11/18/2009, Port Washington, NY
I am writing this early Wednesday AM still at the dock in Port Washington so I can have an internet connection. These ISPs continue all down the coast and I am going to experiment with the username and passwords that I now have for both Fusion and Beacon. It will be interesting to see if the provider had geographic limits to what they provide in each area.
We spent last night cuddled up in the cabin watching the tube while Mary Lou and Jay went off to visit their son Jack and meet THE GIRL. Sometimes it's nice to have a quiet evening watching programs. HULU is a great resource if you have a good wifi connection and last night we did. If you aren't aware, HULU is a streaming internet program provider and you can watch TV shows, movies, documentaries, etc. It has become very popular here (not available in Canada to my knowledge) and is a great way of catching up with our favourite shows (House, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice). The only thing is, I have heard that some Brainazoid in HULU has decided that they are going to start charging a subscription for its use. That doesn't make business sense to me since each of the networks carry their own streaming video site. The only thing that I'd miss by going to the networks is the movie downloads and with over 800 DVDs aboard we don't use that feature anyway.
At any rate, we will be slipping lines and heading through the East River, commencing at 09h00. The first part will be pushing a current but when we get to the race at Hell's Gate it should be slack water which should make everyone more comfortable. Slamming through there at 14 kts SOG was fun once but sometimes the eddies carry you awfully close to stone walls and abutments for my liking. Thanks, but a nice sedate 6-8 kts will be fine. Once on the other side we may decide to stop in Atlantic Highlands and continue the next day or carry on directly to Cape May. If we chose the latter, we should be there by noon tomorrow. In either case, there is not likely to be another posting until sometime tomorrow if we can get a connection.
Tally ho!
| 09-10 Cruise |
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Comments [3]
11/17/2009, Port Washington, NY
Now THIS is more like it!
We got going very early this morning. I am usually up by 05h30 but we normally don't actually start up with anything until after the sun comes out, but today, Jay came over in their dingy and took Peri and I ashore with their dog, Konishiki, for their morning poopambulations. That did enable us to get moving by first light, but I had no idea whether or not Peri was successful in his duties or not since it was so dark and he was spending a lot of time chasing around after Konishiki. Regardless, we were back in the boat by a quarter after and underway by 06h30. This is a good practice for us, for if we do wind up having to spend some time in the ICW I want to make as early as start as we can since it gets dark so soon and we will be getting delayed by bridge schedules. I'd like to aim at 60 miles a day and be satisfied with 50, but that will mean moving as soon as we can see the banks of the shore.
Yesterday and today Paula Perkins behaved perfectly to my very great relief and no small surprise. The cooling problem that we had was that after sitting at the dock for a week in Newport there was no fresh water in the engine's water jacket, none! Where did it go? I was afraid that there was a leak and went over the engine tightening all the clamps and that must have done it because for the last two days it has behaved normally - better than normal even. A mystery!
Our 35 nm trip from Port Jefferson to Port Washington was beautiful and when we got here there were folks working on their boats in their bathing suits. It was really nice to get the parkas off even if it is going to be only for a day. Since we have been three days on the hook or on free docks we have treated ourselves to a marina berth so that we can have showers and get a laundry done.
Tomorrow the dingy comes off the deck and goes back on the davits and we make for Hell's Gate and Manhattan. On the other side our plans have yet to be solidified but the weather window looks good through into the weekend. Maybe we will make some serious southing yet this week. I will post a short note tomorrow and let you know what we decide in the morning.
| 09-10 Cruise |
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11/16/2009, Port Jefferson, NY
This morning we set out to participate in a memorial service for Jay's Dad, a Senior Chief Submariner in the USN who was buried at sea just of Block Island. We cruised by while Mary Lou read a poem entitled "the Last Patrol" and had a moment of silence and then the flowers that we had brought were committed to the waves.
Before we left Block I had downloaded another Clearpoint forecast and the weather prognosis had worsened slightly. We were cautioned to expect 20+ knots of wind from our beam and mounting seas. That combined with what had appeared to be a cooling problem in the engine made me decide that we were not going to tackle a 2 - 4 day trip to sea. I need to re-establish with Barb that cruising is fun and that the terrifying moments are few and far between, and they can be. All you have to do is be cautious. So we chose to follow Screech to Port Jefferson through the Plum Gut and along the coast. Turns out that it was a good move with Small Craft Warnings blaring out of the VHF all evening fo all vessels to the south of Long Island.
It made for a long day but we were on the two remaining moorings in Mt Misery Cove by 23h00.
Tomorrow, on to NYC.
| 09-10 Cruise |
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