Getting there

Yes, that's the Maine State flag above, just photographed by Sheila at Ft McClary in Kittery Point, MAINE. In the week since the last blog entry we have crossed Long Island Sound, done the CT shore, the RI shore, Buzzards Bay, crossed Cape Cod then Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts Bay, and today up the NH coast to land in Maine!

 

Backing up to last Wednesday, we left Port Jefferson NY after a 2 night stay there and crossed the Sound to Guilford CT, a 30 nm run towards the NE. We stayed the night at Guilford Municipal Marina, which would not have worked if we arrived at low tide or in peak season, but for this stop it was a good fit for us. SIL Connie soon showed up and took all of us to her and brother Steve's house (Steve was working in Providence) on nearby Mulberry Point. The dogs played with their lab Seamus and I grabbed a shower and after we returned the dogs to Spray the 3 of us had a great supper at Whitfields restaurant on the Guilford town green.

 

On Thursday we headed back out into the Sound and turned east. Our goal was Fishers Island but 2 things combined to scrap those plans. First, the wind/wave situation degraded after a few hours and second, brother Steve freed himself from work and was available for a dinner that night, which wouldn't be possible on an island. So after only 22 miles of cruising we bailed up into the CT river and into North Cove at Old Saybrook CT. Connie and Steve both showed up and we 4 dined at Penny Lane Pub.

 

On Friday the wind/waves in the Sound were bigger than we liked so we stayed another day in Old Saybrook. There was on/off rain so we caught up on reading aboard Spray, all though we did get to shore for lunch.

 

So it was Saturday when we actually made it to Fishers Island, which is a unique place. Close to the CT shore, its actually part of NY State. It has many beautiful homes and one of the worlds best golf courses. It was only an 18 mile cruise for us to reach West Harbor there and grab one of many empty moorings.

 

[Let me take a minute to mention that, for the last month or so, we have been traveling parallel to peak springtime, which means that the trees have just leafed out, the flowering trees are in full bloom, and the local boating seasons are not yet underway. Some towns have their docks up and running and some (Old Saybrook) don't. Mooring fields are mostly empty so we often can grab a handy mooring to tie to overnight.]

 

We really enjoyed our visit to Fishers Island. We walked much of its west end and it was really beautiful. The island apparently has about 200 year round residents and in the summer the population must at least triple when the 1%ers show up. A nice place to visit pre-season. Check out the view from the golf course.

On Sunday we continued eastwards, trying to time our travel to avoid fighting the fierce tidal current that fills/empties the Sound. With following wind and waves we crossed the whole of Rhode Island during the 48 mile cruise. The last few miles were hairy as we turned left, taking the waves abeam until we entered the Westport River, pushing against strong outgoing current. We tied onto an available mooring at Westport MA and waited for the current and wind to settle down before we dinghied to the nearby beach for a long walk.

 

Monday was Buzzards Bay day, cruising about 30 miles up the bay, hugging its west side some to minimize wave size. We arrived in Onset MA to the Onset Bay Marina and took on 90 gallons of diesel (@$3.98), filled the water tank, and pumped the holding tank. For our night's stay we rented a mooring from the marina.

 

Tuesday was a big day. We left Onset at 8:30 am to catch the flooding tide through the Cape Cod Canal, then turned north for a 40+ mile straight run across Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay to Gloucester MA, for a total run of 60 miles. That long run straight shot was a slog, with annoying waves on our bow for a good portion of it. Plus doing 7 hours offshore like that, with glacial progress, gets kind of boring. But finally we made it into Gloucester's inner harbor to tie to a city mooring. It was take out pizza for us that evening.

 

Today (Wednesday) we had perfect conditions for a cruise around Cape Ann, then straight to the entrance of the Picataqua River to Kittery Point MAINE! We are on a town mooring. After a visit to nearby Ft McClary for dog play we returned to Spray just before the fog rolled in to create some traditional Maine scenery.

 

From here we head to Portland, then maybe Boothbay Harbor and then maybe Castine by Saturday. We'll see.

 

 

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