage of Narragansett Bay then east into the ocean.  The North winds kept the ocean swells easily manageable and we had a quiet and easy passage to Cuttyhunk (this is the island at the end of the string of Elizabeth Islands south of Woods Hole, MA). We anchored off the beach at Cuttyhunk and enjoyed fresh ceviche (Nancy's requested meal - this time fresh scallops and haddock from Dave's market ) and our now-famous Tomato Gazpacho with Lobster.  Yum!

The next morning, we continued north and east through Quick's Hole to Vineyard Sound and sailed all the way to Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard.  We have been living large this season on moorings and enjoying every minute.  We usually anchor off Chappy Beach while in Edgartown, but once again we got lucky and picked up the Wrigley mooring inside the harbor.  This kept us a bit more private on the south end of the harbor and away from the center of town.  The Wrigley mooring is just what it sounds like, the mooring in front of the Wrigley gum family's compound. Three houses away was Walter Cronkite's summer home.  And that's the way it was!  Down harbor, Walter's old yacht "On Assignment" has been renamed, but still graces the harbor.  Think about it: Walter's friend calls and asks "where are you today, Walter?"  Walter answers: "On Assignment!"

Edgartown's Harbormaster told us that any town operated mooring that is vacant must be reported to him so that he can rent it out while the seasonal owner is away.  Some mooring holders leave for an entire season, maybe to Europe for the summer.  We were the lucky recipients of this wonderful location.  Hmmm, lucky in Newport, lucky in Edgartown!

While in Edgartown, we enjoyed a yummy meal at Alchemy, (thanks for the treat Nancy and Ted), a trip to the Artisan's Fair in West Tisbury, some fun shopping in town, and another yummy meal at The Boathouse - thanks again for the treat, Nancy and Ted.  

Sharon, Nancy and Ted riding into town while Greg stayed back and got more office time in.

Friday we took another dingy ride to Katama Bay (this is at the South end of Edgartown Harbor) to see if we could get to the beach.  This Bay has become filled with eleven oyster farms.  The most famous (to us anyway) is Honeysuckle Farm.  Greg had their oysters at Alchemy last summer and proclaimed them the best oysters he has ever had!  And that is saying something given the amount of oysters Greg has had!

Katama Bay is pretty shallow and the dunes that protect it have recently been breached by the ocean. This helps to bring in briny, cold water and makes the oysters even sweeter.  There is quite an operation of oyster farmers in that far end of the bay.  So interesting.

The oyster "beds" before lowering into the water, each with its own buoy. 

An oyster farmer's operating platform. The wire drum is used to separate oysters from each other
before putting them back for another month.

Another farmer's platform

Greg trying to find his own oysters. No luck!

Saturday night, our friend, Bob came with the Falmouth Ferry "The Pied Piper" to Edgartown to spend some time with us.  We shared lots of Honeysuckle Oysters, some dry Riesling, lots of conversation, and a delightful meal at Alchemy again!  We had a yummy breakfast the next morning at Edgartown Diner (thanks for the treat, Bob) and a fond farewell before Bob headed back home to make dinner for his crowd.  It was a short, yet delightful visit with a promise to meet again in some exotic locale.

Greg, Sharon and Bob

Greg has been working hard through all of this as business has picked up.  Fortunately, his view from the boat is delightful and the cellular signal is strong.  After a few more days in Edgartown, we headed West through Woods Hole and picked up another mooring (free this time) in Hadley Harbor - an iconic spot for sailors in New England.  Next day we headed over to Quisset Harbor where we had dinner with a high school friend of Greg's. Terry Hammar and his wife Kasha were kind enough to pick us up from Quissett Harbor and drive to the restaurant and back.  We had a fabulous time!  Greg and Terry learned to scuba dive together when they were 20!  During college, paths diverged, and it's been decades since they got together.  It really was a wonderful evening.

Today we headed back to Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard, where we will gather Greg's brother, Jay, and nephew, Jack, for the trip back to Newport.  Weather looks like it will hold with Northeast wind for a Saturday return.  Then, we will hunker down to see what Hurricane Hermine does over the coming days.  

'Til next time -