07/27/2009, Coecles Harbor, Shelter Island
Coecles Harbor, Shelter Island
We got off the dock at Mystic Seaport around noon on Friday. About 10 miles out, the current was against us and the wind completely died. We had planned to sail all the way to Shelter Island, however, at 2-3 knots, it would be midnight before we would arrive. We decided to drop the anchor near Fisher Island and wait for the wind the following day. We had pretty good thunderstorms during the night, there was even a strike right on shore. The storm seemed to pass pretty quickly.
Nathan, Seth, and I pulled up the anchor around 9am and we made it to Coecles Harbor on Shelter Island around 2pm. It was a pretty warm day and within 15 minutes of dropping the anchor, the boys were swimming around the boat. There was some jellyfish in the area but they were the non-stinging type. J The boys had a good time trying to net them.
This morning we went to shore and did some swimming in the marina pool. The boys enjoyed getting to use their goggles and snorkels. Aaron is starting to really pick up on the swimming. We will be heading out shortly as there is a 48 hour anchor limit in this harbor. We will head to the other side of the island to anchor in West Neck Harbor.
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07/23/2009, Mystic, Conn.
Mystic Seaport Museum
After a night of rolling inside Point Judith breakwater, we made our way to Mystic Seaport, CT. It was a beautiful day ,and we made good time. This area is gorgeous with all the islands and different lighthouses.
Mystic Seaport has been on Ben's list of places to see for some time. It's an 18th century seaport village set up with people in period costumes, doing things like running a blacksmith's shop, fixing sails, hoisting anchors on an old fishing schooner. It was really cool. We are at the dock here for 2 nights. Its pretty neat because we are literally docked inside the museum. They have all kinds of activities for kids... they made wooden boats today, furled an old sail (normally 60 ft up -- but in this case only 2 inches off the ground), and had to decipher signal flags. One of their favorite parts was playing an old game called skittles. Who needs video games?
We toured the last wooden whaler from that time, the Charles W. Morgan. We learned all about whaling. I, of course, felt a little sad for the whales. J We watched sail and anchor exercises on an old wooden schooner. We saw a Cooper making barrels, a blacksmith making ship parts the old fashioned way, and got to hammer Oakum between wood planks to seal them. We got to try out a sextant and a quadrant which were used to figure your position before there was GPS.
I have a new favorite word I learned in Mystic Seaport. Anyone ever heard of baggy wrinkle? Well, they used to use it to protect the sails from getting chafed or wearing through. It looks like a whole bunch of fluffy string that is wrapped around a wire or object where a sail may chafe.
There is more exploring to be done. I don't think we will get to see everything, even in docking for 2 nights. We would all highly recommend visiting this museum.
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07/20/2009, Jamestown, RI
We are once again anchored off Jamestown after spending 2 nights on a mooring in Newport, RI. Newport has some memories for us .... It's where Ben and Micah weathered hurricane Noel aboard Providence almost 2 years ago... it's where the boys and I got on board to begin our journey in November 07. At the time, it was getting pretty cold and we were in a big hurry to get south... this time, we really enjoyed spending some time in Newport. The highlights were sitting on the boat watching all the boats going in and out, walking up and down the main drag along the waterfront, playing at the arcade, Starbucks, and skipping rocks near the dinghy dock. We also visited this little shop called Resails. What a cool idea. They took used sails and made clothing, duffle bags, backpacks, and hats.. all made out of old sails. The boys wanted to buy this "ginormous" bean bag chair. The boys and I picked out a hat for Ben made of Kevlar sails. (His birthday was yesterday!)
We decided after paying for 2 nights mooring, we decided to come back south to Jamestown. We headed out about noon on Saturday. I am not sure if Ben planned this or not, but it just so happened that as we were leaving Newport, a sailboat race was just beginning. These massive, racing sailboats were getting ready to begin their race and were tacking back and forth. The boats must have been over 100 feet long and 20-30 crew members. We had fun pretending we were racing them. J Boy could they move through the water. It gave Ben a chance to refresh his memory on what the rules of sailing are... who has the right of way when 2 boats are heading in the same direction, especially when the other one is a lot bigger? We thought we were going fast at 7 knots, until the racing sailboats blew past us. Wow. What fun. After we turned the corner and the wind was on our beam, Nathan marked our speed at 9.3 knots. It was exhilarating.
We have been in Jamestown 2 nights now and will head out tomorrow. Ben and the boys went to the beach yesterday and they want to go again one more time. This morning we explored an island with what appears to be an old military base. We will be heading into the library shortly to see if we can find out more about it.
Tomorrow, we will be heading south . We hoping to visit Mystic Seaport sometime this week. Our plan is be back on Sassfras River by the weekend of August 15. Where has this summer gone?
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07/14/2009, Jamestown, RI
Jamestown RI
I am happy to report that soon after my last blog, the winds died right down and we all slept through the night. This morning we awoke to a calm anchorage and bright sunshine. We decided to go ahead and drop the dinghy in the water and take the boys to the beach. They had a blast body surfing in the waves and building a sandcastle.... Going to a beach with big waves was their one request for the summer. We got back to the boat for a late lunch and a check on weather. Since they were forecasting higher winder later in the afternoon and through the night we decided our stop in Block Island had come to an end. Block Island seems to be a place that you want to visit in settled weather!
We set our sails for Jamestown RI, not to far from Newport. We had good winds from behind us, which made for a smooth, quick sail. The boys caught 2 more Blue Fish. One was 27 inches (our biggest yet this trip) and the other was 20 inches. They don't seem to get tired of fishing.
We are planning to spend a few days here ... it is a beautiful spot and we have heard there is quite a bit to do. We would also like to hit Newport before we head south again... probably by the end of the week.
Tomorrow morning we will head into town and try to find wifi and a place to do laundry. Hard to believe we are already down to a month. Time is flying by. Will report in again later.
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07/13/2009, Block Island RI
I am sitting here typing, Ben is looking at charts, and Nathan is on watch. We are at anchor here in Block Island and the number of boats in here is ridiculous. Within an hour of anchoring, a boat anchored ahead of us dragged within 10 feet of us. The guys were all on deck with fenders ready to shove off. Ben and Aaron decided they would be in charge of dinner... they called it Olive Garden Night. They did a good job and we had a show to go with it... we ate on deck and watched the other boats dragging. J It was quite exciting. We asked if they wanted to go ahead and leave tonight and they said, "no, this is really exciting." So tonight, we are hoping the winds die down so we can actually sleep.
We are considering heading back to Long Island Sound instead of continuing north. We still have about a month until we have to be back home, but there are still many places yet to explore there... and one afternoon with hundreds of boats anchored in one place is enough for us.
The boys have continued to catch fish. Aaron reeled in his first fish, a 20 inch blue fish. He was pretty excited. I am starting to experiment a little more with how I prepare them... just for variety. Anyone have any good recipes?
We spent a couple of days anchored at Shelter Island, which is near East Hampton. It was a nice, protected anchorage. We explored the town on foot and the boys played a round of min-golf. The way they hit the balls, I am thinking they may be more suited for real golf. They really enjoyed it.
I promised the boys they could watch the next installment of Horatio Hornblower... a TV series about a British seaman. We are all enjoying it. Hopefully my next blog will not include a big story about how we got run into in the night tonight.
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