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Showing posts with label Essex Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Essex Island. Show all posts

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Essex Island, CT to Cuttyhunk, MA

Sunday, 19 July 2015

We chose to travel with a group of the NENTOA boats to Maine.  We planned for a 0600 departure, to catch at least a short period of favorable tide and current.  Unfortunately, the fog was pretty thick, and by 0700, I think everyone was in agreement that there was little chance of improvement.
The fog lifted in the Connecticut River to about 1/2 mile viz, and we started out, knowing we'd probably hit the thick bank when we reached the inlet.  We did.
For the rest of the day, as we travelled with our fog horn sounding, we had about 1/8 mi viz, sometimes less, and at some points to about half a mile.  We ran the Fishers Island Sound, because there was less current than the Race, and is a lot more scenic.

When I cleared Watchpoint, I voted for more open water, less boats, since the whole scenic thing was out anyhow.
Moorings in Cuttyhunk are interesting.  They have a long metal pipe coming up through them, about four feet tall, with an eye through them that you can pass your mooring lines.  The moorings on Cuttyhunk are first come, first served, and I was concerned that enough week-enders may have gotten caught in the fog that there might be no moorings available.  There is a good anchorage on the outside, if that is the case.  
We did run across one sailboat that had left, that we were tracking by radar.  We had no idea that he had none.  All of a sudden, the boat tacked right in front of us.  I wondered if they realized their stupidity when they saw us emerge from the fog within baseball throwing distance of them. 
Anyhow, after a day in the fog, we went to the inside moorings at Cuttyhunk, where the rest of the group of tugs was, and found an available mooring.  Within minutes of grabbing the mooring, the fog lifted, and the sun came out for the two hours that were left to the evening.

Friday, July 17, 2015

New London, CT to Essex Island, CT

Thursday, 16 July, 2015

Wow!  What a change in the weather.  Yesterday was warm and muggy, and today dawned COLD.  I realize that cold is a relative term, and at 63 degrees it was only cold relative to yesterday.  Nevertheless, I began the day in jeans and a long sleeve T shirt, and Ellen, who insisted it wasn't cold, wore a sweatshirt.
The wind was blowing down the river as we left, and the visibility was great!  We saw lighthouses as we went out the river that we hadn't been able to see on the way in, in the fog.  
There are lighthouses everywhere here!  Beautiful lighthouses, plain, non-descript lighthouses, and yes, ugly lighthouses!  They certainly add character to the area.
We rode the current over to the Connecticut River, and went up the river to Brewers Essex Island Marina, where the NENTOA (North East Nordic Tug Owners Association) was having their rendezvous.  
We had arrived a day early to meet people as they arrived.  Our friends on Tugnacious, Bill and Diane, were already there.

Our friends who winter in Key West, Rod, and his mother, Ruth, rode the ferry over to the island for a quick visit.  Then we all went into Essex and strolled the main street, listening to them tell of some of the local history.  They took us to an early supper at the Griswold Inn, which dates back to the 1700's.  Though we chose to eat out on the patio, when we were done, we walked through the building, with all its charming history.

Then it was back to the boat, getting ready for another exciting day.