Timm’s Picnic & Home!

Saturday, August 13:  Coleman invited us to have breakfast with him at the club this morning.  He prepared bacon and eggs for me and bacon and pancakes for Ted and himself, plus baked toMAHtoes.  We ate outside on the club’s big porch and enjoyed the pleasant morning, lingering over our coffee. 

There was a smoky haze in the air from a big brush fire in the Dismal Swamp to our south that had been burning for several days.  The air was clear, here, last night, but the wind changed direction this morning, bringing in fairly thick smoke and it’s distinctive smell.  The visibility was less than a mile.  It was going to be a warm day, with high in the upper 80s, moderate humidity, and a good chance of showers and thunderstorms.

After spending some time cleaning the boat inside and out, we dropped lines from the club docks around 11:30 and motored over to pick up Stephanie.  She rowed out in Ted’s dead battery dinghy to meet us, so we would not have to tie up at her dock.  We were on our way over to the club picnic at the Timm’s house on the Eastern Branch of the Corrotoman river (Lance decided to drive his car over). 

There was just enough wind to sail, so Ted put Stephanie at the helm of Bottlenose and the rest of us did the trimming, as we cruised up the Rappahannock and into the Corrotoman river.

We next stopped at Ted’s private dock to pick up Sheila and Ted’s wife, Ene-Mai.  However before we left for the picnic, we had some drinks and a tour of Ted & Ene-Mai’s beautiful home.

At the picnic, there were around 50 people and lots of food, drink, and games.  We played a round of Bocce Ball, before the eating, drinking, and socializing got into full force.

We were talking with our friends about the cruise we just completed and what cruises the club might sponsor in the future.  One idea was a circumnavigation of the Delmarva Peninsula, where we would sail from our club, down the Chesapeake Bay to Hampton, VA, out into the ocean along the Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware shores, up Delaware Bay, through the C&D canal, and down the Chesapeake Bay back to the club.  This is a popular “bucket list” cruise for many coastal cruisers.

Ted pointed out that the Delmarva circumnavigation is exactly what we just did (plus an extended side trip to Block Island, Long Island Sound, and the New York City area)!  OK – I can cross this off my list!

Toward the end of the picnic, we had a light rain shower, with distant thunder.  When this cleared, we dinghyed back to Bottlenose and motored back to Ted’s dock.  Ted drove Sheila and me in his car, the short distance to our house.

In all, our cruise lasted exactly three weeks and covered about 1000 nautical miles, half of which was blue water ocean sailing.  We sailed as much as we reasonably could, usually only motoring when our boat speed dropped below 3 kt.  We also used the spinnaker a lot.  Ted said it was the most he had ever used it in the 10 years he has owned Bottlenose.

All in all, a fantastic blue water adventure!

Rappahannock River Yacht Club

Friday, August 12:  We were not sure where we were going, today.  We wanted to go as far as we could, so we can make it to the RRYC picnic at the Timm’s house tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm.  The winds, however, were forecast to be N 5 to 10 kt.  Even with 10 kt, the wind was nearly behind us, so the best we were going to do was 5 kt of boat speed with 5 kt apparent wind over the boat.  Not great, but OK.

We weighed anchor from Solomon’s Island at 7 am and set out into the Chesapeake Bay.  It was a nice day.  Warm, mid-80s, a mix of sun and clouds.  We were able to raise our sails coming out of Solomon’s Island this morning and, a short time later, fly the spinnaker a good way down the Bay.

We first thought we might just make it to Reedville or maybe Dymer Creek.  But, even though we were not going very fast, we were making steady progress and by afternoon realized that we could make it to our sailing club in Carter’s Creek.

But, half-way to Windmill Point, the wind died and we had to motor.  After we turned the corner, cutting way inside the Windmill Point Light, we were able to motor sail the rest of the way.  We got to our club right at happy hour.  Sheila met us at the docks and we broke out a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the end of our trip.

Stephanie & Lance called to invite us over to their house for a steak dinner, so the four of us jumped into the dinghy and headed up Carter’s Creek past the four-star Tides Inn resort to where we thought Stephanie lived.

Wrong!  We went up the wrong prong!  We had to backtrack to the other side of the Tides Inn, because that is where Stephanie & Lance actually live.  The only problem with this was that we were in Ted’s dinghy with the “all green” electric outboard – and we had just about used up all the juice in the battery.  We just made it to Stephanie’s dock before the battery died.

They have a beautiful home and garden, and a nice wine cellar.  We had appetizers and drinks, and then dinner out on the screened veranda.  It was a wonderful meal – Lance grilled the steaks to perfection and served an excellent red wine to complement them.

After dinner, Lance volunteered to drive us back to the club, so we wouldn’t have row the dinghy.  We will bring Bottlenose over in the morning to collect the dead dinghy and pick up Stephanie & Lance to go to the Timm’s picnic.

Solomon’s Island

Thursday, August 11:  This morning in Annapolis, we picked up Stephanie & Lance in the dinghy at 7:15 am and went ashore to Chick & Ruth’s Deli for breakfast.  Coleman had recommended it to us and we had a fine meal.  We were done by 8 am, but had we stayed, we could have participated in their regular morning ritual of standing and reciting the pledge of allegiance at 8:30 am.

We dropped the mooring pennant at 8:55 am and headed out into the Bay toward Solomon’s Island.  It was a beautiful day with blue skies and small puffy clouds , mild temperatures, lower humidity, and the wind was NE at 10 kt.

We hoisted the spinnaker and had a nice gentle port reach down the Bay at 5 and 6 kt.  What a contrast from yesterday!  Nevertheless, a delightful day.

We arrived at Solomon’s Island on time at exactly happy hour.  We anchored near the Solomon’s Island Yacht Club, picked up Stephanie & Lance in the dinghy, and went to the club for drinks.  They specialize in $2 Manhattans and Gin & Tonics.  We enjoyed the drinks and socializing with the SIYC members at the bar, then walked across the street to Stony’s Solomons Pier for Maryland Steamed Crabs, with Old Bay seasoning.

It was 10 pm, by the time we got back to the boat.  The evening was calm and pleasant, except for the wild party going on in a restaurant near where we were anchored.  No problem – I have ear plugs.

Annapolis

Wednesday, August 10:  We woke at 6 am to a sunny, pleasant, calm morning in Chesapeake City.  The weatherman is calling for winds W at 10 to 15 kt, with gusts to 20.  If this pans out, we will have a fine sail on a starboard reach down the Bay to Annapolis.

We dropped lines at 7 am and turned back into the C&D canal.  We had three miles to go to the end of the canal and the current was running slightly against us.  So, our boat speed over the bottom was about 5.5 kt.  Soon, we were out of the canal and into the Elk river.  We passed an Army ship, headed the other way, but there wasn’t much other commercial traffic.

Then, the wind started to pipe up as forecast and we raise our sails on a starboard beat.  Now, the current is in our favor.  We had to tack back and forth until we got more out into the main part of the Bay, then we were able to stay close hauled on starboard tack and head directly for the Bay Bridge in Annapolis.

By now, the wind had piped up to a steady 25 kt apparent and heavy spray was frequently crashing over the foredeck and drenching us in the cockpit.  Occasionally, we even got some green water on the foredeck and the wind blew it right onto us, as though we weren’t already wet enough!   But, hey, we were going 9.5 kt over the bottom and the sailing was exhilarating!  It was one of the best sailing days I have ever experienced.

We continued this for over an hour, then we were able to bear off slightly onto a close reach.  The boat responded by going even faster – 9.7 kt, 9.8 kt!  There was one gust to 30 kt that got our speed up to 10.2 kt!!!

Bottlenose loved this kind of wind.  We never had to reef.  We did let the mainsail traveler down a little to counteract weather helm, when the wind was above 25 kt, but that was it.  The boat just took it in stride.

We arrived in Annapolis mid-day and took mooring ball number 1 in Spa Creek, right next to “Ego Alley.”  MerSea arrived about a half-hour later and took the mooring right next to ours.

After lunch aboard and an afternoon of relaxation, we dinghyed ashore to Pusser’s for Painkillers and Bushwackers on their dockside tables overlooking the harbor and the Naval Academy.  By now, it was approaching dinnertime, so we dinghyed across Spa Creek to East Port and had dinner at the Boatyard Bar & Grill.

Back at the boat, the evening was cool and quiet.  We slept well.

On to Chesapeake City

Tuesday, August 9:  Ted took over at midnight and helmed the rest of the way to Cape May.  I came on at 3 am and rounded Cape May up into Delaware Bay, where we went off to the left side of the main shipping channel and paralleled it all the way up the Bay.

When Sheila came back on watch at 6 am, the sun was just peeking up above the horizon.  Two big cargo ships loomed from opposite directions and passed each other and us at the same time.  It was no problem, since we were well out of their way.

Ted was at the helm when we left Delaware Bay and entered the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal and he brought us the rest of the way in to our destination – Chesapeake City, MD.  They have free docks that boaters can tie up to for up to 24 hours.

From the time we left New York, until we tied up at Chesapeake City, we have had strong following current.  Our over the ground boat speed rarely has dropped below 7.5 kt and often was as high as 8.5.  As a result, we have made excellent time the entire way and arrived at Chesapeake City before lunchtime, when we thought it would be mid- to late afternoon.

We had lunch together at the Hole in the Wall restaurant, just a short walk from the boats.  During lunch, a huge thunderstorm blew in, with torrential rain for about a half-hour.  At one point, the wind was blowing 30 to 40 kt from west to east, straight down the canal, and it was raining so hard that you could not see the other side of the canal.  We watched as a small power boat that got caught in the storm, struggled to deal with it.  At first, it was motoring slowly into the fierce wind and rain, then it turned around and ran with it until it disappeared into the storm.

When the storm passed, the air was cooler and drier and the sun came back out.

After lunch, Coleman arrived in his truck.  He came to get back on the boat and allow Sheila to return home.  We helped Coleman move his bags from the truck to the boat.  He had also bought some provisions that we were running low on.  We loaded Sheila’s bags into the truck and walked across the street to the ice cream shop for gelatos to celebrate her successful ocean overnight and Coleman’s return.   

We said our goodbyes and Sheila was off for home.

For happy hour, everyone came to Bottlenose, with plans to do dinner ashore.  However, we decided that we didn’t need another big meal, so Coleman volunteered to whip up one of his masterpieces in the galley and fed all six of us.  Great food and a nice view from Bottlenose’s cockpit of all the commercial traffic passing by on the canal.  Two huge roll on/roll off car transporters glided by.  They were so big that they seemed totally out of proportion to the size of the canal and everything else around them – like the transporters the Sand People used in one of the Star Wars movies.

Sheila’s First Overnight At Sea

Monday, August 8:  We left Liberty Landing marina at 7 am, in order to catch a favorable current as we left the New York harbor area.  It was a pleasant morning.  A little hazy and humid, but cool enough, with high thin clouds and some sun.  It is supposed to reach 89 degrees in New York City, today, but it should be cooler than that at sea.

The highlight of the morning was sailing past the Statue of Liberty.  She was a magnificent sight, with her golden torch gleaming in the morning sun.

After we cleared the harbor, with all the moored barges and high-speed ferries that we had to dodge, we raised our sails and motor sailed in the forecast wind that was W at 10 kt.  With help from the breeze and a good following current, we managed over 8 kt over the ground.

A little later, the wind picked up and moved to our beam, so we cut the engines and raised the spinnaker.  We had a good run down the Jersey shore, with boat speed over the bottom of 7.5 to 8.5 kt.  With our spinnaker up, we were slowly pulling away from MerSea.  But, after a while, we looked back and saw that MerSea was hoisting her spinnaker, as well.

Now, the race was on!  When the wind was over 10 kt, Bottlenose would pull ahead.  When it was under 10 kt, MerSea was faster.  We sailed neck and neck for several hours, each taking great pictures of the other boat.

At last, around 4 pm, the wind died, so we doused our spinnakers and motored.

Sheila came on her night watch at 9 pm and had an uneventful leg down the Jersey shore past Atlantic City.  All the casinos on shore were lit up.  One tall building looked like a giant projection screen, with colorful animated scenes flashing in succession.  The night was a little hazy, but the visibility was not too bad.  There was very little commercial ship traffic and nothing she had to avoid.

New York and Jersey City

Sunday, August 7:  Today, we left City Island at 8 am, with a 15 kt wind on our nose and a steady light rain from  grey overcast skies. 

We could see the New York City skyline off in the distant gloom. 

Our departure time was selected so we could motor through Hell Gate on the East river with the current running with us.  By the time we got there, the rain had stopped and there was some blue sky starting to appear.

We found that the current was indeed pushing us along but somewhat faster than we expected.  In fact, we saw boat speeds over the bottom of up to 11 kt.  11 kt!  

I am guessing that our water speed was no more than 5.5 or 6 kt, so the current must have been running at about the same speed, giving us the extra push.

It really was not a problem.  The water was swirling noticeably in places, but the channel was fairly wide, making navigation quite manageable.  It was only when we looked at the shoreline racing by that we could tell that we were going really fast.

After making it through Hell Gate, we then motored down the west side of Roosevelt Island,  then came around the south end of Manhattan, passing by the UN building and under the Manhattan bridge and the Brooklyn bridge. 

We also  got our first glimpses of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Empire State Building.  Wow!  We are really sailing in New York City!

We then went a short distance up the Hudson R. to Liberty Landing marina at Jersey City, NJ, and took a slip that Stephanie had reserved for us.

We settled in and then walked a half mile to a bike rental stand and the Bottlenose crew rented bikes.  Then, all five of us rode the Liberty Landing ferry over to the Manhattan financial center for lunch.  We sat outside under thick shade trees at “Southwest NY”, looking out over all the activity on the Hudson. 

There were ferries zooming around in every direction.  Add, commercial tugs with barges and recreational boats and it was a zoo.  The water on the Hudson was in perpetual turmoil from all the boat wakes, yet, out “playing in traffic” were two kayakers.  How they could handle the rough water and not get run down by a ferry was beyond me.

After lunch, Stephanie and Lance took us inside a nearby building that had a great vantage point for seeing the construction of the new Freedom Tower on the site of ground zero for the 9/11 attack.

Then, they went back to work on their boat, while the rest of us went for a bike ride along the Manhattan shore of the Hudson.  We got as far as the aircraft carrier museum, Intrepid.

By now, the day was hot and steamy, so after riding an hour or so, we had had enough and took the ferry back to our boat.

Back on the boat, we worked on cleaning it up, inside and out, since this was the first marina we have stayed in for a while.  We had earlier filled our fuel and water tanks.

We met Eric, who came on board MerSea today to help them stand the necessary 24-hour watches during our overnight ocean leg that starts tomorrow.

All six of us had dinner at Liberty House, just a few steps from our marina.  It was a little expensive, but the food was good.

It was still steamy outside but cooler.  No matter – we have our A/C units humming and it is comfortable in the boat.

City Island

Saturday, August 6:  The weatherman is calling for our winds today to be from the SW at 10 kt.  Our route to City Island is almost directly into this wind, so we will either have to beat into it (tacking back and forth) or just drop the sails and motor.  We have 35 miles to go and we will also have the current running against us.

The expected high is 81 degrees and there is a chance of showers with a mix of clouds and sun.

When we got out into the Sound, there was not much wind, so we did just motor most of the day.  Since this was the weekend, we saw lots more recreational boat traffic and lots of regattas.

At noon, we first noticed the New York City skyline way off in the distance.

About an hour outside of City Island, the wind piped up to 15 to 20 kt from the south, so we were finally able to shut down the engines and just sail the rest of the way.

Stephanie had made reservations for a mooring ball for us at the City Island Yacht Club, so Ted hailed them on the VHF as we were coming in for an assignment.  The mooring field was fully exposed to the wind, which continued to blow at 15 kt, making it more difficult than usual to pick up the mooring ball pennants and secure the boat.

We called the free water shuttle so we could have happy hour at the club, then walked 10 blocks to Arties restaurant for dinner.  The small dining room we were in was noisy, but the menu was extensive, the food good, and the prices reasonable.  There was a light drizzle falling as we walked back to the club, after dinner.

We went back to the boat on the club launch.  The wind was still blowing 15 kt kicking up good sized waves and it was still drizzling, making getting in and out of the launch quite challenging.

Later, Ted and Lance planned our departure time tomorrow, so we could go through Both Hell Gate and the Battery with not too much current.  Both really rip at their maximum of around 5 or 6 kt and this can be hazardous!

Black Rock Harbor

Friday, August 5:  It was a pleasant morning, with a mix of sun and clouds.  The weatherman said the high would be 77 degrees, with wind ESE at 5 to 10 kt.  We have only about 25 miles to go, today, and a favorable current starts running with us at mid-morning, so that’s when we weighed anchor from Joshua Cove.

Soon after we left our anchorage, we launched our spinnaker.  And what a great run it was!  We continued flying it almost all the way to our destination at Black Rock Yacht Club in Black Rock harbor, CT.  Even though we never saw over 10 kt of apparent wind, we maintained excellent boat speed due to the expected ½ to 1 ½ kt of following current.  We averaged 7.5 kt over the bottom and occasionally hit 8 kt!  It was just a fantastic day on the water. 

There was noticeably more commercial traffic today on the Sound.  Quite a few tugs pushing or pulling barges, plus ferries and commercial fishing boats.  This was never a problem, because the Sound is so big that all vessels have plenty of room for safe navigation.

We arrived around 2 pm and picked up the mooring ball that the Black Rock Yacht Club provided for us.  MerSea took the adjacent ball.  Around 3:30, we called for the free water shuttle to take us over to the club for showers, drinks, and dinner.  The club members were friendly and made us feel welcome.  The club was first rate in every respect.

Tomorrow, we go to City Island which is part of the Bronx in New York City.

Hard Times Enroute to Joshua Cove

Thursday, August 4:  We had a long way to go, today, to get to Joshua Cove, CT, so we weighed anchor at 7 am.  The weather was balmy, but otherwise like yesterday.

We were motoring and leading MerSea out of the anchorage, calling them occasionally on the VHF to report water depths.  The tide was lower than when we came in, yesterday, and had about an hour to go to the low.

We made it past one known shallow area and were negotiating the final turn to leave the harbor.  It was narrow, here, and the current was running swiftly, causing a whole line of breaking waves in front of us.  Then…

CRUNCH!  What the??  Aground, again!! 

MerSea saw what happened to us and was being pushed along by the swift current, so they quickly made a slight left turn, passed us on our port side, and made it safely out of the harbor.

Ted initially tried to motor us off the pebbly bottom, but this didn’t work.  Then, he got into the dinghy and Sheila and I prepared two kedge anchors for him.  Ted set the first one out from our starboard quarter.  He wanted to set it more forward, but the current was so swift that his electric dinghy motor was not powerful enough to drag the kedge anchor rode through the water to the spot he wanted, so he just dropped the anchor where he could.

I cranked it in, but it had no effect.

Next, Ted took the second kedge and was able to set it just off our starboard bow, right where he wanted it.  The current was already easing up, so his motor was able to get the job done.  I cranked it in, but still nothing.

About a half hour later, the boat started to bob a little and make crunching noises.  Within a few more minutes, we broke free!  We recovered the kedges and were back on our way, having lost only an hour from our intended schedule.

Once we rounded the Orient Point lighthouse, we were hoping that the breeze would be strong enough and behind our beam, so we could have nice spinnaker run to Joshua Cove.  But, alas, it was too light to sail, so we just motored.

We had a strong following current that gave us a boat speed over the bottom of 7.5 to 8 kt, so we got to Joshua Cove around 1:30 pm – quite a bit earlier than expected.  

This area is very rocky.  The bottom is granite.  If you were to go aground here, it would be ugly.  As it was, it took us two tries to get our hook to set here.

Because of our early arrival, we had time to launch the dinghy and go on a tour of the area.  One of the first things we saw was that someone had built a nearly full-scale replica of Stone Hinge in their side yard.  Amazing!  Lots of houses with modern and other interesting architecture, as well.

We eventually went over to the Sachem Head Yacht Club, tied up to their dock (with their kind permission), and went for a walk around the neighborhood.  By now, it was quite warm, so after  we finished our walk, we were really thirsty.  The club had set out a big water cooler for their junior boaters and we nearly drained it!

Stephanie & Lance invited us over for happy hour after which, Ted and Lance fixed their windlass controller that had stopped working.  They bypassed an offending connector and just hot wired it to the boat to get it going, again.

Back on board Bottlenose and later in the evening, we had pulled pork barbecue, green beans, salad, and the trimmings.

Tomorrow, we head for Black Rock Harbor (near Bridgeport, CT).

Shelter Island

Wednesday, August 3:  It was a cool morning, with blue skies and wispy clouds and light winds.  We had a really short distance to go to get to Shelter Island’s Coecles Harbor, NY, so we just motored over.

One area of the channel leading in to our anchorage looked on the chart like it would be a little shallow for MerSea, so we went in first and radioed depth soundings to her as we went.  It turns out that there was depth to spare as we never saw less than 9 feet and MerSea draws only 4’ 9”.  Even allowing for the tide, this would be fine.

We invited Stephanie & Lance over for lunch on Bottlenose and had deli sandwiches, fruit, cookies, cool wine, and a nice visit with them.

In the early afternoon, we picked up Stephanie (Lance decided not to go) and dinghyed over to the marina and rented a bright yellow, four-passenger, all electric, smart car that looked like a overgrown golf cart.  It was the same price as renting four bikes and allowed us to see twice as much of the island in the time we had.

No pun intended, but “what a gas!”  We turned heads everywhere we went.  And, we saw pretty much the whole island in a couple of hours, including a stop in town for gelato.  Lots of water views and fine homes, many with lawn sculptures of sea monsters, dinosaurs, and other big animals.

We were just about to wrap up our tour, when the car started emitting this piercing alarm sound.  It was telling us that we were just about out of juice!

We immediately headed back toward the marina, but the car died just before the top of the last hill we had to climb to get there.  The rest was all down hill.  So, three of us got out of the car (Ted was driving) and started to push.  We felt so ridiculous that we all got the giggles and almost fell down laughing.

Nevertheless, we managed to get the car over that hill and literally coasted the rest of the way to the marina, right to the normal spot where they park this little jewel.  We advised the yard hand that came out to greet us that the car batteries might be a little low.

Back on the boat, we had a nice baked chicken breast stuffed with broccoli, wild rice, cheese, and herbs.  The rain showers that the weathermen predicted for today, finally arrived as we ate our dinner snug and dry in Bottlenose’s ample bridge deck saloon.

Tomorrow, we have a serious sail of over 35 miles to Joshua Cove, CT.

Sag Harbor

Tuesday, August 2:  We set out around 7:45 am from Watch Hill for Sag Harbor, NY.  It was a bright sunny, cool morning, with light N wind at around 5 to 10 kt.  As we sailed SW across Long Island Sound, the wind would come and go – sometimes allowing us to sail without the engines and sometimes dying away requiring us to motor sail. 

Our route, today, is only about 30 nautical miles, so we could afford to keep the engines off more than usual, when the wind was light.  We had a pleasant sail.

Compared to the weekend, the big difference today was that there were very few boats on the water.  We never saw more than a handful at one time – nothing like the zoo on Saturday and Sunday.  

Stephanie had reserved two mooring balls for us at Sag Harbor.  When we arrived in early afternoon, the dockmaster informed her that all the mooring balls inside the harbor were full, but there were some additional balls in an exposed area just outside the main harbor’s breakwater that we could have.  If the winds were strong, this location could have been very choppy and uncomfortable, but the winds today and tonight are expected to continue light, so we didn’t expect any problems.

Once we were securely tied up to the mooring ball, we dinghyed to shore and explored Sag Harbor on foot, with Stephanie & Lance.  We saw a lot of expensive cars, including a Bentley convertible and a Mazaratti.

By now the day felt hot – especially so, being on land and in the sun – so after our walking exploration, we stopped at an outdoor waterside bar for refreshments.  After cooling off a  little, we started looking for a nice place for dinner.  We decided on the Beacon.  It was expensive, but good.

We dinghyed back to MerSea for wine and dessert, while we watched a spectacular sunset.  A thin sliver of moon soon set, as well. 

Lay Day in Watch Hill

Monday, August 1:  We had a leisurely morning on the boat, then Stephanie’s friend took us in her SUV to the grocery and on a tour of Watch Hill.

After that, we continued to explore Watch Hill on foot.  Sheila checked out all the shops in town, then we climbed the hill to Ocean House, a huge, beautiful, fully restored classic hotel with great views of the Sound.  Sheila and I sat on one of their verandas and had a cold beverage, while looking out over the hotel’s gardens and the water, off in the distance.

We spent mid-afternoon relaxing on the boat, then picked up Stephanie & Lance in the dinghy and had happy hour with them in the Watch Hill YC upstairs bar.  The bar had a nice view of the harbor and we sat outside on the balcony with our drinks, watching a big storm brewing off in the distance.

At dinner time, we went over to the Bay Street Deli and got lobster rolls (the best in town!) to take back to Bottlenose for dinner.  We couldn’t decide which we liked best – the hot lobster roll sautéed in butter or the cold one mixed with mayonnaise.  The New England clam chowder was also excellent.  Add copious amounts of cool, white wine and cookies for dessert and it made a nice dinner aboard!  We were entertained by a spectacular show of lightning by that big storm.  Huge pitch forks of lightning would bolt across the sky, some spanning more than 90 degrees.  We never got any rain.

Watch Hill

Sunday, July 31:  We woke to a cool, crisp morning with light wind and blue skies.  It is supposed to get to the upper 80s later.  After breakfast, Ted went for a long swim over to a rock pile jutting out of the water near our boat, Sheila read a book, and I worked on my blog.

We have a short distance to go to meet up with Stephanie & Lance on MerSea at Watch Hill, RI, this afternoon, so we can afford to spend a leisurely morning here in Fisher’s Island harbor.

After lunch, we weighed the anchor and set out NE across Long Island Sound for Watch Hill.  The wind had come up from the south to about 12 kt and gave us a nice reach under sails, alone.  There were lots of boats in the Sound, going every direction imaginable.  We had to keep a sharp lookout for crossing situations.  We also had over a knot of following current, which helped us make good time.  It was a glorious day to be on the water.

Stephanie had arranged a mooring ball for us through the Watch Hill Yacht Club.  As we approached the harbor, we called the club on the VHF to get a mooring assignment.  In a few minutes, we were securely tied up to the mooring.

 

MerSea was moored just a few boats away from ours.  The next thing we knew, here comes Stephanie rowing over in her dinghy to welcome us to Watch Hill.  We invited her aboard and after chatting for a while, we spent a few minutes discussing our plans for the rest of this cruise together.

Stephanie said she had a friend that has a little cabana within sight of our boats and they had invited us over for happy hour at 5:30.  We considered this for about 2 seconds and quickly accepted this gracious invitation!

The cabana couldn’t have been more than eight feet wide, but had a great view of the ocean out the front and of the harbor with all the moored boats out the back.  We enjoyed meeting and chatting with Stephanie’s friends and the great happy hour spread they laid out for us.  While we were there, we looked out on the ocean side just before sunset and saw two large classic schooners going by under full sails. 

The three of us, plus Lance and Stephanie then went out to dinner at the Olympia Tea Room and had a nice time catching up on our separate journeys up to this point.

Fisher’s Island

Saturday, July 30:  We had a leisurely morning on the boat at Mystic, including a nice bacon and eggs breakfast and some boat cleaning and provisioning.  Then, at mid-morning, we set out in Long Island Sound for a fun sail “where the wind blows” as we had only a short distance to go to our next anchorage at Fisher’s Island, CT.

It is Saturday and there were a lot of boats out and about, both sail and power.  It was a beautiful day, with high in the upper 80s, blue skies with some clouds, and good wind.  We sailed around in the Sound for a while, dodging boats, throwing lots of tacks, and just having a good time.

As we were heading for Fisher’s Island harbor, a small piece of hardware fell to the deck with a loud clack from somewhere high in the rigging.  We could not tell where it came from and nothing bad happened, leaving us both puzzled and concerned.

We anchored out in the harbor, had lunch and went ashore to rent bikes at the Gold n Silver shop.  We rode all over the island and got some spectacular views of the Sound with all the boats and a lighthouse.

Had an early dinner on the outside patio of the Pequot Inn, then dropped our bikes off at the bike shop and walked back to the marina to dinghy back to the boat.

Back on board, Ted started investigating the source of the falling hardware and eventually found that it had come from one of the top-most slides that holds the main sail to the mast.  This was a great relief, because while important, this hardware could not have resulted in a major rigging failure.  We will all sleep better tonight, having fixed this problem.

Tomorrow, we are supposed to meet up with our cruise leaders, Stephanie & Lance, on their Jeanneau 37, MerSea, at Watch Hill, RI.  They are the only other boat on this cruise and they took the “inside” route, up the Chesapeake Bay, through the C&D canal, to Delaware Bay and points north.  This did require them to do an overnight sail to get past New Jersey.

Mystic On The Rocks

Friday, July 29:  We left Block Island this morning, headed for Mystic, CT.  We were well into the entrance channel to Mystic harbor and had already passed several marinas and large mooring fields, when we decided to drop our sails.  We picked a spot to turn out of the channel, so we could go head-to-wind and drop the main.

It was noon and we were going past a moored boat to then make our final turn into the wind, when…. CRUNCH!!!  We ran hard aground in the pebbly bottom!  Ugh!

We quickly sprang into action, launching the dinghy, getting the kedge anchor ready, and loading it into the dinghy.  Ted first took the kedge about 200 feet out on our starboard side and dropped it into the water.  Coleman and I wrapped the line around a winch and started bringing it in.  At first, the kedge seemed to have a good set in the bottom, as the line got really tight.  However, Bottlenose refused to budge, so we continued to crank on the winch.

While Bottlenose still didn’t budge, the kedge apparently broke free from the bottom as we cranked and it slid across the bottom without re-setting.  So, Ted hauled the kedge back into the dinghy and this time took it astern (the way we came in) and re-dropped it.  It got a good set and Coleman and I cranked the line in with the winch until the line was very tight, but Bottlenose seemed unimpressed with our effort.

Using the dinghy, Ted took a hand-held depth finder all around the boat to see where the deepest water was.  It was indeed behind us, so we knew the kedge was in the right location.

Next, Ted went for a swim to see how badly aground we were.  It was pretty bad.  The full length of both keels was solidly on the pebbly bottom and the bows were sitting a foot above their normal water line and getting higher out of the water with each passing minute.

We were at about half tide and it was falling.  Not a good situation.  Low tide was a little before 3 pm and the next high tide would be around 9 pm.  The tide range is only a little over 2 feet.  So, it could be 9 pm before we have our best chance of getting unstuck – and maybe not even then.  So, we prepared ourselves for a long afternoon on the boat to wait for the tide.

We called the Mystic Shipyard West marina where we had reserved a slip for the night, to tell them what happened and that we would be late.  The dockmaster said he would like to come over in his small powered barge (used to permanently anchor mooring balls) to see if he could get us free.  He couldn’t.

Now, today was the day that Coleman was going to leave Bottlenose and go home for a week to take care of a prior commitment.  He had talked my wife, Sheila, into driving his truck here to Mystic and then trading places with him on Bottlenose, while he drove home in the truck.  Sheila was arriving in Mystic, about the time we ran aground, so we called her as soon as we could to advise her of our predicament.

Before the dockmaster left us, Coleman asked him if he would take him back to the marina on the barge to meet Sheila.  He agreed.

Once on shore, Coleman drove with Sheila closer to where Bottlenose was aground.  Then, Ted went to shore in the dinghy to get Sheila with her bags and brought her back to the boat, so Coleman could go ahead and take off for home in his truck.  As it was, he would be getting home late, if he drove straight through.

Ted and I welcomed Sheila to Bottlenose and she got settled in, while we continued to wait for the tide.

Around 4:30, the boat started to bob a little in the building chop of the harbor and at 5:00 it broke free!  We quickly got the engines started, because we were drifting toward a moored boat, and were careful to retrieve the kedge anchor and rode in a way that prevented the rode from getting tangled in the propellers.

We were thrilled that we got off so early, now we can go to our marina and have dinner ashore at the Captain Daniel Packer Inne. 

Back at the boat after dinner, Ted and I sat up til midnight talking about everything under the sun and solving all the world’s problems.