Ghosting along on a beautiful day.

Last weekend was a stunner – clear skies, temperatures in the low 80’s – basically mid-August in late September.  So even though the forecast was for very light winds there was no way we were going to pass it up, especially with so few weekends left in the sailing season.

After Jeff got out of work on Saturday we drove down to the boat.  I have to say, after spending two weeks on Pegu Club I was really missing her, so I was very excited.  We settled in, grilled up some burgers, and enjoyed a gorgeous, placid evening.  The wind forecast for Sunday was 5-6 mph, and we were hoping it wouldn’t drop lower because if it did, we weren’t going to be sailing anywhere.

Sunday morning was nice and lazy – and calm.  Flat water, flags hanging straight down.  There was zero wind.  But it was supposed to pick up to that whopping 6 mph in the afternoon, so we held out hope and headed off to Kitchen Little in Mystic for breakfast.  Although I suppose given that we didn’t actually eat until 11:00 a.m., it might be more accurately described as brunch.

Whispers of wind started stirring around 1:30, so I tore Jeff away from his iPad where he was keeping tabs on the Bills game and we headed out.  Even though there was barely enough wind to sail, there were a TON of boats out enjoying this special treat from mother nature so late in the season.

The forecast held true and we ended up with around 6-7 mph.  Just enough to peacefully ghost along, making one knot against the current.  We had a major chill going on, and even chatted for a bit with the guy in the sailboat next to us.  Because when you’re both drifting along at one knot, you can do that kind of thing.   It wasn’t frustrating in the slightest – not like when we were on vacation.  After all, we didn’t have anywhere to be and we were sailing in short sleeves in late September.  What was there to be irritated about?

For two seasons now, for no particular reason, we’ve headed east when we’ve exited Pine Island.  This time we decided to head west.  It gave us a closer view of New London’s Ledge Light, which we can also see at a distance from our mooring.

Ledge Light was built in 1909.  According to Lighthousefriends.com, supposedly local residents didn’t want to look at something that was out of place among their large and historic homes.  The result is one of the most striking and unusual-looking lighthouses in the United States.  It’s certainly one of our favorites.

After several hours of chillaxing, we called it a day and reluctantly headed back in.  Though it was far from remarkable as far as the wind was concerned, it was certainly a weekend to savor.

This weekend we’re heading to Rochester for the wedding of Jeff’s nephew, but Monday’s forecast is looking good at the moment, so I may leave work early on Monday so we can go have some more fun on Pegu Club.  She’s scheduled to be hauled out during the week of October 20th so we’d like to take advantage while we can!