After waiting out some heavy weather in Westbrook, CT for a few days (spending some time catching up on schoolwork, and getting some minor repairs done), we did our longest passage yet to Greenwich, CT - about 50 miles. This took us nearly 11 hours to sail. We did manage to sail most of the day, with wind that fluctuated between 5 and 20+ knots.
Our very good friends and neighbors from London - The Herdes, live in New Canaan, and belong to the Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich Harbor. They arranged for a mooring for us there, and we arrived with laundry in hand for a lovely 2 day visit with the family. They have 4 kids varying in ages from 10-17, so our kids were EXTREMELY happy to see them and have some peers to hang out with. The fact that they have an enormous St. Bernard named Queenie only added to the happiness.
We did a little sightseeing, and Scott and Matthew went out on one of the Indian Harbor daysailors with Michael, while the girls gossiped on board Safari Tu. Thank you Herde's for a most generous visit - we'll be sure to return and stay longer on our return trip North!!
Today we left that idyllic harbor with less than 5 knots of wind to motor to City Island, NY for our next meeting with friends! ASTA board member Bob Frost arranged for a slip for us at his marina here, where he keeps his boat, Sea Note - Safari Tu's twin! We hosted Bob and his wife Lois on board, and the kids were able to go tour their boat just a few slips down - they are the exact same boat, only 2 years apart! I found out that our boat was production boat number 54, while theirs was the last boat produced by Gulfstar, number 78.
We plan to use this as our base to explore a bit of NYC for a few days and get caught up with some more schoolwork!!
Stay tuned as our next passage will take us down the East River past NYC! Last time we sailed past NYC was on our trip back to the US on the Queen Mary II 4 years ago!