Did you say a late Spring?

For the last 5 days we have been battling wind and weather in our quest to sail east along the 90nm length of Long Island Sound. So what’s new? The best 2 days were Monday and Tuesday, 14 & 15 May. On the first we stayed put on a free mooring buoy in Port Washington, went ashore for provisioning and the inevitable internetting. On the second it was even quite warm and I managed to don shorts; we did have an excellent sail and in favourable southerly winds. Ironically we had only planned to go 20nm east to the famous Oyster Bay anchorage - famous because this is where President Theodore Roosevelt decided to make his home, Sagamore Hill, the summer White House. Sadly we did not have a spare day on which to visit this historic house (and it’s only open during the season I believe, which begins on Memorial Day 28 May), nor did we taste any of the mollusks that give this place its name. Another year perhaps, a visit by train from NYC during the annual Oyster Bay Oyster Festival in October...

Tuesday evening, whilst quietly anchored in the SE corner of the bay - quite hard to find an anchor spot amongst the vast mooring field - a huge thunderstorm broke over us. It subsided eventually but not before we saw a 35kn gust of wind. The subsequent sunset was dramatic.

Knowing that rain and moderate NE/E winds were forecast from about midday on Wednesday, we planned an early start, 07:45. Planning, however, does not take account of unforeseen circumstances: first, thick black mud in which the anchor was firmly lodged requiring a lot of pulling to get it up and second, weed gumming up the engine sea water cooling system. Smoke instead of water coming out of the exit pipe is a sure sign something is wrong... Engine off, drifting (luckily calm conditions, and no other boats near or moving at that hour), Skipper clearing the filter and the blockage, engine on, more smoke after short distance, engine off, anchor dropped, Skipper to the rescue again, testing, testing. Eventually got underway at 08:45, emerging into the Sound 45 minutes later. The rain started at 11:00 and adverse wind on the nose at 13:00 and when 2 hours later the tidal current reversed in our favour, with the wind against us, imagine the confusion of the water. This sea state is known in nautical circles as ‘a short chop’, and by golly, choppy it certainly was! My, were we glad to drop anchor at 18:30 in the calm, sheltered water of Joshua Cove on the Connecticut shore on the north side of the Sound. Motoring 45nm all day long in those conditions is very unpleasant. 

Yesterday, Thursday, was a different kettle of fish altogether (and incidentally we have not caught any fish at all despite trying on every passage except the East River). It was cold, and there was virtually no wind at all. Instead there was thick fog, all day long for the 40-45nm passage to Stonington Harbour, located just west of Newport, Rhode Island, aka ‘Sailing Capital of the World’. Despite having RADAR and AIS to warn us of approaching vessels or objects such as channel markers, beacons, lighthouses etc., making way in fog is extremely tiring for the watch keeper.

So we are now tied onto a very secure mooring buoy belonging to Dodson Boatyard and have had a quiet day, enjoying the laundry (well, ‘enjoy’ maybe not quite the right word) and showering facilities plus the excellent launch service included in the $55 fee for the buoy. Stonington is a most picturesque village, full of beautifully kept New England houses deserving of much admiration. It also has an excellent coffee shop, aptly named Indulge, with an amazing choice of ‘artisan’ sandwiches, coffees and high speed internet. What’s not to like, as they say?

The forecast for tomorrow is strong NE/E wind so sailing to Newport would be difficult, not to say long, and our engine is too weak to make progress against such wind. Instead we will have another day here, meeting the OCC port officers for brunch. On Sunday the forecast is for strong SW/S winds, much better for us, so we plan to head to Newport, hoping to see some of the Volvo Ocean Racers, who start from there this weekend.