Washington, DC August 27, 2007

Our original plan was to sail to Washington, D.C. because Gordon had a training conference on August 27th. As usual the weather had other plans for us. We left the boat in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey and drove to Washington. It really was a pleasant drive. Our hotel was in the heart of the city, so while Gordon was at his conference, I walked down to the mall and visited many of the monuments and also spent time at some of the Smithsonian Museums. This is a picture of the Capital taken from the Washington monument.



Abe Lincoln still looking out over the mall. While I was there a tour guide was speaking to a group of people from Italy so I listened in to the half Italian and English discussion of Lincoln's life and his contributions to our country.










The Jefferson Memorial, this was a long distance shot taken from the mall.












I really enjoyed this new monument. It is the WWII memorial. It has beautiful bronze reliefs depicting scenes from WWII, not only of the soldiers but the citizens at home and their war preparations.










The "Wall" with the 58,000 names of the Vietnam soldiers who died.











The Women's Memorial.














I spent time at the Air and Space Museum as well as the Museum of Natural History. Some of the museum's were closed for renovation so there were exhibits in these two museums that included historical milestones. The IMAX films in the Air and Space Museums on Space Station, Fighter Pilots, etc were fun to watch.

Atlantic Highlands, NJ & New York City, 24 August 2007

We spent the day walking around NYC. We took the fast ferry across the lower NY bay from Atlantic Highlands, NJ. This was the first sunny but hazy hot day since we arrived here last Monday morning. The Statue of Liberty is always a great sight to see.

We had to stop inside Grand Central Station and see the beautiful art deco in the grand central room. You can see the central clock above the information station. We walked around the great hall and took a peak at some of the trains waiting to leave before heading back out on our walk-about town.

Another look at the tall arched windows and the sign "Track Three"- train-destination?

Rockefeller Plaza is such a great place to walk around. Instead of the ice rink, they have an outdoors cafe around this stunning statue. We took a stroll through the mezzanine to see all the shops. You can see the city from an observation tower but we decided to save that for next time.

Saint Patricks Cathedral in all its glory! There was a funeral today for one of the city's fire fighters who was killed in a fire a few days ago. We saw firemen from many states in their dress uniforms who must have attended the mass.

We bumped into crowds of people as we walked by Radio City Music Hall and along 42 nd street as well as Time Square and Park Avenue. We also went inside Macy's and saw the latest fashions etc. etc. Of course Park Avenue had all of the upscale shops and hotels.

This is the NYC skyline (financial district). This was the first stop on our ferry ride into the city. It really is such an impressive sight to see. There was not only a ferry terminal at this stop but there was a helicopter landing platform so as we pulled into the terminal helicopters were landing and taking off next to the boat.

This is the Brooklyn Bridge. It is really quiet beautiful. When you go under it you can see all of the cable work as well as the brick towers that have beautiful arches much like a cathedral. There is a commercial peer with tall ships and a shopping district not far from the bridge and the ferry terminal.

We had to snap this picture! It is a Lego's model of the Empire State building with King Kong hanging off the edge of the building. This is in a huge Toy's are Us Department Store not far from Times Square. There is also a Ferris Wheel ride just as you enter into the building for all of the kids delight! We did walk by the Empire State Building but the lines were too long to wait to go up to the observation deck. Since we have both done that in the past we skipped the wait today.

Times Square with all of the advertisements and blings.

Block Island, RI to Atlantic Highlands, NJ 20 August 2007

We left Block Island at 11 am on the 19 th. and arrived in Atlantic Highlands (Sandy Hook) New Jersey at 9 a.m. This is a picture of the clay bluffs at the south end of Block Island. There were many fishing boats along the passage on this clear and sunny day. We saw what might have been "schools of fish" steering up the water throughout the afternoon and many chartered fishing boats.






I caught the "captain" enjoying the sunshine and light breezes. After he gets the "auto helm set" he takes that "blue chair" situated behind him and perches himself in the back enjoying the day-even though it is not one for "sailing". In fact we have put 4,000 miles on the engine this trip with far few of them "sailing" because of weather conditions and the direction we were attempting to travel-so we have certainly put miles on the engine.






Montauk Point Light House which is situated on the east end of Long Island. We cruised along Long Island Sound throughout Sunday, viewing the sandy beaches, and then the large mansions scattered along the shoreline. At twilight we passed the "Hampton's" and thought of TWA Flight 800 as night approached. The wind was "on our nose" so we "motored" all the way to New Jersey and the seas were calm so we didn't even put up our mainsail to stabilize the boat. No sunset, as clouds took over the sky and we knew we would be approaching the warm front weather system so we expected some rain, which came on and off throughout the night.

As we approached Ambrose Light ( the beginning of 5 shipping channels into New York City Harbor) there were 6 large container ships anchored waiting for the tide to turn before they headed into New York City. This is a picture of one of them. Somewhat blurry because of the bouncy waves. On this watch I woke up Gordon so we could go through the waves safely by all these anchored ships.








The nice warm cabin is inviting after spending a 2 hour watch in the rain.















This is one of the many container ships we passed along our way to Sandy Hook New Jersey.














At dawn the wind picked up to 25 plus knots and the seas got bigger. You can see the following seas building behind Captain Gordon. Yes, the wool cap and the foul weather gear were what was needed in this fine August morning!

This was the crashing waves hitting the sandy beach as we approached Sandy Hook and approaching the outer harbor to the Atlantic Highlands. Soon after this picture we followed the channel into the harbor passing the fast ferries to New York City. We picked up a private mooring in gusty winds and after a nap we connected with the harbor master and got situated on one of the the rental moorings.

Block Island, RI 18 August 2007

We came into Great Salt Pond a couple of days ago with hopes of being able to lay over for a "short" period of time until a front came through and head further east.

We had noticed some problems with boat speed coming down from Mystic so Gordon put on his face mask and dove down to check the propeller only to discover that we had snagged some line from a lobster pot along the way. We contacted Tow Boat US and fortunately they had a diver in the harbor that was dispatched within 30 minutes and we had the line cleared by late morning.

On the chart Great Salt Pond appears to be a good protected anchorage as it is completely land locked, but it is very large, about 1 mile in diameter, and only has protection from some low hills on the south side. Otherwise it is very exposed to winds from the west to the north.

The cold front with an associated high pressure system came through last night about 2:00 in the morning with winds that went from calm to gusts at over 35 knots in a few minutes. Even in this small harbor the waves can build significantly. Needless to say this kept us up most of the night with the engine running in case our anchor broke free. Quite a number of boats had problems and three or four large boats ended up on the beach. Tow Boat US and the Harbor Master had their hands full getting folks out of trouble in the dark. This harbor is notorious for these kinds of problems with weather systems. The wind finally calmed down around 10:30 this morning and were were able to get caught up on our sleep.

Now everything looks serene!!

We are planning on leaving tomorrow late morning and head to Sandy Hook, NJ. This is an over night trip of about 20 hours that should put us in mid morning on Monday. There is more poor weather coming up the coast and the promise of easterly winds on the New Jersey coast for a few days, so we will probably stay at a town call Atlantic Highlands through the following weekend at a minimum.

Mystic, CT 15 August 2007

After a couple of days of diagnosis related to our alternator we finally decided to get a new one installed. It was ordered yesterday and installed this morning. So we can make electricity and run our engine again. Our plan is to leave tomorrow morning for Block Island and then lay over until Saturday morning after yet another cold front goes through and then head to Cape May, N.J.
We spent the afternoon at Mystic Aquarium. It was quite a hike from the boat yard but well worth it. These beluga whales were fun to watch. Three of them gave us quite a show as they swam and splashed around in the tank, then they poked their head up for air and gave a squeak as they whizzed by us.

The penguins jumped off the rocks and swiftly made a bea- line toward us. They made sure they splashed us, flipping their tails and flippers in the air as they came up to the viewing area getting every one's camera wet!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of these beautiful sea anemones.

Before we left the aquarium we spent time watching the sea lion show.

Mystic Seaport, CT 13 August 2007

We spent the day in Mystic Seaport Museum/Park. They have restored several tall masted schooners that were built in the 1800's. They have not only restored ships but the park is made up of restored buildings that you would have seen in the 1800's such as the ship stores, clock maker, pharmacy, how ropes/lines were made, and how the wooden ships, mast, keels etc. were made. This is a "living museum" because they are restoring many types of wooden fishing vessels and replicating ship figureheads etc.

In the afternoon they had a demonstration of how the sails were hulled up the mast, how the ships dingy was lay ed over the side of the boat and then hauled back up-all by block and tackle and a mechanical windless. As the crew worked they sang sailing ditties so the work was done in a smooth uniform way.

This is the Charles W. Morgan which is the last wooden whaling ship that was built in 1841. We went inside the vessel and saw the captain's and officers quarters, the storage area for the barrels of whale oil and even the ship's roster. Many of the sailors were from the Azores, Spain, Portugal. This ship sailed out of San Fransisco and would frequently spend 4 or 5 years out before returning to the USA. I just finished reading "Whaling Letters" Published by the Descendants of Whaling Masters which gives a good depiction of life aboard as well as the families left at home. On the Charles W. Morgan the captain's wife and daughter lived aboard on some cruises.

We also watched a life saving rescue. If the ship floundered on the rocks, lines were shot to the boat's mast and the sailors were retrieved in this life saving ring and hauled back to land.

This device saved countless lives and is modified in modern times when a helicopter can't retrieve the men because of sea conditions.

After saving the crew, the lines were "flaked" so the line could be thrown without without for the next rescue without snagging.

The museum had a great many photographs of fishermen and their sailing vessels.

Dutch Island Harbor to Mystic, CT 12 August 2007

The sloop Mystic in the morning light at Dutch Island Harbor. We watched several of the crew members high in the yardarms working on the sails which somehow got tangled on the masts. They looked like a high flying circus acrobatic team as they perched themselves high in the rigging. What an interesting summer job for the crew!!! They also took their passengers ( about 20) out in the ships dingies to see what was happening on the shore. I think the crew needed a "shore leave" after the work high in the yardarms!!!




The old abandoned Dutch Island Lighthouse at the southern tip of the island. Years ago when we lived in the area, we used to take our boat here and go swimming off the boat as well as explore the island. Our son loved look for horse shoe crabs along the beach.









Point Judith Lighthouse at the most southern tip of Rhode Island.













The Watch Hill RI Lighthouse. The water was a bit rough in the passage into Long Island Sound so the picture is a little blurry.












A very attractive light house a mile east of the entrance to the Mystic River. (Latimer Reef Light north of Fisher Island).There was a lot of traffic in the river, sail boats, power boats, kayaks since it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and the air was so clear you could see for miles.

We will be staying at Mystic for a couple of days. We are having a problem with our alternator that produces the power to charge our batteries and the mechanic is working on it as we write this blog entry. Our plan is also to visit Mystic Sea Port which is a recreation of the village and boat building facilities of the 1800's that was originally here.

Dutch Island Harbor, Narragansett Bay, RI 11 August 2007

We spent yesterday at Fogland Point in the Sakonnet River waiting out an all day rain storm. We we got up this morning is was beautiful, clear, sunny, and low humidity. We passed through Tiverton, RI to pick up fuel and then headed down the west side of Narragansett Bay to a favorite anchorage of ours at Dutch Island. This is right at the mouth of the West Passage and during World War II there were defense installations in all of the entrances to the Bay. If you go on Dutch Island you can still see evidence of these. During the War all of the entrances to the Bay were blocked with submarine nets. A good friend of ours lived on Jamestown Island in the center of the the two major entrances and her father was the colonial responsible of the defense of the Bay. German submarines were frequently spotted along the coast and occasionally sank allied shipping along the East Coast. The picture above is our neighbor for the night. The land in the background is Dutch Island.


This is looking north up the Bay toward Wickford. The bridge is the Jamestown Bridge that links the western side of the bay to Jamestown Island and if you continue east you will cross the Newport Bridge to Newport, RI.

Tomorrow we are headed to Mystic Connecticut to spent a day seeing the historical Mystic Seaport. On Tuesday our plan is to head south to Cape May New Jersey to get there mid week weather permitting.

Provincetown, MA to Fogland Point, RI 9 August 2007

Sunset last night in Provincetown with the grey overcast skies clearing and the wind calming down. We left Provincetown, Cape Cod this morning at 6 a.m. and arrived in Sakonnet River, a few miles from Newport, Rhode Island at 4:30 p.m. We had the current with us all the way through Cape Cod Bay and it was clipping us along through the canal at 10-11 knots!

There are walking/biking pathways on either side of the canal and even on a week-day we saw many people biking, running, walking etc along the way.

The maritime academy along the banks of the canal.

This ship was docked alongside the academy. The red life rafts are suspended over the deck.

We had blue skies and wispy clouds this afternoon, but rain is predicted for tomorrow.

One of the many beautiful homes along the banks of the Cape Cod Canal.