2009 Log
6/1 to 6/15/2009
This is the current period of our log for 2009. At the bottom of the page are links to this year's pass weeks; our earlier voyages are in Prior Voyages.
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Updated on 01/28/2011
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6/1/09 - Wow, June 1st! Our first job of the day, after coffee in the cockpit, was lowering the headsail so I could sew a short panel seam that had gotten missed when the new sun cover had been added. With Ruth's help the job was done in 5 minutes (not counting the 15 minutes to set up and 15 to tear down). AA is whole again for the moment. I spent most of the afternoon working on cockpit side curtains. I added the zippers for the aft panels to the mid panels and added clear strataglass zip in windows over the screens for inclement weather. Slowly but surely that project moves ahead. 6/2/09 - The forecast said rain, the sky said sunny... sunny and hot it was. I finished the mid side curtain work by noon. Next step will be the two aft side curtains. They are all cut out so I just need to sew them. Not today though, it's too hot. Miles was working on Ariel and brought over some canvas pieces for touch-up stitches and chafe protection. It's 90 outside (and inside - we're at anchor). Buddy just had a shower, makes me jealous. 6/3/09 - Ruth jumped out of bed at dark o'clock to shut all our ports - it was pouring outside. I was so deep in sleep I missed all the rain, thunder and lightning. A front is stalled about 100 miles NW of us so we are sweltering all day and enduring rain at night. For those of you following this "official" Ariel website, Miles bought a new "car" today. He traded in their old dinghy for a new one. Same model and he did an engine transplant from the old boat - on the plus side this one holds air. We went into town for lunch and wandered a bit. We saw Manitou, the classic 65' wooden sailboat that served as the presidential yacht while Kennedy was president. Beautiful vessel build in 1938. The Soda Club order that we'd cancelled arrived yesterday, luckily we were still here waiting for a stalled front to pass through so Don was able to catch us with the box. Seems they never cancelled the order even though Ruth had phoned and I had e-mailed cancellations. Not an effective company; though as Miles noted "They got the sale, didn't they?". We'd already bought canisters from Williams Sonoma so now we're really well stocked. 6/4/09 - Thor was angry last night. His lightning bolts kept the sky lit long after we went to bed. It must have rained all night. The water rose 1-1/2 feet... wait, that's the tide here. It rained off and on most of the day... mostly on. We read and putzed with projects below deck, finishing the evening with popcorn and a video. 6/5/09 - Today is daughter Nikki's birthday. Happy Birthday. She's a great lady now! Still I fondly remember a little cutie following me around our newly repainted Scout carefully removing the lights and trim that I'd just remounted - she didn't put a mark on the paint. She was just helping. Another rainy day thanks to the front stalled over us. We are going to have to bogie tomorrow, rain or not. I spent a good part of the morning studying and testing code to add Google searches to our website. I'd started the projects weeks ago but needed a very good internet connection before I could plan with them. Our site now reflects my first successful efforts. 6/6/09 - Yup, still cloudy with rain and possible thunderstorms forecast for every one of the next 5 days. We're heading out anyway. The day cleared as we motored 8 hours to the entrance of the C&D canal. Tomorrow we will be in the Delaware Bay. We saw a number of vessels flying the America's Great Loop Cruising Association flag today. Most were white indicating they are on their first circumnavigation. Our Raymarine wind instruments were on the blink all day so I took and recorded a number of voltage readings while looking for a cause. I think we may end up having to strip all the electronics and send them to Raymarine. Hate to do that as it pretty much eliminates our navigation aids. After we anchored Laureen & Miles invited us to have dinner at an excellent local upscale restaurant, Ariel. Following the delicious meal they had fireworks that rival Appleton's on the 4th (actually a local community sponsored the display and we had front row seats on Ariel). 6/7/09 - Last night a full moon lit our anchorage on the Bohemia River at the entrance to the C&D canal. The water and surrounding wooded farmland were stunning. We were off and running by 8am. The current was with us in the C&D as evidenced by speeds over ground in the high 8's and low 9's. By 10am we were in the Delaware fighting a slight foul current. By 1 the current had changed to fair and were were making good time; right up to the last few miles. An hour from Cape May the tide turned again and it took over 2 hours to make the cape. It sure hurts to look at the time to the waypoint; watching it increase even though you are slugging toward it in a headwind, choppy seas and foul current. If we'd taken any longer rounding that town we would have be eligible to vote. We elected to run all night; standing 4 hour shifts. Our goal was Sandy Hook (Atlantic Highlands), NJ on the south side of the entrance to New York Harbor. Another front was coming and we needed to get the offshore leg of our voyage done. I had good wind for the first shift while Ruth caught some sleep. Later, on the second watch, Ruth started motor sailing, turning the boat back over to me at 11:30pm. She reminded me to turn on the radar and went to bed. Half an hour later the wind died and fog settled in. 6/8/09 - The fog kept closing down... you could tell it was denser as no lights were visible. Ariel was about 8 miles ahead of us and I heard Miles talking on the VHF to a tug that had surprised him. When he saw it appear out of the fog he couldn't recognize its light arrangement. About 30 minutes later tug Mary Beth and I were planning a port to port pass. We both turned 10 degrees to starboard, passing 1/4 mile apart. I could barely make out the well lit vessel - never did see its navigation lights. At 4:45am I roused Ruth and hit the sack. The fog had lifted enough to see 2 miles, the moon was visible and dawn was breaking. It is great having an admiral on board who is qualified and willing to stand watches. We arrived in Atlantic Highland around noon, a couple of hours after Ariel. We'd covered around 180nm in 28 hours. After fueling we anchored inside the mouth of the harbor. My first order of business was a repair where the base of the vang attaches to the mast; I'd noted some metal filings on the deck and traced them to the vang fitting. A new cotter key and some oil did the trick. 6/9/09 - Woke to drizzle and fog. Miles agreed it didn't look like the kind of weather we wanted while negotiating New York harbor traffic... particularly with a strong front crossing during the time we'd be on the water. Heavy rain punctuated the morning erasing some of the fog. By then it was too late to run the East River so we went into Atlantic Highlands and did some grocery shopping. It's a great stop in terms of access to food, parts and laundry. Found out that Ruth's brother Pat is back in the hospital with breathing problems probably due to fluid in his lungs. He's on oxygen right now and they will probably need to drain his lungs again. Won't know more until 2moro. 6/10/09 - Foggy morning again, though not as thick as yesterday... visibility was about 1 mile. It took us a while to get the anchor up as it had gotten wrapped with discarded fishing line and a couple of dead horseshoe crabs that had also gotten tangled in the line. After 15 minutes cutting monofilament I'd cleared the mess. We've learned we can run straight across the flats from Atlantic Highlands to the Verrazano Straits Bridge. The high speed ferries know this too so we had to keep a close watch on the radar as they came up on us in a hurry. One radar blip came directly at us so fast I couldn't believe what I was seeing - until a helicopter screamed directly over us at 100 feet. Pretty gutsy pilot flying in fog just off the deck. New York harbor isn't as scary as it was the first time. We've learned what to expect of the various ferries, tugs and ships that inhabit it. We easily slid through and caught the current running east up the East River. We screamed through Hell's gate at speeds over ground in the high 9's (Cap'n, I'm not sure I can hold 'er together much longer). We met quite a stream of ferries and tows heading west against the current. One whistle captain! Enroute we enjoyed the New York cityscape and a non-stop parade of vessels. It was raw out so Ruth served us up steaming bowls of chili for lunch - Buddy's favorite meal. By 2pm we were anchored in Port Washington. We caught up with our domestic chores then took our dinghy to the Yacht Club where Leslie picked us and the Cherkasky's up for an evening at her and David's new home. We had a pleasant night and a great meal. We hope to get to cruise with them a little this summer. 6/11/09 - We woke to cool clammy drizzle - this weather pattern is getting to be a drag. At Ruth's request I turned on the diesel heat for Buddy; best excuse she could come up with. We decided to sit the day out on the chance of improving weather. We'll have to boogie tomorrow to get to Newport by the evening of the 14th. Our target for tomorrow is Fisher Island, about 88 miles away. The weather forecast for the rest of the week is more of the same - ugly. Ruth's very concerned about her brother Pat, he went back into surgery at 2:45pm today... lung congestion problems. It sure doesn't sound pleasant! Fog this afternoon, often down to 1/8th mile. It rained off and on all day. That didn't stop Miles and I from joining Michael on a J109 racing that evening. It was fun to get back with a crew trying to get the best out of their boat. Don't know how we finished; mid-fleet I'd guess. 6/12/09 - It rained all night, sometimes heavy downpours. One would think that would burn off the fog but it didn't. Ruth and I hauled anchor at 7:30am enroute to Duck Island by Saybrook, CT. A 60+ trip in pea soup. We kept one eye on the radar and one on the horizon, sounding our horn every 2 minutes as visibility was about 1/3 mile. We were passed by and met several vessels along our route. A few of them we actually saw. Pat came through his lung surgery okay. He is one sore cookie and is ready to get healed and get on with life. I can't even imagine. We motored, motor sailing the last 1-1/2 hour, to Duck Island... in fog until the last hour. Couldn't have done it without radar. By 5:15pm we were anchored and celebrating our safe passage. As the evening progressed a couple of other sailboats joined us as the fog settled in again. 6/13/09 - We are a day away from Newport so we will probably stop at Point Judith enroute. With luck we will see Rich and Carol. The weather was greatly improved as we hauled anchor late, 8:30am, and departed for Point Judith. Ruth took the first watch while I updated the log and did dishes. Yah, we have all those homey domestic chores onboard too. We passed the Connecticut River and the Thames River (site of New London). Ruth was listening to the Coast Guard respond to an incident where a small group of thugs (?) with k-bars were terrorizing a riverside campground, burning tents and anything else that was flammable. Sounds like they have a problem with anger management. K-bars... pre-meditated? You think? Ruth's interest was she wanted to be ready if they decided to flee in their boat, coming our way. We picked up a mooring next to The Great Catsby about 5pm. Rich was waiting for us... taking us home to do was and have dinner - wow! Had a great evening with Carol and Rich catching up on life since we were last together. 6/14/09 - Woke to the sound of rain on the deck again. We were lucky to have a good day yesterday as the fronts are still battling over this part of the country. By mid-morning the sun was out. Miles, in Oyster Bay, still had yucky weather. I cleaned the smile off the boat, again, and applied 2 coats of wax on the forward half of the hull... both sides looking good. Ruth cleaned the interior in prep for our guest tomorrow. All in all a great day. We even generated more power than we used! Movie night tonight. Ruth is making popcorn - oh boy, oh boy, oh boy (Buddy speaking). 6/15/09 - Overcast at dawn. Off to Newport. We motored, then motor sailed, arriving at noon and taking a $40 mooring near Goat Island. We quickly finished getting the boat ready for our guest. The sun even cooperated by coming out to brighten the harbor Evie arrived via water taxi mid-afternoon. It was great seeing her again. I think she has figured out the formula for ageless. She's unchanged from the last time she visited AA. Ruth made rice, mixed vegies and boiled shrimp for dinner. As we chowed down we did a little catching up with Evie. She's had a wide range of life experiences and is very interesting to listen to. One of the major bonuses of our sailing life is the folks we get to know. P.S. - For those of you following Ariel she's in Oyster Bay heading to Block Island for the 4th of July celebrations.
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Conrail bridge on the C&D dwarfs a sailboat
Tow on the C&D - we couldn't figure out the cargo
We encountered a lot of bulk liquid shipping on the Delaware
Even cars are shipped bulk
A looper flying gold flag (loop completed) at Atlantic Highlands - one of many we've seen recently
Ruth caught me killing a marinated pork tenderloin - Atlantic Highlands
Light stands guard in fog outside NY harbor
A couple of the dozens of vessels in NY harbor
radar view of NY ships
The harbor is full of tank barges
Lady Liberty keeps an eye on things
United Nations building viewed from the East River
Old Long Island ferry terminal
Time warp in the Long Island fog
Light in the fog
Testing the voltage in our Raymarine ST60+ wind indicating system
View of beach homes from our anchorage in Westbrook
Looking across the harbor from our Goat Island mooring
One of the mansions that grace the Newport harbor
A classic 12 meter glides by
Ship heading out of Newport for sunset sail
12 meter at mooring, note the 3 mast yacht in the background
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View our 2009 Logs