Northbound

After being anchored in the same spot for two months, we finally weighed anchor for our northbound journey, on July 20.  The first leg of this journey was a short hop to the Sassafras River, where we anchored at the mouth to stage for an early departure through the C&D Canal.

While transiting the canal on June 21, we were lucky to come upon four US Naval Academy sailboats pulling into the dock at Chesapeake City.  Before we could physically see the boats I could see four targets (closely following each other) on AIS. I placed the curser over each target to see the name, length, and speed of the vessel.  By the third target I knew these boats had to be from the Naval Academy, from the theme of the names.  Hello to the crews of Warrior, Honor, Brave, and Daring!

And very quickly we are in Delaware Bay.  Our entire trip across Delaware Bay was shrouded by what appeared to be a very dense haze.  Upon further investigation we learned that the wildfires burning in Oregon were the cause of the smoke pockets along the northeast.  

You might also notice how calm the water is on this particular day.  We didn’t expect to see extreme wave action on a day like this...BUT we got caught with our guard down.  Before leaving the anchorage we stowed large items in the event a boat wake might rock us, BUT we didn’t prepare the cabin for extreme conditions. Suddenly we saw huge waves heading straight for us, and clearly it was too late for any additional prep.  We had no choice but to plow through the waves and hope for the best down below.  

From our vantage point on the fly bridge we could hear numerous thumps and crashes, mixed with the horrible sound of shattering glass.  The waves were high and steep, which caused the boat to climb the face of each wave at a very steep angle (forcing things to fall off shelves, counters, and tables).  The other part of the equation was then riding down the wave and crashing into the next wave.  This motion is what caused unsecured wine glasses to slide out of the rack and crash into the sink.  Luckily, all broken glass was contained in the sink.

Note to self (and all other mariners transiting Delaware Bay):  the cargo ships and freighters traveling that waterway go very fast and create HUGE waves...beware!!  Unfortunately for me, Keith was at the helm during this event so the default fell to me for clean up duty.  Within a few hours we were anchored in Cape May, and getting our butts kicked by an extremely strong thunder storm.  Wow...this northbound trip was off to a rough start!

Everything looks better from Barnegat!  Happy to spend two days here!

Hello Coney Island!  Conditions were starting to get a little rough so we decided to anchor on the back side of Coney Island. It turned out to be a nice quiet place to spend the night, and prepare for our trip through New York the next day.

Manhattan seems to be covered in a smog, fog, smoke cloud, as well.

It’s always nice to cruise past the Statue of Liberty!

All mariners must be intentional regarding the timing of passage along the East River.  The tidal current is VERY strong, and some boats would have trouble making way against this current.  We would be included in that group, but we planned our passage to go with the current.

WooHoo...we have never travelled this fast!! Our boat can’t physically go anywhere near this speed under her own power.  This picture is really for the non-believers...we were going 16.1 mph!! And very quickly the ride was over and we entered Long Island Sound.  

Long Island Sound has many interesting lighthouses...

Stepping Stones Light - Built in 1877.  This lighthouse was named from a Native American legend, which describes how the Devil threw boulders into the water to be able to escape across the Sound when the Native American tribe chased him from the land.  The natives named the rocks, “The Devil’s Stepping Stones” 

Execution Rocks Light - Built in 1850. As the name insinuates, this location has a dark history.  My attempts to research the history resulted in five different stories claiming to be the origin of the name.  The common link seemed to be that throughout history people have used the extreme tidal range in this area to shackle ‘unwanted’ people to the rocks at low tide...and you can imagine the rest.  I will leave you to investigate the origin of the name yourselves, if you are so inclined.

Race Rock Light - Completed in 1879. The massive masonry foundation took 7 years to build, while the structure was added in 9 months.

One of our daily goals is to find a calm, well protected place to anchor.  The coastlines of Long Island, Connecticut, and Rhode Island offer numerous safe anchoring options.  This is why we decided to travel behind the safety of Long Island as opposed to taking the ocean route around.  The past two weeks have seen a lot of weather fronts bringing strong winds and high seas to this area, and our mission is to avoid such conditions.  We move when we can and hide when we must.

It is exciting to find a new hiding place!  This is a man-made hiding place off the coast of Rhode Island.

This location was aptly named...Port Judith Harbor of Refuge.

After a good night’s sleep in the Harbor of Refuge, it was an easy passage to Buzzards Bay.

We anchored in Onset to stage for our passage through the Cape Cod Canal.  Weather forecasts were iffy, so we planned on the possibility of staying an extra day if needed.  There is enough action in this harbor to be entertained for several days.  We enjoyed watching children learn to sail on these cute little boats with green sails.  Oops...sometimes they overturned!  However, I am wondering why the instructor is ‘high and dry’ and three children are in the water?

The next morning, with forecasts slightly downgrading the wind conditions, we decided to head out and make way for Hingham (just south of Boston) in the hopes of catching up with our friends Ken & Barbara before they left for vacation.  The trip through the canal was uneventful, but we were prepared for rough seas when we reached the eastern end of the canal.  All items were stowed and the wine glasses were tied into the rack.  Well, it’s a good thing they were or we would have to drink our wine with straws tonight!  Conditions were HORRIBLE!  

Waves were steep and stacked running 3-6 feet!  There was no place to hide, but we knew we didn’t want to endure 7 hours in these conditions either, so we diverted to Plymouth, MA. Our new motto regarding this lifestyle (which we read on someone else’s cruising blog) is ‘misery is optional’, and we were opting out!  However, it’s not always easy to opt out once the misery has begun, but after three hours of a white knuckle (not out of fear, but from the desire to remain upright and keep the boat on course) rodeo ride we safely anchored behind the lighthouse at Plymouth.  It was only 1:30 in the afternoon, but we were both exhausted! 

That evening we were treated to this amazing sunset, which provided the perfect backdrop for this statue on the hill.  I challenge my internet savvy followers to tell me what this statue commemorates.  

Also, an update regarding my technical problems with the email subscription service.  They have announced that the service will be halted sometime in August.  Being the procrastinator that I am...I’m going to seriously start looking for a new service soon.  Pretty sure I’m getting this post in under the wire, but I’ll let you know if you need to do anything in order to continue receiving this blog to your inbox.