Tuesday July 11
I never imagined it would take this long to write another installment. What have I been doing for so much time? I feel I have been very busy. To recap briefly –
· We left Cape May with Dave about 5 pm on July 2. We had returned to the boat that afternoon to find a gremlin – the water pump would not shut off. We stressed about that for 24 hours. And then, off the coast of Cape May, the mainsail jammed in the track most of the way up. That was far more stressful to me because we could not lower it, could not turn toward the wind, couldn’t do much anything except motor to England. With my help, Dave struggled it down and we thought it was fixed.
· We then spent the night motoring upthe NJ coast. With all due respect to my NJ friends, there is not much to do on that leg, but get through it. We did, just fine, arriving at Sandy Hook about 9 am the next morning, motorsailing into the outer NY harbor on a beautiful morning. We got the anchor down and Dave made the second full English breakfast of the trip. It was wonderful. Later, we took him ashore and he took the ferry to NYC to spend the night there with Donna, who took the train up late in the day. Jae and I went to bed very early, basically trying to stay awake until it was dark. I don’t think we quite made it.
· Next day, our friends Tina and Chris came aboard for lunch, Dave returned with Donna and we enjoyed a nice afternoon on the anchor. Late afternoon, we dinghied ashore and had a terrific lobster feast at Tina’s house, overlooking Sandy Hook Bay and the NYC skyline in the distance. No local fireworks alas, but in the distance, we saw plenty.
· Next day, through the East River and up into Long Island Sound. A tricky passage, but by timing it right, it seemed easy. Oh, and the water pump started working right after Dave gave it a couple of gentle whacks.
· Just past Throgs Neck Bridge, we tried to hoist the mainsail and again it jumped the track. Now, we were under the bridge, drifting toward shallow water. The Coast Guard came to check on us (the academy is right there and I think they have their eye on Jae and Dave anyway). Jae and Dave diagnosed the real problem, we fixed it and had a great sail (no motor!) up to Cold Spring Harbor where we spent the night on anchor and fired up the grill to cook tuna steaks.
· Next day, we toured Cold Spring Harbor, tried to identify Elton John’s former house, did find Billy Joel’s house, bought a bosun’s whistle so I can now pipe Admiral Jae aboard and finally motored over to Norwalk. My sister Robin and niece Sonya came aboard for dinner and we also had a totally unexpected rendezvous with Annapolis friends Walter Laird and Raul Nelson busy on a delivery from Marblehead to Annapolis. That was fun, until they came alongside at 6:30 am the next day to beg for engine oil. Reminded me of the movie Captain Ron where they were always pouring oil into the engine.
· Later, we went ashore and had a terrific lobster feast (yes again, and we have not yet gotten to Maine) at Robin and Andy’s club, Roton Point. I think Walter et al got thoroughly soaked going down the East River in the rain.
· On Saturday, Dave and Donna went home, which was sad, but not before a 3rd full English breakfast with beans and sausage. I am sure they had fun and we were sorry to see them go. We miss them.
· Sunday we played tennis at Roton (what a civilized trip this appears to be so far!) and noshed in the grove overlooking the Sound. After washing all of our dirty clothes at Robin’s house, we said goodbye and Monday morning, we left Norwalk for the Thimble Islands.
Now, the Thimble Islands are described as a slice of Maine off the coast of CT. And that is a very fair description. They are all privately owned so you cannot land on any of them. We could not get the anchor to set so that we could admire them from afar, so we ended up motoring farther north to Sachem Head. We got a free mooring there, but it just proved once again, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! This mooring was exposed to the southwest, from whence the wind and the waves were coming and it got very rolly during the night. We watched La La Land on the TV and I will always associate that movie with the tremendous up and down movement of the boat that night.
Needless to say we did not sleep that well and were eager to leave in the morning. Another day of motoring has brought us to Stonington, CT, where we are now. This is a delightful little seaside town, which we have visited before. Tomorrow, we bike to Mystic.
So much for the travelogue. Now, for a few other comments. First, one night at Roton, one of Andy’s friends asked if I felt like the mayor of a small town – obligated to maintain electricity, water, sewer and all other services for the inhabitants of the boat while getting little or no compensation and not having the skill to do any of it. It is quite apt and certainly applies to me. Jae may be the Admiral, but I might be the Mayor.
Jae does not quite know how to live on a boat, nor do I. But, between navigating, fixing things, worrying things that have not yet broken, I have not had much time to think about what I should be doing. There is also more planning than I would have expected. You can’t just anchor anywhere up here, so nights have to be planned out. For the next week or so, we are planned, but looking later into the trip, our daughter Lindsay is joining us and we had to figure what airport she should fly into and out of. That took a few hours to figure out a cruising plan that was not ambitious and would allow her to leave when she wants to go. In short, we will pick her up in Narragansett Bay, where we will already be and we probably won’t leave the Bay. We have never sailed there before, but when we get home, I think we will know it. I hope Dave and Donna approve of our lack of ambition re Lindsay’s schedule!
I actually think we have adjusted to living on this boat more easily than I would have expected. We did visit the West Marine store in every port until the Sachem Head rollfest, so that was not a good omen, but once we get West Marine out of our system, we should be better adjusted. Our friends Raul and Valerie, joining us on Friday, kept asking what they should bring. Our answer was – alternator belts that we could not find in West Marine.
One last final comment. While we were in Norwalk, we went to Stew Leonards liquor store and stocked up. Dave kept talking about how much storage space we have, so I guess we will be finding wine and beer in places we had forgotten to look. A bit of a treasure hunt.