Fishers Island, The Race, and Block Island

Having left Old Lyme in the afternoon, we wanted to find a nearby anchorage for the night, so we chose Fishers Island.

We had a pleasant 20 nm sail there, and got the anchor down around 6:30pm. After dinner we calculated the current for the next leg of our trip.

There is a narrow, shallow opening between the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound called "The Race". It has a well deserved reputation for strong currents and steep waves. This happens not only because of the tidal action, but also because there is a ridge along the seafloor that causes upwelling right at the narrowest section.

We determined that slack water would be at 9:45, and then the current would be ebbing, so we left the anchorage about 9:00 and motored out. The conditions were perfect with calm seas and almost no wind. The Race is a hot spot for catching striped bass, so there were lots of fishing boats out there too.

At 9:45 we easily motored across in very calm conditions. It was almost a non-event.

Eventually the wind filled in and we had a pleasant sail to Block Island. As we got closer to the island it was obvious that a race was starting near the harbor entrance. I'd heard that it was race week here because our sailmaker, Pete McCormick, posted about it on Facebook. Luckily, by the time we approached the channel, the boats had headed off to their marks.

You can read more about the race here. https://www.blockislandraceweek.com/

We put the sails away and motored into the insanity that is Block Island. It's hard to explain exactly what goes on here, but hundreds of boats, high winds, and poor holding cause lots of boats to drag. Throw in some fog, impatient summer boaters, and the sheer popularity of the place, and it gets even crazier. And this week, of couse, there are even more boats and people because of the race. Gotta love Block Island.

We plan to go into town tomorrow morning when the wind is lighter. Good night from Block Island.

Essex Gam

About a week ago we realized how close we were to Essex, Ct, so we decided to attend the Seven Seas Cruising Association's Essex Gam. I called and let them know we'd  arriving Friday afternoon, and early Friday morning we left Milford, Ct. confident that we'd arrive in time for the Friday Night cocktail party.

Unfortunately about 9:30am we heard a bang and engine reved up a tiny bit.  We hadn't hit anything, and we hadn't gotten tangled up with a lobster pot buoy, so what could it be? The Captain quickly opened the engine compartment and saw that the rubber drive shaft dampner had broken.

This rubber donut helps to dampen vibration from the propeller and shaft and also serves as a sacrificial link between the propeller and the engine. If you get tangled in a line, or strike something with the prop, this rubber thing will break before you damage your transmission or engine. But now we were beating into the wind, so it would take a lot longer to get to Essex.

We don't have an unlimited towing policy, so we just kept sailing and by 4pm we were about even with the end of Long Sand Shoal, so I finally called Tow Boat US and Tim came out to get us. The whole thing was super easy and totally stress-free, but this is NOT how we intended to arrive at the Connecticut River!

Tim took us to a mooring at the Old Lyme Marina that I had arranged over the phone. This yard is very familiar with sailboats, and Aldens in particular, so we felt comfortable going here. Funny thing is, when we were looking for boats in April of 2013, we came to this very marina and looked at "Pilgrim", another Alden 44, but ended up buying our Alden 44 in California.

Needless to say, we didn't make it to the cocktail party, but early Saturday morning we drove our dinghy two miles upriver to the Essex Yacht Club and joined the gam.

We thoroughly enjoyed the seminars and camaraderie at the gam. Of particular note was the weather guru, Chris Parker, who gave two educational talks on weather. And the demonstration on liferaft deployment was fun.

The Captain particularly enjoyed talking with Leutenant Michelle, a USCG helicopter pilot with only 600 hours, but SIX successful rescues. (Pilots always find lots to talk about.) And we both enjoyed meeting all the other SSCA members. We had a great weekend and we'll work on the mechanical issue tomorrow.

Three States, Hell Gate, and Seven Bridges

After consulting the cruising guide and calculating the current through the East River, we determined that the time to get going this morning would be 8:30. So we had breakfast in New Jersey and got underway at 8:20, promising Lady Liberty we'd see her again in a few months.

We entered the East River at 8:45 and gawked at all the tall buildings while maneuvering around the heavy ferry traffic.

The first bridge we went under was the famous old Brooklyn Bridge. We would eventually go under six more bridges before entering Long Island Sound.

By the time we got to the narrowest part of the river, we were doing 9 kts and the ferry traffic had abated. Now we only had to deal with the infamous Hell Gate; that swirly area where the Harlem River joins the East River. The swift current sometimes causes breaking waves in here, but it actually wasn't so bad!

The rest of the trip was very nice and relaxing. We had lunch in New York as we sailed past Greenwich.

Our afternoon was a straight run up to Milford where we anchored for the night, so we are having dinner in Connecticut.

Three states, Hell Gate, and seven bridges; it was quite day.