June 17th- Cape May to Atlantic City NJ

The trip along the NJ coast always produces a little anxiety. Perfect weather is the goal but it can be difficult to find a good weather window that lasts for a few days. Today was supposed to be one of those LESS-than-perfect days but once we got out on the ocean it felt great. Evergreen soared along with a reefed mains’l and full genoa.

We anchored for the night in Absecon Inlet near Atlantic City. It’s not one of our favorite anchorages but it will serve it’s purpose for tonight.

Some scenes from Atlantic City.

June 18th- Atlantic City to Atlantic Highlands, NJ

Big day today. 81 nautical miles along the NJ coast to Atlantic Highlands. Both boats have been watching the weather, for days, to plan for this passage. We were up before dawn and underway by sunrise.

The day went well. Winds were light and we were able to motor sail. We had baked ziti for dinner underway. We dropped the hook in Atlantic Highlands just before sundown.

Atlantic Highlands.

June 20th- Atlantic Highlands, NJ to Port Washington, NY

We stayed in Atlantic Highlands for an extra day. Autumn Bourne had taken on an crew member for the transit up the NJ coast. He was catching a ride home from some family members. We also wanted to get together with them since after departing Atlantic Highlands we’d be going separate ways. They’d sail up the Hudson River to Catskill NY and we’d be making a starboard turn up the East River and on to Long Island Sound.

Today was cold and grey. At least it would be a short day since we’d be catching a fast current up the East River. We said our farewells to Autumn Bourne.

Goodbye Autumn Bourne.

East River, NYC.

Port Washington is usually a provision spot for us. We get a mooring while there and the water taxi carts us over to the town docks. This is the second time we’ve managed to get a mooring in “the cove” which is well protected and near a beach. We had to spend a couple of days in Port Washington due to high winds.

The weather forecast looks pretty bleak for the next week. My foul weather pants had sprung some leaks so I purchased a new pair.

Some scenes from Port Washington.

June 23rd- Port Washington to Port Jefferson NY

First priority today was to get deisel and water for the rest of the trip. Unfortunately two large yachts were sitting on the fuel dock. Eventually they shoehorned us into a slip and we were able to fuel up.

Today was another grey day with an easterly wind “on the nose” all day. Our deisel engine started having issues again. The RPMs would drop down if I pushed the engine too hard. I’m convinced it’s junk in the fuel tank. When we filled up the tank, sludge got churned up. Tonight I will be changing Evergreen’s fuel filters before evening wine and dinner.

Evergreen anchored in Port Jefferson NY.

June 24th- Port Jefferson NY to Old Saybrook CT

I got to try out my new Grundens rain pants today. It poured. I stayed reasonably dry. The wind swung a little to the south and we managed to get some sail out. The engine ran well with it’s new fuel filters and some kind words. If kind words don’t work, threats are next. We need to get home.

We grabbed a free mooring by the town docks. It’s a great place to walk Ollie between rain showers.

June 25th- Old Saybrook CT to Block Island RI

Dense Fog. Really dense fog. When we left Old Saybrook we could see 100 yards or so but that soon ended. We ran our radar and navigated by GPS. We had to play “dodge em” with vessels on the Connecticut River. I used my air horn so much that it went dead. Out came my Bahamian conch horn. I blew that thing for about four hours straight. It was very stressful to soar through “The Race” at 7 knots with at least three barges nearby. They’d blow their loud ship’s fog horn and I’d blast away on the conch horn in reply.

Block Island. Finally some visibility.

We are anchored in Great Salt Pond on Block Island for the night. Captain and Admiral are having a celebratory Dark N Stormy. The sun actually made an appearance and I brought Ollie to shore for a swim.

The weather has been difficult on this trip north. Very rarely did we have southerly winds. It seemed like the sunny days were in short supply. Tomorrow looks like a decent travel day. Tuesday and Wednesday are not so good. We will continue on to our mooring in Padanaram harbor tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do on both Evergreen and our house. Hopefully there is no fog.

Evergreen anchored in Block Island.