We left Ports
mouth, NH on Sunday, September 13, after a wonderful visit with our friends from GOLD WATCH, and went south along the New H
ampshire coast to Ipswich, MA to visit with our friends from MASCOT. Mary and Scott were in their boat at the harbor entrance to guide us in to their Yacht club and a mooring ball for the night. We spent the afternoon driving around Ipswich and a walk on the beach, then back to their house for a wonderful dinner.
Up Monday morning, and a check on the computer for e-mail messages and the weather report. An e-mail was there from HAPPY CLAMZ informing us that they would be in Sandwich tonight with JUST RELAX and VOYAGER II. S0 why don't we go to Sandwich as well, so we did. We took the Cape Ann Canel to Gloucester, down through 
Massachusetts Bay to Cape Cod Bay and into Sandwich Harbor at the northern entrance to Cape Cod Canel. Had a nice dinner with the other three boat crews and another looper couple who live in Sandwich.
Tuesday we all went our seperate ways. We went east along Cap Cod to Dennis to meet dear friends and former boss from my days working in Boston. Art and Mary Ann came to the marina to pick us up, have lunch together, and spend the afternoon at their Cap home.
Wednesda
y found us heading back west, through the Cape Cod Canal, through Woods Hole, and back east to Hyannis. As the day wore on, the wind kept building from the NE, and the waves got bigger. They were a good 4-5' as we entered the harbor at Hyannis, glad to be in out of rocking and rolling.
We were up early Thursday and on our way to th
e ferry dock, on our fold up bikes, by 7:35. The first high speed ferry left at 8:00. We arrived at the ferry dock, baught our 
tickets, folded up the bikes and carried them on as baggage, and we were off for Nantucket. On the way out of the harbor we passed ODYSSEE docked between the 60 foot plus sport fishing boats. The one to the left is a new Hatteras. This boat cruises just under 40 Kts, so the trip, dock to dock is just an hour. Out in Nantucket sound the wind was blowing a good 25 and the waves were 5-6', a good day not to be on our own boat. Upon arrival, put the bikes back together, and spend the day touring the island. We were back at the ferry landing at 5:00 to take the last slow ferry back to Hyannis, getting back to the mainland at 8:30.
The weather forcast for Friday was moderate winds from the SW in the morning with 1-2' seas, building to 3' in the afternoon. We decided to head out and see how far west we could get before the waves got uncomfortable. We pocked our nose out of the harbor at 8:30 and it was already blowing 20. The waves weren't too bad yet because the tideal current and the wind were the same direction, but every wave we hit put a load of spray in our face. We put ODYSSEE up onto a plane and headed west. By 9:00 the wind was up to 25 and the waves were approaching 3', still manageable b
ut very wet. Sure is nice to have a windshield and wipers. It was obvious that things would get progressively worse as the wind continued to blow and the tideal current turned against the wind. So we bailed at Falmouth at about 10:30, tied up at the city marina, and washed the boat down. A cold front came through Friday night, the wind switched to the NW and continued to blow 20-25 Saturday morning, slowely dieing as the day went on. We decided to wait until Sunday before we move. We spend the day biking to Woods Hole.
It's Sunday, September 20, and the weather is as forcast, light winds, calm seas, and sunny. Our plan is to move to the Newport, RI area with a stop at Cuttyhunk. The current situation was against us early in the day, so we elected to leave about 10:30 so we would get as much push as possible. We got to Cuttyhunk at about 1:00, went into the harbor, turned around, and left again. Stopping was going to be a bit of an ordeal and take at least an hour to just get in and out again, before we even started walking around. So back on our heading towards Newport. They have had their annual boat show going on this weekend and on Tuesday the 12-Meter World Championships start with at least 25 12's here, so we weren't sure we could even find a place to stop. We had an anchorage in the Sakonnet River if nothing else worked. We did f
ind a spot on a floating anchored dock in Brenton Cove, and that is where we are spending the night.
On Monday we were up early, bikes in the dingy, and off to town at 8:15. The annual boat show was packing up and the 12-meter boats were moving in. Saw the historic sites, walked part of the "cliff walk", and saw a few 12-Meter boats tunning up. Back to the boat at 4:00, bikes back to the boat in the dingy, and on our way to Point Judith for a night on the hook.
We pulled up the anchor and were underway by 8:00, headed for Block Island. We went into The Great Salt Pond New Harbor, picked up a town mooring ball, lowered the dingy, loaded in the bikes, and went into the dingy dock. Bikes were assembled and we were off to see the island by 11:15. Before lunch we biked out to the South East Light House, the highest light on the east coast. 16 years ago the lighthouse and lighthouse keepers quarters were moved back from the cliff for fear the structure was going to colapse with the cliff into the sea, preserving the structure as a National Landmark. Back to town for lunch and ice cream, some more looking around, and then back to the marina about 4:30, ready to go back to the boat.
Wednesday we planned on meeting one of Claria's college classmates and her husband who live in East Haddam, CT. The original plan was to meet Kari in Mystic, but the only reasonable priced marina was full with boats being pulled for winter storage. We also had an oportunity to use another boating friends mooring ball in the Niantic River, but we weren't sure how we would get to shore from that mooring ball. We called Brian and Jan to ask where to take our dingy in and found they were only about 4 hours behind us and would be getting into the Niantic Bay Yacht Club later in the afternoon, and why don't we go into the Yacht Club, pick up a mooring ball there, and have Kari meet us at the YC. So that is what we did. Plans can sure change in a hurry! We had a nice visit and dinner at Kari and Phil's home.
Finding out that Brian and Jan would be at the Niantic Bay YC on Thursday, we delayed our departure so we could have lunch together, which we did. We had a nice lunch after toasting their succesful completion of the Down East Circle Loop. They will only be home for about three weeks and then will head south in their boat to the Bahamas for the winter. We will see them in November as they pass through Beaufort on their way south. After lunch we traveled west about 30 miles to the Thimble Islands where we anchored for the night.
On Friday morning the wind was blowing strong from the NNE, creating a 3-4' wave on Long Island Sound. We were headed to Port Jefferson. As we left our anchorage we hugged the north shore for several miles until our course to Port Jefferson was SW, putting the waves on our starboard stern corner, and a manageable ride across the sound. We enjoyed an evening with our looper friend from TIME OUT.
By Saturday the wind had rotated to the east, so as we headed out to New York City the waves were again to our stern. At 3:15 PM we crossed our "crumb line" under the Varrazano Narrows Bridge at the entrance to the New York Harbor, completing the Down East Circle Loop trip. We traveled 4123 miles since leaving New York City heading north up the Hudson River in June of 2008.
mouth, NH on Sunday, September 13, after a wonderful visit with our friends from GOLD WATCH, and went south along the New H
ampshire coast to Ipswich, MA to visit with our friends from MASCOT. Mary and Scott were in their boat at the harbor entrance to guide us in to their Yacht club and a mooring ball for the night. We spent the afternoon driving around Ipswich and a walk on the beach, then back to their house for a wonderful dinner.
Up Monday morning, and a check on the computer for e-mail messages and the weather report. An e-mail was there from HAPPY CLAMZ informing us that they would be in Sandwich tonight with JUST RELAX and VOYAGER II. S0 why don't we go to Sandwich as well, so we did. We took the Cape Ann Canel to Gloucester, down through 
Massachusetts Bay to Cape Cod Bay and into Sandwich Harbor at the northern entrance to Cape Cod Canel. Had a nice dinner with the other three boat crews and another looper couple who live in Sandwich.
Tuesday we all went our seperate ways. We went east along Cap Cod to Dennis to meet dear friends and former boss from my days working in Boston. Art and Mary Ann came to the marina to pick us up, have lunch together, and spend the afternoon at their Cap home.
Wednesda
y found us heading back west, through the Cape Cod Canal, through Woods Hole, and back east to Hyannis. As the day wore on, the wind kept building from the NE, and the waves got bigger. They were a good 4-5' as we entered the harbor at Hyannis, glad to be in out of rocking and rolling.
We were up early Thursday and on our way to th
e ferry dock, on our fold up bikes, by 7:35. The first high speed ferry left at 8:00. We arrived at the ferry dock, baught our 
tickets, folded up the bikes and carried them on as baggage, and we were off for Nantucket. On the way out of the harbor we passed ODYSSEE docked between the 60 foot plus sport fishing boats. The one to the left is a new Hatteras. This boat cruises just under 40 Kts, so the trip, dock to dock is just an hour. Out in Nantucket sound the wind was blowing a good 25 and the waves were 5-6', a good day not to be on our own boat. Upon arrival, put the bikes back together, and spend the day touring the island. We were back at the ferry landing at 5:00 to take the last slow ferry back to Hyannis, getting back to the mainland at 8:30.
The weather forcast for Friday was moderate winds from the SW in the morning with 1-2' seas, building to 3' in the afternoon. We decided to head out and see how far west we could get before the waves got uncomfortable. We pocked our nose out of the harbor at 8:30 and it was already blowing 20. The waves weren't too bad yet because the tideal current and the wind were the same direction, but every wave we hit put a load of spray in our face. We put ODYSSEE up onto a plane and headed west. By 9:00 the wind was up to 25 and the waves were approaching 3', still manageable b
ut very wet. Sure is nice to have a windshield and wipers. It was obvious that things would get progressively worse as the wind continued to blow and the tideal current turned against the wind. So we bailed at Falmouth at about 10:30, tied up at the city marina, and washed the boat down. A cold front came through Friday night, the wind switched to the NW and continued to blow 20-25 Saturday morning, slowely dieing as the day went on. We decided to wait until Sunday before we move. We spend the day biking to Woods Hole.
It's Sunday, September 20, and the weather is as forcast, light winds, calm seas, and sunny. Our plan is to move to the Newport, RI area with a stop at Cuttyhunk. The current situation was against us early in the day, so we elected to leave about 10:30 so we would get as much push as possible. We got to Cuttyhunk at about 1:00, went into the harbor, turned around, and left again. Stopping was going to be a bit of an ordeal and take at least an hour to just get in and out again, before we even started walking around. So back on our heading towards Newport. They have had their annual boat show going on this weekend and on Tuesday the 12-Meter World Championships start with at least 25 12's here, so we weren't sure we could even find a place to stop. We had an anchorage in the Sakonnet River if nothing else worked. We did f
ind a spot on a floating anchored dock in Brenton Cove, and that is where we are spending the night.
On Monday we were up early, bikes in the dingy, and off to town at 8:15. The annual boat show was packing up and the 12-meter boats were moving in. Saw the historic sites, walked part of the "cliff walk", and saw a few 12-Meter boats tunning up. Back to the boat at 4:00, bikes back to the boat in the dingy, and on our way to Point Judith for a night on the hook.
We pulled up the anchor and were underway by 8:00, headed for Block Island. We went into The Great Salt Pond New Harbor, picked up a town mooring ball, lowered the dingy, loaded in the bikes, and went into the dingy dock. Bikes were assembled and we were off to see the island by 11:15. Before lunch we biked out to the South East Light House, the highest light on the east coast. 16 years ago the lighthouse and lighthouse keepers quarters were moved back from the cliff for fear the structure was going to colapse with the cliff into the sea, preserving the structure as a National Landmark. Back to town for lunch and ice cream, some more looking around, and then back to the marina about 4:30, ready to go back to the boat.
Wednesday we planned on meeting one of Claria's college classmates and her husband who live in East Haddam, CT. The original plan was to meet Kari in Mystic, but the only reasonable priced marina was full with boats being pulled for winter storage. We also had an oportunity to use another boating friends mooring ball in the Niantic River, but we weren't sure how we would get to shore from that mooring ball. We called Brian and Jan to ask where to take our dingy in and found they were only about 4 hours behind us and would be getting into the Niantic Bay Yacht Club later in the afternoon, and why don't we go into the Yacht Club, pick up a mooring ball there, and have Kari meet us at the YC. So that is what we did. Plans can sure change in a hurry! We had a nice visit and dinner at Kari and Phil's home.
Finding out that Brian and Jan would be at the Niantic Bay YC on Thursday, we delayed our departure so we could have lunch together, which we did. We had a nice lunch after toasting their succesful completion of the Down East Circle Loop. They will only be home for about three weeks and then will head south in their boat to the Bahamas for the winter. We will see them in November as they pass through Beaufort on their way south. After lunch we traveled west about 30 miles to the Thimble Islands where we anchored for the night.
On Friday morning the wind was blowing strong from the NNE, creating a 3-4' wave on Long Island Sound. We were headed to Port Jefferson. As we left our anchorage we hugged the north shore for several miles until our course to Port Jefferson was SW, putting the waves on our starboard stern corner, and a manageable ride across the sound. We enjoyed an evening with our looper friend from TIME OUT.
By Saturday the wind had rotated to the east, so as we headed out to New York City the waves were again to our stern. At 3:15 PM we crossed our "crumb line" under the Varrazano Narrows Bridge at the entrance to the New York Harbor, completing the Down East Circle Loop trip. We traveled 4123 miles since leaving New York City heading north up the Hudson River in June of 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment