NORTHPORT, LONG ISLAND

Nice day for cruising

A nice day! Woke up to little wind, no rain and a little sunshine. We decided to head back down Long Island Sound to New York City so that we could go to Mariko’s (our daughter) concert this weekend. Just before we got ready to leave, Elaine suggested we make sure our fuel transfer pump was working. The last time I transferred fuel, the forward tank emptied completely (very unreliable gauge) so we weren’t sure if the pump had lost it’s prime. Rather than find out while we were underway, we decided to test it before we left. Sure enough, I had to re-prime it. Not an easy nor pleasant task. Anyway, I got the pump working, we got everything else squared away and we took off from Block Island around 8:30 AM.

The conditions were very nice - minimal wind, waves of one foot or less and intermittent sunshine. It was still cold - 52 degrees when we started out - we piloted from the cabin rather than the flybridge.

A view from the cabin while underway

There was great visibility and not much boat traffic, so it was a comfortable day and we decided to make the most of it. We were underway for about 8 hours and pulled into the bay at Northport, Long Island, anchoring in a protected area just off of the beach.

We were able to ride the flood tide most of the way down the Sound and, at times, were making 15 knots. As the day wore on, the wind subsided, so the last few hours were on a smooth sea and we comfortably piloted from the flybridge.

Race Rock Lighthouse,Long Island Sound

Love all the windows in our cabin - after we anchored it was like a greenhouse and made it warm, even though the outside temperature was only in the 60s.

We have not stopped at a full-service marina since Cape May twelve days ago. We are starting to get a bit low on provisions, need to do some laundry, need to clean up the boat, need to empty some tanks and fill others, so we plan on stopping at a marina in Port Washington tomorrow for a few days. We will also be able to get into New York City from there to see the kids.

Rummaging through the stores in our bilge, Elaine came up with a great extemporaneous dinner tonight. Any idea what kind of wine goes best with Spam?

Some more notes from Elaine...


A very pleasant benefit from doing all this cruising up the Atlantic seaboard is gawking at the local architecture. The houses vary so much from region to region.

The antebellum plantations in Georgia and South Carolina had wrap around porches and weeping willows. Charleston had the "single house" - and entry with a front door that opened to a porch and the real front door was down the walkway - I think they did this so people could sit on their front porch in private. The style becomes more colonial as you progress into the mid-Atlantic states (as in high porticos with columns, not unlike the monuments in Washington DC). Also more brick here - winters apparently were getting colder. There were mansions on the banks of the Potomac that were so grandiose, they made Mt Vernon look small. The zillion square feet mansions in Rhode Island (such as the Vanderbilts) were second (!?!) homes - go figure. Then there are the cape cod style houses in New England - clapboard siding, some with ornate wood cutouts or bungalow-like with bead board. Heavy sea themes too - pastels, coral, shells. I realize I am only seeing a few representations of the architectural styles of the area, but I am completely fascinated by all the styles. Kind of like traveling from movie set to movie set.

ANOTHER WINTER DAY

Another winter day today - low temps were in the 40s, high temp was about 52 degrees and there was quite a bit of rain and wind. When we started the generator to get some heat this AM, it started fine, but no power came through to the panel. Climbing down into the forward hold (where the generator lives) with flashlight and tools, I found the breaker had tripped and was hanging by its wires. I took the control box apart, put everything back in its place and the generator worked fine. Ah - heat!

Bluffs with lighthouse in the distance

The rain let up a bit after noon, so we dinghied into shore, met Dick and headed out for a hike along the bluffs. When we were there the other day, everything was so fogged in, we couldn’t even see the water. We walked a good 3-4 miles on the beach with decent weather - only an occasional light rain.

Indigenous plastic waterfowl on the beach

Got back to Dick & Carol’s house (Carol is out of town for a few days) and fixed a clam linguine for dinner, using the clams we collected the other day. Mmmm…

WEATHERED IN

Ah, the cruising life. There are some really wonderful things about cruising, and then there are some less than wonderful things about cruising. Right now, we’re in one of the “less than wonderful” stages. The front that has moved in is wet, windy and cold. Records have been set for the lowest “high” temperature today in nearby Providence. It is getting down into the 40s at night and only got up to 52 degrees here today. Checking the wind report online, we have had gusts of up to 30 mph, with sustained winds in the 20 - 25 mph range, and about an inch of rain today. About the same is forecast for tomorrow. Since we are moored out, we have to dinghy into shore if we want to get anywhere, and that means a wet and windy ride with 1 ft. waves in the harbor. While on the boat, every few hours we start the generator and turn on the heat for a while, then go back to being wrapped in sleeping bags while we read and get bounced around by the wind.

Too bad the weather is so bad - there’s lots of nice beaches and hiking trails here on Block Island, but not under these conditions. We can’t go anywhere else either because 1) all of New England is currently like this and 2) the seas are very rough with high waves that definitely keep us in the harbor.

It looks like there might be a break in the weather on Wednesday or Thursday with the winds lessening a bit, and it is forecast to get warmer this weekend, but the wind is supposed to be back as well.

In the mean time we’ll take it day by day and catch up on that reading we’ve been meaning to get to…

MORE BLOCK ISLAND

Tried to sleep in this morning, but when it starts getting light at 5 AM, it’s hard to stay in bed. Finally got up around 7:30 and spent the morning doing little projects on the boat. Late morning, we took the dinghy down and docked at the nearby marina to walk into town. It’s only a mile and a half or so to get into town, and it was a pleasant walk, although the wind has been quite steady.

We both now have the requisite Block Island T-shirts, so our shopping spree is over. We walked over to Dick & Carol’s house to meet them for some clamming. We went to their favorite spot over by the Coast Guard Station and started grubbing through the sand.

Look out clams! Here we come.

Basically, you just rake your fingers through the wet sand, getting 3-4 inches below the surface, and feel for anything hard. There is a size limit, and Dick supplied us with some measuring devices to make sure we didn’t get any undersize clams. We went around low tide, so we had plenty of sand to choose from and we got about three dozen clams in a little over an hour. Dick took them home in a bucket of sea water to sit overnight to clean the sand out of them, and we plan on eating those little critters for dinner tomorrow night.

Measuring the clam to make sure it's legal size

We got back to the boat and, although it was still pretty windy and rough on the mooring, I used the dinghy as a platform to clean the outside of the hull. It had gotten a bit marked up while we were in the boat yard, so it needed it. I cleaned everything with salt water, since we aren’t on a dock, but it is forecast to rain tonight and tomorrow, so that should rinse it all off for me.

We took the dinghy in to a nearby restaurant for dinner tonight, trying not to get wet in the wind and waves. We had just been seated at our table overlooking the bay when, in the course of about 5 minutes, the wind changed direction 180 degrees (from southwest to northeast) and started blowing even harder as a front came in. We managed to finish dinner and get back to the boat before any rain came down, but it was a rough, and wet, ride back. Once we were back to the boat, I doubled up all the lines between HERON and IMPROV. HERON is on her own mooring, and IMPROV is staying in place by being tied to HERON (rafting, in boating terms), so I wanted a secure connection. The wind is very strong tonight, so I made sure all of the cushions on the flybridge are securely put away and I braced the bimini frame with several lines, primarily to keep it from rattling all night. It looks like it’s going to be a bumpy night with the rough water in the bay. Oh well, being rocked to sleep…

BLOCK ISLAND, RHODE ISLAND

Looking at the weather forecast for the next several days, we decided that if we were going to get to Block Island it had to be this morning - early this morning. Winds and seas were predicted to pick up in the afternoon, perhaps up to 30 knot gusts and 2-4 foot waves.So we got up at 5 AM to get ready to go and found very thick fog in the harbor. We had about a quarter-mile visibility, but hoped the fog would burn off as the sun came up more. We turned on the radar and headed out. 

The first hour or so stayed quite foggy, but there were short periods of time when it lifted and I could see maybe a mile or two, but then it would close back in. The radar worked well, identifying unseen fishing boats, ferries and even crab pot floats at times. I even used it to find the navigation buoys which I couldn’t see in the fog.

As we were coming into the channel to Block Island, we could hear the fog horn and the bell on the buoy, but didn’t see anything until we were about 50 feet away from it. But, as soon as we entered the channel, the fog opened up, we could see for a couple of miles and even saw the sun for the first time today.

Elaine & Carol walking toward the East End lighthouse

HERON (Dick & Carol) saw us come in and hailed us on the radio. When they are at their house here, they keep their boat on a mooring in the Great Salt Pond and invited us to raft up next to them. We caught up a bit, having not seen them since Norfolk, VA, then they invited us on a several-hour tour of the island. It’s a beautiful and varied island and it was nice to be introduced to it by people who have known it for decades.

HERON and IMPROV rafted in the Great Salt Pond

We had cocktails and dinner together aboard HERON and talked about the possible activities the next few days. We really liked the part about going clamming tomorrow…

NARRAGANSET BAY

Thursday, May 28

Lazy morning sleeping in. After a couple of cups of coffee we decided, since we had a rental car, to drive up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to see the town and visit Nancy & Henry, friends who own the PDQ 34 SNO DOG. It took a couple of hours to get there - thanks, in part, to the traffic moving slowly through Boston - but we got there mid-day and had a nice walk around town,

Portsmouth Town Square

diverting into a bakery/restaurant at just the right time to 1) have lunch and 2) let the thunderstorm pass.

We had a very pleasant day with Nancy & Henry (and Adie), spending the evening over a delicious quiche Lorraine, red wine & brownies (of course). While Henry & I were checking out his new Devlin launch,

Henry's new boat

I got a call that our prop was repaired & we could pick it up Friday AM.

Friday, May 29

We left Portsmouth after breakfast and drove straight to the prop shop in Middletown, RI to pick up our shiny, newly-repaired prop. We took it back to the boatyard, and by early afternoon they had hauled our boat, again, and installed the prop. I stayed on the boat as it was lifted from the water - a strange feeling. The captain is supposed to go DOWN with the ship, not UP!

On the travel-lift

 It was a beautiful day, with hardly any wind, unlike the previous three days, so we thought we could quickly take off and maybe even reach Block Island this afternoon - until we remembered we had to turn in the rental car. Elaine took of with the car to Fall River and I got the boat ready so that when she got back, about 4 PM, we could leave and, at least, get down to Newport and anchor for the night. Winds are forecast to pick up again pretty strongly by tomorrow afternoon (35 knots) so we hope to get out to Block Island early morning, before the heavy winds begin. It’s only about 20 miles from Newport, so 2-3 hours should do it. Once there, the Great Salt Pond provides a very protected anchorage in which we should be able to ride out any heavy winds.

This is the second time we have anchored in Newport Bay, the first being with our trawler AD LIB about 5 or 6 years ago. That was not the best experience since a huge thunderstorm with tons of rain, lightening and 45 knot winds hit while we were on shore walking Duke. It’s much better this time, with a gorgeous sunset and the winds dying down for the night…

PROP REPAIR

Being pulled out 

Made a fair amount of progress today. The Bristol Marine crew was up early - we talked to them about 6:30 AM and discussed what we needed. Basically, we require a short haul, getting the boat out just long enough to get the prop off, then another short haul after we get the prop repaired. Although there seemed to be a pretty relaxed attitude around the yard, work was getting done, and they did actually have IMPROV out of the water by 10 AM. It was a bit of a challenge getting the prop off and they went through four or five prop and gear pullers before a couple of good whacks with a sledge

A few wrinkles from the rock

hammer loosened it up. While the prop was being pulled, Elaine was getting a rental car from Fall River, several miles away, and by 11:30 we were on our way to Middletown, near Newport, to drop the prop off at the repair shop. At the shop, the proprietor checked out the prop using his precision measurement device and figured it would take until Friday to get it repaired.

After the delivery, we grabbed lunch, then stopped off at a nearby store to buy fleece jackets. We’ve felt cold, even though it’s in the 60s near the water, because the wind has been relentless the last few days, blowing up to 30 knots most of the day today. It’s surprising that just getting off of the boat and on land made things feel warmer, but we still needed another layer of fleece.

We got back to the boat, which had been moved to a slip by the boatyard crew, and I started on my projects list. Working inside, out of the wind, I replaced a couple of halogen reading lights in the main salon with some LED lights. Not only did the original lights use a lot of energy, they got very hot when used, and one of them, which is just under the forward hatch, has “re-rusted” after I rebuilt and repainted it a couple of years ago.

The next project was on deck, and was made considerably

Not the usual perspective of our boat

more difficult than it should have been because of the strong wind. I replaced a couple of bolts on the supports for my instrument mast. The old bolts had bothered me ever since I bought the boat because they were the wrong length and someone had installed them with steel washers which rusted. They also loosened up regularly and made the mast rattle when we were in heavy seas or even with strong winds at anchor. Since the mast is right above our bed, I’ve been hearing this rattle the past few nights, and rather than just tighten them up again, I decided to replace them with the correct hardware. I was surprised that I couldn’t just lay a bolt or nut down on the deck without the wind almost blowing them away. I got everything reinstalled without loosing anything overboard and put it all together with enough Loc-tite that there shouldn’t be any rattles now.

Since we’ve got a day and a half before we can pick up the prop, and we have a rental car, we may take off for a short road trip tomorrow…

More notes from Elaine...


So my subject today - food! I love food - discovering different foods, eating, cooking,  ethnic foods, restaurants - need I say more? This trip is no different - although fairly common, I had never had grits before setting foot into South Carolina. We now have grits on the boat - we have grits with shrimp, sausage, greens, vegetables. We had wonderful Cuban and South American food in Florida. Subs are called heroes, hoagies and in Rhode Island - grinders. I love Maryland blue crabs - Dave prefers the west coast Dungeness. We are presently in Fall River, MA which supposedly hosts a plethora of Portuguese restaurants but we haven't had a chance to peruse the neighborhood yet. And I am pretty much game to try anything, unless it has anything to do with insects. I don't do insects.

And so we continue northward - looking forward to poutine, sausages, Canadian food, New England fare and probably other foods I have never heard of. Yum!