Crew Log for September 30th – October 4, 2022
Trip Summary:
Fishers Island to Old Saybrook
Trip Distance of 18.6 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 1,017.5 NM
Departed at 0830 hours and arrived at 1200 hours
There is that old expression, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. We have a similar philosophy when it comes to thinking about this adventure. Most of our thinking and planning is focused on tomorrow or the next week. Given we can only travel at an average of 5 knots per hour, a long day for us is 50 miles. More typically, we try to stick to 30 – 35 miles. Given the fact that we travel at a snail's pace, thinking too far ahead can be overwhelming.
However, when we hit a milestone like, one thousand miles, it is worth pausing ever so briefly to acknowledge the accomplishment. Ok, time to move on.
It would be easy to be complacent about the weather after our event free experience with Fiona. However, we know better, and the forecast over the next couple of days didn’t look great as Hurricane Ian made his way up the coast. I wasn’t disappointed to leave Fishers Island, given our experience with the flies and rolly conditions. The weather was sunny but a lot cooler. We were looking forward to a beam reach to Old Saybrook.
We made the 18.6 NM trip in 3.5 hours and debated whether to take advantage of the wind and put in some more miles. However, we are really glad we didn’t.
We have talked about it a couple of times before, but for navigating, we use our chartplotter in combination with our phones. Navionics will create a route for you automatically based on your boat’s draft and average speed. Like any GPS, the algorithm is pretty basic. In our case, “What’s the shortest distance between two points with sufficient water depth?”. Again, as with any GPS, if you rely too heavily on it’s suggested route, you could end up in a corn field in Quebec, or in our case a sandbar off of Connecticut.
As we neared Old Saybrook, Navionics routed us into a narrow dip between two sandbars that ran along the coast, eventually linking up with the entrance to the channel. Thankfully, our years in shallow water on Tatamagouche Bay toughened our nerves, because at one point we had less than a foot under the keel. We won’t make that mistake again. I hope.
We arrived at North Cove right around noon and picked up a mooring. We dinghied into the North Cove Yacht Club and had a pleasant chat with a few of their members. They explained that, while the moorings were free, if we wanted to use the facilities at the Yacht Club, there was a fee. The season was winding down here so they were only open on weekends during October. While the Clubhouse would be locked after Sunday, the club was very generous to keep the water on and give us access to the showers for as long as we would need them. The shower was in a shed next to the clubhouse and wasn’t particularly fancy, but was definitely a welcomed treat.
We were still struggling with phone issues, although this time it was getting the SIM card to work in Judy’s phone. It all looks so simple on YouTube when people arrive at a new country and pop in a SIM card and are instantly connected. It was anything but simple for us, although in this latest case, our troubles were self inflicted.
When I bought the SIM card way back in Southeast Harbor, Maine, I went through a self checkout. Apparently, you not only need to scan the card, but there is a second number that also needs to be scanned to activate it. I didn’t do the second scan, so when I tried to install the card, I got an “invalid card” error, which Google indicated could be the result of a SIM card defect. WELL. Off we go to Walmart to get our refund, only to realize that we likely never actually paid for the card in the first place. I don’t think it can technically be called “stealing” since what we had wasn’t able to be used. We won’t make that mistake again. I hope.
The rain and wind started shortly after we tied up to the mooring and won’t let up for 4 days. Despite being in a completely protected area, we had persistent 20 – 25 knot winds with gusts well over 30 knots at times. There was heavy rain at times and it was cold. We ran the furnace in the mornings and evenings and I baked bread so I could keep the oven on. However, if we had to be stuck somewhere, there were worse places than Old Saybrook. It was a nice little town with everything within easy walking distance.
Settled in 1635, Old Saybrook is one of the oldest towns in the State of Connecticut. It is located where the Connecticut River meets Long Island Sound. It’s “main street” features some unique shops, cultural facilities, nice restaurants and although we didn’t get to them, some beautiful beaches and a coastal forest.
It is also home to the North Cove Yacht Club, where we would call home for 5 days. The NCYC’s mission is dedicated to the enjoyment, preservation and teaching the love of sailing. It was obvious from the teaching dinghies and assorted gear around the club that they had an active youth program. It is a small club that relies on the volunteer of its club members to operate. We were fortunate to meet several of the Club members who were friendly and only too happy to offer some advice on anchorages or places to stop along our way.
Despite the bad weather, we made an effort every day to get off the boat and explore Old Saybrook. Sometimes, it was as mundane as a visit to the laundry mat and other times it was warming up over a nice brunch at one of the unique coffee shops or a visit to the local library. We even tried to book our forth Covid shot, but were quietly told we had to pretend to be Americans, with an American address, in order to receive the shot.
The Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center sits prominently in the middle of town and honors the area’s most famous resident. “The Kate” as it is nicknamed holds 240 shows a year covering a range of genres. Katherine Hepburn lived in Fenwick an area of Old Saybrook and visited there frequently. The original family home was damaged by a hurricane and has undergone several renovations since then.
We have been battling moisture in the boat, which of course in not surprising, given the amount of rain and wind we’ve had. Since we are only running off of 12 volt, except to charge the laptops, a dehumidifier isn’t really an option. We are hoping for warmer weather so we can open things up, but in the meantime, we will continue the ritual of wiping down as much as we can, and replenishing our supply of US$5 a bottle white wine.
We decided to head out on Wednesday, despite a nasty forecast for the Atlantic side of the Long Island Sound. The wind was out of the north, which potentially meant a nice beam reach sail down to our next planned stop. In the morning we carefully brought the boat into the service dock to refill the water tanks and shower.
While we were there a couple from Maine came up in their dinghy to say hello. They noticed us in Cuttyhunk and arrived in Old Saybrook not long after us. They were on a trawler, MV Nomaste (No Mast Eh), which along with the small Canadian flag flying under their American flag, should have been a clue to a Canadian connection. It turns out, Lesli was born in BC and soon after moved to Nova Scotia (Barrs Settlement and Dartmouth). Her husband Jay was a professor at the U of Maine and has a mutual friend of our good friends Andy and Maura.
Given it was still cool, wet and windy, our initial meeting was short. However, we are hoping to run into them again (figuratively) again somewhere along the ICW.
Our plan was to sail to the Thimble Islands today and then on to Stratford to see my cousin Jane Conley.
But more about that, next time.
Additional Photos:
Glad the cranky old man had his pants on,..... and do you notice that Judy has the wine bottle close at hand? Gotta do whatever you can when it is cold. 😊
Wishing you the smoothest of sailing.
The folks at 60 Bonjour Lane.