Hiding from Hurricanes

After a wonderful few weeks on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, we returned to Newport, our boat-soul home. We were eagerly anticipating another trip to the Chesapeake in early September.  Over Labor Day, we had a visit from friends Nancy and Ted, enjoyed a spirited sail with them in Narragansett Bay, hung out onboard, and enjoyed some of Newport's restaurant offerings.  The plan was to head offshore the day after we said goodbye to them.  However, it was not to be.  With Hurricane Jose' heating up south of us with an uncertain path north, we knew we needed to stay put and to wait for Jose' to commit. We conceded to another week in Newport - not a bad place to be all in all.

Friends Nancy and Ted

Scenes from the Cliff Walk

A beautiful, sunny day in Newport!

The Breakers

The detail and the overall building are fabulous!

Click any of these to enlarge them

Note the buttons on the wall to call up the servants!

The view out to sea!

We had a couple of good bicycle rides around Newport, a walking trip to and around The Breakers (the Vanderbilt Mansion), and a bit of lazy shop hopping. The weather in Newport was nothing like what was raging in the Caribbean.  It has been so sad to see the devastation from all the hurricane activity this year.

We finally got a good weather window between the storms.  Heading out of Newport Harbor on Friday, September 15 in a thick fog we were bound for the Chesapeake, two days away.  In just a few hours, the fog lifted into a beautifully, sunny day.  The seas were so calm it again reminded us of how different it was in comparison to what was going on south of us.  Sharon was fortunate to get a visit from a couple dolphins while Greg was napping, and she happened to look in the right spot at the right time to see the back of a whale and then its tale as it took a dive.  The joys of being at sea on a good day!

Chris Parker, our weather router, on the air via laptop at 7:15AM, explaining the wind and wave forecast along our route before our departure from Newport. You may be able to see Dream Catcher's interaction at bottom left, although the type is quite tiny.

The trip was so smooth it turned out to be a total motor trip, but nice to have flat seas.  The toughest part was a foggy night when we navigated totally by radar and AIS (visually blind) and later the midnight rounding of Cape May to enter the Delaware Bay.  It is always tough to navigate a place like that in the dark.  The various navigation lights on buoys, lighthouses and ashore can be very confusing, and you definitely don't want to hit anything!  Dawn broke around 5am on Sunday as we approached the entrance to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.  We entered around 7:30am to catch a favorable current, which is very important in the canal.  If you time it right you have a one to four knot current pushing you.  If you time it wrong, the same current is against you, and you never get to your destination.

By 5:30 Sunday evening, we had the anchor down in Weems Creek, Annapolis. We enjoyed a warm meal and were early to bed.  We felt very fortunate to be safe and having gotten such a great window between hurricanes as Maria was on her way up the coast.

Sunset in Newport Harbor - click to enlarge

Sunrise in Delaware Bay with nuclear reactor

Coming at us in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal!
The canal is not  wide!

Annapolis is always a favorite spot for us to hang.  Sailing friends Jim and Cynthia are across Back Creek from our dock at Bert Jabin Yacht Yard.  Fenwick Island is an easy car ride away and lots of friends and family are not far.  We keep a car in Fenwick, so we rented a car one-way to retrieve it, and spent several days there. We had a perfect beach weekend the third weekend of September.  The water was a perfect temperature and the waves were reasonably calm enough for Sharon to swim in the ocean - her happy place!  We celebrated friend Pat's birthday, and enjoyed time with some of her family at their home in Ocean City, thanks to Michael and Rebecca.

A perfect beach day at Fenwick Island, Delaware

Last weekend, we traveled to see friends Lori and Tom in Delaware. We spent a wonderful weekend with them, visited Lori's Mom (who Sharon knows well from her earlier years with Lori), and had a wonderful visit to Longwood Gardens.  If you are ever in the vicinity of Kennet Square, PA, a visit to Longwood is not to be missed!  The highlight of the evening was the lighted fountain show set to music and lights.  Beautiful!  It's the largest show of its kind in the world.  Thanks to Lori and Tom for our free admission with their member passes.  It was a delight to be there and share time with them.

Lori wouldn't let us post a photo of them,
so you get us instead!

Rosemary!

It was hard to stop taking photos of the beauty!

Bamboo wall

These water lilies grow to 8 feet in diameter in three weeks time

We returned to Dream Catcher to enjoy Annapolis, work on the boat (an endless endeavor), and plan a haul-out before heading south.  The haul-out includes having the boatyard pull Dream Catcher out of the creek, pressure wash the bottom to clean any scum off, then put the boat securely on blocks. Once she's settled we go to work (again) to prepare the bottom for a few new coats of bottom paint. Cleaning, sanding, washing, and taping are preludes to the actual painting.  The paint is specially formulated to hold heavy amounts of copper to ward off plant and animal life.  One gallon weighs about twenty pounds and costs $200.  (Filet mignon!)  This chore is waiting for us later this week.

This weekend we had a lovely time at the Annapolis Sailboat Show, where we were able to spend time with family and friends.  We're headed back to Fenwick for a few days before Dream Catcher will be hauled for us to get our work done. We will give you the rundown of our accomplishments in the next few weeks.

'Til next time -

A visit to the mountains, New Bedford and the Vineyard again

Our arrival into New Bedford harbor was interesting.  A 15 nautical mile motor trip from Hadley Harbor just across Buzzard's Bay from Woods Hole, MA, took us across the bay on a hazy summer day.  Just as we were approaching the western shore, a thick fog rolled in.  In addition to turning on the radar Greg immediately started the fog horn, which he can do from our command mic in the cockpit (that is the VHF radio right by the helm seat for you non-sailors).  The horn is mounted high up on the mast and blasts very loudly every two minutes.  So, even though you couldn't see us coming, you certainly could hear us!   The fast ferry from Martha's Vineyard to New Bedford approached the outer channel just before us, and slowed from 32 knots to four when the fog hit! You think the passengers were surprised?!  As we got halfway down the channel between the outer harbor buoys the fog rolled by and everything came into view again.  This was welcomed, as the harbor entrance is narrow, and there are 40 foot high concrete walls on both sides that support hurricane gates....nothing to take lightly.

We pulled off to the side of the channel for this beautiful shiny fishing boat from Beaufort, North Carolina to pass us by before entering the harbor.

Just click on any photo to enlarge

Approaching the open gates of the New Bedford hurricane barrier

We followed him into New Bedford harbor through the hurricane barrier and on up to Popes Island Marina.  As much as we have heard of New Bedford and know it from living in Massachusetts, we have never been in the harbor.  After the hurricane of 1938 severely damaged the town, sinking and grounding hundreds of ships, the town made the plan for a massive gated dike.  Finished in 1966, it makes this one of the safest harbors on the East Coast.  When there is a threat of high water, the gates are closed.  (Coincidentally, we heard a Coast Guard special alert on Saturday, August 19 to announce the gates would close at 8pm due to an abnormally high tide.)  For more about the Hurricane Barrier click here, it's fascinating!

Today, home to some 400 fishing vessels, the town was once one of the richest per capita cities in the world due to the whaling industry and the products it provided. These fishing boats are all in the 100 foot range, some smaller, but many much larger.

A visit to the Whaling Museum gave us a whole new depth of information about the industry.  Even after the whaling industry died out, the textile and fishing  industries stayed strong, keeping New Bedford economically healthy.  Up until 1996 when over-fishing regulations were put in place, commercial fishing kept New Bedford thriving.  Today it still remains the highest valued fishing port in the nation due mostly to its scallop fishery.  As it looks to the future, it hopes to become a center for the growing wind energy market by being a base of operations for the ships, logistics and supply of wind farm equipment. The state and federal government spent over $100 million building a new headwall and dock system to accomodate this industry.  Even so, water based wind farms are still tough to permit in New England.  We'll see!

We really enjoyed our time in the town and recommend it to others that may be transiting the area. The Whaling Museum is the largest museum related to the sea that we've seen anywhere. We spent a half day, and left only because we were tired and needed lunch.

Entrance to New Bedford Whaling Museum

Whale skeletons at museum entry lobby

A drone that does all kinds of at sea whale research

Azores whaleboat - gorgeous little thing!

Half size model of whale ship Lagoda

Check out these beautiful walking sticks made from wood and ivory

All of these photos are buildings and monuments around town

The reason we diverted to New Bedford was to be able to more easily find a rental car, have a safe spot for Dream Catcher to hang out for a few days, and make our way north to the Great North Woods of New Hampshire where Greg's nephew was to be married.  We picked up Greg's mom and headed north on Route 93, all the way up into the White Mountains, past Lincoln, through Franconia Notch and further north to Whitefield where we finally arrived at the Mountain View Grand Hotel for the weekend.  What a gorgeous spot.  Having spent lots of time skiing and hiking the White Mountains in years gone by, it was a treat to be back in this gorgeous area.  Unfortunately, the clouds sat low in the sky all weekend, so we never saw the majestic Mt Washington peak, but enjoyed the vistas available to us nonetheless.  The wedding was lovely and it was great fun to share time with family.

Mountain View Grand Hotel

Mountain View Grand Hotel

Cousins of the Groom Ben, Eva and Jack Page getting their growl on
for the ax throwing contest hosted by the resort

Greg foraging for wild raspberries as we
walked the cross country ski trails through the woods

Setting up for the ceremony 

Mother of the Groom (Greg's sister, Pam) and
Grandmother of the Groom (Greg's Mom)

The Bride (Kimberly), Groom (Alex) and cousin Eva

On Saturday, August 19, back on Dream Catcher, we headed out of New Bedford harbor and made our way back to Edgartown for a week.  After our last visit we discovered that small changes in location around the harbor produced very different celluar reception.  So, when we arrived we motored throughout the harbor, identified four of the best spots, then called the Harbormaster and requested one of these.  We had good cell coverage all week, but gave up our favorite scenic spot near Katama Bay (not complaining, though!).

We rode our bicycles around the island, and generally enjoyed hanging out.  Sunday we landed our dingy on Chappaquiddick with the bikes in tow and enjoyed riding the few paved roads that exist on the island.  We also stopped to see Mytoi - a Japanese style garden designed and maintained by an old resident there, now a public park.  It is a lovely spot.  Then, we continued down the drive to the sand dunes, walked across the infamous Ted Kennedy bridge and enjoyed the spectacular vistas on East Beach.  There are separate entrance trails for the four-wheel drive vehicles to use their part of the beach and a boardwalk for pedestrian swimmers to use their part of the beach.

These next several are from Mytoi Gardens

East Beach, Chappaquiddick, looking north

Looking East

Last weekend, friends Jim and Joanne joined us onboard.  It was the first time they had visited our floating home and it was fun to share time with them.  Sunday, we all took a walk around Oak Bluffs and shared the beauty of the Methodist Camp meeting with them.  All the small cottages are lovingly cared for and sport the fun gingerbread style with colorfully painted trim and welcoming front porches.  This is a beautiful and special spot for an afternoon walk.

The open air Tabernacle where services
and special events occur

Greg, Sharon, Joanne and Jim

We said goodbye to Jim and Joanne, hopped the bus back to Edgartown, packed our bicycles on the dingy and headed back to the boat.  With everything stowed, we decided to leave that afternoon, so we dropped the mooring line at 3:30pm and motored out of the harbor.  A light breeze from our quarter made for a happy motor sail with the genoa fully flying.  We were making great time at 7 knots due to a strong current pushing us along.  Instead of heading through Woods Hole and anchoring at Hadley Harbor for the night, we took advantage of that favorable current and kept going down Vineyard Sound, through Quicks Hole and into Cuttyhunk Harbor just as the sun was setting.  Anchor down by 7:00pm, it was a beautiful evening sail and we were halfway to Newport.

Tuesday morning dawned breezy and clear and we headed out very early to finish our trek to Newport.  We will be here for a week or so.  After more scheduled visits from friends and one more trip to Massachusetts, we start heading back south.  It has been a really delightful New England summer!

'Til next time -