Heading north to go south – Fall, 2023.

Alert: Here comes another long post!

After an active, entertaining summer, it was time to get ready to cut the docklines and head south again for our fifth trip to the Bahamas. But before we went south, we needed to go north. Wait – what?

Our good friends Jeff and Denise W. on SV Infinity had decided to make their first trip south to the Bahamas. Denise was going to retire after the new year, so we had agreed to buddy boat with Jeff who would single-hand down there. But in order to buddy boat, he needed to get his boat from Groton to Cambridge, MD.

That’s how on Labor Day weekend, Jeff B and I found ourselves dropping off our car in Baltimore at a storage lot and taking the Amtrak to New London. We were very much looking forward to traveling with Jeff W and seeing what it was like to sail for a length of time on a larger boat (he has a Catalina 34).

One last look for awhile (for us) at the UConn Avery Point campus next to Shenny.

Although there wasn’t any wind (typical), the weather smiled on us for the first leg of the trip. We went from Groton to Port Jefferson where we anchored for a few days, and actually went into town for the first time.

A beautiful sunset for Jeff W’s first evening of his adventure.

Jeff B and I have anchored in Port Jefferson several times, but we’ve never been into the town. This time we found a marina where we could tie up the dinghy for $10. Jeff W. has some ancestors from Port Jefferson that were involved in the Culper Spy Ring, so we did a self-guided tour checking out some of the related historical buildings.

The Samuel Thompson House. C. 1700, this is one of the best examples of colonial timber frame construction. Samuel Thompson and his son were farmers, Revolutionary War Patriots, and town leaders.

The Setauket Presbyterian Church and Cemetery. The present church was built in 1812 and contains the grave of spy Abraham Woodhull.

It was a VERY hot day, so by the time we were finished walking around it was time to quench our thirst with a beer at the local brewery, followed by an ice cream chaser. While we were getting ice cream, Jeff W was able to see one of the delights of cruising when we unexpectedly ran into cruising friends there!

As far as the brewery goes, you have to understand that I don’t like beer. I’m a hard alcohol or cider gal, and I have yet to find a beer that I like. I figured I’d have a cider while Jeff B and Jeff W had beers. But when I told the bartender that I didn’t like beer, she told me there was a beer for everyone and suggested I try a sour. Damned if she wasn’t right! There IS a beer for everyone! Unfortunately, I discovered later that afternoon that sours have lactose in them, and I am lactose intolerant unless I take two Lactaids (which I took when I had the ice cream, but apparently the damage was already done from the sour). Safe to say, I will be sticking with my stance that I don’t like beer.

I’m happy because I don’t yet realize that there is lactose in this sour that I’m drinking.

The next day we were off to Port Washington, one of Jeff B’s and my favorite stops on Long Island Sound.

It’s almost impossible to go to Port Jefferson without sharing the channel with the ferry either entering or exiting. Fortunately, it’s a wide channel!

We were lucky enough to spend 4 days in Port Washington while we waited for a window to go down the New Jersey coast. It was just enough time for Jeff W to thoroughly enjoy the pleasures of Port Washington (like Carlos Pizza). The two Jeffs even had a chance to go metal detecting where they had an unexpected adventure.

It was supposed to rain later that day, but they figured they could do some finding and get back to the boat before the rain started. I, having no interest in metal detecting, decided it was a good morning to do laundry. We all piled in Jeff W’s dinghy where they dropped me off before heading to the park and tying off their dinghy at the dock. After going through an open gate, the two Jeffs had been metal detecting for only around 1/2 hour when the sky opened and it started pouring rain.

Running for the dinghy, they discovered that the gate was closed and locked. Uh-oh. They tried to find a different way to get around the fence to the dinghy dock with no luck. By now they were soaking wet with no way to get to the dinghy, so they called the Port Washington Water Taxi (who runs the moorings) and the driver was kind of enough to pick them up at another spot, take them to the dinghy, and then tow it back so the two Jeffs could stay dry on the taxi. Now that’s customer service! We do love Port Washington!

A union was having a conflict with management and had set up the traditional rat to let everyone know. When so much has changed over the years, it’s nice to see that some traditions (like the inflatable rat) continue.

After a few days we had a weather window to go down the Jersey Coast, up the Delaware, and over to the Chesapeake. It was going to be a motorfest, but that’s nothing to complain about on that route. In addition, this was our first time doing the trip with more than the two of us, and Jeff W’s first overnight.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the trip down the East River (Jeff W’s first time!):

Jeff W is ready to go through Hell Gate.

Getting ready to head down the East River.

Seeing the Empire State Building is always fun.

Lots of ferry traffic. These guys are completely professionals. No concerns about them whatsoever.

The iconic Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline. This leg of the trip never gets old.

We popped out of New York Harbor and started working our way down the coast. What a difference having three people on board makes! Our watches were 4 hours on, 8 hours off, so we were actually able to get some good sleep overnight. Well, Jeff W was so excited that he didn’t really sleep much, but Jeff B and I definitely slept!

It was a calm overnight and we were making good time, so even though the current would be primarily against us, we continued through the Cape May Canal and halfway up the Delaware, dropping the anchor in Cohansey Creek. Jeff W was glad we had made it so far, but he agreed that fighting the current on the Delaware Bay sucks. It’s a boring enough stretch as it is without having to go slower than necessary!

The next morning Jeff W started to raise the anchor and realized there was an issue. His anchor rode (which consisted of some chain and primarily line) was wrapped around his wing keel. Hmmm. This was a first. We weren’t going anywhere until that was resolved. Working together, Jeff W got into his dinghy and started trying to turn the boat. Initially it wasn’t working, but then he pushed the boat the other way and we started quickly hauling up the line. Success!

We had timed this stretch so we would have the current in our favor, so we zoomed up the Delaware, across the C&D Canal, and dropped the anchor in Worton Creek. Eight days after leaving Groton, we were on the Chesapeake – definitely a record of us!

The obligatory picture of the nuclear power plant on the Delaware Bay.

Next up was Annapolis – as long time readers know, one of our favorite spots on the East Coast. Jeff W had been there by land before and enjoyed it, but being there on a boat is a whole different experience. He was thoroughly charmed!

We had made such good time that we needed to slow down a bit. After all, it was only mid-September and we didn’t want to get too far south when hurricane season was still going strong. So we decided to spend a week in Annapolis on one of the Spa Creek $25 moorings before moving on to Cambridge. There we would pick up Pegu Club and start buddy boating per the definition of the phrase.

While in Annapolis we took Jeff W to Davis’ Pub (a local hangout in Eastport).

Jeff W also had his first official cruisers get-together. Our good friends on Mer du Jour had arrived, so we joyfully got together with them and some of their boating friends at one of Annapolis’ Irish pubs. The owner was good friends with one of the group and kindly sent us all a free shot of Irish whisky.

We took Jeff to Bacon Sails (an excellent marine consignment store), and we made a last-minute decision to go to the Renaissance Faire which was still going on! It was Jeff W’s first Faire, and he had a great time (how can you not?).

Jeff B and Jeff W also spent a day doing some metal detecting at Sandy Point State Park which gave me the unexpected opportunity for some alone time! Wow!

People often express amazement that Jeff and I have been together on our 30′ boat since August of 2018. We are often asked how we do it, and how we it’s possible that we are still together. LOL! Fortunately, we make a great pair! Plus, we each have our side of the boat in the main cabin where we get “alone” time by putting in our AirPods and watching movies/tv shows/YouTube videos/general surfing. But TRULY alone time is rare unless Jeff is metal detecting or I’m out for a walk. But now I was going to have almost half of a day to do whatever I wanted, and I was excited!

So what did I do? I started out by treating myself to a late breakfast at Chick n’ Ruth’s downtown, and then I decided to go to the Naval Academy to see John Paul Jones’ crypt.

Commodore John Paul Jones was a great Naval leader of the American Revolution who died in Paris at the age of 45 during the French Revolution. He was buried on property owned by the French Royal family, and that property was sold four years later by France’s revolutionary government where the cemetery was subsequently forgotten.

Over a century later, a search began to find his body so that it could be brought back to the United States. The cemetery had been built over but was discovered, and basement walls and streets were tunneled through until his casket was found and disinterred.

The casket was ultimately laid to rest in the Naval Academy’s Chapel in 1913. It’s very impressive, with a 21-ton sarcophagus supported by bronze dolphins, and columns of black and white marble. Inscribed around the base of the tomb are the names of the Continental Navy ships that he commanded during the American Revolution.

I wrapped up the day with a self-guided tour of the Maryland State House (I’m such a government nerd.) The two legislative chambers are impressive:

And so are the glass ceilings:

Surprisingly, the State House also had a beautiful silver collection made in 1906 by silversmiths in Baltimore. The set shows scenes from the history of all of Maryland’s counties and Baltimore city, and the economy and culture of the state are symbolized in the borders. I spent quite a bit of time looking at each piece – it was fascinating.

Eventually it was time to meet the two Jeff’s at the dinghy to head back to the boat. We all had a great day in our own ways.

One of the nights in Annapolis, I woke up around 2:00 a.m. because I heard Jeff W get up. I asked him what was going on. It turns out that he woke up because he heard voices coming from the bridge near our boat. It was a group of drunk twenty-somethings encouraging their friend “Dave” to jump off the bridge. Jeff W heard this for a bit, and then he heard a “ploop” which was Dave hitting the water.

At that point I had woken up, and Dave’s friends, newly soberish, were encouraging him to swim over to the bank. “Swim, Dave! Over there, Dave! Swim!” I suggested that we call 911 and Jeff W was thinking about getting his dinghy to rescue drunk Dave when we heard the cavalry coming. Fire trucks, police, ambulance, the whole works. At that point we decided to sit back and watch the show.

It was clear that this was a not-uncommon occurrence, because the rescue service quickly got to work. They were peering over the bridge, looking for Dave, and at one point one of them clapped his hands twice, hard, and said in a deep voice, “Hey! Moron! Over here!” Jeff W and I burst out laughing at that point. Ultimately, Dave was rescued and presumably he was taken off to the drunk tank to sober up. Dave became a running joke for us for the rest of the trip.

After a great week it was off to Cambridge where Jeff W planned to take care of some boat work for a few days and we were going to finalize our preparations to take Pegu Club south for the fifth time. Jeff W had what he declared was the best hamburger ever at RAR Brewing, and then we were off to head south in earnest.

It’s always a relief when the Jersey Coast and the Delaware Bay are in our rear view mirror.

We ended up waiting a week in Port Washington. The remnants of Ian combined with another system leaving us hiding in the boat for several days. The wind blew over 25 knots and the rain poured, but we were on an excellent mooring with good protection so we spent the days reading, surfing the Internet, baking brownies, etc. Before and after the weather we were able to restock our groceries and the booze cabinet, grab some pizza from Carlo’s Pizza (our favorite), do laundry, and Jeff even was able to go metal detecting for an afternoon.

A beautiful sunset before the weather came in.

It was clear from the various Facebook groups that the weather had caused a log jam of cruisers in western Long Island, all waiting to continue south. Normally our next stop would be Atlantic Highlands, but it sounded like EVERYONE was going there. It’s a good spot, but the anchorage isn’t huge and if we couldn’t get in behind the break wall we were going to be exposed with a wind shift the following night. So we decided to switch things up a bit and reserve a mooring ball at the Sheepshead Bay Yacht Club in Brooklyn.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip down the East River:

Our two-night stay at Sheepshead Bay was excellent. It was a true working man’s yacht club with very friendly members, and it was a no-brainer to decide that from now on it will be our stop to stage for the New Jersey coast. It always takes a good 45 minutes to get from Atlantic Highlands into the ocean, and rounding the point at Sandy Hook is always a sloppy pain in the tail when there’s any wind. From Sheepshead Bay we were out in the ocean within minutes – a much nicer experience.

Going by Coney Island on our way to Sheepshead Bay.

Before we left Sheepshead Bay we wandered down to Brighton Beach/Little Odessa, and picked up some tasty treats at the large Eastern European grocery store there. We wanted to explore some more, but Jeff’s foot wasn’t 100% yet, so we decided to save it for next time. Despite countless visits to New York City, it was an area we had never been to, and we enjoyed it a lot.

This is the kind of local joint my dad would have loved. Open since 1970, the decor appears untouched, and the beef sandwiches were tasty!

Artistic sailboats in Sheepshead Bay. I thought it looked cool.

After two nights at Sheepshead Bay it was time to make the trip to Cape May. We had a great forecast with 10-16 knots predicted from the west and northwest, and a full moon rising before the sunset and falling after the sunrise. We couldn’t have asked for anything better.

We actually sailed for 2/3 of the trip, which was the most we’ve ever been able to do. The west wind gave us virtually no fetch until it picked up and clocked a bit shortly past Atlantic City. At that point the Jersey Coast demanded her pound of flesh and things were VERY sloppy with a steady 20 knots of wind. The fact that it was only 41 degrees out didn’t help, but we powered through – not like there was any choice!

We’ve noticed that every time we go along the Jersey Coast, the sea state gets lousy in the same area. It’s around where the coastline bends farther away from the rhumb line, just past Atlantic City. So we decided that for future trips we’re going to continue to hug the coast south of Atlantic City, even though it will add some mileage. The motion comfort will more than make up for the added distance.

The flotilla that began on the East River continued, and we sailed with at least 25 other boats that day and night – most heading to Cape May. Cape May isn’t the largest anchorage but we squeezed in, and after a four hour nap we felt very refreshed.

The anchorage is right by the boot camp facilities for the Coast Guard. We could hear them chanting.

An additional ten hours of sleep that night had us bouncing up with the sunrise to move up the Delaware Bay. With two days of virtually no wind, we couldn’t have asked for better conditions to move up that unholy body of water. While we certainly prefer sailing over motoring, if we’re motoring because there’s no wind on the Delaware Bay, that’s definitely a win in our book!

Now THIS is what we like to see on the Delaware Bay!

Cohansey Creek is one of the few anchorages on the Delaware Bay. It’s a nice spot, well-protected from fetch with great holding.

This is our third time on the C&D Canal, but the first time we’ve had a barge pass us.

Beautiful scenery on the upper Chesapeake.

After anchoring at Cohansey Creek the first night (we still stay FAR away from that damn Reedy Island), we landed at Bohemia Bay and put Pegu Club in a slip so we could enjoy a few nights of living on land while we visited with our good friends Kurt and Vanessa, and Jay and Tanya from S/V Minx.

After saying our goodbyes, it was another wind-free motor down to Annapolis where we anchored in Weems Creek and enjoyed the last day of the boat show.

Originally we thought we’d be well south by the time the boat show came around, but the weather delays worked to our benefit. We picked up a few goodies, unexpectedly and delightfully ran into our cruising friend Larry who we last saw in Eleuthera (and will see in the Exumas this winter), and then it was time to continue down the Chesapeake Bay.

Two weeks, two vacations.

So how has it been to be boaters again rather than cruisers? In a word, great! We are so glad that we decided to come back to Shenny and Connecticut for a home base. We’ve been having a wonderful time hanging out with friends, re-visiting favorite places, going for daysails and the occasional weekend getaway, and we’ve been thoroughly enjoying the freedom of hopping into a car whenever we need groceries or want to go somewhere.

Yep, one of our first orders of business when we got back was to buy a used car. It took three days and a few near-misses, but we ended up with a FANTASTIC car – a 2014 VW Passat with only 36,000 miles on it, two owners, and zero accidents. It’s the fanciest car we’ve ever owned – it even has a sunroof! – and it’s going to be SO comfortable to drive across country next month.

But before we turn our sights to our trip west, first we had a long-planned two week vacation with fellow friends from Shenny. I’ll readily admit that up until the week before our departure we weren’t super-enthused about heading out for two weeks. We were still feeling a bit burned out and were searching for our mojo, but as the departure date drew closer we found ourselves getting more and more excited about it, and by the time vacation arrived we were raring to go! Continue reading “Two weeks, two vacations.” →

An unholy body of water.

It was another fun ride down the East River from Port Washington. High winds the day before had stirred up the water but it wasn’t noticeable until after we went under the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. Then it was VERY sloppy for a few hours with the wind on our nose and against the current until we were inside the tip of Sandy Hook. 45 minutes later we were anchored in our regular spot behind the Atlantic Highlands break wall (I think three visits makes it a regular spot, don’t you?).

**We’ll just stay out of this guy’s way as he makes his way towards New York Harbor.**

Now I will readily admit that I was NOT looking forward to going down the Jersey coast. Even though we had a windless, uneventful trip from Cape May to Atlantic Highlands a few months ago, this was going to be the same direction as our trip from hell last fall, and it was absolutely messing with my mind. My nerves were NOT helped when I saw the waves near the hook as we went inside towards Atlantic Highlands.

Continue reading “An unholy body of water.” →

Keeping it fresh.

One of our goals for this year’s travels is to visit places we haven’t yet seen. We had a great time last year and while we want to return to some old favorites, we thought it would keep things fresh if we made a point of stopping in new harbors and towns. Given that, we took a look at the chart and selected a few interesting spots to check out as we worked out way west along Long Island Sound.

Although we had hoped to visit Mattituck again, the weather wasn’t going to cooperate so we bypassed it and went straight to Port Jefferson for the night. From there it was a quick hop to Northport, NY which was a new destination for us. There wasn’t much wind until we turned into Huntington Bay (which is very large). At that point we went from 1 knot of wind to 18 knots and had a nice sail up to Northport.

Continue reading “Keeping it fresh.” →

Gardiners Bay: it’s a love/hate thing.

We’ve tried multiple times over the years to feel the love for Gardiners Bay in Long Island. The first time we were there was to bring Pegu Club back to Groton after we bought her. She had been kept in Dering Harbor in Shelter Island and we were looking forward to sailing her back. What we ended up with was a hot, humid day with zero wind and the most obnoxious power boaters we had ever encountered. The kind who go full speed on autopilot while hanging out down below without a lookout. Those who were actually at the helm seemed to enjoy going as fast as they could while aiming right at us and then turning at the last minute to see how big a wake they could give us. Jeff vowed he would never return to Gardiners Bay.

The next season we decided to give it another shot. We had a sporty, close-hauled 40 nm sail from Block Island to Three Mile Harbor in Gardiners Bay (that was actually our longest sail until we left to go cruising). Three Mile was a lovely spot with a very large anchorage, excellent holding, and clean, warm water to swim in. We enjoyed it so much that we stayed there for several days before having to motor all of the way home on a hot, humid day with zero wind while being harassed by obnoxious power boaters. Are you starting to see a pattern?

Continue reading “Gardiners Bay: it’s a love/hate thing.” →

It’s true what they said.

As we talked to various cruisers about our plans for heading north, everyone assured us that it would take much less time than the trip south. The weather would be better, and with the additional daylight we could make more progress each day. Well, they were absolutely right. Going north is MUCH faster.

Granted, we’ve done a few passages in order to get some miles under the keel, but there’s no question that this has been a quicker trip for us. There have been very few weather delays, and the warmer temperatures leave us less fatigued so we can put in longer days.

Readers of this blog know that typically we move along very slowly. We like to take our time and poke along. So why the big hurry? Well, we would like to spend some time this summer cruising in southern New England again. But before we can do that, we have a few projects that we want to do on Pegu Club, we have some medical appointments to take care of in Connecticut, and we want to visit family in Rochester and the west coast. We also want to leave to start heading south much earlier this time – ideally by mid-August. Between all of those things, if we want to have ANY time to cruise our home waters we need to put the pedal to the metal and get north. If we went at our usual slow pace, we’d have to turn around and leave as soon as we arrive!

Honestly though, this pace is working out just fine for us. We wouldn’t want to do it both ways, but we do think that we’ll stick with this strategy in the future – take our time going south while moving quickly north.

Continue reading “It’s true what they said.” →