Oh, well, back to sailing. I keep mentioning that we "pick up a mooring". Here is a mooring ball, lines running from an eye on the ball back to our boat. This keeps us from having to drop and set the anchor.
These mooring balls bounce around happily in the water, anchored securely to the bottom of the lake, bay, whatever, generally with a large "mushroom" anchor. Some have ropes already attached to their "eye", some - the devils - don't. My job, as Luke deftly maneuvers the boat, is to use the boat hook to reach 3-4 feet down to the water, pick up the mooring line with the hook, pull it to the top of our boat, run one of our lines through an eye at the end of it, and secure our line down to 2 cleats on the bow of the boat, running it through the anchor well twice, all while the boat/mooring ball/everything else bounces and plays hard to get. Sometimes it works beautifully, sometimes a kind soul in a dinghy will come over to help pick up the mooring line and get our line attached to it.
We left Port Washington without filling up on diesel and water - the tides and wild winds made it too difficult. So, we dropped the afore mentioned mooring ball yesterday morning, and set sail for Port Jefferson. I love the New England lighthouses - they are much nicer than many of the modern jumble of metal posts in the Chesapeake.
Here is the lighthouse at the point of Port Jefferson.
It had been a quiet day and we left early enough to get to Port Jefferson in the mid afternoon. We actually got to sail for a few hours in the remnants of the howling winds of the past two days, in 15 to 18 kts of wind on a beam reach. Then the wind died, and we motored -- as so often happens. We did arrive early - but a fishing boat pulled up to the fuel dock just before we got there. She got 300 gallons of diesel...at $4.59/gal, that's a lot of money. And a lot of time. We dumped trash, filled our water tanks, and rinsed salt off the dinghy motor while we waited. Meanwhile, the ferry filled herself with cars and people.
We looked down at the pretty town. Luke asked what was in town, and were told "bars, restaurants, and expensive shops".
After a very long wait, we got our whopping 48 gallons of diesel. Then, off to the anchorage for the night. Ahhhh...calm, quiet waters, still air. We ate dinner in the cockpit.
We idly considered going to town...but at $168 per night for a slip (most slips in the Chesapeake are about $70 per night for us) and for $50 per night for a mooring (most are between $15 - $35), and a $10 fee just to tie up the dingy to go ashore (always free), we decided to enjoy our calm anchorage. Don't need restaurants, bars, and expensive shops anyway!
We could even watch the ferries coming and going through the channel.
We also watched "the 1%" arrive home from work, flown in a helicopter from NYC presumably to his mansion with it's private helicopter pad (think about those houses on the Port Washington shore...). With the "1 % er" (or was this a .01% er ?) delivered from work, the helicopter took off again. I guess it picked him up the next morning.
We got up at 4 A.M.!! this morning. Rain and wind were called for by early afternoon and we wanted to take advantage of the nice weather in the morning to go as far as Mystic, CT. A quick confirmation of the weather forecast, and we pulled anchor and were in the channel by 4:45. Look how light it is at 4:45!
I took this next picture within a minute of the first - look at how quickly the light changes and grows.
Past another lighthouse near Fishers Island.
Our first schooner, as we approach Mystic. The weather is turning, readying for wind and rain.
Enders Island is just outside of our anchorage. This beautiful home
church
and grounds were a private home until 1954. The surviving spouse gave the land and buildings to the Catholic Church because the children weren't interested in having it! Today it is a Catholic based retreat, home to the Brothers of St. Edmund. Here is a lovely short article about the history plus beautiful pictures.
http://www.cottages-gardens.com/Connecticut-Cottages-Gardens/June-2013/Discover-peaceful-Enders-Island-off-of-the-coast-of-Mystic/
Luke's timing and Mother Nature were perfect. It just began to sprinkle as I set the anchor. A steady rain and some wind set in for a while. The winds are predicted to be strong - up to 30 knots - tomorrow and Monday, so we will sit it out here, in the protection of the land and Enders Island. We are hoping that it will work out that we can visit Mystic, the museum, and Enders Island while we're here.
1 comment:
I remember Mystic well from a trip that Carol and I took through New England 25 years ago. I would bet a few things have changed since then!
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