Galilee or Jerusalem?.......from K

We are anchored behind a spit of rocks with a lighthouse flashing on the horizon, barely visible through the Monet-like fog. The eerie sound of a foghorn gives a morbidly sense of solace, signaling that we’re near land and also dangerous rocks. I love being in New England.
It has been our first all-day rainy day since we left in July, but as we listen to the threats of Gustave in the south on the Weather channel, this misty, grey day feels most welcome. At least it keeps the biting black flies away. P has a new strategy: Slap and Suck. He slaps the beasts with a flyswatter then sucks up the carcass with our dirtbuster...it's quite an operation!

The cove we’re in is truly tucked between the towns of Jerusalem and Galilee - the metaphors are endless...

This "ghost ship" appeared out of the fog as we were motoring out of Newport. I saw no-one aboard.

Good spot for a lighthouse here!

New drink - "summer home on the rocks"
and make mine foggy.








Newport 12 meter sloops staging for
a regatta in the harbor

Nantucket-Falmouth-Newport......from P

Wow - lots of catching up to do. The weather in coastal New England has been perfectly beautiful, including good breezes to sail under. Even after our primary genoa sail tore on the way out of Nantucket, the breezes were accommodating and allowed us to continue along.

Morning departure around the point of Nantucket

One of the many mansion views as we sailed into Newport. Um, is Mr. Gatsby home?

A new record under sail! From Falmouth we sailed 45 nautical miles Thursday - all the way to Newport. It was just too perfect to stop sailing until we got there. Newport and Annapolis have an ongoing battle for the title of "sailing capital of the U.S." Newport is a great city for sailors - boasting an easily accessible (by boat or dinghy) charming downtown area, and a unique stop-over place for "weary mariners" known as the Seamen's Church Institute. This attractive but unpretentious building sits on prime property in the midst of the pricy waterfront cafes. It is a not-for-profit facility that feels like a nice hostel, offering cheap food, overnight lodging for mariners, a well stocked library, a chapel, bathrooms and washer/dryer facilities. We had lunch there but overnighted aboard Senara. What a great concept! Every port city should have one of these.

At the Institute

Our entertainment in Newport included gawking at high-tech race boats sitting next to little unkempt sloops, and - oh yes- going to a local theater to see The Boss (Mr. Springsteen)'s concert film, "live in Barcelogna." We found ourselves hollering and singing along - then a nighttime dinghy ride back out to Senara who was sitting patiently tied to her mooring ball.

K's favorite new boat name....

Of course, Newport was the original site for the America's Cup races - and the culture here is still centered around sailing. But I can't quite grant this town the title of sailing capital of the U.S. - there are just too many other great places!

A Necessary Snafu........................from K

Sailing out of Nantucket was gorgeous and brisk until the halyard loop on our genoa snapped and our big billowing sail was languishing in the Nantucket Sound. Pulling a sail in from the water is a lot harder than hoisting it up but we did it - and now we have one more exciting experience to add to our adventure. Once again, I was impressed with how well P & I work together in a crisis. Of course P is always the decision maker and I just try to assist and anticipate the next consequential disaster. "What do you need for me to do?" is my crisis mantra. I'm not sure if I'm talking to P or God at such times!
I think we kinda needed this problem. We were both getting a bit of the duldroms and we couldn't decide if it was because we were having to begin our northern treck home or because we had hit our 7th week out and the novelty was beginning to wear thin. Nonetheless, nothing makes us communicate better than a good problem to solve together. As our good friends Liz and Andy say, "when you get lemons, make lemonade." So we hoisted our brand new storm sail, which turned out to be perfect for our brisk day and found a sail repair marina in Falmouth, MA. We LOVE McDougal's! They could not have been more accommodating. Although it sounds like all we meet are great people, that's not so. We just focus on our angels. Rick repaired our sail better than new, I did laundry, and P & I sat in the cozy marina lounge until late last night watching the Dem. Convention - I'll leave comments about that to the pundits - and perhaps another blogsite.
P & I slept so hard last night that we woke up exhausted. It was the first time in weeks that we were not anchored out or tied to a mooring ball. No matter how tired we are, the rolling, bumping, tinging of boats and anchor lines wake us during the night. We didn't know it, but we needed an uninterrupted night of quiet sleep. Yeah, I do miss my bed.
As I write, we are motoring through Woods Hole Passage on our way to Westport, MA. Mom, if I see Paul Newman, I'll give him a kiss for you.

turning point ......... from P

I guess it had to happen. We have reached the point in our trip where it is time to turn around and start back tracking to good ol' Hampton Roads. As I write this we have just returned to Senara from a day-long trek around the town of Nantucket. Another port in the New England islands steeped in history and tastefully preserved. The downtown area is full of high-end shops, old book stores and galleries; the residential streets are cobblestone, manicured, and charming. The whaling museum is a must-see, as the American whaling industry was born here and revolved around this island for more than a century - right up until 1929! The whaling ships from Nantucket were the accidental explorers of the far flung islands in the Pacific as they hunted whales around the globe. One whaling excursion might last for 5 years! It makes our little trip pale in comparison - on the other hand I haven't had to boil any blubber. Yet. I did walk down to the fishing boats and bought a few really really fresh fillets off of one of the "bait boys." While waiting for my fillets I noticed a few people gathering around on the pier - and there he was - a 360 pound Mako Shark coming off the boat! In addition to tourism, a lot of people here still make their living from the sea. Check out the shark below.

Nantucket wharf area

Nantucket neighborhood

Fresh shark anyone?

Beautiful wooden racing sloops ready to go!

Some of our more upscale boat-neighbors, and I didn't have my ogling binoculars with me!

----------------------------------------

We have sailed 1,052 nautical miles since leaving our creek. I have mixed emotions about turning around - I am beginning to miss home - but we have another thousand miles of exploring to do. There have been a number of bypassed coastal towns, anchorages, and port-cities along the way where we said "we'll stop there on the way back" including Newport, the Connecticut River, and the entire northern coastline of Long Island. One of the aspects of this trip that I love - we just never know where we are going until we look at the chart, listen to the weather, and pull the anchor. All I know right now is that we will have a strong favorable current early tomorrow morning headed in the direction of Woods Hole, MA. So we will be sipping coffee at the helm by 6:00 and hoisting sails by 6:30. Thoughts of home will just make the sailing even better.

no vines here.........from P

We did not expect to like Martha's Vineyard. We expected touristy commercialism, souvineer shops and T shirt outlets in town. But as soon as we entered the little harbor of Edgartown on the SE end of the island we were charmed by the cedar shake homes, cabanas, and local restaurants tucked behind rocky shoals and beaches. What a great little walking town. Narrow streets with small gardens framing old, nicely kept homes mixed with quaint shops. We kept looking for Woody Allen or Mia Farrow. No luck yet.

Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick Island are separated by a very narrow inlet that widens into an accommodating boat basin. The current visibly rips through the inlet - between the little ferry landing sites near a certain infamous bridge location. I thought I might ask some of the locals about "Ted's bridge incident" but K sensibly talked me out of it.

I can see why people are attracted to this place and my hat is off to the powers-that-be; they have managed to retain the old fashioned New England charm here. I liked it so much I had to find a T shirt outlet and buy myself one.

The Chappaquiddick Ferry

A view from the street

Blue Guitar........................from K

Block Island is the Outer Banks of northeast, but better! It's the vacation island for the New Englanders - and others. We were four boats away from Eric Clapton anchored on his boat, Blue Guitar. We actually dinghied ten feet away from him as he was sitting in his cockpit, but of course P & I were too busy admiring the boat to realize it was Eric until he was cruising out of the harbor. Oh well - I doubt he would have invited us aboard even if we had waved and stared and begged for an autograph.

The water is crystal clear here - really! We could actually see our anchor hit bottom. The beaches are long and dramatic with cliffs and houses on the bluff, and the water is coooold. We ate lobster at Finn's and wandered the cute little shops - who buys all this stuff? Our favorite entertainment is still dinghying around as the sun is setting guessing the make and year of boats and imagining our "next" boat. No worries, Senara, you're still our best girl!

Eric Clapton - headed out of the Block Island inlet. You can see his head just above the stern rail. Nice, classic yacht with character (for a power boat).

I have never seen so many boats at anchor in one place.

Block island - google map link

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4DKUS_enUS269US270&q=block+island&um=1&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=imagesnum=1&ct=image

The water is crystal clear, but really cold.

Lobsta! At the local place.

mystic pizza...............from P

I was very dissapointed that Julia Roberts did not wait on us, but we had to admit that this was one of the best pizzas we have ever eaten. Yes it does exist and it is a great little place. I recommend that you find a table facing away from the screen which runs the movie constantly over and over again. We ate the whole thing, and we are still paying the price - but it was really good.

The little town of Mystic is a treat. Galleries, nautical shops, ice cream parlors, and pubs are all shoehorned together along a very walkable mile or so beginning at the old drawbridge. We did not make it to the world famous Mystic Seaport museum area, as we have been there before by car. We just gorged on pizza, met a fellow boater-banker in a great little Irish Pub (hi Wendy & John, I'm counting on you to make Wachovia's stock go back up), and shopped as though we were really going to buy something.

But admittedly, or maybe predictably, my favorite part was sailing into town - ogling the grand collection of sailboats lying at anchor, and sailing with some of the old schooner replicas that

were coming out of the harbor. Onward....... to Block Island. I hear that's the place for lobsta!

dinghies, trains, and automobiles...from P

One of our many unplanned stops (actually they are all unplanned) was yesterday as we anchored just outside the little harbor town of Millford, CT. Once K figured out that we were only a "few miles" from New Haven, home of Yale University, we decided to do some land-side sight seeing. So we fired up the dinghy and bounced through the chop for about a half mile into the Millford Yacht Club where the helpful dockmaster allowed us to keep the dink tied up for the day. We called for a cab, waited a half hour, started walking, eventually caught a cab to the train station, caught a metro train, walked another mile or so, and finally found ourselves in downtown New Haven and on the campus of Yale. We found the welcome center, signed up for a campus tour and walked for another two miles or so around New Haven on the tour. If you want to attend an Ivy League school that has a nice walkable contiguous campus - don't go to Yale. It is scattered throughout the fairly large city of New Haven, which itself is dingy and unattractive. Once you get into the gates of any of the twelve "colleges" you step from a city street into a gorgeous courtyard surrounded by impressive stone buildings mimicking the architecture of Oxford. Each of the colleges has its own flavor, and its own mini-campus. The library, which was disigned and built to resemble a cathedral, feels like the hub around which all the spokes revolve. But the colleges are flung throughout the city - and I never did see Rory Gilmore's dorm! Nevertheless, some of the architecture is impressive. Even more impressive - you can graduate from Yale with a C- average and be the President of the United States!

Yale's library. It is a definite "wow"

The clock tower

After lots of walking and a stop at Starbucks we trodded off to the train station, got lost, got found again, rode the train back to Millford, called a cab, called again - and again. After an hour and a half wait, the cab finally showed up and deposited us at the yacht club. Apparently there are two taxi cabs in Millford and one was broken down. The cove had gotten whipped up into a big chop from the strong SW winds and though the dinghy ride was rough and wet, the spray felt good. It really was a fun and interesting day ashore but we were both glad to get back home -bobbing up and down aboard Senara. As it turns out, we really don't miss cars, horns, traffic, crowds, or schedules very much.

where we goin'?..............from K

Long Island Sound is lovely - deep water with gorgeous coves to anchor in. We sailed 37 nautical miles yesterday with no assistance from the motor - a record for this trip. The wind was good, the clouds were puffy and cartoonish, so we just kept going. In Manhasset Bay, big "mafia" mansions line the shore. I admit, I got out the binoculars to ogle the turrets, wide stone verandas, and private beaches. We have gotten pretty adept at picking up mooring balls up here - a necessity because the average tidal range is 7 -10 (yes Neil that's 7-10!) feet, so we're learning to differentiate between currents and tides here.

Just like in the south, the people in the marinas and in the small towns are friendly and eager to share suggestions. We're big fans of Brewer's Hardware in Mamaroneck - Tony met us at the dock on a busy Saturday to replace our CNG tank, just so I could bake my brownies. The Sound seems commited to clean boating as well. They have a radio channel devoted to calling a pump-out boat to come to you whenever you need a cleanout - free.

Oh yeah, we have finally come up with a destination - Nantucket. We got tired of just shrugging our shoulders when people asked where we were going. So we're headed to Nantucket - at least until we get there, then who knows?

A few lighthouses in Long Island Sound

morning in Manhattan................from P

While anchored in Manasquan inlet on the north coast of NJ we were invited over to a fellow anchoree's Caliber 47 for drinks. Wayne hailed us on the VHF and motored his dinghy over to pick us up - cruisers are like that. I had a big wad of cheese and crackers in my mouth when Wayne mentioned that he has often anchored between the statue of liberty and Ellis Island. Nawww, I thought, you can't do that since 9/11. Well, maybe you can - because we did it! We spent last night rolling in the wake of the huge Staten Island Ferry Boats (which apparently never stop running) as we lay in bed and gazed up through our V-berth hatch at Miss Liberty. We were smack-dab in between Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Except for the constant boat wake, it is a perfect anchorage. When the sun sets she lights up - all velvet green except for the golden torch which gives off a perfect amber glow. Incredible. Ellis Island was a few hundred yards to the north of us - very dark and spooky at night. I have never understood why it has not been made into a tourist-friendly shrine to all the immigrants who came through. Behind Ellis Island rose the awesome skyline of Manhattan. We kept wondering when the Coast Guard, or "New York's finest" might call in an air strike or something, but we stayed just outside the white bouys surrounding miss liberty and spent the night at anchor hassle free.

Our view to the south, and to the north. Wow.

Yet another helpful acquaintance named Eric (who ran the mooring ball launch boat at Atlantic Highlands Marina behind Sandy Hook NJ) told me that I should purchase a little book called "Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book" because it contained the local information regarding the flow and strength of currents in the New York harbor, adjoining tributaries, and as it turns out most of the north-east coastal waters. It was the best twelve bucks I have ever spent. The currents are extremely fast, tricky, and nonsensical from The Battery at lower Manhatten all the way up past Roosevelt Island, through Hell Gate and up into lower Long Island Sound, which was our intended route. After studying Eldridge last night, K and I decided to leave our cool anchor spot no later than 5:30 AM this morning in order to catch the strongest part of the current running up the East River through Hell Gate. Unreal. I have canoed through level 3 and level 4 rapids on several rivers in the hills of Virginia. I was reminded of this as I shot the East River rapids in a 37 foot sailboat. My engine was only turning 1,800 to 2,000 RPM and several times we hit 11.5 knots. Once we touched 12 knots over ground! This is how I should wake up every morning - Empire State Building to my left, a long rip-rap wall (Roosevelt Island) just 20 feet or so to my right, a tug pushing a barge coming hard ahead, the helm feeling as though it has a mind of its own as the current washes us along at 9 to 12 knots. I love NY!

The past 24 hours has provided a few sights that I will never forget: K sailing Senara through NY harbor under genoa only, dodging barges, ferries, and ships; sitting under the statue of liberty on our boat as the sky darkened and her lights shone brighter; riding the current up the East River along the lower east side of Manhatten as the sun rose and NYC was coming alive for the workday. What a trip. Thank you Wayne and Eric - two more people to add to the growing list of "trip angels" who have helped us immeasurably as we continue on.

Barnegat Bay..............................from K

Barnegat Bay. I just love to say these words. Try it - the alliteration gets stuck in your head and you'll find that you'll be saying Barnegat Bay all day. I think CS&N even used Barnegat Bay in a song. We're actually just inside the inlet so we can pull out on our way to Manasquan Inlet. P would like to stay another day and dinghy in to the little village next to the lighthouse, but the winds and tides are beckoning us on. This is a shot of the Barnegat Bay Beaches. I keep reminding him that we'll be coming back this way with time to explore. Despite my pushing, we're moving slowly up the NJ coast seeking anchorage midafternoons because we're always dodging storms. Yesterday, we sailed a 180 when we saw black, ugly clouds ahead and sailed in circles until they moved out to the NE. We take full advantage of having no schedule. I love being on the ocean -- no crab pots and a steady breeze! We're hoping to go through NY this week, so stay tuned...the fun is just beginning.


Barnegat Bay Light.
The "second tallest in the country"

hangin' with the Donald.............from P

What a dichotomy. Two nights ago no-one could have found us. We were anchored in a deep little cut that wound into the marshlands of the NE shoals of the Delaware Bay. Quiet. Lots of stars and a copper half-moon. Now we are on a different planet - yesterday afternoon we pulled into the Trump Marina Casino and Resort in Atlantic City. This is a gargantuan marina full of people who want to party and gamble all night. OK, we can adjust! I would have never guessed a marina could include a full band stage including effects lighting, a skywalk across the road to the super-gaudy casino, shopping mall, swimming pool, multiple high priced restaurants and too much kitsch. It is also the most expensive marina I have ever stayed in; a hotel wouldn't cost as much. We pushed our limit by staying up until midnight - played video poker at Trump's casino, played slots and poker at the Borgata Casino - and finally lost our limit and quit. Yes we blew all $20 in one night. I understand that Jimmy Buffett just closed a deal with the Donald to purchase this Trump Marina complex for around $360MM. The rumor is that Jimmy will renovated it and turn in into a Margaritaville casino. That seals it. We will have to come back here in a year or two and hang with Jimmy.

So far we have sailed 659 nautical miles from our boat slip at home. The sail from Cape May harbor to Atlantic City was exactly 40 miles. What a great day - we were blistering along at 7 knots in the Atlantic Ocean on a NW wind blowing off the beach in the morning, then we had to motor for a couple of hours around lunchtime because the wind died. It shifted to the South and started blowing about 15 knots so we cut the engine and broad reached the rest of the way running 6 to 7 knots again. This place is loaded with dolphin - several pods followed us for a while entertaining with their shennanigans. It was the kind of day that makes you really glad you are living on a boat. Today is laundry day - might as well take advantage of the Trump Laundrymat, the Trump Water Hose Hookup, and the Trump Septic Tank Cleanout! We'll be underway again tomorrow.

not in Kansas anymore!.............from P

The Delaware Bay lived up to its reputation as a choppy, windy body of water with huge ships coming and going constantly. We sailed all the way down the bay to Cape May, New Jersey today. It was blowing 15 to 20 knots, with several gusts up near 25 knots. We sailed downwind with the genoa only, no mainsail today. The best part was rounding Cape May and sailing up the beach just a couple of hundred yards away, dodging the parasailers and whale-watching boats. A pod of dolphin was being pursued by several of the "whale watchers," but predictably they turned and started following us. For some reason, dolphin love sailboats. We are again at anchor, just having returned from a dinghy ride from Lucky Bones Restaurant. Hello to Carol at Lucky Bones - keep pointing that Cal 25 to windward!

Off to Atlantic City tomorrow. K promises that we can go to the beach there.

It finally happened...........................from K

After years of dodging crab pots in the Bay, we finally hit one. This was our welcome to the Delaware River. We were cruising along at 6 kts when all of a sudden we stopped dead in the water. Although we knew instantly what had happened, we were in denial until P put on his (brand new) wet suit, mask and snorkel and dove under the boat - with a knife tied around his wrist - and slashed the the ropes wrapped around our prop, dropping the crab pot down 37 feet. P had to work fast as a barge was pressing down the channel. It was very exciting, but I think it just got P's adrenalin going because ten minutes later, he donned a lifejacket and jumped in for another swim. My only question: were there crabs in that pot?

Last night, we anchored out in a maze of marshes - thank heavens for GPS breadcrumbs or we would still be wandering around looking for an exit. We had a small, quick storm but then the stars came out and once again we marvelled at the solitude and comfort of the water and sky. What a powerful gift.

lighthouses.........................from P

I had no idea there were that many. You cannot swing a muddy anchor without hitting a lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay. The fascinating thing is that all of them were built between the late 1800s and the 1950s. 150 years of serious lighthouse construction. When you sail around the bay you can appreciate why they had to be built. The average depth of the bay is just 21 feet (really!) with the deepest parts in the Tangier Sound (90 to 100 ft) and one area east of Annapolis which hits 100 feet. When you cross ship channels in the middle of the bay you see readings of 50 or 60 feet. Everywhere else, your main concern is running out of water and sticking the keel in the mud. We have to keep a sharp eye on the charts when rounding a point or entering any inlet. Most times we are happy skipping along in 12 to 20 feet of water. So no wonder lighthouses sprouted like seaweed tandemly with the blooming of the shipping industry. Every significant point and inlet needed one - and most times you can see old shipwrecks on the chart near an old lighthouse. Always makes me wonder, which came first?

I have a child-like fascination with these lighthouses. Each time I spot one I ask K to veer over toward it so I can get a closer look. About half the time I can find the camera and snap a picture. I have posted these pics below. The most northerly one is first, and they go in order to the most southerly last. This is only about half of the ones we have seen in the bay alone, not including the many around home in the Hampton Roads Harbor:

Turkey Point Cliffs Light

at the entrance of the

Elk River a few miles south
of the C&D canal entrance

North Point Light

north of the Patapsco River

There's mud back there

Baltimore Light

at Bodkin Point

southern entrance to

the Patapsco River

Bennett Point

entrance to the Wye River

just north of St. Michaels

This looks like private property

with a gorgeous home to the right

Bloody Point Light

at the entrance of Eastern Bay

in the NE Chesapeake

Sandy Point Light

just NW of the Bay Bridge

above Annapolis

Thomas Point Shoal Light

my favorite

the prettiest lighthouse on the bay

SE of Annapolis

There's big rocks there!

The Cross

at the entrance to Horseshoe Cove

in St. Mary's River

what a beautiful promontory

"Marley Beach Light"

on a great little beach in the

Yeocomico River. OK, maybe some

kids built this over the summer.

Cannot find "Marley Beach" on

the chart either.

New Point Comfort Light

Southeastern tip of the

entrance to Mobjack Bay

Tue Marsh Light

Southern entrance to

the York River

OK this one is more modern

but not as romantic

Cape Charles Light

at the southern end of

Virginia's Eastern Shore

Osprey standing guard on

a lighted channel marker

OK its not a lighthouse

but what a great shot!