City Island to Atlantic Highlands

Bon Voyage Breakfast with the Leeds

Friday September 3rd, Our "plan" had been to join the Harlem for the Labor Day Weekend Rendezvous in Oyster bay and then take off from there for our journey south. For the past two months the weather had been incredibly hot, humid, dry and uneventful and we expected more of the same. However, mother nature decided it was time to stir things up a bit and indeed she gave it a good effort. Hurricane Danielle had just past by up the coast, although she did fizzle out to sea, the surf in the ocean had been stirred. Not far behind her heels was Hurricane Earl. The Rendezvous had been cancelled and plans had quickly changed. We secured extra lines on the Summer Wind because it looked like Earl could possibly be hitting the Carolinas and then coming directly north. Earl thank goodness, downsized then steered away and  brought only wind and wave. The Summer Wind had been fine and the window of opportunity for travelling was Sunday morning.
After lots of planning we shoved off from City Island on Sunday, September. 5, 2010 and had a enjoyable first day to Atlantic Highlands, NJ. It was breezy but sunny and beautiful in the morning, so we decided to drop the lines and head down the East River.



Going down the East River



 Our timing was perfect because we were always cruising about 9 knots and when we came upon Hellsgate our speed hit 11knots, wow we were zooming! Upon entering the Upper New York harbor from the north, the winds could really be felt and the waves gave us a rocky ride over to the Atlantic Highlands. We filled up the fuel tanks ($2.74/gal) and dropped the anchor for the night.Our friends Tim and Joanne aboard Horizon IV pulled into the anchorage soon after and we crashed for the night.

Celebrations!

Preparing the Name Boards

 Well, It has been a very busy three months since we've last posted on our blog, so we'll quickly catch you up to-date. We did have a few weekends aboard the Summer Wind but mostly spent our time on land.

Our last official weekend aboard the Summer Wind was in May at the Rear Commodore's Rendezvous,where we surprised all our Harlem Yacht Club friends in Manhasset Bay on Long Island Sound and joined a great weekend party before becoming land lubbers.

Mid June and early July, Captain Dick underwent eye surgery and had the cataracts removed from his eyes. To say that he was amazed at the immediate improvement in his sight is an understatement. To this day he stops to behold the colors and he absolutely loves wearing his new cool pair of sunglasses. 

Father's Day weekend our daughter Michelle and her boyfriend Barry joined us aboard the Summer Wind for some great cruising weather. We took a trip to Port Jefferson and had an excellent weekend together.

We know who the "Captain" is here



Michelle and Barry abandoning ship?

Two other events we participated with Harlem were the Full Moon Rendezvous in Spring Cove  where we partied aboard Phat Cat. Then we enjoyed the July 4th rendezvous in Oyster Bay. Our friends Mark & Marcia joined us aboard the Summer Wind and we enjoyed all the festivities including the great BBQ on the beach and fireworks to top off the celebrations.

Early August we joined our friends Mark and Marcia as crew, aboard their new 31' Hunter sailboat named Aye Aye. We helped them bring her safely from Rock Hall, MD to City Island , NY. It was a wonderful 7 day  adventure, and sailing came back to temporarily titled Navigator Dick like riding a bike. In Cape May, NJ we were lucky to catch up with the Turo's on their vacation,, what fun!!  During that time Mark & Marcia celebrated their wedding anniversary!! Happy Anniversary M & M and thanks for a great adventure.



Hey who's steering the boat???

Dinner at the Lobster House

Happy Anniversary M & M

The middle of August we flew to Pine Island Key, FL to attend Tom and Dianes wedding. Congratulatiions to the new Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert. Even though the temperatures were hovering in the mid 90's and the humidity seemed to match it was a grand weekend with grand facilities,good food and, of course, a beautiful bride and groom. Lot's of fun and very romantic.

Cooling off at the Pool

Shoes Optional !!

Congratulations Tom & Diane

The last two weeks of August, we were repairing, provisioning and planning for our adventure.

Almost "HOME"

Heading up the C & D canal

Wednesday May 18th /20th - Annapolis City Dock - Today was going to be a long day 58 miles, we untied the lines shortly after 7am. This would give us a little push up the Chesapeake Bay. Our timing was a little off, the current wasn't running as quickly as we thought. The Bay was a little choppy at first but mother nature had promises of much more pleasant weather. Around 1:30 in the afternoon we pulled into Chesapeake City. No one was on the free city dock because there were pilings that stated "NO DOCKING". This didn't bother us we just dropped the hook in the basin. We've been here before and knew this anchorage very well, if we could get the anchor to hold!!! There was quite a bit of grass because its early in the season and took a few tries. Finally, we dropped the hook, relaxed a bit before taking the dinghy down to visit the tiny little town. The weather had warmed up back into the high 70's so we changed into tees and shorts.

When we went ashore to the tiny little town we visited the town hall and inquired about the 'no docking'. The clerk explained there was a wedding on the dock in the boats scheduled for Friday. Weddings are quite picturesque and romantic in this basin. We walked around and enjoyed the English gardens surrounding the circa 1700 homes. Famished from our day we walked over to the Tikki Bar and restaurant by the water and enjoyed great hamburgers for a late lunch/early dinner. After lunch we went down to the city dock and met the groom and wished him well on his new adventure. He was very excited and invited us to tie up behind him because he had a cancellation and told us the wedding was around 11 if we were staying. We thanked him but told him that we were heading out early Friday morning if weather permitted. The conversation turned to boating and travelling the ICW, he was in his late 50's and looking forward to retirement and cruising. Walked back to the dinghy and headed back for the Summer Wind. That evening we enjoyed a light salad for dinner. We stayed two nights in this great little spot and enjoyed another great day of weather and walking around.

Chesapeake City Bridge

Chesapeake City Boutique

Quaint Circa 1700 Chesapeake City Home

Friday May 20th - Chesapeake City Anchorage- Timed our departure around 6:30 in the morning, today was going to be another long travel day. Our destination was Utsch's marina in Cape May, NJ. This stop was going to be special for us because we planned to leave the boat in Cape May and rent a car to drive back to the Flynn's in Arlington. Little Lauren and Moira were having a birthday celebration.

When we first entered the C & D canal the tide was against us for a while, but once we entered the Delaware River the tide would be with us most of the way. Once we entered the river we discovered it was like a sheet of glass, YEAH!!! It was a little foggy but we wouldn't complain! Shortly after 3pm we were tied up and called the car rental agency. As we were tidying up the Summer Wind, Dick met our next door neighbors Bill & Nancy aboard "Watauga". They were loopers and MTOAers and invited us to join them for ribs on the dock with two other couples. We were delighted and told them we'd join them. That evening we met Hal and Cheryl aboard "Mas Bueno" and Brenda and Ken aboard "Tellico Lady". Everyone brought a dish to share and we had a delightful time. The three boats travel together and they were all doing the loop, which sounds like great fun! Thanks guys we had a great time!

Flat seas on the Delaware River

Pot luck in Cape May! Great way to meet new friends!
photo courtesy of Tellico Lady

Saturday May 21st /23rd Arlington, VA - Today we travelled by car and by boat, How do you ask? Well by Ferry! We drove to the Cape May/Lewes Ferry and took a ride over to Lewes Delaware then drove to Arlington, Va. The excursion was fine on the Ferry ,mother nature wouldn't have been so kind to us however had we been on the Summer Wind. The drive however became more harrowing as we neared Washington , DC, the indicator lights started coming on and flashing at Dick. The car seemed to be stalling and then all of a sudden it would accelerate. By the time we arrived at Debby's we were exhausted and nervous.It was wonderful seeing the Flynn family again and explained our dilemma with the car. Debby immediately said it has to go back and gave Dick the phone numbers to Enterprise. Because it was Saturday afternoon the only places open were the airports so Debby went with Dick to the nearby Dulles airport to pick up a much more reliable vehicle. They returned with a much nicer and reliable vehicle, Thank goodness! That evening Debby and Chris made a wonderful dinner and invited some close friends Ken and Mary Beth, and their parents. We enjoyed a lovely meal on their back porch by the fireplace topped off with celebritory cake #1. Debby told us to pace ourselves this weekend, but its dessert LOLOL! By the way we should mention that Meghan decorated each cake beautifully.

Sunday morning everyone went to watch Meghan play soccer with her team. The game was very exciting! Meghan scored an assist and a goal! Her team is amazing to watch, they had great sportsmanship and teamwork. They were incredibly athletic because they made running up and down the field look easy. Meghan's team won!!

In the afternoon we experienced two wonderful birthday celebrations! Moira and her friends celebrated with a Moon bounce, a egg spoon race, pasta necklaces and a lot of great fun topped off with ice cream and cake #2. Then we celebrated Laurens birthday with her friends with pizza, cake #3, ice cream and lots of fun! We think we paced ourselves rather well and enjoyed each delicious morsel. Sadly early Monday morning we said our good byes and drove back to the Summer Wind.

Late Monday afternoon we were back in Cape May restocking the boat and returning our rental car. Met up with our new looper friends who had been stuck here because of the weather. They told us it rained the whole weekend.

The Captain enjoying someone else at the helm

Demonstrating the race technique

Poise and Grace

Oh what to wish for!!!

Sharing a wish with friends!

The return trip

Tuesday May 25th -Cape May, NJ - Up early again and decided that the ocean would not be great to travel. So we decided to take the inside route. This is not one of our favorite trips because it adds approximately 15 miles because of winding through the marsh. The NJICW is not maintained like the southern route and therefore has many areas with skinny water. Even though we timed our departure heading into high tide we did run aground in the channel on the Broad Thorofare entrance near Great Egg harbor Inlet. After boating for 31 years we had to succumb to calling Tow Boat US to get us off. This was the second time the Captain had top do that in all his years. Luckily he had subscribed to unlimited towing, for the bill was $595.00. The rest of the day was just as harrowing because of the shallows. Entering from the back of Absecon Inlet we saw first hand that the ocean was boiling, breakers were rolling up the inlet, so it we were smart not to be in the ocean. Finally about 5:30 PM we dropped the hook in Atlantic city. Broke out a bottle of wine and relaxed for the evening.

Our Hero to the rescue!

Atlantic City at Sunset

The Sky painted with a feather

Wednesday May26th- Atlantic City, NJ - Mother Nature was at it again, the winds just wouldn't subside, therefore we decided the inside route again. Today would be a rather long day of 68 miles. The trip although long wasn't as tense because the waters are a little deeper. Our destination today was the Glimmer Glass anchorage in Manasquan. It's a tiny little anchorage that we enjoy,,, however make sure your entering on a rising tide YIKES! We dropped the hook temporarily until we could move further into the anchorage past the low water.

Thursday May 27th - Glimmer Glass, Manasquan, NJ- Today we rose at the crack of dawn. The Ocean was settling with 2-3ft swells but  Mother Nature was promising afternoon thunderstorms. Our trip was rather short into the ocean and the swells were rather easy for the boat to handle. We were able to keep the autopilot on and the Summer Wind handled her course well. As we were turning into Sandy Hook channel we came across the coast guard. They were there for two reasons, its Fleet week in New York City and unfortunately they were looking for 2 missing swimmers that were pulled in by the rip tide. After the past few days we couldn't believe that people attempted to go into the ocean when there are high riptides. Shortly mid morning we dropped the hook in Atlantic Highlands. We were 1of 3 boats  anchored for the night. Mother Nature came rolling through in the evening and put on a spectacular show.

Friday May 28th- Atlantic Highlands, NJ- Our trip  today was a rather short  excursion. We were going to enter the New York Harbor and drop a hook behind Lady Liberty. There is a wonderful protected little anchorage that we shared with 2 other boats.

Saturday May 29th- New York City, NY- Weighed anchor shortly before 8 am to time our excursion up the East River. Dick had it timed well, we were doing 10- 13kts at most times. It was a fairly uneventful trip until we came to the notorious Hells Gate. She was boiling and wouldn't you know there were 4 Kayakers entering Hells Gate all abreast of one another in the middle. Although Dick had slowed down early and blew his horn to let them know we were coming through, it made for a difficult situation. If any of you know what Hell's Gate Eddy's are like you know you need to have a little engine power when you hit the Eddys. Well we couldn't because the Kayakers were still in the channel although they were trying to get out of the way. Dick kept great control of the Summer Wind but I must say I heard some great sailors terms! Our destination today was Manhasset Bay. We're hoping to surprise the Harlemites and join them for the Memorial Day Rear Commodore's Rendezvous! Dropped a hook and, we'll let you know of that event later!

World War II planes circling Lady Liberty