July 29th and 30th- Block Island, RI to Cuttyhunk, MA

Time to move on.

Another sunset on Block Island.

We left Block Island with a squall on the horizon. The storm stayed offshore and we didn’t see a drop of rain during the day. We had a nice ride through the remainder of Block Island Sound with a light southwest breeze.

Eventually we passed the Buzzards Bay tower (an offshore weather station) and were back in home waters.

During our trip I’ve developed the habit of having 2 GPS devices running and paper charts out for navigation. I periodically mark my position on the paper chart just to keep an idea of where I am. In North Carolina we were out in a bad lightning storm. Every 5 minutes I had Lynne write down our Latitude and Longitude. The idea being, if we were hit by lightning it could fry all of our electronics. At least we’d have a hard copy of our Latitude and Longitude so I could figure out where we were and plot a course (worst case- radio for help with an accurate position). Very rarely do I look at the Buzzards Bay chart. My entire sailing “career” has been in this bay. I know it well. I enjoy the navigation so I plotted an accurate course from Block Island to Cuttyhunk Harbor.

It would have been easy to travel a few extra miles and head to our mooring in Padanaram Harbor (Dartmouth). Cuttyhunk is a special place for both of us. It’s our home away from home. It’s only around 10 nautical miles from Dartmouth and was our first “big trip” when we got up enough nerve to cross the bay. I’ve been told it’s a difficult place to anchor (due to eel grass), but it’s where I learned to anchor. Now I have many more anchorages under my belt but Cuttyhunk is still one of my favorites. We felt we started our journey here so we had to visit again before returning. It’s a busy harbor in summer.

Cuttyhunk has a year round population of 20 to 30 people with about 250 in the summer. They recently had a Covid outbreak with 9 people testing positive at last count. The little grocery is closed down. Everyone is wearing masks. We haven’t gone in to town yet.

LAND HO!!! Cuttyhunk and Martha’s Vineyard on the horizon.

Cuttyhunk Island.

Penikese Island.

The entrance to Cuttyhunk Pond.

One of the attractions of the island is being serenaded by breaking waves during the nite. The inner harbor (Cuttyhunk Pond) is calm but you can hear breaking waves on Barge Beach outside. Sometimes you also can hear the howl of seals on Penikese.

We woke to fog which quickly turned into a sunny day.

Wake up! Cuttyhunk!

The ball is in the boat and he knows it.

Some scenes from Cuttyhunk.

A Marshall Sanderling catboat. Our last boat, Iris, was a Sanderling.

Catalpa anchored in Cuttyhunk Pond.

July 26- Threemile Harbor, NY to Block Island, RI

We headed out of Threemile early for the trip over to Block Island. We caught a favorable wind and current out of Gardeners Bay. We kept the wind until we rounded Montauk. NOAA had forecast some good wind for the morning which was supposed to increase through out the day. They even posted a small craft advisory.

I made a few sewing repairs and hoisted the Catalpa and Boot Key Harbor burgees back up the mast.

Goodbye Long Island.

The wind died in Block Island Sound. We still had 3 to 4 foot seas. Catalpa rolled rail to rail in a beam sea (waves coming from the side). I tried to get some sail up just to steady the motion but the rolling just knocked the wind out of the sail. It made for an uncomfortable ride. Life at sea is like that sometimes.

Block Island through the haze.

The wind reappeared the last half hour or so. By the time we were inside of New Harbor (Block Island) the wind was over 20 knots. It wasn’t really helpful for anchoring.

The harbors on Long Island seemed empty. I guess everyone is on Block Island. There are a lot of boats in here. I was here twice last year and I’d say it’s a typical mid-summer boat crowd. With the hot Southwest breeze blowing it was a busy evening. We’ve seen several boats drag their anchor and mayhem ensues. We haven’t seen any damage so no harm done. Our anchor has held. I hope it continues to do so.

Sunset on Block Island with a smokey sou’wester blowing.

July 27th & 28th- Block Island, RI

Another hot breezy day. This is summertime in the various sounds and bays of New England. We ventured out in the dinghy and headed over to a beach. Oliver chased his frisbee 500 more times. The swimming is great exercise for him. He slept for hours on our return to Catalpa.

Igniting the grill with the wind blowing is difficult. We had a good steak marinating for a day so I was determined. With the help of some extra buffering tin foil, the grill was lit. Steak and a bottle of Chianti for dinner last night. Today (the 28th) Lynne is going ashore to hunt for some clams or fish at the local market.

Some scenes from Block Island.

Throw It!

Too many boat pictures? Maybe. We didn’t go into town today.

The Oar. Open with Covid restrictions. We saw many people with masks.

We’re almost home. It feels a little strange to be back in familiar territory again. We had never sailed “beyond” Block Island until this big adventure. We had a visit from the captain of Improbability whom we met down in Boot Key Harbor. We also met up in Fort Lauderdale. Small world.

Catalpa anchored in New Harbor, Block Island RI

July 23rd & 24th- Port Jefferson to Threemile Harbor (East Hampton), NY

Originally we planned on a short trip over to Mattituck today. We’ve been out of sync with the tides since we got to Long Island Sound. Basically the tidal current is running against us during our “normal” travel hours. We started the day early and had some wind to push us along. We quickly made it to the area outside of Mattituck and decided to continue onward. Eventually we’d have the tide with us. The current had us moving at top speed through Plum Gut into Gardiners Bay. We then motor sailed up to Threemile Harbor to anchor for the night.

Coast of Long Island.

Orient Point Lighthouse.

Besides reading about Threemile, my sailmaker in Padanaram had suggested it. It’s a big harbor. Obviously, around three miles long. You could anchor 100s of boats in here. Normally it’s probably very busy this time of year. There are about 15 to 20 boats anchored or moored here currently. Most have no one aboard. It’s very quiet. I think this is probably due to the pandemic. A passing thunder shower was the only sound at night.

We anchored near a boat ramp for Ollie’s evening commando raid.

Mud + Saltwater = Happy Dog

Today (Friday the 24th), we moved Catalpa down to the other end of the harbor. There are a few boatyards and a municipal dock. East Hampton has Damark’s Market. A nice gourmet grocery store that’s not far from the docks. Sea bass for dinner tonight. On our way back we found that Three Mile Marina has big blocks of ice. I filled our freezer. We’ll head over to Block Island Sunday (wind and weather permitting).

East Hampton waterfront at Threemile Harbor.

Catalpa anchored in Threemile Harbor.

July 21st & 22nd- Port Jefferson, NY

After docking for diesel fuel we departed Port Washington on an Easterly course for Port Jefferson. No wind appeared for most of our trip up the sound. We were able to get a sail up for the last hour or so.

Execution Rocks Lighthouse.

Becalmed on Long Island Sound.

On our trip South we anchored out. Port Jefferson is a big harbor with plenty of spots to drop the hook and places to beach a dinghy. Since our expenses have been good this month we decided to splurge and pay for a mooring at the Port Jefferson Yacht Club (PJYC). PJYC’s moorings are very close to a beach. Olliver loves the beach and swimming is about the only exercise he’s getting in this heat. The club also has a launch and showers. The admiral particularly likes the launch service. Unfortunately the harbor side municipal laundry is closed due to Covid.

Many people are wearing masks and taking precautions. This area was hit pretty hard with 40000 cases locally. We are being careful and travel with masks and hand sanitizer at all times.

Some scenes from Port Jefferson.

PJYC.

Clubhouse

Catalpa is out there, somewhere.

Beach! Beach! Beach……

One of the ferries.

Some of the yachts are bigger than the ferries.

July 20th- Port Washington, NY

The heat wave is here and it is plenty hot. I’ve rigged up every piece of canvas we have to provide some shade on deck. We put the thermometer outside. It’s reading 100° F in the shade. The canvas also helps funnel a little air into the cabin. Cabin temperature is in the mid 80s. Low tech air conditioning.

I’ve been looking at the chart for Long Island and been thinking about places to go. Our next stop will most likely be Port Jefferson. Beyond that my choices were to go over to Connecticut (maybe Old Saybrook again) or stay on Long Island a few more days.

A book that I’ve read several times and has greatly influenced my local cruising habits is “The Coasts of Summer” by Anthony Bailey. I was thinking about that book this morning while scanning the charts. Unfortunately I learned Anthony Bailey passed away back in May due to Covid-19. He worked for The New Yorker magazine for 35 years and wrote 23 books. Rest in peace Mr. Bailey.

In “The Coasts of Summer,” he takes his boat from Connecticut and heads over to Gardeners Bay on the end of Long Island then up into Buzzards Bay. It’s been a while since I read the book so I don’t remember his favorite spots. I’ve always been intrigued with the idea of going to Gardeners Bay but have never made it over there. It’s looking like we might spend some time in Gardiners Bay (maybe 3 Mile Harbor) before shipping out to Block Island.

We were able to pick up groceries from a farmer’s market and Stop & Shop so we are back to having gourmet meals. We’ll have to fuel up before leaving. We may depart Port Washington tomorrow.

Port Washington.

July 17th & 18th- Atlantic Highlands, NJ to Port Washington, NY

The predicted rain never really materialized in the Highlands. The next few days are supposed to be very hot and sunny. Today was cloudy. Maybe it would be nice to go through NYC without the sun blazing down on me. We had a fair tide up the East River around mid day. We pulled up the anchor around 1:00 and headed to New York.

This trip has been such a mixture of different landscapes. I hope to get all of these pictures into some kind of book format someday. Lots of memories. I see New York City as being another very interesting landscape. Less than a month ago I was looking at cypress trees on the Alligator River and the Great Dismal Swamp.

The traffic on the River was good today. Just the usual mixture of ferries and water taxis. I mixed it up a little by taking the Brooklyn side of Governors Island (Buttermilk Channel). The United Nations has been abandoned so I was able to take the Manhattan side of Roosevelt Island thus avoiding the draw bridge on the other side. We hit close to 10 knots in the vicinity of Hell Gate. Easily our fastest speed on the entire trip.

Scenes from New York Bay and East River.

First bridge. The Verrazzano Narrows Bridge.

I noticed this ship was sitting very high on the water probably because it was unloaded and empty. I wondered if they need to fill it with cargo to get back or if they take on some kind of ballast.

Brooklyn.

One World Trade Center and the financial district.

Governors Island.

The scale of everything is amazing.

Schooner in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Bridge.

Manhattan Bridge and One Manhattan Square.

The shell of an old factory?

I saw this sea plane take off. Must be an exciting job.

UN building.

Not sure what building this is. It reminded me of the monolith in 2001.

Ruins on Roosevelt Island.

Queensboro Bridge.

Last bridge. Throgs Neck Bridge.

Stepping Stones Light.

Long Island Sound.

We had dinner while underway and picked up a mooring in Port Washington (Long Island). We’ll stay here for a while to resupply and rest. The temperature is supposed to hit near 100 degrees F for a few days. Back in the heat. I think we’ll be jumping off the back of Catalpa frequently.

Incidentally, we passed the 10 month mark the other day.

Catalpa moored in Port Washington.

July 14th- Cape May to Barnegat Bay, NJ

We kept looking at the weather and wind directions on the NOAA web site. I still didn’t have a firm plan on when to transit the New Jersey coast. It’s about 110 nautical miles through the North Atlantic Ocean with NJ as a lee shore. We had some problems on the way south and I didn’t want a repeat. In the end the decision was made by the power boats in Cape May harbor. Too many wakes. The commercial fleet starts heading out at 2:00 in the morning. Catalpa was bouncing all over the place with the dinghy slamming into the stern. Time to go. We wouldn’t have any consistent southerlies for a few days but I figured we’d just deal with it.

Atlantic City on the horizon.

Hello Atlantic City. Goodbye Atlantic City.

The wind was out of the north (maybe a little NNE). A boat has to travel northwest to get around Atlantic City. We were able to sail and also used the diesel to keep our speed up. We got to Atlantic City and just kept going.

About half way from Cape May to Sandy Hook is Barnegat Inlet. The inlet is good if the sea is calm. It’s very dangerous if the North Atlantic surf is up. In our travels, everyone I’ve spoken to avoids it. This was my second time surfing in the inlet with Catalpa. The wind was less than 15 knots, so not bad. The anchorage is ideal. Very protected. Lots of room. Scenic. Quiet. Of course there is a nice beach for some Oliver festivities. Later in the day the wind switched to southeast and pushed us along. We dropped the hook around 7:30 pm. Today was roughly 66 nautical miles.

Barnegat Light.

July 15th and 16th- Barnegat Bay to Atlantic Highlands, NJ

We woke to a wind coming out of the North again. Not the right direction for us. All of the weather prognosticators predicted the wind to switch to East. East makes for waves but the wind speed would be lower after the switch. I tied a reef in the mains’l before pulling the anchor up.

Going out of the inlet was exciting. We had an ebb current pushing us along. The waves were bigger today. We had A LOT of green water blasting over the bow. If we had any leaks we’d know about it. I rebedded most of the deck hardware a few years ago. No leaks. After we were out, we heard over the VHF radio that there was a 20′ power boat up on the rocks. Eventually they got themselves off.

We started tacking our way north along the NJ coast. Once I was oriented to the wind and wave situation I started doing some real sailing. Lynne brought up our little transistor radio and I tuned into some NJ rock station. Four tacks later, we were even catching up to another sailboat that was just powering into the waves. It was fun. I never did get to catch the other boat as the wind started to change on my last big push. Around mid day the wind moderated and came out of the East as predicted. By the end of the day we were running the diesel to keep up our speed. The sea still had some good size waves which knocks the wind out of the sails when the breeze is not strong enough.

We rounded Sandy Hook and brought Catalpa up to Atlantic Highlands to anchor for the night. Today was approximately 52 nautical miles (counting the trip up Sandy Hook Bay). We were pretty tired but felt good about transiting the NJ coast in 2 days (without mayhem). Some people do it in just one long overnight sail. Hey, we’re day sailors! Two days is good for us.

Today, July 16th, we’re staying anchored here. The captain and crew are tired from the trip. We also need to find water, ice, bread, and maybe a few gallons of diesel. This morning it was 70 degrees. We were a little cold. I feel like we are back in the Northeast again. We may go up the East River tomorrow or anchor at Sandy Hook. There is also a possibility of rain. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Asbury Park.

Back amongst the ships. I wonder what size anchor he has?

New York City to starboard.

Catalpa anchored off of Atlantic Highlands.

July 12th- Chesapeake City, MD to Cohansey River, NJ

Due to the tropical storm we spent 2 extra days in Chesapeake City. We wanted to let the Delaware Bay calm down a bit. I studied the tide and current charts for the C & D canal and Delaware Bay. We had a pretty effective plan for riding the current to our destinations which, to my surprise, worked.

Our first stop was the Cohansey River. We anchored in here on our way south. The river’s main attraction is it’s about half way down the bay and it has a little island I can land Ollie on. Unfortunately it also has giant Greenhead flies. Screens up! Fly swatter out! We mostly stayed in Catalpa.

Goodbye Chesapeake City.

Bridges on the C & D.

I hate giant flys.

The evening commando run. This shack is on the island.

July 13th- Cohansey River to Cape May, NJ

We were up early to catch the ebb current down the bay. The anchorage near the island was deep. I get a good workout cranking in almost 200 feet of anchor gear.

Sunrise.

Catalpa anchored on the Cohansey River (at sunrise).

We made it down the Delaware Bay to Cape May in good time. The wind was light but we had the current working for us.

Entrance to the Cape May canal.

The Cape May anchorage is over a mile from anyplace to land the dinghy for shore leave. We’ll likely just stay on the boat for this stop. There is a beach off the back of the boat. It is owned by the Coast Guard and is off limits. There were rumors of a scraggly looking grey Border Collie running on the beach.

View off the back porch.

The Coast Guard facilities.

Lots of boats passing by the anchorage on this sunny summer day (and lots of wakes).

Next stop, Atlantic City. I find the New Jersey coast to be difficult. It’s basically open ocean. Most of the inlets are difficult to get into if there is a weather issue. We are looking at the wind directions over the next few days and trying to find a few good days to get up to New York. The wind doesn’t always cooperate. With a little luck, we’ll make Atlantic City tomorrow.

July 8th- Annapolis to Worton Creek, MD

We made our way further north on the Chesapeake Bay. The heat is oppressive. Our little fans and cockpit awning make life bearable. I can’t use the mains’l with the awning up but, then again, there isn’t much wind to fill the heavy sail.

Around 1:00 the tide began to ebb and the current started to turn against us. I didn’t want to battle my way up the C & D canal again. Off the starboard bow was Worton Creek and that’s where we ended our day.

It’s a nice hurricane hole. Maybe a bit too protected for these hot days. There are two marinas on the Creek which have many sailboats moored and at docks. We anchored in front of the Worton Creek marina for the night. It was a quiet evening. Mostly just jumping fish and Ospreys for company.

Worton Creek Marina.

Fish trap?

I believe this is a Bristol 35.5. We may be looking at a few of these up north.

July 9th and 10th- Worton Creek to Chesapeake City, MD

We woke to fog for the first time in a long time. I almost forgot about that particular weather state (very common to New England). We docked at the marina for diesel and were on our way up the bay to the C & D canal.

We had the current with us. This is the theme for the next few days. The C & D and Delaware both have strong currents. We’ll try to use the tide to move us along and stop for the night when it runs against us.

Tonight’s anchorage is Chesapeake City on the canal. Engineers Cove is a great anchorage for getting Ollie to shore. We stopped at the Tiki Bar on our southerly migration. The pizza is good. It was absolutely packed with people this time. Wait staff were clad in masks and gloves. Patrons were not. Did I say it was jam packed? We got pizza to go. The takeout window was isolated from the rest of the place. We had our first Chesapeake crab pizza.

C & D Canal.

Chesapeake City.

Today (Friday July 10th), we are spending an extra day in Chesapeake City. Tropical Storm Fay is skipping up the coast and dumping a bunch of rain on us. Catalpa is getting a good wash down. We are even washing our sailors’ slops (clothes) in a bucket.

July 6th and 7th- Solomons Island to Annapolis, MD

We hope everyone had a nice Fourth of July weekend. We did a little grilling, a little swimming, had a few beers, and watched fireworks over the harbor. Some were so close that we actually had paper fragments, from the rockets, on the deck. There were no official fireworks but many locals just launched pyrotechnics out of their backyards.

The Fourth at Solomons Island with an almost full moon.

On Monday we left Solomons early for the trip to Annapolis. Annapolis is one of the sailing capitals of the world. We had to cover a few miles to get there but I was determined. To start our day we had almost no wind and current running against us. It was looking like we were going to get there pretty late. Then, a small south wind came up directly behind us. I have this pole (reaching pole) that I almost never use. By using the pole the genoa sail has a better angle for picking up a following wind.

I once used this pole to attempt to sail through the Cape Cod Canal. Don’t attempt to sail through the Canal. It’s not legal. The Coast Guard will persuade you to turn your engine on. They actually chased us down in some sort of gun boat. I didn’t hear my radio but they had a bullhorn.

I set up the pole and Catalpa picked up some speed. The wind increased and we gained more speed. Our prospects for making it to Annapolis (in a reasonable amount of time) were looking much better. The reaching pole works great. I should use it more often. We sailed up the Severn river and grabbed a mooring in Spa Creek. I’m glad we were able to sail to the sailing capital of the Chesapeake.

Not much wind here. Later, we were plowing along at 6 knots.

Our mooring is right off of the harbor canal called Ego Alley. Big boats parade around. We are in the center of it all. I have to say that Annapolis is a terrible place to be during a pandemic. There is so much to see and do. There are restaurants, bars, tour boats, galleries, and shops. All easily accessible to the various dinghy docks scattered around town. We are trying to be careful and avoiding all of it. I’d like to come back someday and spend some time here. How often have I thought that since coronavirus has become a part of life?

Some scenes from Annapolis.

Ego Alley.

Ollie likes it. There are many ducks around that he would love to chase.

Maybe I could get a job chasing ducks?

This yacht was so big I couldn’t fit it all in the picture when it cruised by.

The mid day temperature has been close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We have a couple of fans to help move air around the cabin. We ate dinner in the rain to cool off last night.

Much appreciated rain approaching.

Sunset in Annapolis.