Stuck in Long Island

Well, it just goes to show that you shouldn't be too pleased with yourself, because sometimes things just turn around & bite you.
Almost 2 weeks ago we were so very impressed that we had made such good progress & were sitting pretty in Oyster Bay at the west end of Long Island Sound. Well,guess what, we are still there!!!!!!! Well almost.. we did move 25 miles to the next harbour east but I think thats because otherwise they were going to start charging us residency taxes.



The rain didn't stop these guys from their daily rowing practice. 

We have had 2 days of the most torrential rain...deluge, downpour,torrents,monsoon cats & dogs, slanting stair-rods,,just like someone had a hosepipe dowsing the boat. We were boat bound. Couldn't get off the boat for 2 days. The only good thing is that we now know that all the time we spent last year replacing leaking ports & caulking every nook & cranny we could find, has paid off. Not one dribble or drop of water down below. We are VERY happy with that as anyone who has had a drip on their face in the middle of the night will attest to!
After 2 days of rain, we had 2 days of howling winds, then just when things started to look better in came the fog. Just like a good old Nova Scotia pea souper. Even though we have radar it didn't feel safe to go out as the commercial shipping up & down the sound is very busy. These ships are huge & we did not want to tangle with them.

So... there was a break in all this nonsense of weather & we crept along the coast to Port Jefferson for a change of scene . However, the weather is no better here. We have poked our nose out of the harbour 3 times & turned around to come right back in. 20 knots on the nose with a counter current just isn't fun any more,
So, what do you do on a boat when you get stuck for 2 weeks. Well, one thing is to perform a little surgery. One day I  jumped off the boat on to a dock ( very gracefully) line in hand to tie us off, & got a huge splinter in my finger, wedged in deep, from the splintery dock. We dug around but it was in deep & hurt like hell. So, doc to the rescue with his bag of tricks. Ring block , big needle & out came the splinter. Finger good as new.!!

After that, we read a few books, did a little knitting, baked some bread,did some laundry, drank a beer or two, slept a lot & cursed the weather.. didn't make any difference. so we resorted to a game of Pass The Pigs...

We did a little hiking to Theodore Roosevelts home on Long Island ( Sagamore Hill) which was very nice. Looks a bit like Bells house on Beinn Breagh. Oh, & we ate some oysters of course being in Oyster Bay.
The weather forecast for tomorrow looks promising.. patchy fog in the morning so it looks like we can go across the sound to the Connetticutt river.

Connecticut River Light we made it!!!!!
Then we took the tide next day and escaped from Long Island sound through the Race where the current runs at 2 to 3 knots. Here is the chartplotter showing Warm Rain at Warp speed

We are now sitting in Newport Rhode Island in the fog of course amongst all the fancy yachts hoping to be able to make Cape Cod this afternoon. We are getting close to home  but in no hurry all is well.

Warm Rain out 

Norfolk to Oyster Bay Long Island Sound

We left Norfolk almost 2 weeks ago with good weather intending to cruise slowly up the Chesapeake River however like all well made plans..... We moved up to Solomons Island one of our favorite stops on the western shore and as we were anchoring we got a call on the radio from old friends Frank and Patti on Dream Weaver who are on their way back to Connecticut from the Bahamas. We tried to anchor close to them and put on a demonstration of how not to anchor. We put the hook down at least 4 times and dragged half way across the harbour until we eventually moved to another spot and found good holding. We poured the evening cocktails and hid in the cockpit embarassed while the whole anchorage had enjoyed our problems for their evenings entertainment. The travelling weather was so good that we moved with Dream Weaver the next day to Galesville and enjoyed dinner with them at a waterside restaurant for our first taste this year of Maryland crab cakes and a chance to catch up on all the cruising news from the Bahamas. From Galesville we moved a few miles up the western shore to Annapolis.

Annapolis is full of expensive sailboats and is the sailing capital of the Chesapeake. The Town docks along the waterfront is nicknamed ego alley because of the chance tie up your boat by the waterfront bars and be seen! The building in the background is the Maryland State house  and home of the Governor of Maryland.
For those of you who are fans of " The Wire" here is a picture of Rob as Carcetti on the steps of the Statehouse waiting to see the Governor. We didn't get in.... one crew member did not have  her ID , so we were out on our ear!

On our second night in Annapolis the wind shifted east & we rock & rolled alnight as the swell from the wind & a huge storm offshore made this "protected anchorage" not so pleasant. At 7 am we were up anchor & out of there headed up the bay. Well.. we caught a good tide & before we knew it we were barelling through the C & D canal at 9knots & no turning back. At that point we realised that we were not dawdling anymore but hell bent on a mission for  Cape May!! 

Next day we were barelling down the Delaware River, close to the nuclear power plan & dodging the big ships.  

Now comes the exciting part. Cape May has a back door entry to the harbour via a canal (the cape may canal) which saves a long detour around the cape. However, there are two bridges to pass under which have only 55 foot clearance... no problem, our mast is 52 feet plus one extra foot for antenna, light wind vane etc. 2 feet to play with, should be a snap, never a problem before. Unfortunately we neglected to take into account the 18 inches of flood water blown into the canal from the storm offshore, plus its high tide.  
We were dead lucky that all we left behind at the bridge was the wind vane & mast head light. The skipper needed a stiff drink when we got the hook down. The smile on his face is hysteria & relief. The jeans went to the laundry next day...

Dumbest thing we ever did.
So.. lets push on, as we have one day only of a very marginal weather window.. the offshore storm has left a good swell running  but winds will be fairly easy for the next day so its go time. 20 hours up the Jersey  shore to Atlantic Highlands just south of New York. I hate this stretch of shore line.. no good harbours to go in if the weather cuts up & its dead ugly. We dodged the bullet.. seas were rolly, a gravol day, but got better as day went along, & we both knew the alternative was 7 days in Cape May.. no thanks.
So .. 20 hours later we dropped the hook at 2am ,had a large celebratory drink or two & slept like babies until the fishing fleet woke us up at 6am .
We took off next morning for New York harbor across the bay and under the magnificent Verrazano Narrows bridge into New York harbour.

 Its always a thrill to sail past the Statue of Liberty and all the skyscrapers of Manhattan. We caught the tide up the East River and flew trough to Oyster bay in placid Long Island Sound. Where as you will see we are trapped by wet cold Baddeck type weather

Here we are dodging the Staten Island ferry which runs fast from Manhattan to the Jersey shore

 After a great sail through NYC harbour taking in all the sights we are holed up in Oyster Bay in Long Island sound with our first real taste of the stinky spring you have all been having. Cold, wet, foggy & the east wind blowing 25 knots. Ugly.

Good thing.. bread in the oven baking & all boat chores done. This boat looked like a refugee boat when we got here , dirty & messy & then the engine needed a bit of TLC. So scrub, scrub & we're looking a lot better. The crew needs a hair cut but we have loads of hot water for showers so at least we are sweet smelling even if we don't look so hot.

Thats all for now

Warm Rain.. out

   

Beaufort to Norfolk mile 0

Here we are in Norfolk Virginia at mile zero on the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida 992 miles from Stuart where we started our journey and not yet half way home. Our last rest stop was Beaufort NC over 200 miles away and since then we have crossed Pamlico and Albermarle sound and travelled along the rivers and canals of Carolinas outer banks. The whole area is breathtakingly beautiful with birds and wildlife,marshes and creeks but very few good places to stop and we have been anchoring out overnight in some of our favorite creeks and also in some places we have not previously visited.

For the last week our days have started early at sunrise, we raise the anchor and get underway before breakfast, some of our days have been long which means 50 or 60 miles so we need the early start to be sure we will get to our anchorage for the night, Here is a picture of the early start last week with the early morning fog rising off the water.

Some evening we do not reach our anchorage until sunset, Here is Barbara looking quite pensive in a rather marginal anchorage in a creek beside the waterway,fortunately the weather has been good and the biggest problem we have faced in these creeks is the bugs after sunset. We have good old fashioned Canadian screens on all the hatches so only occasionally does a single mosquito get into the boat to torment us all night.

One of the delays on the waterway in North Carolina is the bridges. Many of them are opening swing bridges which are on major highways and of course the cars get priority . Some bridges only open on the hour and do not open at all during rush hour so there always seems to be some urgency to get to the next bridge in time for the opening.

Here are a bunch of boats anxiously waiting for the bridge tender to open the bridge for his 10 o'clock opening.

Approaching Norfolk Virginia from the Sounds is quite a dramatic change of scenery. Norfolk is the base for the US naval fleet on the east coast, the port is a bustling place of barges, ships and naval vessels. Security is very tight as we found when we were escorted past some naval vessels under repair by an armed escort.



                                                                                                                                                                                    

We are currently tied up in Norfolk at the town waterfront marina, its cold and raining. On our previous journey north with the boat we also noticed the temperature change on reaching the Chesapeake. We have moved from 75 degrees every day to 60's and its time to break open the bag of winter clothes and foul weather gear which will be the rule for the remainder of this trip. Next resting place will likely be Annapolis then on to Cape May and New York City.

The crew is still smiling even as the weather gets cool.

We have had a wonderful visit from Henk Vandergiessen who came over to the boat for supper, he now lives in Virginia beach and works in Norfolk. We have not seen him since Katies wedding so it was great to catch up with him.He is an avid fisherman so he brought a gift of fresh caught mahi and fresh Yellowfin tuna steaks...Ahhh sushi for supper tonight, this cruise is turning into a gourmet cruise of the US East coast. The blue crab season has just opened in the Chesapeake so we are looking forward to a crab boil once we can start to move up the river towards Annapolis, we are now definitely in no rush to get home.

My turn now...........

Thursday evening & the winds are laying down a bit so looks like a good day for a sail tomorrow. So, what did I do in Norfolk? First of all its a great place to sit on a boat & watch the river traffic.. huge cargo ships, navy vessels big & small & the ones that fascinate me the most, the tugs & barges. Its amazing to me how the skippers manouever such huge unwieldy vessels. The tugs have incredible power, they send up a huge wake, & how they manage to keep the barges that they push, on line, is beyond me. They are unfailingly polite to a rag tag flotilla of recreational boats who ask the most insane questions. My favourite thing is to listen in to their radio chatter. I have learned a new vocabulary.. two on the head & one on the hip. lovely!! tug boat what are you doing? ..I'm just treading water!! All in a lovely southern drawl. Keeps me amused all day.

Norfolk also has some culture. Yesterday we spent at the Chrysler museum which has a fabulous art collection & a travelling display of Tiffany lamps which were quite amazing. ( the small ones retaled for $400 in 1920 .  I'll have two please ) Today we went to the naval museum & toured the US Wisconsin, a very large battleship. Quite a few years ago, whilst on sea trials it collided with a companion ship & ripped off its whole bow. Now ,if professional sailors can do this it makes me want to really stay out of their way!!

The waterside park has a band playing live music tonight so maybe we will be dancing on the deck!!!!!!

More news next week
Warm Rain.. out