Plymouth to Pepperrell Cove

Whaleback Light says Welcome Home!

We had sat in Plymouth long enough waiting for the wind and rain to calm down so on Sunday morning we headed for Gloucester MA.  We did a lot of pitching as the seas were still rough.  We had a lot of wind too, right on our nose, so the trip was slow and long and not very comfortable.  However we did make lovely Gloucester Harbor and picked up a town mooring. 

We left Gloucester Monday morning for home.  The day was beautiful, calm seas, sunny and we had a little wind to fill our sails the whole way.  We had a nice greeting in the harbor and are excited to be home.  Geoff picked us up at the dock and Greg and the dogs were soon to come home to greet us too, followed by Renee and Holly.  It was our 47th wedding anniversary so we celebrated with our evening dinner out.

Today we emptied out the boat and tomorrow it will get a good cleaning.  We hope to keep Snow Goose in the water for the summer.  The laundry is high and the appointments many, but we are home.

Cape Cod Bay

It is very breezy but sunny and supposed to be warmer so we will seek some help getting out of this slip against the wind and cruise today. 

How about those Bruins!!

Yes, it is June.  Can you believe it?

Down, up, up down

Canal from the stern of Snow Goose

Senility anchored in the Thames River because Snow Goose was on her mooring.  She is pretty.

Coming Home

June 10, 2011, Friday


Yesterday we left Jerry and Sandy's mooring in the cove on the Thames River heading outbound. The railroad bridge informed us they had a problem and could not open for us. It turned out they had been struck by lightening in the storm the previous evening. We hung around doing circles in the channel, anchored out for over an hour, and then at 8:30 am we decided we could not make our Block Island destination even if the bridge was fixed and called Jerry and Sandy and asked if we could hang out with them another day. It was a great day. We visited for awhile and then did Mystic Seaport, which was very interesting, and then dinner out. Then they had a Tstorm and high winds. Glad we were not out in it. Some things are meant to be. Anyway, we left our friends while they hopefully were stiill sleeping at 5 AM, went back to the Snow Goose on their mooring, had breakfast and did some boat things, and then went down the Thames. We had the tide going with us from the time we left the mooring, all the way around the Race and all the way into Block Island Salt Lake Harbor. We did 36 miles plus by 12:30 pm. at an average of 5.8 knots. I saw 7 plus knots on the helm many times. The Salt Lake Harbor is evidently having a regatta this weekend and it is lucky for us that we are in so early because about 2 PM many, many sailboats starting arriving. They are rafted, anchored, in the marinas, etc --many, many sailboats. We took the dinghy to get ice and checked them all out.

We hope to be able to continue on up Buzzard's Bay tomorrow, but the weather predicts high winds. We will see how it plays out tomorrow. Buzzard's Bay is not a place to play against high winds or against the tides. We miss everyone at home and Snow Goose needs some tender loving care after two years away.

June 12, 2011, Sunday

We are still sitting out the winds and rain here in Salt Lake Harbor, Block Island. It was cold, windy and rainy all day yesterday and we never left Snow Goose. We did some cabin cleaning and some odd jobs. We also did a lot of reading. All the sailboats that came in on Friday went out into the channel for a couple of hours and played in the rain, then they all came back in.

Today it has rained this morning, but the wind is calmer, 15, 16 knots, and the skies look a little better. However, thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon. All the sailboats that came for their regatta left this morning. I am sure they had a disappointing weekend. A couple of guys came by the boat last evening in the driving rain paddling a kayak. They had lost a bet. Today we would like to be able to get ashore to see some of Block Island.
NOAA tells us we should be able to leave Monday.

June 13, 2011, Monday

We did finally get ashore to walk through the streets and shops of Block Island on Sunday afternoon. It is a very pretty island, catering to the boaters. It looked as though they had put a moratorium on new construction as all the buildings were older.

We got an early start, 6 AM, and left Block Island headed for Buzzards Bay. The going was tough as the tide was against us the whole way (who can figure out why) and the wind wasn't very beneficial. However, we hung in there for 53 miles and pulled into Mattapoisett Harbor at 5:30 p.m. We picked up a mooring at the Mattapoisett Boatyard.
June 14, 2011, Tuesday

The wind and rain will keep us here in Mattapoisett today. I called BoatUS for the Cape Cod Canal tide flow. We will leave here by 7 AM to get the flow through the canal and then probably go on to Plymouth, MA. Today is cold and tonight and tomorrow are supposed to be too. With the air at 55 degrees and the water at 51 degrees, there is nothing involving warmth. We have gone from sleeping with just sheets to a down comforter.

June 15, Wednesday
 
We left Mattapoisett Harbor a little before 7:00 AM for the Cape Cod Canal.  We had a beautiful ride through the canal doing between 6 and 7 knots the whole way.  The main was flying and we motored too--you have to through the canal.  The railroad bridge went down for a train ahead of us so security came out and asked us to turn into the wind and ride with them until the bridge went back up.  All went find until we stuck out nose out into the Cape Cod Canal, and found our nose directly in a stiff 25 knot wind.  Small craft warnings had been raised.  Okay, back into the canal and into the Sandwich Marina.  We filled the tanks and headed into a slip.  That too was a difficult task with the wind pushing us sidewards and no line handlers.  Anyway, we made it and here we are.  We walked into town for lunch and a few groceries and to find a sports bar where we hope to watch the Bruins win the Stanley Cup tonight.
 
Tomorrow is another junket of our journey that is turning out to be quite a long one home.
 

Getting out of New Jersey

Friday, June 3 We seem to be stuck in Atlantic Heights NJ. I knew we couldn't get by it as easy as it was going. We pulled in here to avoid a front coming through on Wednesday. That did happen on Wednesday evening with thunderstorms and tornado warnings. The winds picked up during the night and blew up to 35 knots on Thursday. Nothing changed last night (it was one of those mooring ball banging against the hull, line lifting the anchor and anchor crashing down nights). Today more of the same. However, we are supposed to calm down tonight and tomorrow. If so, we hope to be able to get to the fuel dock tomorrow and prepare to leave on Sunday through the Narrows, by the Battery, through Hell Gate and into Long Island Sound - all planned around the tides. I am looking forward to sailing past the Statute of Liberty again. This morning was a good clean up the cabin, galley, head day. Bill is splicing some dock lines. We do have a launch available, so we can get to shore without getting very wet. We will do that this afternoon for a good walk and showers.

Sunday, June 5th We left the Atlantic Highlands mooring at 6:08 AM bound for New York Harbor. We flew the jib, fought the tide, but arrived at the Battery in time to catch the incoming tide thru Hell Gate. What a ride! Snow Goose set a record of 11.4 knots--unbelievable! We ran the tide out of New York Harbor into Long Island Sound and then hit the wall--between the 15 knot wind and the tide against us we were lucky to be moving. We went 50 plus miles into Oyster Bay and are anchored here. Repeat performance of two years ago, however then we picked up a mooring ball and bought new batteries. This year it is free, and feels really good!

Simply outstanding!

Ferry boat traffic

Empire State Building

Note the top speed--yes, we were flying!

Wooden boats in Oyster Bay

Monday, June 6th We did another long day, leaving Oyster Bay and sailing 51 miles to Duck Island. The anchorage was rolling and it was a long night.

Tuesday, June 7th We sailed on to the Thames River this morning. The tide was with us. We called Sandy and Jerry Bishop and Jerry met us in the river. We are on their mooring and visiting with them. The weather has turned very warm.

Hell Gate Here We Come!

Tuesday, May 24th Today was just the perfect sailing day. The wind was blowing, the tide was with us and the sun was shining. The only downside to the day was the bugs, all kinds and very many. We sailed from Solomon's Island to Galesville VA and are tied up at the end of a fuel dock this evening. The cruise guide lead us to believe we could get provisions here in Galesville, but not so. Howver, a very nice woman in the marine supply store loaned us her car so we could buy drinking water--very heavy to carry. Yes, we still are meeting the greatest people. So we at least were able to stock up on water and in this wind and heat we need it. The Hobie Cats raced in the harbor just off our boat in the evening. They were flying their main and sometimes two head sails. They were very colorful. Tomorrow is a continuation up the Chesapeake.

Wednesday, May 25th We got an early start with sails up and went out to play around the ships anchored in the channel. The day was again beautiful but we were fighting the tide and decided to pull into Fairlee Creek. We were hoping to get some groceries and laundry. We did get the laundry done, but no stores around here. Tomorrow we will go at least to Chesapeake City and perhaps do the C&D canal if the conditions are with us. Anyway, we will be saying so long to the Chesapeake Bay.

Thursday, May 26th We are in the Summit North Marina this afternoon off the C & D. It is again hot and humid and we really had very little wind. We played with a couple of ships in the channel. As there is no place to pull over at the Delaware end of the C & D we decided this was our stop. We found Mosey here in the marina. We know Mosey from Georgetown, Exumas.

Friday, May 27th We finally found food! Bill was getting worried. We left the Summit North Marina at 6:30 am and had the tide with us as soon as we entered the C & D canal. Once into the Delaware Bay, we had the wind too. We were thinking about making Cape May. The boat saw 8 plus knots, averaging 7 plus and as the wind was getting stronger we decided to go into the Cohansey River. I feel like I have come home. This is the dock where we huddled in front of the dryers in October 2009 to stay warm. Everyone is still so friendly. Bill gave us the use of his car, and we went into Bridgeton :NJ (with the help of our Garmin) and purchased food. What great people!! Tomorrow is Cape May, weather permitting. We are working out of our Northern cruising guide and are ready to break out our northern district charts -- home is getting closer and closer. I just need to get through the hardest part of our journey, New Jersey.

Saturday, May 28, 2011 We waited for the tide to exit the Cohansey River and pushed the boat off the dock at 8:15 am. We had a great ride with the tide for the first 20 miles, then it was a ride against the tide and the southerly wind blowing 20 knots. The wind turned up the bay so the final 17 miles were wild and wet. And the Cape May canal has really shoaled in--that low water alarm never shut up. We are anchored off the Coast Guard station again. It is the same place we anchored two years ago when we came down. We can hear the troops marching and calling. We saw the M/V Barbara pass us by in the harbor. We saw that trawler in Two Way Marina in Brunswick GA. We also have noted that the Canadian boats there were anchored in Hampton Roads and then with us along the Chesapeake are here also. We have befriended a British couple who have friends in Kittery Point. Tomorrow we hope to move on to Atlantic City.

Sunday, May 29th Here we are anchored in front of all the huge casino resorts and the Coast Guard station in Atlantic City. The long holiday weekend has brought out all the boaters and they are really stirring up the waters around us. We are not leaving the boat for shore as the waters are just too choppy. We had a nice sail down from Cape May with the tide pushing us and a 10 knot wind adding its power. We realized today as we opened new charts that we are really heading North and quite fast. We spoke with Release and Skipper too yesterday who are in Vermont. We are missing them. Tomorrow, weather permitting, it is on to Manasquan Inlet or the Shark River depending upon running conditions.

The Neighborhood Watering Hole

Anchoring off Atlantic City

Atlantic City at night

Monday, May 30, 3011 The last day of Memorial Day weekend and the boaters paradise. We hauled the anchored at 6:15 and started out of the channel before all the fisherman and pleasure cruisers could stir up the waters too much. We had listened to NOAA but when we got out about 15 miles we saw obvious storm clouds. Yes, Tstorms at 7:30 west of us. We somehow managed to avoid them and a bad situation as they were creating 35 knot winds. Around noon the wind came up to give us some push in the butt (we have had Southerly winds, falling seas for 2 days). We discovered Shark Rover Inlet, 59 miles from Atlantic City, and headed for it;. A bascule bridge, tricky entrance, was just inside the harbor, but the tender was great and opened immediately and then gave us navigation instructions to the anchorage.; Here we are in another beautiful place and tomorrow we will head for Sandy Hook and the end of our New Jersey run. The best news of our day however was that our Grandpuppy Gus is getting better!!! Yeah!.

Tuesday, May 31st We found a gem for an anchorage in Shark River. What a small, pretty place with all the information we would want from the bridge tender and another boater. We had to pull a few bushels of kelp off our anchor line and then hauled anchor to head for Atlantic Highlands. It is good that we were no going too many miles because the wind was out of the north right on our bow--no sails--and the tide was against us too. Anyway, with some low water alarms going off and a very high mooring fee, we are here in Atlantic Highlands. It is not the place we found two years agao. We anchored then, but no room for a good anchor now. They have added moorings to the field and are charging very dearly for them. We will supply tomorrow and then, weather permitting, head out through New York City and the Long Island Sound.,



.