RAIN RAIN RAIN IN NYC

Hi Everybody

Today it is raining like crazy, it is Friday and we have been here since Monday afternoon.

We are at the West 79th street Boat Basin, which is a NYC city marina, only paying $30 per night or $180 for a week. We will be here until Monday at least.  Our stay is all weather dependent as we need good weather to make the trip down the Jersey coast to Cape May. 

 The plan is to leave Monday for Sandy Hook NJ, and then on Tuesday to Atlantic City.  That part will be 12-13 hours so we have to leave about 5 am.  Then a normal day to Cape May, short rest and then up the Delaware River to the C&D canal to Chesapeake and Baltimore.

Around here in NYC we had a easy trip through Hell's Gate, the East River, except they
closed off the west side of Roosevelt island because of the UN, and so we had to go down the
east side.  No problem except there is one lift bridge, but got through okay.  The pictures at the end of this writing are taken from the trip to NYC down the East River and one of the Manhattan Bridge.

This week we have been doing the normal sightseeing stuff.  Wed we went to a matinee performance of Jersey Boys with Nancy and Rusty Field. They have been sailing with us for the past month, since
Portland, Maine, on and off.  John Lloyd Young, who created the role of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys back in 2006 came back for a 3 month engagement and he performed at our Wed matinee. He was great.  If you have a chance to see this production, you should see it.

This weekend we are spending time with Jill and Matt. Saturday we are taking the train up north to a small town they like to visit for some hiking, etc.

That is it for now

Joe

Speed going through Hells' Gate.

Rough Night

Last night was something else.  More later.

Wanted to show you a picture of Billy working on our dinghy.  They poured in the sealer
we had for fixing holes from inside, but he also installed an outer patch cover the pinholes that the
dock at New London had created.

So the dinghy had to stay dry for two days but that was okay as we were going to Black Rock YC and they have tender service.

We arrived at BRYC after a great sail of 5 hours or so. However we did not realized how wavy their mooring field is with a southerly wind. Joy did a fantastic job getting us hooked up to the mooring with the boat bouncing 4 feet into the air at times.  Nancey and Rusty on Summer Wind had a more difficult time, but they finally got attached.

We took the tender into the Club and had a great dinner with Mike and Sweta Wexler, who drove down from New Milford. Mike and I worked at Jefferson Wells Consulting in Cleveland Ohio, the job before my last position at Shaker Heights City Schools.  They are still working  full time.

While at dinner, Keith, the launch driver, came by and told us that the waves were so bad that they had to move the tender to Captain's Cove, at the end of the harbor because the tender was pulling out the dock cleats.  After dinner, Keith drove us down to Captain's Cove, where he lives on a boat, and took us out .  Had some 5-6 ft waves to go over in the tender.  If we had thought it through, we would have got a dock at Captain's Cove.  However, Keith said that the dockmaster is going to reduce our mooring bill due to the weather conditions.

Needless to say, it was a rough night until the wind turned about 1 am.  Now at 6:40 am it is as smooth as glass as the wind is out of the north. 

Today we are heading to City Island, NYC.  Then on Monday, through Hell's Gate and the East River and hopefully to a mooring at the 79th Street Boat Basin, Manhattan.  Plan on being in NYC for a week and spending time with Jill and Matt.

Joe

The Blog is Back

The Blog is Back.  It was  wandering around in Joe's brain and finally found a way out.

I think it got out through Joe's bad right ear.  I heard a sharp pop this morning.

Well that last couple of days have been different from sailing.  I had an important
meeting at MIT on Wed.  The weather looked bad, which is was, for Monday and Tuesday so we invited ourselves to Nick and Sue Buehler's house in Webster, MA.  They are our super
good friends from our days in Andover, MA which was 1976-1981 when our daughter's were in the Coop Nursery School together. Plus Nick grew up as a Cleveland Browns fan.

Rented a car from Enterprise and off we went.  Interesting note on the car rental, the car costs about $45 per day.  The insurance , collision and liability, together would have cost $40/day, almost the cost of the house.  Fortunately our Chase VISA card covers us for collision, and we bought a separate liability policy from State Farm, which is cheaper for the amount of rentals we expect this year.

I drove to my MIT meeting, no problems.  Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, we spent time at the Buehlers playing various card games, and going out on their pontoon boat.  While I was gone on Wed, the three of them went to a local Thai restaurant.

So now it is Thursday morning. We load up the car with stuff from the grocery store and drove back to New London, Ct.

Got to see what the storm on Tuesday did to the dinghy. The dinghy was pushed up against the dock and eventually the rubber railing on the dock fell off. The staples punched several holes in the dinghy letting out the air.  It was still floating but looked soft.  Hope you can see from the picture below.

We got our stuff out to High Spirits, and blew up the dinghy with the air pump. A phone call to Burr's Marine and off we went to their fuel dock. They took really good care of our problem.  Got the dinghy out to the yard, got a patch kit and used our left over sealant that you pour into the dinghy and let dry.  Of course, then Joy decided to take advantage and we washed down the bottom.

So tonight we are on a Burr;'s mooring, will get the dinghy back tomorrow and off to Joshua Cove for a Friday night anchor and then on Saturday head west to have dinner with Mike and Sweta Wexler at Black Rock Yacht Club on Sat. night.

Joe

ps  Picture of sunset today, Thursday, Sept 20, 2012

Stonington, CT

We arrived here yesterday with Summer Wind - Rusty and Nancy Field from Johnson City, TN.  Had a great time with them over the past couple of weeks.  We met them in Portland, Maine back at the end of August and have been sailing with them on and off for the past 3 weeks.


But we are departing ways today. We are sailing to New London, CT to park High Spirits for four days while Joe goes to an MIT meeting on Wed. We will be staying with the Buehlers until Thursday.  Summer Wind is off to explore the eastern end of Long Island. Summer Wind will be hauled out for the winter and some repair work.

Stonington, CT is a nice little town and the Dodson Boat Yard is a great place to park your boat. They have  tender service that ran till 11 pm last night. 

In New London, CT we are staying on the City moorings and have to use the dinghy. Also have to change the oil, oil filter and add grease to the greaser.

More Later

Joe

Buzzard Bay

Well it has been a while since I have penned a note to the blog. We have been very busy and also the Sony PC has given up the ghost.  It does not seem to be able to go to the web.  The Internet
Explorer program fails each time.  So I have shifted all my important files to our little red
ACER computer.  I have a second chip to go into it, just have to figure out how to install ir or find sombody who knows how to do itl

Last weekend was my fraternity annual reunion in Cambridge, MA.  We had a great time.
High Spirits was in Manchester harbor before the reunion and then we sailed down to Boston Harbor on Thursday, the day before. We slept mostly on the boat but Saturday night was kind of bad weather so we slept at the hotel.

Joy went to visit her brother Mark and his family on Sunday.  I had two more meetings at MIT regarding our fund raising project.  We are trying to raise $7.2 million to renovate the house and get it set up for the 21st century Lots of ADA, and safety requirements.

Then back on the boat this week.  We met Rusy and Nancy Field on Summer Wind in Portland, Maine. They are also sailing south but only to North Carolina.  The kids and their families live in Chapel Hill, NC and they are thinking of moving there.  Here are some pictures.

 First picture - Boston sky line as we sailed past her on our way south

Rusty, Joy and Nancy

Pilgrims' momument at Provincetown, MA

Sand dunes at Cape Cod National Seashore at Provincetown, Ma.  We rented bikes and rode about 7 miles to the beach and back

Left Provincetown this morning and motored across Cape Cod Bay. Entered the Cape Canal and with the current behind us we went over 10 knots.

After we exited the canal we were head on into the wind and the wind was backing up the tide against it into 4-6 foot waves.  So we bailed out early and ended up in Catumet, MA. A very nice and  old houses place on the Cape where people with lots of money spend their summers.

Joe

Time with Friends

Our cruising life would not be what it is if not for the friends that we meet along the way, both old and new. The past week has been full of old friends. First of all, in Portland, my college friends got together for the saturday of Labor Day weekend. Traveling from Bremen, ME, Manchester, NH, and Maryland, we got together for lunch on the boat, and then Lisa, Peg, Andi, and I did the fun shopping stuff, while Harry and Joe begged off for the movies. Afterwards, we all got together for supper on the docks at the Porthole.

While we sit out the rain in Manchester-by-the-Sea, we have been visiting Steve (Joe's college fraternity brother) and wife, Marty! While they work, we have the house to stay at, getting off the boat during the rain, exploring their lovely little town, and in the evening hanging out together, watching the Democratic Convention, which we would not easily be able to do on the boat. Good friends, so special!  In addition, we had dinner with a friend (Suzanne Todd)from New London, who is working in Boston, and renting a room here in town.

Yesterday, I met four high school friends for lunch, something we didn't do for years, but now try to do about every other month, when we can. The older we get, the more important it seems to keep those old ties. Below are pics of some of our good times this past week. Unfortunately, the camera is not always at our finger tips.

Joy ( the occasional contributor)

Third time is not a Charm

You know how they say the third time is a charm.  Well the third time of a broken alternator bolt is definitely not a charm.

Happened today, Labor Day, Sept 3 west of  Gloucester, Ma. We were motoring along in almost no wind and only about an hour from our good friends Steve and Marty in Manchester, MA

All of sudden the new temperature alarm ges off, and Joy quickly shut the engine off.  I went below to see what was the problem. No belt on the alternator, at first I thought it was broken, but it had
come off because the alternator bolt broke.  Twice during the first cruise and now again.

Steve and Mary came out and towed us to the mouth or Manchester Harbor and then the
harbormaster took over. His harbor is very narrow and very busy.  We reached the place we had planned to stay at for one overnight, looks like we will be here longer.

Plus it is supposed to start to rain for 2 days  Eventually we will get to Boston.


Joe

ps  Will have pictures tomorrow of the broken bolt and the repair job.