Island hopping

Day:   208 - 218
Statutory Miles Traveled:  2,230 

Nantucket

Well we made a last minute decision to hit Nantucket before heading south. We are so glad we did. What a great place (I know I say that a lot). We met up with "Meanders" and had such a good time strolling through town, touring Cisco Brewery and ending the day with a home cooked meal courtesy of Marty and Andy -which was over the top delicious btw.

Martha's Vineyard

Early morning departure on Thursday (6 am lines dropped) heading to Martha's Vineyard for a couple of days. We were treated to a gorgeous sunrise and smooth seas. There is such great boating in New England!  We will miss it for sure but are pretty excited to start our trip south, back to old friend

Pt. Judith, RI

Trip from M/V to PT Judith took about 7 hours  PT Judith is a commercial fishing village that is still very active today. Riding in through the breakwater and up into the harbor was pretty cool. It was like being in the "way back" machine, fishing boats tied up on one side of the inlet and on the other side kids and people on the pier fishing, swimming and enjoying their Labor Day weekend. It was so special to see young kids enjoying the "simple pleasures of life near the water" as they swam in the harbor and jumped off the docks & pylons. 

About a mile up the harbor we dropped anchor in a very quiet and picturesque Point Judith Pond, and rafted with Meanders for the night. Poured ourselves a nice cool beverage and began to plan our trek to Block Island. Sitting there, feet up we kept getting whiff of something that smelled really bad.  Turns out we all mentioned it individually, but then let it pass. After a bit, Mr. B figured we better see what was what and as we opened up our lazerette, we immediately found where the stink was coming from. It was us.  We'd had had a battery explode, which had been the source of a bang we heard the night before that we couldn't figure out and had chocked it off to a rogue "boat noise" and ignored it.  

Essex:

This cut our stay in PT Judith short as we headed to Essex boat yard for battery replacement. The good news is that it's a picture perfect day on the water and not too crazy busy even for the holiday weekend.

As it turns out this was a good decision, as the batteries were being replaced, we discovered that a battery #2 of 3 was getting ready to go; it would not have been good to have had an issue on an island and been down to 1 out of 3 house batteries. So, as we wait a few days for parts to come in, we now have a chance to visit "Mother Therese" and spend a few more nights in Hamburg Cove before leaving New England waters. If you look closely in some of the pictures, you can see the leaves starting to change.

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Days 138 - 151 / 1,823 Miles - Connecticut

Essex:  

Essex is a very short ride from Hamburg Cove (~ 30 minutes) and is just as "New Englandy" as we remembered it,  beautiful waters and a terrific Main St and strangely not too many changes from the last time we visited over 10 years ago, with the exception of a few more empty store fronts.  The area was much less "active" for late June/early July than I ever would have imagined.  Maybe summer comes later in New England these days.  During our stay in Essex, we were able to take a couple of days to visit with Mother Therese.

Norwich/Thames River

We left essex mid morning June 30th.  Gorgeous morning with blue skies and big sun and enjoyed a short ride in the sound then up the Thames River.  Passing through New London with Electric Boat, Groton Naval Submarine base & the US Coast Guard Academy.  Its clear that this used to be a very busy and vibrant river with the shores littered in mills and factories.  It's pretty interesting to imagine what this might have been like in it's hayday.  Upper Thames is fairly rural until the Mohegan Sun Casino rises out of the trees like a phoenix.

Norwich is at the very top of the Thames River and a great place to stop and visit for a few days. The town overlooks the river on both sides with some significant elevation.  Our daily walks/exploring here definitely gave us a different kind of workout as we climbed up and down these huge hills.  Here we celebrated Becky's birthday with a trip to the Casino. We managed to hang on to most of our money and enjoy a few hours at the blackjack table, ending the evening with a fabulous dinner at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain. The following day we enjoyed fireworks right at our marina.

Mystic

Mystic holds a special place in our hearts.  While we didn't spend a lot of time here when we had our "feet in the north", Mystic and the CT shoreline held a pretty special place in our hearts and is part of how GS got her name.  We felt it only appropriate to pay homage as we entered the Mystic River.

Our stay in Mystic was a short 4 days, and one of the best so far. On the third Jim and Diane Falkowski,  Gary and Kathy Siedlik, Jay and Allison Rocca and the newest member of our family 6 week old Amelia spent the day!  It was great to catch up with everyone.  We ended the day going into town for dinner.  Amelia had another idea however as she had Jay out in front of the restaurant walking her up and down the sidewalk.  Ending any chance of Jay having a warm meal.  Hang in there Jay we have all been there!!!

We spent the 4th with Carl, Denise, and Devin along with Isabella.  It was great to spend time with Becky's brother and his family. Giving Isabella a dinghy ride into town proved to be fun for all involved.

Mystic also gave us new acquaintances.  For the price of beer "Glenn the Dock Hand" gave Becky a master class in the art of knots and lassoing with the boat lines.  Glenn would also be a great addition to sitting around the fire and telling a bunch of lies "MY KINDA GUY!"  We met Randy and Carolyn from California who were taking a year off as well to cruise the east coast.  They are early into their  year and it was fun to see Randy come to understand every boat has ONE captain and he wasn't it :)    

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137 Days - 1,660 Miles - Long Island Sound to Essex, CT

Port Washington to Branford

Branford to Essex/Hamburg Cove

The weather has been so weird!  We arrived in Port Washington to blue skies and hot, so much so that even these Florida people took a dip in the pool.  The next day was rainy, foggy and cold, so cold that we put on long sleeves and jeans.  This seems to be the pattern we have been in for a while.  We left Port Washington to Branford in a medium fog (couple mile viability) and didn't start to see blue skies until we reached New Haven.  From New Haven on to Branford, big blue skies and eventually got hot.  Leaving Branford to Hamburg Cove on the CT River we had a beautiful day, big blue skies and nice and warm.  The pattern looks like its going to continue as we have just about every other day of inclement weather followed by a forecast that uses the words delightful and pleasant in the description.

Connecticut River

As we make way up the Long Island Sound much has looked familiar but nothing more so than boating past the Old Saybrook Lighthouse and entering the Connecticut River something we have done a million times in our life.  It all looks the same but so much has changed.  The last time we entered the Connecticut River, except for Becky's dad all of our parents were still alive,  Jessica had not  started college and the Florida chapter of our life had not started. Boating past this lighthouse is where the whole conversation/dream about taking a trip like this began.

"When I see a flying boat I get a lump in my throat and say someday I will."
Jimmy Buffett

This was always the theme song to that conversation-dream and here we are, in the middle of our trip, coming into the Connecticut River and that song is ringing in my brain. Following the channel stay to the right now move to the left turn to Starboard and here we are Hamburg Cove.  With a 20kt wind and choppy water Hamburg Cove offers a quiet oasis. This quiet piece of New England that time has forgotten maybe the best of all the reasons to make the trip up the Connecticut River.  Today there will be a dinghy ride, multiple cigars,  thoughts of our parents and a "remember when" conversation. But that is just for today.  Tomorrow the Gypsy Soul moves forward.  We move Forward.     

CT River/Hamburg Cove

No words can describe, so I won't even attempt.

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