East Coast Travels

6/30 to 7/14 2007

We're planning on cruising with Laureen and Miles for a while, seeing the ports of New England that we've read about in sailing magazines for years.

We plan to post and update at least weekly. We move the older portions of the log to secondary pages accessible at the bottom of the page. Join our voyage!

Updated on 07/18/2007

6/30/07 - In the morning Ruth and Laureen provisioned. Our first time since Deltaville - we were out of everything. We followed Ariel most of the afternoon - taking photos of the new boat. What a beauty! We anchored for the evening. First time with their new boat. Laureen & Miles joined us for dinner on AA (actually I picked them up with our dinghy). We we caught napping by a squall and I had to rush our guests back to Ariel (we'd all left hatches open). I had a hard time finding AA in the intense downpour. Ugly way to end the night. 7/1/07 - We had a wind shift during the night so there is a slight swell in the anchorage. I'm using my early time to update the site. It's great to see Ariel sitting on her hook next to us. She even looks fast at anchor. After a morning of small chores (I applied Cetol to the soles of the helm stations) we followed Ariel down to the Newport bridge to watch the tall ship parade. Between the spectator boats and the tall ships it was quite spectacular. We sailed and motor back up the bay to Bristol, anchoring in the outer edge of the harbor. We joined Laureen and Miles for dinner on Ariel. Very nice - great food and comfortable surroundings. Once past the shakedown stage they are going to derive a lot of pleasure from their new vessel. I think we'll stick around this area for a week while they get their systems working to their satisfaction. Lots of good stuff to work on with a new boat that size. After dinner no winds, no rain and no squall - just a short dinghy ride back to AA in time to go to bed. 7/2/07 - I (boy did that loose I create some interest - Don K. e-mailed to see if I'd drowned) got up with the sun, letting Ruthie catch a few more winks. Ariel was headed back to Cove Harbor Marina in Barrington for further outfitting - AA followed. I worked with Miles on an insulation issue with the refrigerator which resulted in the 4 of us going on a scavenger hunt looking for some fiberglass panel. Ruth won, she found a lawn edging that fit the bill. 7/3/07 - I got another coat of Cetol on the cockpit seats. Currently I have 3 coats on the swim platform and the seats. Time to attack the sole. AA is starting to look factory bright again. Miles and I finished the refrigerator job late afternoon while the ladies went gathering - coming back with some neat stuff. Louise and Bill, extended cruisers, were invited to Ariel for cocktails. We enjoyed meeting them and talking about cruising spots. With dark came the fireworks... every direction you looked there were commercial displays supplemented with private rockets and roman candles. Very beautiful! 7/4/07 - Worked most of the day with Miles on the routing of the aft head plumbing. We were able to remove at least three 90° elbows and a couple of feet of pvc pipe. We replaced the pump only to have the new one leak so we rebuilt the original one to stop its leak and re-installed it... frustrating issues on a new vessel. 7/5/07 - Woke to a windy, drizzly morning. Miles and I went on a parts hunt to re-route the forward head macerator to prevent it from backing up into the bilge. Surprise, we found everything we needed. The project went well once we figured out a method for getting USA hose on metric fittings (boiling water). Later, while Laureen and Ruth went "gathering", we attacked the freezer; doing the same rework we did on the refrigerator. The patient survived. 7/6/07 - Ruth and I are trying to remember when we last spent this much time in a slip. We think it was in Port Colborne on lake Erie during the return leg of our Loop adventure. Gray day, but we have inside jobs on Ariel. Miles had a punch list for me that started with an air conditioning unit that was freezing up. We did a few calculations that indicated it was starved for make-up air so we cut additional feed vents to the unit. In the course of doing that we found that the drain hose from the condensate pan was kinked and blocked. We fixed the drain too. By dusk we were done... electing to grille out on Ariel. Great meal and good company! 07/07/07 - Play day today. With Ariel we motor sailed to Dutch Island and Dutch Harbor on the west passage of Narragansett Bay where we dropped anchor, hopped in our dinghy and toured Jamestown, RI. It was a beautiful day with a sea breeze in the high 70's. Doesn't get much nicer than this! We returned to Ariel and AA to get ready for dinner - again on Ariel. I got another coat of Cetol on the remaining cockpit seats and a first layer on half the cockpit sole. AA is starting to look new again. Need to do the other half, then two more coats on the whole sole followed by 3 coats of varnish. Miles is getting introduced to the math of tidal flow and wind. Flow usually wins with really interesting wind patterns across your anchored boat. We've frequently found the wind blowing up our transom as the tidal flow swings us stern to the wind. For a Great Lakes sailor this just isn't natural. 7/8/07 - Sunday, another beautiful day. We all went exploring on Dutch Island, in the west branch or Narragansett Bay. It's now a park, it was once a fort. We found cannon positions and a large concrete structure that we could not figure out what it was for. Obviously a fortification but toward what end? We also saw ruins of a large brick structure was obviously barracks for the soldiers. Ruth got involved in digging for beach glass and spent a couple of hours on the island. I putzed on Ariel and AA before picking her up. Ariel had left earlier so we sailed up the west branch, an area we hadn't explored before. What a great day for sailing... 10 - 15 knot winds off our beam drove us up the bay at 8 - 8.5 knots over the bottom. It doesn't get much better! When we got  back to the Cove Haven I applied a second coat of Cetol to the cockpit sole - 1 coat to go, then I start with varnish. AA is really coming back nicely. 7/9/07 - Tomorrow is my brother's birthday. When I was a kid I didn't think it was fair that he had his Golden Birthday at 10 while I had to wait until I was an old man (28). Well, it's Monday and I have boats to build. Spent most of the day working on a macerator on AA. More than that you really don't want to know! Ruth took all the upholstery covers to a Laundromat and washed them. Then she treated them with a protective spray and re mounted them. Big job - looks great... really brightens up the cabin. I did spend a little time with Miles designing dinghy chocks and adjusting a winch. The day went quickly, almost too fast. Our target is to get Miles out of Barrington by the end of the week. 7/10/07 - Happy Birthday little brother - in many ways we wouldn't be here without your help. Thank you! Installed a replacement macerator on AA. Ruth took the old one (used 3 times over 10 months) in to West Marine and they replaced it. I spent the rest of the day helping Miles. The main issue was tearing out the macerator for the forward head, it was making strange noises. Ruth and Laureen went gathering... coming back with food and other stuff. While we were sitting in our cockpits that evening a pair of swans came to visit. Ruth got their photo. 7/11/07 - Fog this morning. About 3/4 mile visibility until 11 am. I finished wiring our macerator and helped Miles installed a replacement on Ariel. Miles tore the old one apart and found it damaged by trash the builders had left in the holding tank. I took another pass at the leaking refrigerator - got it this time (I hope). Then we went to work on planning adequate return air for the aft air conditioning unit. The build provided about 20% of what was needed so the unit keeps freezing up (some folks shouldn't be turned loose with tools). Ariel is slowly coming together. Today's setback was the discovery the builder used the wrong control panel with the engine. A new one had to be ordered so the tachometer and water temperature could be connected. The canvas guy is supposed to deliver their four parts today. The refrigerator controls haven't left the supplier's place yet, the RayMarine power circuit needs work... then the major stuff is done. 7/12/07 - Today I took time off from boat work and sewed a screen door for Tafia. Ruth will send it to Jill and Bill on Friday. Miles made good  progress too with a boatload of electricians, the engine guy and a carpenter. They re-powered the RayMarine network so all the instruments weren't powered off the pilot computer... should resolve the Autohelm glitches. The new engine panel was installed so they have a tach and temperature alarm.  Things are coming together on Ariel. If something new doesn't turn up next week should do it. I'm going to sew a couple of things he wants done and we have the vents to install for the aft A/C unit - projects that can be done underway. Ariel is almost a real boat... ready for some big-time cruising. 7/13/07 - The oppressive hot spell broke with a welcomed clear 70's morning. I sewed a cover for Ariel's teak cockpit table... yes, teak found a home on Ariel. I think it was Miles need for something to maintain. Ran down a few parts with Laureen and designed and spec'd materials for a couple of jobs for folks back home (not to mention the new cockpit bimini and side curtains for AA). The yard got a few projects done on the A47 making the prospect of getting out of Dodge next week more realistic. That said, the dinghy chocks that were supposed to be delivered at 7:30 this morning never showed as was the case for the bimini.

New Ariel glides upwind She's a beauty First anchorage for Miles and Laureen Miles "enjoying" boat? Ariel's helm is equipped for long voyages When dockside they have a portable unit Miles can't hide behind AA anymore Ruth hunts for beach glass, AA & Ariel at anchor Laureen and Ruth hiking - Dutch Island Fortification ? on Dutch Island Our neighborhood swans - Cove Harbor Marina

Visit earlier portions of our east coast travels...