On passage headed East

Follyfin has at last had wind in her sails. We said au revoir to Lee and Deborah on Friday - sad to part but happy to be sailing again. There’s a lovely high pressure weather system over here at the moment meaning sunshine, gentle breezes and calm seas. Ideal for our first passage of 37nm to Duck Island anchorage. A pretty passenger helped to crew for us...

Sundowners on arrival were accompanied appropriately by a magnificent sunset

Yesterday (Saturday) a dawn start was required since the huge body of water that is Long Island Sound sets up strong currents and races on the ebb. Follyfin obviously prefers to go with the current rather than against, especially as an extra couple of knots over the ground eats up the distance faster. Whilst sailing on a broad reach - a very comfortable point of sail for Follyfin - the cry went up from the Skipper: “is it a fish?” First Mate was doubtful...

Indeed, the ‘catch’ proved a disappointment...

Never mind! We arrived at beautiful Fishers Island in excellent time for breakfast - not fresh fish alas but wholesome porridge instead. After a nap, the dinghy was commissioned and we went ashore to explore. A very quiet island is Fishers, the site of many multi-million dollar summer homes, most of which looked unoccupied at this time of year. It is definitely a holiday Island. You can just spot Follyfin in the photo below, happily moored to a free mooring buoy, the blue-hulled sailing yacht second from the left.

Today, Sunday, another dawn start was in order to cross out of Long Island Sound and into Block Island Sound, which is where we are now anchored in Great Salt Pond - a huge body of water enclosed on three sides by land. This island is a small speck of land, a U-shaped island midway between the E end of Long Island and Martha’s Vineyard. Many more facilities for holidaymakers here, unlike Fishers, as well as free WiFi outside the Library from where I will upload this post. But again, a definite holiday feel to this place. Nice - our proper holiday has begun!

Landlubbers still

Well, the longed-for launch was not to be. Although the cleaning and polishing of the hull

would have been ready by Friday, a fibreglass repair had to wait because it rained in the early part of last week. Memorial Day weekend, a full bank holiday, has just passed, causing further delay to the repair. The good news is that the weather now feels more like summer  (temperatures of 26-29°C have recently been experienced), so all repairs and preparations should be ready for launch in the early part of next week now, weather permitting.

Preparations completed since my last post include: - full polish of hull, see below before and after, see that reflection...

 - full service to main and fore sails- all gas tanks refilled, 

- anemometer replaced atop the mast,  - life raft, wind steering and power-generating equipment replaced in position on stern, - some provisioning for Follyfin’s eventual departure.

Though it might seem that it’s all work and no play for us Follyfinners (and sometimes I do feel that way), there have been a few welcome diversions - mostly facilitated by our hosts Lee and Deborah. First came Mothers’ Day US style on Sunday 12 May; a most convivial event despite constant rain outside. Attendees’ ages ranged from 93 (Caroline - Deborah’s mother) down to 1 (Amelia, our youngest grandchild).  

 

So you see, our own family was also invited! The following weekend we spent in Jersey City with our family, and this was reported in the previous post to this one. Since then there have been two excursions out on the water, not on Follyfin of course, which is still on the land. Mid-last week, Cap’n Lee was delivering a power boat a few miles down the coast and invited us to take a ride with him. Skipper was too busy but I accepted ... cruising at 20kn is very different from our usual 5kn - and much bumpier and noisier. I was even entrusted with the helm for a while, 

 an exhilarating but slightly scary experience. Don’t think I will be going over to the dark side just yet...

On Memorial Day Monday, a couple of days ago, Cap’n Lee was helping the owner of an almost-brand-new sail boat and his wife to take it out into the Sound for an afternoon sail. They kindly invited us to join them.

The conditions were perfect - F3-4 wind, sunshine and calm sea. It was so good to be out on the water under sail again. Roll on launch day for Follyfin! Memorial Day was beautifully rounded off with a delicious BBQ (photo). Our hosts had invited some friends over and we, the lucky house guests, were included. For a few hours we were able to pretend we were on holiday! Back to work now though... 

Still aground!

Now the middle of May, and Follyfin is still on land! Normally by this time of year, the good ship Follyfin is breasting the waves and her crew members have found their sea legs again after the long winter months ashore. Not so in 2019! A family wedding in UK delayed our return to the US until the end of April. Then after a short period spent in Jersey City with son Warren and his family, it was time to head east to Connecticut, back to Captain’s Cove Seaport in Black Rock on the north shore of Long Island Sound.

There we found Follyfin, safely on land in her winter quarters but in serious need of some TLC. So here we still are, busily cleaning and polishing the whole boat - all stainless steel, topside and hull, cleaning and applying antifoul to the bottom of the boat, overhauling/servicing the engine, re-rigging, etc. etc. etc. A lot of work needed to prepare the boat for the season and looking her best. Actually we were not in any hurry to launch Follyfin because since the beginning of May, the weather has been like winter!

On the bright side, instead of being out on the water in the cold, wet and windy conditions, the Skipper and I have been experiencing the wonderful New England hospitality of our sailing friends Lee and Deborah. Although we met them only last year in Maine, they have welcomed us into their home as if we are family. It’s not everyone who would offer the use of their house and all its comforts, for 3-4 weeks, to a couple of somewhat eccentric Brits whom they have known for less than a year. Luckily for us, they took the chance...and it turns out that they are only slightly less eccentric then we are.

Lee, being a very experienced sailor as well as an official US ‘Captain’ (a title that is hard earned), is a mine of nautical information and tips, with a veritable plethora of contacts in the area, so of course very helpful to us. And when not involved with matters marine, he is an accomplished musician and jazz guitarist, who delights the household with occasional spontaneous ‘jam’ sessions. Deborah is a recently retired executive from the corporate world of high fashion and is revelling in her newfound freedom ... although training for a half-marathon may not be everyone’s idea of enjoyment! She makes her house so welcoming and peaceful for us workers - a true oasis of calm after each day’s toil on the boat. So we are indeed extremely fortunate - and eternally grateful - to have such wonderful friends.

The other unexpected bonus from this delayed start to our sailing season is that we are only a couple of hours by train from son Warren, Lara and their three children Noah (5), Bella (3) and Amelia (1) (see above). Indeed, this weekend we travelled over to Jersey City to see them all. Beautiful weather on Saturday enabled a trip to Hoboken to their friends and a walk back  along the Hudson River. 

It was also fortunate that on Sunday we were in the audience to witness the ballet debut of young Isabella (aged 4) on the big stage. From the balcony of a packed auditorium, our binoculars ensured that not a moment of the 4 minutes that Bella was on stage near the end of the full 2¹/₂ hr performance was missed. She was of course brilliant.

Weather is now improving. Today the highest temperature was 27°C. So hopefully, all being well Follyfin will be launched next week. Fingers crossed!

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.

The C and D Canal

Backtracking a little, our east-west, early morning passage through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on Sunday 16 July was memorable. Follyfin and her crew had a tough time the previous day, criss-crossing 50nm up the Delaware river as we tacked north-west up from the ocean. As usual we had a head wind! But having rested peacefully at anchor overnight behind Reedy Island, just 5nm south of the eastern entrance to the canal, the 06:00 start was well rewarded.

Reedy Point Bridge, looking east 07:00 EST, Sunday 16 July 2017

This canal was first proposed back in the 17th century by Dutch mapmaker, Augustine Herrman. Benjamin Franklin approved it about 100 years later but the construction did not begin until the early 19th century. It took 2,600 men with only shovels and picks, digging by hand - can you believe it? - 5-7 years (sources differ) to build, originally 66ft wide and 10ft deep. The canal finally opened in 1829. It provides a 14-mile shortcut between the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay, cutting 300 miles off the maritime route between Baltimore and Philadelphia. Of course, much of the 'know-how' came from the UK where canal-building had been established for a few decades before that. It is now the most heavily used canal in the USA and the third busiest in the world. Luckily we did not encounter any of the commercial behemoths which are known to frequent this canal, thanks to (ahem) good planning: our west-east transit took place on Independence Day national holiday, and the east-west transit was early on a Sunday morning.

We reached the last bridge at the western end of the canal an hour and three quarters later. It was a beautiful day...

Chesapeake City Bridge, looking west 08:45 EST, Sunday 16 July 2017

But all these early starts had taken it's toll...

Of course there was no wind so we were motoring as we headed on out into northern Chesapeake Bay. A good opportunity to get quite close to some ospreys sitting on nests (before they got frightened and flew off) on channel markers, which seem to be their favourite places for raising their families. Herons also find them convenient resting places to dry their wings.

We reached our chosen anchorage spot, Worton Creek on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, by mid afternoon. Being Sunday there were many small boats anchored in this beauty spot; unbuilt up, clean, sheltered and quite shallow, this is a lovely place to spend a quiet afternoon sunbathing and swimming - even though the water is murky green, a far cry from the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, BVI and Caribbean. However, by evening Follyfin found herself all alone for the night, with just ospreys, bald eagles and southern crested eagles (thanks for ID, Kevin) for company.

Great place for sundowners!

Monday morning was spent pottering and watching all these magnificent birds but perforce, by 11:30 reality had intervened. Badly in need of provisions, we motored on south (into wind of course!) about 10nm to Rockhall, a lovely little bayside resort much frequented by the boating fraternity around these parts. With one small grocery store and an excellent coffee shop, aptly named Java Rock, it fitted our requirements perfectly. We moved from there on Tuesday, about 2nm around the corner to find a quiet anchorage where we could spend three days beginning to decommission Follyfin before putting her to bed for 9 months in Baltimore. So now we are at anchor up Swan Creek, thankfully with a paddle, until tomorrow, Friday 21st July.

Fish, fish fish!

After a long fish famine, caught a nice one this morning as we sailed south from Atlantic City...just a nice size for two. Not sure what species it is, but it looks like good eating [tough luck Smitch!]. To record the conditions: clear blue sky, sunshine, SW4 wind, mainly south swell, time 08:25, sailing close-hauled, course over the ground 165deg true at speed ~5kt, approx. position 39# 12'N 74# 20'W. Hoping for a repeat.

Well, just one hour after I penned that last paragraph, we did catch another fish! Same species but slightly smaller [missed out again Smitch!]... 

Decided to cook both for supper after anchoring inside Cape May Harbour. Delicious!

P.S. This post is being uploaded from Rockhall in the northern Chesapeake Bay, about 12nm from Baltimore where we will leaving Follyfin next week to fly home. Looking forward to getting back to normal land-living again!

Brits in USA

Anchoring overnight behind Liberty Island provided an excellent view of her backview, not often seen by your average viewer:

A round tour of the island on board Follyfin provided a great thrill for the grandkids, but an even bigger thrill awaited them the following day when all four of their grandparents, plus Warren's godmother Smitch (a school friend of the First Mate from several decades ago) gathered on board Follyfin for a delicious brunch provided by their parents.

Spent one night at Newport Yacht Club which is only 10 minutes walk from where the family lives. Very convenient! Sunday 9 July, after our brunch and saying farewell, Follyfin set sail again down the Hudson River back to our Atlantic Highlands anchorage. The only difference being that we had acquired an extra crew member: Smitch. She joined us for the overnight passage down to Atlantic City.

That passage turned out to be a bit more arduous than expected, since the wind had turned from the north to the south and then the south-west, the very direction we were now going. So a rhumb line route of 73nm turned out to be 146nm with all tacking we had to do, and a passage that should have taken about 15 hours actually took 27 hours. Needless to say, by the time we berthed in Kammermans marina in Atlantic City, we were all exhausted. But Smitch stood up well to the challenge.

This morning we all went to explore Atlantic City, which is credited with having the first proper board walk in the world, having been built in 1870. Today of course the backdrop is all big casinos, hotels and restaurants, and the beaches are crowded with holiday-makers. Both features are big tourist attractions, so there are lots, lots, LOTS of people.

As you see, wall to wall people!

Waved goodbye to Smitch who caught the Greyhound bus back to NYC, so we are now preparing to retrace our steps back to Baltimore where we will be putting Follyfin to bed for the winter... a little early I know but that's because we have a special wedding event to attend in September, that of son Ivor to Marina. Actually we are really looking forward to coming home after 4 months on the water so to speak. Home comforts are calling!

We did it our way!

London to New York via Trinidad.

Shortly after dawn today, 8 July 2017

On the last lap

Having successfully met up with John, Elyssa and young Isaac, and shared some delicious crepes with them,

we then proceeded to 'do' Annapolis. They had to move on after showing us how to get into the US Naval Academy, which dominates the town, sitting on 340 acres of prime real estate. Its buildings are modelled on those of our British Royal Naval Academy at Greenwich but of course on a much bigger scale. Everything in USA is on a bigger scale than in the UK... The chapel there is more like a cathedral. In its crypt lies the body of John Paul Jones, in an amazing marble and granite mausoleum. He commanded the US fleet which outwitted the British in the War of Independence.

Walking was exceedingly hot, which is all right whilst in air-conditioned places like crypts but quite debilitating otherwise. So we took the easy option of the 60-minute trolley bus tour to see the town and main attractions, one of which is the WWII memorial.

The view across the river shows the dome of the state capitol building. After the British surrender in 1782, Annapolis served for a few months as the US capital. The Maryland Statehouse is built of wood and is impressive inside and out. It is unique, being the oldest statehouse still in continuous use. Wilting fast by mid-afternoon, frozen yoghurt provided welcome refreshment.

Guess who opted for M&M sprinkles, and who for chopped almonds? Both equally delicious!

Another couple of days would be needed to see all the sights of Annapolis - we may return some day to this attractive city with all its history - but time pressed so off we went again, north to Baltimore. Downtown looked majestic in early morning sun.

Our purpose was to check out a boatyard where we might safely store Follyfin over the winter. That accomplished and being British, we preferred not to stick around for the Independence Day celebrations (for obvious reasons!) and pressed on towards our final destination...through the Chesapeake and Delaware canal from west to east, then down the Delaware River towards the Atlantic Ocean and the open sea again. An unwelcome reminder of home was spotted plying its way up the Delaware river main channel.

Ineos is the very unpopular company which is trying to frack the beautiful U.K. countryside, including vast tracts of Yorkshire....the less said about that the better.

It was a long day of independence for us, eventually dropping anchor in Cape May harbour after dark. Wednesday 5 July, Follyfin was off again, this time out to the open sea and hopefully some proper sailing. Sad to leave the Chesapeake Bay behind with it's tasty seafood delights,

we had become rather tired of motoring rather than sailing, and of the extremely hot, windless and humid conditions. But of course, the 'best laid plans of mice and men do oftimes gang aglay' and our 120nm coastal passage north from Cape May to Sandy Hook took 27 hours instead of the planned 24. However we did manage to sail without motor for 8 hours out of the 27, which was very nice. And now we are lying at anchor here behind the breakwater at Atlantic Highlands, poised to head up the Hudson River tomorrow to rendezvous with son Warren and his family. They live right beside the water in Jersey City.

'Sailing Capital of the World'

More like Piccadilly Circus afloat!

Arrived here this morning - it's 95 degrees F! Due to meet with 'Little' John and his young family tomorrow. He sailed with us in Croatia over a decade ago. Much water under the bridge since then!

Excuses, excuses... and grandkids

Have been in stealth mode for the last couple of weeks - partially self-imposed and partially enforced by circumstance. Since my last post was uploaded from the Apple Store in Norfolk, Follyfin and her crew have been very active: sight-seeing, meeting people, making passage either with no wind or contrary wind and … spending a week with son no. 1 Warren, daughter-in-law Lara and their family, who took an AirB&B house on the Chesapeake Bay coast at the pre-arranged rendezvous of Reedville, Virginia. Of  course I had assumed that (a) I would have plenty of time to compose and post about our happenings from the previous week, and (b) these switched-on, always-connected millennials would have good strong wifi in their rented house. Both wrong!! So even if I had had time to write the text, I would not have been able to post it.

Never mind. We had a great time with grandchildren Noah (3.5) and Bella (2), who are a full-time occupation, both on the beach and on the boat, so no time for creative writing anyway.

 

 

Though conditions were not right for taking the family out for a sail aboard Follyfin, they loved the dinghy ride out and back when they came for tea on a sunny Sunday evening.

 

Three generations of Bennett Boys

Our departure from Norfolk a couple of weeks back was delayed partly by the weather - we had a cold spell and northerly winds which are not good when one wants to sail north - and partly because we wanted to enjoy the annual ‘Harborfest’ weekend in Norfolk. Tall ships, little ships, war ships dress overall and congregate in the harbour. We had a prime location to view some of them on their way there, as well as the fantastic firework display on Saturday night which alone was worth the delay. A Bahamian steel band complete with colourful dancers processed through the park area to kick the celebrations off.

 

   

 

Finally on Sunday 9 June we bid farewell to Greta and Gary, the OCC (Ocean Cruising Club) port officers in Norfolk on whose dock we had been berthed, and headed north up the Chesapeake Bay, past the large US Navy establishment with its many menacing fighting vessels berthed in readiness for anything. 

 

Our destination was Yorktown, scene of General Cornwallis’ and the British surrender to George Washington and the Americans in the war of Independence. Mind you, it did take them 100 years to erect a fitting monument to the event! We can recommend the almost brand-new Museum of American Independence in Yorktown. We could have spent a couple of days there and still not ‘done’ it all.

 

 

That same evening we met up with a fellow CA (Cruising Association) member in the same anchorage as us so celebrated in the time-honoured way. We had been tracking each other since in the southern Bahamas. But next day we turned north again to Fishing Bay, Deltaville on the Northern Neck peninsula, and witnessed yet another splendid sunset.

 

The rivers and land features in the parts have some curious names, mainly derived from when the native Indians were the most numerous inhabitants, e.g. Rappahannock, Corrotoman, Potomac, Patuxent, Piankatank, Wicomico, and Point No Point, Stingray Point and many more. On a small creek off the Corrotoman River, Follyfin was honoured to be the first visiting boat to berth on a brand new private dock belonging to Lydia and Bill, OCC stalwarts who had recently hosted an OCC rally to which 25 boats had joined. Follyfin was supposed to be one of them but her crew’s gale experience further south had prevented her arriving on time. 

 

Follyfin (port) and Dragon Run (starboard; our hosts’ yacht). 

Nevertheless we were made very welcome at their beautiful home, which has waterfront on two sides,

 

 

and were helped a good deal as we caught a lift into town for some essential provisioning. Lydia and Bill also introduced us to soft shell crabs at a local restaurant. Amazingly you eat the whole thing, claws and all! The local oysters were also excellent.

 

 

From there we headed north again to Reedville to meet up with the family...which brings me right back to the beginning. Annapolis will be our next major stop and we are on our way there now.