Summer Cruise ‘99
Our two-week summer cruise of ’99 was comprised of the company of the three boats of Paul & Colleen Akers (S/V Akers Away), Kirby & Paula Akers (S/V Say When) and Jeff & Sue Soares (S/V Summer Solstice). Since the two other boats were to depart two days before us, our plan was to catch up with them at the first port of call, Block Island. Having been weathered in for the first two days, catching up to them was easy. We rendevouzed in Narragansett Bay at Potter's Cove on Prudence Island on the afternoon of July 3rd. We departed on July 4th bound for Block Island being pushed by a steady westerly wind. Having cleared Newport about 6 miles at sea, the wind turned SSW on the nose and churned up some rough water. Not wanting to beat another 15 miles to BI, we elected to head to calmer seas into Point Judith and up into the Great Salt Pond for the evening. The pond was hot and humid (104 degs) and a refreshing, cold beer and a dip was in order after securely anchoring for the evening off of a local YMCA camp. We later took a dinghy ride back to the harbor entrance to pick up some delicious chowder & clam cakes. Nightfall came while we were gone and one of the tour boats on the salt pond provided some comic entertainment for us as we were both passing the local camp. It seems that the male camp residents lie in wait for the tour boat to pass by in the adjacent channel that runs in front of the camp swimming area. The skipper, fully aware of what is to happen, suddenly toots his whistle and turns on his spotlight. This provides a signal to the 50 boys to run out of their cover and onto the beach while dropping their drawers and mooning the passengers on the boat. A whooping roar of laughter rises from the passengers. This happens every night. I had only heard of this happening a week earlier from my sons who had spent a two-week session for 5 consecutive summers at the camp a few years ago.
The next day we opted to continue westerly along the RI coast bound for Mystic, CT (itinerary changes are very common when you’re in a sailboat). Light/no wind forced us to motor the 17 miles to our destination as we passed thru Watch Hill passage into Fishers Island sound. Mystic was another 5 miles. We arrived in the Mystic River in mid-afternoon and picked up a slip at the Noank Shipyard Marina for two days. Dinghys are the taxis of a cruiser and we used ours to scoot up the river to the historic Mystic village for a dinghy tour of the waterfront area. After pulling up to the town dinghy dock, the ladies went shopping; the guys went for a beer (see a pattern developing?) at the famous Mystic Pizza (remember the movie?). Once the ladies met us there, it was on to Margarita’s for happy hour and Mexican h'or dourves.
We departed Mystic in mid-morning for Essex, CT, located 5 miles up the Connecticut River about 15 miles west down into Long Island Sound past Seaflower and Bartlett Reefs. Winds were on the nose (see another pattern?) and we were encouraged to kick in the iron horse again. We laid up at Brewer’s Dauntless Marina for two nights in Essex. Boat chores were the order of the day for the guys while the ladies went shopping (another pattern). Dinner and entertainment that evening at the famous Griswold Inn (Washington slept there) provided us with the best meal of the trip. A dinghy ride to explore the upper reaches of Hamburg Cove provided us with an interesting, “woodsy” appreciation of the CT River. This river reminds me very much of the Columbia River on the Oregon/Washington border because of the lush greenery, forest, cliffs, marshes and wildlife which flourish on the banks of the river.
Underway again for a short trip, 2 more miles, up the river past Hamburg Cove, brought us to little Deep River, CT for a one night stay. We took this opportunity to walk to a nice pub in Chester, CT (17 beers on draught) to catch the USA Women’s, (guided by Michelle), victory over China in the World Cup soccer match. Boy, did the patrons whoop it up when they won!
A balmy, breezy day was in order as we departed Deep River and headed back down the CT river to cross Long Island Sound and three nights in Greenport, NY on the North Fork of Long Island. On the way down the river, we were treated to a parade of 1950’s-vintage mahogany powerboats that were coming out of Hamburg Cove and heading up river to a classic wooden boat parade. This was like going to a roadster show on the water; all polish, mahogany and big engines revving up the river. Heading down river, we passed under the Route 95 bridge and through the Amtrak railroad bridge. Crossing the sound treated us to a sleigh ride on the tidal flow to Plum Gut as we, again, motored across the sound in the dying breeze. Some of the quickest tides in southern New England run through Plum Gut and it must be treated cautiously.
Approaching Greenport is straight forward. Just follow the channel markers past the restored Bug Light lighthouse and tuck in behind the breakwater to the marina entrance. Greenport has an abundance of nautical history and this can be seen in the architecture of the homes and buildings in the area. It’s an old whaling and shipping town where many reminders of it’s nautical past exist. Across the channel from Greenport is the affluent Shelter Island with its abundance of large houses, tucked within the North and South Forks of Long Island’s east end. There are good restaurants, boating facilities, grocery stores, restaurants and pubs in Greenport. On two previous trips there, we have always resupplied our provisions there. We walked the waterfront and spotted a bunch of beautiful boats. The most magnigicent one was a green, Guatemala-built, steel-hulled Florida Bay Coaster power cruiser named “Steel Magnolia”. Greenport is also referred to quite extensively in Nelson DeMille’s 1997 fiction “Plum Island”.
Our treat in Greenport was to rent a minivan and visit several of the wineries that are found on the North Fork. Within a distance of 15 miles, there are about 20 wineries – most open for sampling. We ended up with nearly a case of different and unique white wines to take home. Our only time of rain on the trip occurred on our second night in Greenport (their first rainfall in 6 weeks during this extremely dry New England summer season).
Greenport was the turnaround point of our vacation. We would have liked to visit other Peconic Bay spots such as Coecles Harbor, Three Mile Harbor or Sag Harbor, but we had gone far enough as time would allow and we were 90 miles from home (60 as the gull flies). We had to return, so we headed SE across Gardiner’s Bay to Montauk Point on the eastern tip of the South Fork. No wind, tide to our back, motor running. Are we ever going to get to sail? We entered Montauk Harbor and slithered past all the huge pleasure craft and sport fishing boats through the shallow, winding channel up into Montauk Lake for a night on the hook. Only one other power boat joined us in the lake later that evening. The three boats rafted together and we experienced one of the most gorgeous sunsets we’ve ever experienced afloat in New England. It actually rivaled any we’ve seen in the Caribbean. This was only a stopover night, so we broke out the grills and ate on board. The evening, with no light pollution on Montauk Point, yielded the darkest sky and a plethora of stars that are seldom seen when living in an urban area. The next morning we would be bound for Block Island.
We left Montauk with the rising tide on Thursday morning (July 15th) for the 20 mile easterly run to Block Island. Again, bright sunshine, calm seas, no wind. But, nonetheless, a beautiful day. Along the way Kirby and Paula spotted a shark that lazily swam under Say When and disappeared into the depths. Arrival at Block Island was uneventful, crowed as usual, but always exciting to reach. One of the nice things about Block Island is the old architecture. Many of the old buildings and hotels date back to the early 1800's when tourism began to grow. There is virtually no new construction except for private residences. Townsfolk have kept the ambiance this way. One of our sailing friends, Mark, came to the island on a ferry to join all of us. He stayed aboard Summer Solstice with Jeff and Sue for two evenings before taking the ferry back to the mainland on the day we left. At least we thought he did. He found another one of our marina friends out there and he spent another night on the island with them. We did the usual BI stuff. The ladies went shopping, the guys – oh well! We visited our favorite spot – the outside deck bar high up on the National Hotel overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Rhode Island Sound. Kirby was on the third stool from the left – his “designated” seat at the National each time we go there. The ladies met us for snacks. The weather was extremely humid and hazy, which prevented us from seeing the 20 miles NE to Newport.
We left BI on Saturday amid an influx of helicopters and planes. We had heard a private transmission on VHF radio that a Kennedy plane was missing in the area. The Coast Guard kept passing a message for all vessels to be on the lookout for any type of debris. They never mention any names. We were heading back to Narragansett Bay and had to pass through the initial search area were JFK, Jr., his wife and her sister had disappeared the night before. Subsequently, they were found about 20 miles east of us. We only found out the details about who, when and where, later in the day. As we entered Narragansett Bay through the east passage, we glided past the Castle Hill lighthouse, stately mansions and Newport harbor and headed up bay to Potter’s cove to spend our last vacation evening on a mooring before heading back the last six miles to the marina. Two weeks of relaxation, good company, adventure and forgetting about most of the world's troubles. Our total distance covered in the two weeks was 220 nautical miles. And, by the way, we did, at least, get to motor-sail back on the last leg to Newport from BI.
