Portland, Maine: New Friends, Reality Shows and Spin Cycles
Last post we had stopped over in Isle of Shoals, the little patch of islands about 8 miles off the coast of Portsmouth, NH. It was dipping our little toe into Maine since it was right on the state line. Well we have now thrown our entire bodies deeply into the state of Maine. First stop, Portland.
Entering Portland
Just another lighthouse on the way to Portland
On our walk to dinner . . . graffiti in Maine is different than what we’re used to.
The view from the restaurant: sitting in South Portland looking across to Portland
When we came back from our walk, to our amazement, we saw Wind Runner in a slip right across from us!! We walked over and introduced ourselves, explaining that we had heard their distress call and the resulting assist from Grumpy – and wanted to know if they were O.K. They were just fine aside from the fact that they had snagged a lobster pot and got it wrapped snug around their prop, thus having no steering. After throwing the boat into reverse several times, they got enough of the line unwrapped to limp the boat into the marina with the watchful eye of Grumpy escorting them. They mentioned that Grumpy was a rather large boat. Once they had made it to the marina, Grumpy disappeared into the mist (so to speak). We learned all of this when we invited them over for cocktails and some empathy for the day they had just had. And that’s how we met Jim and Vanessa. They were having the boat hauled the next day to take a look and see what damage had been done . . . oh, and they were going to do laundry. Again with the laundry. We enjoyed our visit and went our separate ways.
Jim and Vanessa on Wind Runner
Dinner and a stroll in “Old Port”
Pin Wheel and Eleanor Q
The next day was a washout with rain and heavy winds. It was no day to try to leave, so we sat there thrashing about on the dock for yet another day. In the mean time we had discovered more clothes with mildew on them. Boats. So guess where I headed? Yup, back to the laundry room. On my last batch of clothes in the dryer, guess who walked in? Yup, Vanessa. We just looked at each other and laughed – hard. How much laundry can two women do in two days’ time? I was able to catch up on the fact that they had discovered the remains of twisted lobster pot line wrapped around their prop which they were able to get off in short order when they hauled the boat. No permanent damage and all was well. They could continue their interrupted journey to Boothbay Harbor the next day. We ultimately decided to have a “combined resources” dinner together on their boat that night: they made the steaks and we made the sides and brought the wine. It was a most enjoyable way to end a labor intensive day with fun new boating cohorts.
Frank offering dock assistance to Pin Wheel and Captain Tyler
Pin Wheel pushing off the dock
Pin Wheel off to start a new season . . . trying to defend this season’s first place finish!
We Made it to Maine!
Oh my goodness; we’re in Maine!
From May to Maine!
The light at the entrance to Vineyard Haven Harbor
Vineyard Haven Harbor
Two schooners used for youth camps. The navy one was our neighbor in the anchorage.
Red sky at night, sailor’s delight!
The second part of our visit to Martha’s Vineyard was the more bustling, touristy Edgartown. First let me just say, it was blazing hot. We had made a reservation for a mooring ball right in the harbor. We would not do that again. Some mooring fields are open and spacious with local boats that are not always occupied . . . just sitting waiting for their owners to come show them some love. Not Edgartown. This is like getting a summer rental in Ocean City. Actually, what it was most like was like being parked in a floating RV park. (Now some people might like that . . . nothing wrong with RV parks). It was loud, crowded, busy and boats just one on top of another. Edgartown was very busy with tourists and quite the happening place. And it seems that at about 10pm every night, anyone over the age of 30 basically gets thrown out of town and it is taken over by the young, wealthy, happening crowd. We were in the area for about 3 days. The second day the breeze picked up and it was much more comfortable, but the first and third days we were melting quite a bit. On day two we were able to take a good long walk around town to find a hardware store (I can’t remember what needed fixin’ that day) and to get some exercise. We saw some amazing boats/yachts. But frankly, it just wasn’t our kind of place. Beautiful, don’t get me wrong. I’ll bet I’d like it more in October. Plus we should have anchored outside of the harbor where the air was moving and the boats were further apart. Lessons learned. First sighting of a motor yacht called “Blue Guitar” which everyone thinks belongs to Eric Clapton. (I researched this one hard and am pretty sure it is not his yacht – but that is a very popular urban legend.)
Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard
Walking around Martha’s Vineyard
Beautiful gardens all around Edgartown
Picturesque buildings in Edgartown
As we were walking, Frank let out a sort of “whoop.” Scared me half to death. It was the siting of the beloved Dairy Queen – his favorite part of Edgartown. Oh boy.
Next we went through Woods Hole (one of the openings between islands in the Elizabeth Islands) and came across a little slice of heaven: Quissett Harbor, Mass. Picturesque, protected from storms (which we were expecting), a quiet, charming harbor. Not a whole lot happening in Quissett itself, but if you walked up the road about 1/4 mile there was a trolley that ran either to Woods Hole or to Falmouth. We needed parts at a hardware store (again) and took the Trolley to Falmouth the first day. Nice downtown, shops, grocery, West Marine (bonus!), hardware stores and plumbing supply (which is really what we needed). We enjoyed provisioning all over town and finding a nice pizza place to have lunch at the bar and watch some of the British Open. Oh, and a barber shop! (I escaped using the clippers again!) The guy who oversees the harbor is such a cool character. He’s been there for 30 years (He must have moved there when he was 20), and manages the marina/yacht club. In the evening he gets in his skiff, puts on bermuda shorts and a big straw hat, has a beer in his hand and rides around the harbor to collect the very reasonable mooring fee from visitors. Did I mention that if they did a movie of his life Richard Gere would definitely get the part? What a stitch. We loved him.
Quissett Harbor
Waiting for the Trolley in Falmouth after provisioning.
At the Barber in Falmouth. I am spared from clipping again! Wow, is it short.
Again, it was HOT! And I had about one nerve left which someone was about to get on . . . so as we were gliding out of town, I spotted . . . I’m embarassed to admit it . . . a vey nice looking hair salon. I called and found that they had a cancellation the next morning. Yup, I weenied out and went to a grown up hair salon for some air conditioning, Wi-Fi and pampering. I am SOOOOO ashamed. My hard core sailor needed a break for a couple of hours and I turned back into a girly girl for a bit. Can I tell you, it was DELIGHTFUL! And Frank dodged the bullet from having to trim MY hair!
Rachel was great! Ladies know it is nerve wracking to go to a new stylist – but anyone would be better than Frank! It’s only fair that I get a picture in the midst of getting my hair done, too.
Leaving Quissett Harbor at daybreak
Entrance to the Cape Cod Canal – Like the C&D Canal, you have to time your trip through the canal based on the currents; thus the early morning departure.
The Maritime School at the Canal Entrance
Exiting the Canal. Again, we didn’t meet any large boat traffic. We hardly met any traffic at all! We looked for whales after we came out the canal, but they would not come out and play that day. Guess they feared Frank the mighty fisherman!
Proof that we were actually in Provincetown . . . for 12 hours.
Our thought was that Provincetown is like a mix of Key West and New Orleans . . . a carnival-like atmosphere. You can’t really see the large, orange painted transvestite on the unicycle. Yeah, you read that right.
The harbor in Provincetown. Supplies from the hardware store secure in the backpack.
The Retreat on Star Island, Isle of Shoals
Good company in the mooring field.
Sites around the picturesque island
Welcome to Star Island! Another fun night of listening to youth campers enjoying there time in this very remote location.
Not leaving the Isle of Shoals today! A raw, rainy day in the harbor.
The lighthouse as we leave the Isle of Shoals in the sun.
Where the Heck is Cuttyhunk?
If you’re not from the greater NY/Massachussetts area, you may never have heard of Cuttyhunk. Oh sure, everyone has heard of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket . . . but Cuttyhunk is not exactly a household name. It is actually a pretty cool little place. Not a whole lot happening there, but after Block Island, that was okay for a day. Speaking of Block Island, I have a piece of old business that I forgot to include in the last post. This word in from Block Island:
The Minnow has been found! The Minnow has been found!
Moving on to new business: Cuttyhunk.
For those who know south Jersey well, it’s like the Strathmere of the Elizabeth Islands meaning it is the road less traveled and a little funky. What are the Elizabeth Islands? They are a little chain of chunks of land off the Rhode Island/Massachussetts coast. Cuttyhunk is at the very southwestern tip of them. Some people might say, “I spent a week in Cuttyhunk one day,” and I almost borrowed that line, but that seemed a little harsh. It’s a very pretty place. We thought we would grab a mooring ball, but they were VERY close together and we saw a good spot to anchor close by instead. There is a seafood place that delivers to your boat, which sounded like a great idea! And then we saw that they were charging $22 for a half dozen oysters . . . yeah, I can eat pasta on the boat again. We did, of course find the ice cream place. We didn’t know exactly how long we would stay in Cuttyhunk . . . after spending the afternoon, we knew a few hours to roam around in the morning and we’d be good to go. The highlight was the hike (very hot!) up the hill to the Fishing Camp that is known for having once been visited by Teddy Roosevelt. Here are some sites and scenes:
Here is scenic Cuttyhunk
Mooring field by day . . .
…and a beautiful sky over the field by night.
Some day I will tire of taking sunset pictures . . . but not yet!
This is the lawn leading up to the main building on the Fishing Camp. Check out the planters. Really? A toilet? That’s Cuttyhunk . . . just a little different.
Inside the Fishing Camp – a step back in time.
Although the Fishing Camp operates as an inn, it is open to the public for breakfast. This was our view . . . amazing!
Considering how valuable this real estate must be because of the scenic view of water all around, it has a funky mix of old and new – well cared for places and not so tidy places! It’s an odd little place.
On our hike . . .
Frank admiring the view.
We enjoyed the quiet refuge of funny little Cuttyhunk for an overnighter. My sister, Triana, had saved an article about Cuttyhunk for us months and months ago. I believe it referred to it as a
“forgotten island.” We won’t soon forget you, Cuttyhunk.
We find good company with the commercial fishing vessels on our way to Martha’s Vineyard.
Next post, a catch up of several places we have been in the last week or so . . . since we are actually now in MAINE!
Block Island, Rhode Island – Some People Love It.
Well, after our epic week in Shelter Island, anything immediately afterwards was bound to be . . . hmm . . . a little less epic. I don’t want to sound like the next couple of stops weren’t good stops, because they were. But it’s like comparing your birthday to Flag Day.
So you will see two posts (hopefully) in rapid succession so that I don’t have one giant post, because – and here’s a shock – I’m behind. So this post will be about Block Island closely followed by a post about Cuttyhunk. What’s/where’s Cuttyhunk? Answer coming in next post, I promise.
We had heard so many people talk about Block Island (and Frank had been there for a quick weekend about 10 years ago) and it is a favorite stop for a lot of people . . . I mean A LOT of people. It is a large harbor with a vast amount of boats in it. And the atmosphere there is much more of a party. And it caters to a wide range of audiences. There are all kinds of people and boats there. There are gorgeous, massive sailboats with burgees from the New York City Yacht Club (very elite!) and we saw a group of gentleman jump onto the launch in their blue blazers to go to dinner . . . to powerboats with interesting and colorful names. At changeover time one day (again, like a hotel check out/check in process) we watched with interest to see who our new neighbors were going to be. True confessions: we were not disappointed when power vessel “Badabing” passed up the mooring ball beside us. At another spot in the harbor we saw power vessel “Fuhgeddaboutit.” I commented that if you could just locate the power vessel “Whaddayoulookinat” you’d have a Jersey trifecta. Anyway, clearly a fun place if that’s the scene you’re looking for.
The weather in Block Island was not ideal, but we took advantage of some of the cool, cloudy weather with a great bike ride around the island. Not only was it great exercise but it got us out of the “hubbub” and out into the countryside, which was lovely. We also had a great, unplanned surprise when we figured out that we were, indeed, going to be in Block the same weekend as some good friends of ours. That was a definite highlight.
I will always associate certain sounds with Block Island . . . the almost constant “Whoo . . . . Whoo” of the fog horn (almost more like a fog whistle than horn) and the sound of the bakery boat from Aldo’s Restaurant trolling the mooring field and anchorage calling out “Andiamo!” which they tell us means “come out” in Italian. If someone knows better, feel free to correct us. Anyway, around 7:30am, the bakery boat begins its rounds selling breakfast goodies boatside. Yes, it’s like room service. Then the chant begins again around 4pm with hors d’ouevres for purchase. Those guys work hard in all kinds of weather. And they have GREAT muffins.
Here are some sights from the Island:
Here’s a look at the harbor at Block Island from ashore. Frank worked hard to get his hair to look like that!
B.I. has a great launch service. You can radio for them and they’ll pick you up at your boat. The blue boat, Maverick, is one of the fleet. But if you have a dinghy, why would you want the launch service?
Oh . . . that’s why. This is the parking lot of a dinghy dock – and this wasn’t even that crowded! Later they were at least two deep. A popular spot.
There’s a great little bar at Paynes Dock. The owner performs most nights singing mostly old Irish tunes with an eclectic mix of other selections. His dog, Zippy, sits up on a chair and watches him adoringly or naps or barks at all the men who walk in (never the women).
A great bike ride around Block Island. This stone commemorates the 300th anniversary of Block Island’s founding listing the 16 families who purchased the island. (That was some time after the Indians got kicked off . . .)
The National Wildlife Refuge by the northern point lighthouse. Hmm . . . what CAN you do here??
This is a beautiful hotel that sits atop a bluff. Frank must have gotten bored waiting for me to take a picture and started checking his email. Oh wait – – – he doesn’t GET email any more!! (Well, not much.)
The countryside of Block Island looks like it could be somewhere in Ireland. Lush green, lots of rock walls.
We’ve discovered that we really enjoy renting bikes at various locations, but we’re learning to be good at riding together. There was an option at one place for a tandem bicycle and I don’t know which one of us replied louder or faster, “Oh HELL no!” For the few family members who witnessed us trying to maneuver a two person kayak together, you know that we don’t collaborate well on stuff like that. (Sailing as a team is different.) So even riding our own bikes, I’m still following and chirping about the fact that he turned at the last second with no signal and I almost drove off the road trying to follow him, etc. etc. etc. But I also know that if I lead, he’s likely to see something that interests him and turn off to look at it, completely forgetting that I’m in front of him . . . and then I might find him on the other side of the island two hours later after realizing he’s no longer behind me. These are just the things you learn together, which is fun. So I got a good laugh out of him this day with the bikes when he said, “Okay, who’s leading?” and I responded, “You lead, I’ll bitch.” Hey, it works.
Chairs overlooking the harbor at the hotel where our friends Cori and Greg stayed and a good breakfast spot.
This was the far end of our bike trip . . . legs aburnin’! That is NOT a flat island.
There’s something about a lighthouse . . .
We found another Mecca for Frank . . . of course.
Our buddies joined us for a late afternoon visit. Last time Cori and Greg were on board I forgot to get a picture. Here’s an attempt at a self portrait. I sent this to them and they said, “Do you have one that isn’t so ridiculous looking?”
Oh yes . . . this one is MUCH better! Hey – what are friends for.
ANDIAMO! The bakery boat arrives.
I think this is a picture of the harbor at Block Island, but it’s hard to tell. Unfortunately, it looked like this quite a lot. I think I shall write a new bluegrass tune called “Foggy Harbor Breakdown.”
And here we are leaving Block Island . . . hopefully through the jetty . . . we can’t see! Frank’s job was to maneuver the boat and keep a careful eye on the radar. My job was to stop taking pictures and make sure I let him know if we were going to hit anything.
I just liked the spookiness of this picture! Although it looked like this for the first 30 minutes, then . . .
. . . brilliant sunshine and blue skies! Much better. On our way to Cuttyhunk.
Are we glad we went to Block Island? Absolutely. We had some good moments there. Do we feel a need to put that on our list of stops for next year? Fuhgeddaboutit.
Shelter Island – The Land of Nice Surprises
Long Island was never in our original plan. At all. Not even a little. We always said, “We’ll go straight from Longport, NJ to Block Island, RI.” Somewhere around a week before we left NJ, we started thinking about alternatives, especially after getting the very sage advice that 4th of July in Block Island was not the best time to be there unless you love crowds and hoards of boats, who don’t know how to anchor, dragging and running into each other. Hmmmm. . . plan B. Long Island. So, as you’ve read, we hit Montauk first. But then where? Where to spend the 4th of July? And where was a place that my sister, Caroline, could come meet us for the holiday? She’s intrepid and was committed to finding us wherever we were for the 4th with little notice as to the final destination. And so somehow we ended up in Shelter Island, NY. It is nothing short of a miracle that we ever left . . . it is a slice of heaven on earth and we had an amazing 3 days – scratch that – 6 days there. It was full of surprises, 90% of them good.
Some of the gathering places close to our harbor
Victorian homes on the island are the norm.
The Dory – interesting bar/restaurant that we frequented. Nat King Cole’s brother plays there regularly.
Homes with harbor views
Eleanor Q in the distance; looking over the harbor on our bike ride. Lush, green everywhere!
The pilot house of the ferry – on our way to Greenport.
Downtown Greenport
Here you have it folks – Frank folding laundry in the public laundromat in Greenport, NY. He left for a while saying he was going to the bank. 25 minutes later he returned – the bank was just around the corner. “Going to the bank” is evidently synonymous with “going for a walk!”
Ems folding the laundry while Frank is walking. JUST KIDDING! He came back in time to help fold. You saw the picture.
Another look at the ferry. Could someone please explain to us the right way to pronounce “ferry”?? Is it “fairy” or “furry”? We’re different that way.
Hiking back with clean towels and fresh provisions.
Our wonderful new “cousins” in the Doughdish that they raced on Saturday.
Frank drinking from his first place trophy – an etched wine glass from the Yacht Club. Using it to enjoy some special wine that Caroline brought. Okay, one real wine glass amongst the plastic ones will work.
We very much enjoyed the hospitality of the yacht club and appreciated being able to use the facility.
Meanwhile, we had emailed friends we knew had a home in Shelter Island. It so happened they were coming to town for the weekend and treated us to a lovely evening starting with a driving tour of the island, drinks at their home and dinner out with a table overlooking the harbor. They shared lots of local knowledge about where to rent bikes, what to do and where to go. It was a most unexpected and delightful night!
A beautiful view during our evening tour!
Sailing Classes!
4th of July small boat parade
And it was great for me to have a sister aboard! One of the things Frank and I talk about regularly is missing family. It hasn’t been that long since we’ve seen them and it’s not like we saw them all the time before, but somehow knowing that you can’t hop in the car and be there in 2 or 3 hours just feels different. So having a family member on board was a treat. Scrappy 1 and Scrappy 2. (That is what Caroline and Frank have nicknamed each other somewhere along the way. I’ll spare you the story of how that came to be, but it was during a heated Wii bowling match a couple of winters ago.)
Dinner in the cockpit. On a nice evening, we grilled up some mighty fine shrimp!
Caroline looking content during a day sail in the bay.
Caroline and Ems coming back from a trip ashore to the market. Ems’ driving is improving and Caroline was a great supporter. Independence Day indeed!
And in my family, what do you do when a sibling comes to visit? Why put them to work, of course!! We took advantage of the water at the dock at the yacht club and did a quick scrub down of the boat . . . she badly needed a bath!!
The reward for a clean boat? “Dark and Stormies”!
And an evening sail was our other reward.
Monday morning it was time to say goodbye to Caroline. Off to the ferry. Sniff sniff.
Sisters saying goodbye.
And one final wave from Caroline as she left on the ferry.
Montauk, NY – The End
The title of this post sounds so ominous, but it isn’t meant to be. That’s just where Montauk is . . . at the very end of Long Island; therefore, it is referred to as “The End.” We went into a sweatshirt shop . . . are you familiar with those “interestingly” styled sweat pants that have something written across the backside like, “PINK” or the name of a university? You can guess, we saw some that said, “THE END.” Okay, that’s a little funny.
It was tough deciding if the title of this post should be the one that you see or if it should be “Stuck in Montauk,” but that sounded a little too negative. However, it would be an accurate description . . . we stayed there a few days longer than intended due to being fogged in! Anyway, what we saw of Montauk was very pleasant. We were anchored in the middle of Lake Montauk and had a couple of breaks in the weather that were just long enough to be able to take the dinghy to shore and explore a little. They were wet, windy, sloppy dinghy rides, but that’s what foul weather jackets are for. So we were sending emails to our family saying, “We’re in Montauk . . . still.” “Today we’re staying in Montauk.” Haven’t left Montauk yet. ” Don’t get me wrong, we like the place, but six days anchored 0n Lake Montauk is about four days more than one needs. But we made the best of it!
Our impression of Montauk is that it is a mix of being a little funky, a little nice, some people extremely friendly, and some people very standoffish. There appear to be some “world’s colliding” aspects to it; there is a big commercial fishing industry here, so you have that culture very prevalent. (If you’ve ever watched any of the fishing reality shows like “Deadliest Catch” or “Wicked Tuna” then you have an idea of what that means . . . it can be a bit of a rough crowd (as my dad used to say). One restaurant seemed to cater to the fisherman that just jumped off their boats – pretty interesting clientele and very funky and eclectic decor. But just around the corner, you have a very high end seafood/specialty food market and a little upscale shopping area. Montauk is a big destination for recreational charter fishing as well. But then you also watch a handful of mega-yachts come in. Like I said, a mix. We kind of enjoyed the funkier aspect of it! Taking a little longer walk up one of the roads around the area, we saw multiple little motels and hotels that looked almost like summer camps from the 40s or 50s in age and style (but small) . . . and yet they were right on or close to the water so certainly not cheap real estate. There is definitely an aspect of stepping back in time here.
One evening when it was just comfortable enough to sit outside (by Ems standards – Frank was likely huddled under a blanket down below), we watched a mega yacht loop through the channel markers and head right towards us. I called down below that I thought we were getting company. We flipped on the VHF radio, and sure enough, heard a call hailing, “Eleanor Q, come in please!” We answered back and they declared that they were unfamiliar with the lake, inquired about it’s depth (pretty shallow and you do have to watch where you’re going), and then asked if we would mind if they anchored right up behind us. It was pretty funny looking because we were smack dab in the middle of the lake and NO ONE else was anchored out there! But there’s a feeling of safety in numbers sometimes and we welcomed the company. The yacht was quite large and the hailing port was the Marshall Islands. That was the last we heard from our new mega neighbor who then slipped off into the fog before 8am the next morning. But overnight, our boats watched over each other.
We chose not to slip off into the fog. Fog is no fun, and we had nowhere we had to be, so why put yourself through that if you don’t have to. So we sat, in a fog, in Montauk. Here are some pictures of what we could see during that week.
Day One: A Beach Walk in Montauk (Hey, that rhymes!)
Some of the sites around the inlet and lake
Beautiful Vessel! This is a wood “commuter boat” built in the 30s. Absolutely stunning condition!
The little shopping square. Found a great market for specialty food treats.
Commercial Fishing is prevalent in the area
A bird surveys the local yacht club as we pass.
This was the funky fisherman’s restaurant. Look carefully: decor includes punching bag, antique wheel chair and bird feeders. ????
We walked here. It was a long way . . . (If you look at the larger version of this picture, you MIGHT find that comment funny . . . or not. First set of bonus points for musical reference #1)
Dinghy captain taking us to town. (Dinghy is the vessel, not a description of the captain.)
The view from our boat, Day 3 in Montauk
Ems practicing her dinghy driving . . . looking very serious while pulling away. Probably thinking something like, “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.” This is serious business, though, because independence is essential and being able to take the dinghy ashore alone is a big part of that!
Feeling a little more confident . . . “Onward!” By the way, the fog set in during this practice run, but fortunately, being on a lake, it was pretty easy to do a little dead reckoning and figure out how to head in the right direction until Eleanor Q became visible again! Still, kind of an odd feeling.
Soggy setup . . . ya think? The weather pattern for many days in a row . . . anyone east of the Mississippi was feeling it just like we were. Stuck in a system . . .
The view the next day . . . again. Fog. But look! A little company! “Don’t worry ’bout a thing; ’cause every little thing’s gonna be alright!” (Bonus points for getting musical reference #2.)
So you might wonder what kinds of things we do to entertain ourselves when we’re stuck on the boat for days at at time:
Play the guitar . . .
Play gin rummy (we have quarterly tournaments. Frank just won last quarter, but July is a new start!)
About the same thing he’d do on any Sunday afternoon . . . remote control, snacks, iPad . . . some things never change . . .
. . .watch the Nascar race . . . we do have TV, but we have guidelines for watching it: only for major news, weather or sporting events . . . or in this case, stretches of bad weather when we’re stuck!
Later that afternoon . . .
And then there’s always cooking to pass the time (which is easy to do when it’s a little chilly!) Frank made us this delicious sea bass dinner! (No, he didn’t catch it . . . )
And the view the next day . . .
So more cooking . . .
There’s always chatting on the Single Side Band radio! That HAM license comes in handy.
Busting out of Lake Montauk at last! The lake is in the rear view mirror (if we had a rear view mirror.)
Going out the inlet from the lake. When you’re going out of it, shouldn’t it be called an “outlet”???? Just wondering.
Finally, on Tuesday, July 2nd, we broke out of Montauk and headed for the top part of the “fishtail” of Long Island. I never looked closely at the map before to realize that Long Island really does look like a fish tail. Tuesday afternoon we landed in the waters next to Shelter Island, NY where we are still hanging out today. But we’re not stuck here due to fog . . . we’re stuck here because it’s too nice to leave just yet! But we’ll tell you about that on the next post.
A Stay in New Jersey and Big Day #3
Other than the brief post on Tuesday about starting our passage to Montauk, it has been weeks since our last post, and I’ve been grinding on the best way to summarize the more notable points of this period.
Well, first and foremost, if you’re reading this it means we’ve made it safely to Montauk, NY. More on that later . . . first, the stop in New Jersey.
I will cover this in headline form since much of it is of great interest to us but may be of limited interest to a lot of others, so:
Of the 26 nights we were in NJ, we slept in our house 3 of them. We stayed on the boat the rest of the time because it is more “home” than our home, just because it is still new to us. However, we did spend those few days making it more homey and taking advantage of the unlimited supply of hot water . . . I’m talking long, hot showers. I was so decadent that when I shampooed my hair I lathered, rinsed and then, just because I could, I repeated. The laundry was also taken advantage of with great gusto. Plus it was good to see the piano again. But we longed to be on the boat, so that’s where we stayed while parked in a lovely marina where Frank had a slip many years ago.
We packed five weeks worth of activity into three, including:
– Five visits from family members
– Six visits from friends
– Two overnight trips out of town (by car – GASP!)
– A visit to see our Mamas (You gotta see your Mama!)
– One funeral (Ems next door neighbor in Bethlehem and good buddy, Irene. Hope you and Norbert and doing the polka together again!)
– Two services at my former church to sing in the choir (2nd Sunday they coerced, uhm uh conned, er uh, asked me to accompany the choir on a piece that was one of our signature concert pieces – I love seeing a classically trained group singing Gospel!)
As if that weren’t an exciting enough itinerary, Frank had a health scare and visit to the doctor complete with 2 scans. Bottom line: all is well. (Many of you know Frank is a throat cancer survivor – 9 years) . . . end of the story: he has a crooked esophagus. No biggie and nothing needs to be done. I have been writing a song in my head that I hear being sung by Jimmy Buffet. Goes something like this . . .
“Oh I have a crooked esophagus,
Can’t tell you why or how.
Just what that means ain’t a hill of beans.
Just means that I should eat soft chow.”
Or something like that. It still needs work. Don’t judge.
I joke, but it made for some tense days in our third week, so the visits with family and friends were a great distraction. And we met a GREAT doctor who will have a special place in our hearts forever. She was the best.
So as much as we were chomping at the bit to leave, we were stuck until we got the all clear. We got the all clear on Monday, June 24th at 9:43 a.m. After rejoicing for a bit, we looked at the weather forecast to start plotting our escape. An hour later, we decided that our only weather window (without having to stay in the marina for another full week) was to leave in less than 24 hours. That launched us into a great cloud of scurrying around to prep, provision, make another trip to the house, figure out how to ditch our cars and get back to the boat to be ready for a 6am departure. So that’s what we did.
Here are some pictures of some of Eleanor Q’s visitors and time in the marina and some of the fun we had while in town. . . (by the way, and you clever folks may have already figured this out – if you click on a picture you will get the larger version of it if desired . . . those of you under 40 may not need to avail yourselves of this feature.)
A shot of the marina and an approaching storm
Some of the gang from Hollywood Casino Grantville down for a visit
The guys coming to pick the ladies up for lunch after fishing.
Franks’s sister and husband (Colleen & Joe) come out for a sail with us! It was a sporting ending with 20+ knots while docking. Joy. This is us recovering . . .
Ems sister, Triana, celebrating her last day of school (teaches 6th grade) with an evening sail!
Frank with his great nephew. Baby on board!
Frank’s mom and Nolan sitting in the cockpit.
Frank, his sister Kathy and Nolan. The Budweiser was not for Nolan, I promise.
Frank at the Longport Jetty. Looks like an Eddie Bauer commercial, doesn’t he?
A great day on the beach with Frank Jr. Fantastic Frank!
Father and Son.
St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Ocean City, NJ . . . home of a mighty fine choir and one of the most talented, dedicated and fun directors of music you’ll ever find in a church. 8th and Central if you’re ever in town . . . thanks for letting me crash the party, John!
With all of THAT behind us, the focus shifted to BIG DAY #3 and our 30+ hour passage . . . which is nothing to sneeze at! A quick review, we had 3 ‘Big Days” that we looked forward to: Big Day #1: Moving onto the Boat – check. Big Day #2: Taking the lines with us and leaving Annapolis – check. So THIS was Big Day #3: The REAL beginning of our cruising days with a passage towards New England for the summer. YAHOO!
Big Day #3 began on Tuesday at 6a.m. and ended Wednesday at about noon. Yeah, I know. That’s more than a day. I TOLD you it was a big day! Don’t get picky on me.
If you had more than two people or if both were very experienced crew who do this kind of passage all the time, you would actually get opportunities to sleep. But we knew we both wanted to be in the cockpit the whole time and figured we would relieve each other and take catnaps, which is what we did. (Frank’s were little bitty kitten naps. Mine were large Maine Coon Cat naps.) Anyway, here’s the overview of what it was like: The weather was pretty good, the winds were good for more than half of the trip, the temperature change from day to night with wind and humidity called for everything form bathing suits midday to all the layers we could find complete with socks and hats and big coats overnight. It is an open cockpit, so no hiding from the elements except for the canvas canopy that covers part of the area. The ocean was acting like an ocean . . . a little rocky and rolly – which doesn’t stop at any time. I’m so used to the Chesapeake Bay which is very calm by comparison. At one point I said something innocently like, “Are these kind of bigger swells?” I derserved the answer I got, which was, “They’re waves. It’s the ocean. The ocean has those, you know?” I had it coming to me.
So I will speak mostly for myself here as I describe the different feelings I had throughout the trip:
6am – 11am: This is pretty exciting! How cool cruising along the coastline like this. Atlantic City is pretty from out here. I’ll be happy when we get enough wind to sail and can turn the engine off, but we’re making good time and this is cool.
11am – 4pm: Ahhhh. No engine. Just the sails. This is nice. Nee
d to go put some more sunscreen on. I like our 2 hour shift plan. I’ll grab the sandwiches out of the fridge. All is well. How long have we been out here, anyway? Are we a third of the way there yet? How far away from land are we? Oh wow . . . we don’t have cell service anymore, or internet. Huh.
4pm – 7pm: Oh great. There was just a marine forecast on the VHF radio for severe storms hitting New York around 5:30. Is that going to come right at us? Is that lightning I see in the distance? Is that dark path of sky going north of us or south of us? Really . . . we’re 40 miles off shore? How interesting . . . Well let’s pull up the Weather Channel and look at the radar map. Oh yeah, we have no internet or cell service. Forgot. Argh.
7pm – 9pm: Thank goodness we dodged those storms. Being that far offshore worked in our favor and we missed ’em. Beautiful. Pretty sky! I can’t finish my chili. Yeah, I feel fine . . . but where are the saltines?
9pm – 11pm: It’s dark. I can’t see anything. I know you have to dim the screens so you can keep your night vision, but you have the screen so dim I can’t even READ THE FRICKIN’ CHARTS. Why are you doing my job? You’re behind the wheel, I’ll pull out the stay sail. I CAN’T PULL OUT THE STAYSAIL; I CAN’T SEE WHICH LINE IS THE STAYSAIL! THIS SUCKS! I have NO night vision . . . grrrrrrrr… . Why doesn’t the wind come around 20 more degrees so we can sail a straight line to Montauk? We’re 60 miles off shore!
11:pm – Midnight: The moon is coming up! Huzzah! You’re right – it’s amazing how much you can see out here at night. I’m so glad I put that little flashlight in my pocket . . . that’s all I needed to feel a little less frustrated. My night vision took a while to kick in. This is pretty amazing out here! Can you believe we’ve had the engine off and been sailing for 12 hours now? Which constellation is that?
Midnight – 1:00am: Happy Anniversary. I couldn’t think of a better place or way to spend it than on our boat in the moonlight together. (So much better than going to dinner at Chef Olla’s! Inside joke . . . forgive me.) This is really so wonderful . . . I’ll go lay down for the next couple of hours and relieve you around 4:00? Sure, that works. I can’t imagine I’ll get much sleep out here like this . . .
1:00am – 2:30am: . . . zzzzzzzzzzzz…
2:30am – 3:00am: Crap, is that lightning in the distance? Which way do you think it’s headed? Do you need your foul weather gear?
3am – 4:30am: Another storm averted. Excellent. I’ve got this for a while. You shut your eyes. Wow, this is beautiful. Frank’s asleep (sort of). I’m at the wheel, it’s the middle of the night, the moon is shining, I’m listening to great music . . . life is really good.
4:30am – 5:45am – I’ll lay down for a little while again, but I don’t think I’ll sleep . . . zzzzzzzzzzz . . . I missed SUNRISE?? Quick, where’s the sunrise playlist?? (Thanks to those of you who offered great suggestions to add to that, by the way!)
5:45 – 7:00: Okay, we’re only going 5.4 knots, the wind is dying out, and we’re no longer aimed at Montauk just because we don’t want to motor. Okay, that’s sailing. So we’ll have to jibe in a while. That’s fine. This is all still good. Long day and night . . . kind of tired . . . but this is good. I’m going to put another layer of clothes on. I can’t listen to the 70s station anymore. They just played Michael Jackson’s “Ben” and “It’s the Last Song I’ll Ever Write For You.” If they play “Brandy” we’ll have a three-fer for most annoying songs of all times.
7:00am – 9:00am: Okay, this is ridiculous. Can we PLEASE just start the engine and get there already? Thank goodness. Now we’re making some progress! Are we there yet? Yeah, I’ll take it for a while. Go rest. I know; just don’t hit anything. Got it.
9:00am – 11:00am – Hey, we’re actually almost there1 This is great!! Hey, LAND HO!
11:00am – Noon: Montauk Point! There’s the lighthouse! We’ll be at anchor in less than an hour! I can’t wait to take a shower! We made it!
Noon – We have this whole lake to ourselves. This is great! I’m SOOOO glad we’re here. Happy Anniversary.
And Frank from 1:00pm – 4:00pm: . . . zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZzzzzzz . . .
Here are some shots of our exit out of New Jersey, our passage and our arrival in Montauk:
Eleanor Q at dawn ready for departure.
Leaving the Marina . . .
Some places still showed signs of damage from Super Storm Sandy
Atlantic City to our port side as we motor up the coast in the early morning.
The first part of our trip was warm enough for shorts and swim suits.
We watched sunset during the passage after missing the storms just to our west;
The moon came out to keep us company.
Sunrise in the open waters.
Ems napping in the cockpit. The bright yellow thing on my head is the glow in the dark hood from my foul weather jacket.
Finally arriving at Montauk Point! Almost to our destination. Check out the bird that photo bombed my picture
Entering the inlet to Montauk Lake. Yep, those are rocks alright. Just ask the bird.
After an afternoon of collapsing, we managed to clean up and go out to dinner for our anniversary. Here’s the porch where we ate some wonderful seafood at Inlet Seafood Restaurant. How’d we find the restaurant? Got in the dinghy, headed towards land, passed a guy covered in mud cleaning his boat bottom and asked him for a good place to eat. You know, just like usual.
The end of a big day . . . and a big episode in our adventure.
Montauk is beautiful and we love it. We plan to stay here for several days, then spend a few days exploring more of “The Fishtail” of Long Island. More on that next blog. It was amazing, exhausting and a definite feeling of accomplishment. And now I have one overnighter under my belt! A friend compared it to earning a merit badge. I agree, Jimmy. I agree.
Underway to Montauk
We are underway to Montauk, NY at the end of Long Island … Left at 6am (Tuesday) with an ETA of 10am tomorrow (Wednesday). We have all our safety gear on and are happily cruising past Atlantic City right now. We will be 40 miles offshore in the midst of the trip tonight … Ems first overnight sail!
Weather forecast looks pretty good, but we’re ready if we should get a pop up squall later. There appear to be a couple of other sailboats in the neighborhood who may be doing a similar route. We will file a “float plan” on the radio at 7:45am. Finally! We get to be one of the boats saying, “underway from somewhere to somewhere” after being parked in NJ for 3 weeks. More on that in another post.
We’ll report in from Long Island!
Cape May and First Day in the Atlantic
In the last post, we had made it to Cape May, NJ. anchoring up in Cape May Harbor for four days. It was an action packed visit since it is a location with a lot of significance . . . it is where Frank grew up, started a career as a commercial fisherman, got married, started a family . . . there’s a lot of stuff going on there. If you know Cape May as a beautiful, victorian, tourist town, then you know it how most of us do. I got to see Cape May as it was in the 50s, 60s and 70s. (Let me be clear . . . that would be the LATE 50s!) I got to see Mayberry . . . the small town where everyone knows everyone. I got the Frank Quigley tour of Cape May.
First stop: tying the dinghy up to a commerical fishing boat belonging to family and jumping across from one boat to another in order to get on the docks. I had instructions to “put my tomboy on” before we got there (meaning “you’re going to have to do some climbing and you can’t be tentative.”)
Frank checking out the fleet in his old stomping grounds
On the docks
Commercial fishing is major industry in Cape May
Our second day in Cape May, we found a place to rent bicycles which was a GREAT way to see town! We stopped by a number of places where old friends, acquaintances or co-workers work.
Getting around town by bike
On the mall in Cape May
On the Promenade in Cape May
Stopping by the beach
At the fisherman’s memorial
Frank showing me the names of the friends and co-workers lost at see while fishing . . . the main reason he got out of the business
In our travels, we passed houses Frank used to live in, we passed the restaurant where we had my parents’ 50th anniversary dinner and the estate where we took family portraits the weekend of my previous marriage (I was living about an hour north of Cape May at the time) . . . we passed the hotel where Frank and Grace had their wedding reception which was the same ballroom where Grace’s memorial service was held. The day had its share of happy memories and a few moments of melancholy. What’s the classic line of movie reviewers? “We laughed, we cried . . . I’d give it a 9.5.” It was that kind of day.
Onto the less somber part of the visit . . . one of the goals of the day was to find a barber shop. We are the proud owners of some pretty nice clippers, but I am trying to postpone having to use them until absolutely necessary! We saw a classic looking barber shop with a sign that said “Drive In.” That counts for bicycles, too – right? So we did.
John the Barber Working on Frank and swapping stories about the locals
We scoped out our spot for dinner that evening. You have to go to one of the great restaurants while you’re in Cape May!
Dinner was EXCEPTIONALLY good here at Frescos. Maybe because I had cooked for many nights running?? Nah, it was just a darn good meal.
We rode to dinner via dinghy and the trusty bikes again!
Kids; don’t try this at home! Taking a picture of yourself riding a bike is really not recommended . . . I lived to tell about it. In my brain I think it sounded like, “Cheeeeeese . . . oh sh_t!”
On Sunday we took the dinghy to a waterfront restaurant to meet up with some of Grace’s family for lunch. Glad to see her mom, two siblings, sibling-in-laws and a niece!
Lunch with Grace’s Family
Later that afternoon we tracked down a good friend and crew member from Frank’s past fishing days. Although they don’t keep in touch on a very regular basis, when they saw each other, it was like two brothers greeting each other after years of separation . . . couldn’t help but bring a tear to your eye. (Frank didn’t take his sunglasses off for several minutes … ) Blair has continued in the fishing business over the years and has gradually expanded his operations with his children to include a crab shack and kayak rentals in Cape May Harbor . . . but we got a taste of their latest acquisition of the Two Mile Landing Marina and Restaurant as Blair and his wife hosted us for dinner at the newly renovated restaurant. If you’re looking for a great slip, a great meal and/or a great sunset, go to Two Mile Landing Marina and Crab House. We had a great dinner with the family! Now, it was a very windy day and a little too sporting for the dinghy to make it over to Two Mile Landing, so Blair picked us up at the Eleanor Q on his crab boat!! That’s the coolest water taxi you’ll ever get. I was having too much fun to remember to take a picture. We came back after sunset with lightning in the sky and no running lights . . . that’s how Blair and Frank roll. I have to tell you – after spending part of the day with Blair, I understand more about Frank . . . they are cut from the same cloth. Pretty enlightening. By the way, that’s the dinner where we saw another former fisherman who remembered Frank as the guy who sank the Marjorie Snow. Blair was on the Marjorie Snow with Frank that day. Don’t get scared . . . Captain Quigley ran it aground first and Blair swam (a very short distance – probably more like “waded”) to shore to get help. It didn’t sink until after the tide came back up . . . no one was ever in danger. But this did all take place (35ish years ago) in plain view of all the other fishing boats leaving the dock, and thus the reason why everyone knows about it. And young Captain Quigley DID manage to get the boat upright and cleaned out and operational again and DID NOT lose his job. And that’s the short version of the story of the Marjorie Snow. It had to be told. And Blair was there.
Frank and Blair Reunited
I have full clearance from the captain to show the photo evidence of the grounding of the Marjorie Snow. Here she is sitting all whopper-jogged on the spit of land
So the other boat sitting by the Marjorie Snow was put there to keep her from floating away when the tide came up. Here’s the problem: when you have a port open in the bottom of the boat and it fills with water as the tide rises, you don’t have to worry about the boat floating away. We just had a lively discussion about the definition of the word “sink” which would imply that the boat falls to a level below what it was, which the Marjorie Snow did not. She just ran aground and never left the bottom while the water rose above her, so Frank would argue that the situation doesn’t fit the definition of the boat “sinking.” He says the boat just never rose. I would argue that it is that same thinking that led him to believe that he “caught” a fish. But we’re different that way . . .
By Monday we were exhausted! The weather was not conducive to trying to make the next leg of our trip to Great Egg Harbor, so we just stowed away on the boat in the rain and took it easy, reading and getting caught up on boat chores. Later in the afternoon, after the rain stopped, Frank took off in the dinghy to make a trash run to land. Being a thoughtful fellow boater, he stopped at a neighboring boat to see if he could take some trash off of their hands as well. (Remember, trash removal . . . big deal.)
Frank making a neighborly trash pick up by dinghy
Our neighbors were delighted to rid themselves of some rubbish and reciprocated with an invitation to have snacks and beverages on their Brewer 43′ sailboat that evening . . . at 5:30, of course. We had a great time visiting with them . . . they have been cruising for a year and were an endless supply of great information on “things we’ve learned in our first year of cruising.” We hope to meet up with them in Maine in August which is their neck of the woods.
By Tuesday, the weather finally broke right for us to make a run for it! So we waved goodbye to Cape May until we come back through next fall.
Leaving Cape May Harbor through the jetty . . . Frank’s “commute” to work as a young man
So today was my first big day out on the ocean! The last three years have all been in the Chesapeake Bay, so I was eager to see the difference between the two. I sensed the difference right away: sailing around Annapolis is like driving around Philly at rush hour; sailing in the Atlantic is like driving through the middle of Nebraska. There is very little traffic. You also don’t have to worry about running aground every three minutes (once you’re out of Cape May Harbor – ha!) . . . it’s deep. And you have long swells in the water instead of little chop, so it even feels a little different. I almost hesitate to say that I caught myself feeling a little bored once or twice – but then I quickly looked around me and snapped right out of it!
Ems’ first day in the Atlantic on Eleanor Q with Cape May in the rear view mirror (so to speak)
It was fun to pass Wildwood, Stone Harbor, Avalon, Sea Isle and Ocean City from the east! I’d driven around those parts for years, but I’ve never cruised up the coast like this. When I lived in Ocean City, I was only on the water a handful of times and they weren’t the best experiences. This was different. And it was a beautiful, clear day. And the winds decided to blow very much in our favor, so we were moving totally by the power of the wind most of the way with no engine noise. Ahhhhhh…
Atlantic City straight ahead
Coming in The Great Egg Harbor Inlet for a scheduled stop
We planned a stop in New Jersey for a couple of weeks . . . we have a little more unpacking to do in our new place, some family and friends to catch up with, and personal business to tie up before taking off on our THIRD of the three big days: Big Day 1 was moving on to the boat in Annapolis; Big Day 2 was taking the lines with us and leaving Annapolis; Big Day 3 will be leaving New Jersey and making the 36 hour straight shot to Block Island on our way to Maine for the rest of the summer. Having watched the remnants of T.S. Andrea and yesterday’s severe thunderstorms roll through, we’re glad we bit the bullet and got a slip in a marina vs. anchoring for this stop. It is old home week for Frank as it is where he used to house his boat, Eleanor, when he lived in the area before.
Evening in our slip – home for the next couple of weeks
Making friends at the marina. My new best friend, Molly.
Oh wait, our new best friend, Buoy, who is already famous on Facebook. How sweet is he at 7 months?!
Frank’s daughter, Nicole, came to pick us up at the dock the day after we arrived. We were like two little kids who had to leave summer camp early and didn’t want to!! We were cranky. And being back on land and DRIVING places in a CAR . . . we just weren’t ready for that kind of reality yet. But it has been good to see family and tie up some loose ends before our next big launch. Being at our new house is like visiting a friend’s house . . . it’s a fine place but very unfamiliar. We were only there for less than a week before leaving, so I’m not even convinced we live here yet. Odd . . . the boat is so much more home to us right now.
A final comment . . . so although you’ve picked up on the fact that I (Mary Marie, Ems, MM) am the main writer of this blog, Frank always contributes to, edits and comments on every post. I gave him this post to review . . . his main comment was, “This blog is supposed to be about ‘us’ and this one seems very much more about ‘me’. Frank, I assure you that when we sail through Charleston, West Virginia, it will be all mine.
A Change of Bays: The Chesapeake to the Delaware
The last twelve days have been so action packed including being in a different location every day for the first five days, it feels like it’s been a month! So here is a fill-in on some of our travels… The headline says sit all; last Friday we moved on from Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay and into the Delaware Bay, ending up where the Bay and the Atlantic meet in Cape May, NJ. We anchored up there for a 4 day stay before moving on to Longport, NJ where we are parked for a few weeks to tie up some loose ends before moving on to Block Island. So, here’s the trip in two chunks: 1) The northern part of the Chesapeake Bay, through the C&D Canal and down the Delaware Bay, and 2) Our stay in Cape May and then on to Longport. The most expedient way to get from the Chesapeake to the Delaware is through the C&D Canal, a man-made body of water that connects the top of the two bays. (C&D = Chesapeake and Delaware. Get it? Clever, huh?) Let’s start with the first few days:
We waved farewell to Annapolis and motored under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge heading north
There was no wind to speak of, so we motored the whole trip ending up in Swann Creek in Rock Hall, MD on the eastern shore of the bay. We pulled into the popular anchorage and started looking for a good spot (much like parking at the mall at Christmas but a little less crowded and a lot less honking). So as we’re eyeing up the pack we see a familiar boat and realize it is Freebird, one of the boats we met and shared sundowners with in Oxford!! We shared our loosely laid itinerary for the next couple of days with our friends as did they. We talked about hoping to run into each other again as they already had plans for the evening. We settled in for a much needed quiet evening, being a little emotionally exhausted from our big day! The next day it looked like the weather could be a mixed bag with a chance of some passing showers. When we set off it was gray and dreary … then we could see a set of dark clouds in the distance. We pulled up the trusty radar map on the iPad to see what was what. It looked like the little system might graze us, so we took down the one sail we had up (motor sailing at that point) and fetched our foul weather gear. If you see Frank in the big yellow coat, something is a-brewin’.
When the yellow coat comes out, watch out.
Ready for a little squall tucked under the dodger.
Happily for us, the squall went around us . . . we watched it. It slid on by just throwing a few sprinkles our way as it went. I was mildly relieved. I think Frank was a little disappointed.We’re slightly different that way. The squall was nice enough to leave us with some nice wind, and we were able to put the sails back up, turn the engine off . . . ahhhhhhhhh, . . . quiet! . . . and enjoy some good air for part of the trip. We decided to take our new friends on Freebird up on the offer to meet up in Worton Creek, so that’s where we headed. The first time we talked to them, we asked them why the name Freebird. “Lynyrd Skynyrd . . . Freebird. You know!” We did indeed; just didn’t want to assume they were Skynyrd fans, you know? So we anchored up right beside them, chatted across the water and agreed to meet for happy hour. Being the new cruiser, I asked an ignorant question: what time? I got the same reaction I got the first time I asked Dave that question in Oxford: “5:30!” said in a very kind but surprised voice, like, “Come on . . . you have to ask?” (Several days later in Cape May, a boat invited us over for cocktails. I asked, “What time?” Answer: “5:30!” When will I learn?) We parted ways for the rest of the afternoon to do our own things on our own boats. Frank and I broke out the guitar and tried to learn “Freebird” to seranade them later. Yes, I was trying to sing Freebird . . . you can only imagine how inauthentic that was, but it was fun all the same. In the end we chickened out from trying to do the whole, live version for them. Decided we weren’t quite ready for prime time. I think Frank was mildly relieved. I was a little disappointed. We’re slightly different that way.
Anchored up in Worton Creek trying to learn “Freebird”
Freebird parked next to us in Worton Creek. Such a cool boat.
We took our beverages and some snacks to contribute – that is proper cruisers etiquette: take your own liquor and bring some snacks to share – and hopped on their Southern Cross 31. Karen and Dave, in our minds, are the model, old school, original, hard core cruisers and we had a great time with them. They shared more valuable information about the Bahamas and loaned us a book on identifying fish in the Caribbean. Dave talked about how to spear fish for lobsters. I’ll be curious to see if we work our way up to that! Next winter if you see a picture of Frank holding up a lobster in one hand with a spear in the other, ask him if he caught it. If he says, ‘What’s your definition of ‘catch?’ be wary. Next day we headed north again. Now during these three days, much gnashing and grinding of teeth was taking place trying to figure out the tides and the currents in the C&D Canal and the Delaware Bay. Here’s the deal: There is a pretty significant shift in current in the canal at different times of the day. And there is BIG influence on what kind of headway one can make (particularly on a sailboat) based on the tides in the Delaware Bay. Trying to go against the tide means going nowhere fast and burning up a lot of fuel to do it. So we studied the charts and asked a lot of advice trying to get our plan of attack together. We decided to anchor up in Chesapeake City which is just inside the canal on the Maryland side. That would be our launching off point for the next day. The canal is a man-made body of water that was completed and opened in 1892. It cut down the shipping route from Philadelphia to Baltimore by 300 miles by cutting across a small strip of land that separated the two bays, making the cost to move goods by water more economical. This may sound like a set of boring statistics that I’m about to throw out here, but it comes into play in picturing our passage through the canal. The canal is 14 miles long, 40 feet deep, but most importantly, it is 450 feet wide. I’ll come back to that part. So here’s the deal with the canal. See aforementioned 450 feet wide stat. Commercial traffic travels the canal. Commercial. As in stinkin’ big. Giant. Tankers. The beam (width) on some of these babies is 300 feet. So 450 minus 300 = 150 feet. We’re 13 feet wide so that leaves roughly 137 extra feet to split between the side of the canal to the side of the tanker to the side of you to the side of the canal. Get the picture? That isn’t really a lot of room. I’ve been a little apprehensive. Here’s the pictorial of our visit to Chesapeake City and the trip through the canal.
Going under the first of several bridges in the C&D and into Chesapeake City
Frank on the bow as we finish anchoring. Not sure what he was pondering at this point . . .
Took a walk around Chesapeake City, a quaint, artsy little town.
Frank caught this very artistic view while taking a picture of a textiles gallery for his daughter
SO what’s the big deal about traversing the canal, anyway? . . . .OhhhhHHHHH!
Okay, that’s a lot of boat in not a lot of water. I get it now.
Frank captured this sunset before calling it a day.
So our plan of attack: Leave Chesapeake City mid-morning to get the favorable current in the canal and anchor up at the top of the Delaware Bay to wait for a more favorable tide the next day. Good advice that we got: be a little concerned about the current in the canal. Be A LOT concerned about the tides in the Bay. Hey, we’re not in a hurry to get anywhere! We’ll wait.
Ems piloting through the canal.
We got into the canal, and you know what happened? Nothing. Nada. If we saw five other small pleasure crafts all day long, that was a lot! I was mildly relieved. I think Frank was a little disappointed. We’re slightly different that way. It only took us about 2.5 hours to get through the canal, so we arrived at Reedy’s Island around lunchtime with the rest of the day to kill before our pre-dawn launch down the Bay the next morning. Cool things about where we anchored: 1) It was 15 degrees cooler than land, and that was the day it was 90 on land. 2) There was pretty much no one around; we had the anchorage to ourselves. 3) It was very scenic . . . well . . . if you only looked to the west, it was very scenic. However, if you looked to the east . . . well you’ll see in a minute. Note to boaters: the current change was VERY strong. The boat swung around 180 degrees as the tide changed which was an interesting test to see how the anchor would do. It did fine.
Tucked behind the island, we see the first of several tankers we would have met in the canal if we had left a couple of hours later!
- Hanging out in the cool breezes of Reedy’s Point enjoying a delightful afternoon.
Frank perching and admiring the view (to the west).
I am not the world’s best early morning person (Frank would call that an understatement), but when I DO get up at that time of day, it can be so nice! Here is our pre-dawn departure.
Dawn . . .
Sunrise!
THIS was the view to the east. We chose not to go crabbing in this spot. Good Morning Salem Nuclear Power Plant!
The early bird gets the . . . fish?
As the sun started to pop up, I decided we needed music on the stereo, so I started quickly assembling a short “Sunrise” playlist on the iPod. I was able to grab Norah Jones’ “Sunrise”, “Sun King” by the Beatles, followed by “Here Comes the Sun” (of course!). Any helpful suggestions on what to add to the playlist for the next early departure would be greatly appreciated! The trek down the bay was uneventful and pleasant, although not much sailing and a lot of motoring involved. We did get the main sail up to help the engine for a while when the wind direction was cooperative. About seven hours later and we were in Cape May, home town of Captain Frank Edward Quigley. He pointed out the spit where he sank the Marjorie Snow. I won’t share that story on this blog. Frank will be mildly relieved, but I’ll be disappointed. We’re slightly different that way.
The Lighthouse at Cape May Point as we round the tip of NJ.
Voyages of the Eleanor Q 