Monday, July 28, 2008

Greetings from Bridgeport, CT!  If you look at a map, you’ll see that we’ve not covered a lot of miles this week, but we’ve had a wide variety of experiences on both shores of Long Island Sound!When we left you last Monday we were docked in Huntington Harbor at the West Side Marina.  We roamed Huntington Harbor in the dinghy, and discovered a restaurant with a dinghy dock.  Nice treat to have dinner 'out'.Tuesday morning Fred did ship's work--his list of projects is a pretty long one.  Many projects don't change the performance of the boat, but make it more conveninent or comfortable to use! As we left the Marina he found a satellite overlay (Google earth photo) in his navigation computer and using it was able to easily locate the channel through Huntington Harbor.  On the day the photo was taken there were almost as many boats as on the day we wound our way through, and it was much easier to see the ‘road’ from the sky!  Navigation has taken a new turn! Huntington Bay has six Harbors.  We passed Lloyd, looped in and out of Centerport, and went on to Northport, where we picked up Orange Mooring Ball #9--owned by Seymour Marina.  Time was when Harbors had lots of room to anchor, but with so many boats needing summer homes, most open spaces are filled with floating mooring balls tied to huge, heavy ‘mushrooms’ that sit on the bottom and hold a boat in place.  Marinas place moorings in the water and are able to rent the space (and provide launch service to shore) to transients like us.  We went ashore in our dinghy and walked about the cute little town--found fresh fruit and flowers, as well as the obligatory ice cream!Rain poured down on us while we ate dinner, and then it cleared to a beautiful starry night.  At midnight when we turned in, the fish were jumpin’--now I understand  Summertime from ‘Porgy and Bess’!  Schools of them surrounded the boat with backfins out of the water just like miniature sharks!It was a wet Wednesday!  Thundershowers about every half hour from 6:30 am till noon.  The afternoon cleared, though, and so I took the Seymour’s Launch, and then a taxi (I only had to taxi one way, as a guide at the museum lives in Northport and offered  me a ride ‘home‘.) to the William Vanderbilt Mansion that overlooks Northport, but is actually located in Centerport.  I visited the dinosaur exhibit, skipped the planetarium show, and spent 3 hours wandering through the Mansion and Marine Museum.  ‘Willie’, as he’s called by the locals, was a great grandson of Cornelius--who had 13 children, many many descendants, and a fortune large enough to support them all.  Willie didn’t need to work, so he devoted 30 years of his life to marine activities--and creating this museum for Suffolk County.  He sailed his 151’ yacht Alva around the world--visiting  heads of state in many countries (his wife had 15 steamer trunks of clothing aboard), and collecting and meticulously documenting an amazing variety of marine specimens, which are on display in the two story Marine Museum.  When WWII broke out,willie donated Alva to the Navy, and she was camouflaged (to no avail), and refitted to suit military purposes.  Sadly, she was sunk by a Germam Uboat off the coast of NC.   Ironically, Alva was built in the same German shipyard as the U Boat that destroyed her.  Plan A was for Fred and I to return to the Mansion for an outdoor presentation of Romeo and Juliet, but a very large, very black cloud deterred us, and boy did it rain!  We were snug in our floating condo. Thursday morning we motored east toward Port Jefferson, making a brief detour into Eaton’s Cove where the Coast Guard has the 4th busiest station in the country. (San Francisco, Miami and Cape May out-busy Eaton’s, in case you’d want to know.  I did.)  We spent two days in Port Jeff--a former shipbuilding center named for Thomas Jefferson--highlights included (but were not limited to: A concert in the Village Green by Milagro, a group that played a very good tribute to Santana Being tied up next to a boat from Newburgh NY--a couple whom we’ve never met, but will probably run into in the grocery store very soon Enjoying the summer beach town atmosphere--it almost felt like a carnival…. A large variety of ice cream stores within walking distance On Friday afternoon we came back across the Sound to the Connecticut shore.  En route, in addition to staying out of the way of the Port Jeff-Bridgeport Ferry Boats, we practiced kite flying!  Saturday was a Power Squadron event at the harbor, and we enjoyed spending the day with friends--business meeting in the morning and very un-business-like dinghy races (blindfolded), kite and paper airplane flying contests, hula hooping and yo-yo competitions all afternoon.  The festivities concluded with a lobster dinner and a Big Band singer who entertained--and had to compete with the Brazillian Luau that started downstairs at 10pm.  Over 1000 young people partied until 2am! 4 other Power Squadron members had come to the event by boat (and one in a "Land Yacht"--a 35’ RV).  We all had Sunday brunch at the RV’s parking lot, then, as the weather worsened, 8 of us gathered on YA for a late lunch and early movie.  It thundered, lightninged, rained and blew and we didn’t care a bit. Today the sun is shining.  One boat went home early this morning and has phoned to say that the waves were one to two inches high on the Sound.  So we’re off to points East! See you next week!Fred and Linda

Monday, July 21, 2008

Last Monday’s rainy morning gave way to a beautiful afternoon, and after some conversations about the Five Mile River at Rowayton CT, we opted to tie up at the Town Dock in Norwalk, CT. ‘Twas a very hospitable spot for us, but we’re told that in Revolutionary War times, whaleboat crews darted in and out of this rocky harbor to harass British Ships. Power Squadron friends Jeff and Norma Gerwig joined us for a delightful evening visit. Next morning we set off to explore Ziegler’s Cove, where we picked up a mooring (first time) and took the dinghy down for a lazy ride. The dinghy lives atop YA, and we’re becoming more and more proficient at launching and retrieving it. These old dogs are learning lots of new tricks! We set off in the afternoon to cross to the South Shore of the Sound, (which is the North Shore of Long Island) to tie up alongside “Breezy”, Joe and Leslie McCarthy’s sailboat in Oyster Harbor. Had a good laugh when Leslie phoned to see if we were underway, only to turn 180 degrees and see YA’s big bow bearing down on her! She yelped! Once YA was securely rafted to Breezy, the Oyster Bay launch took us ashore for dinner and ice cream--and grocery shopping! Nice! We stayed with Breezy until Thursday morning--enjoyed relaxation, ‘shipswork’, and dinghy rides around the Harbor and under the bridge to Bellville. Oyster Bay is the home of one of the oldest Yacht Clubs in the USA--Seawanhaka-Corinthian. According to our Cruising Guide, it was here that do-it-yourself boaters introduced the concept of being skipper and crew on their own boats, a radical change from the hired skipper and crew used by the wealthier yachtsmen. The great American way! Oysters are actually harvested (and seeded) in Oyster Bay--around the edges in the summer, and in the center when all the boats and their moorings have been put away for the winter. We had dinner under a nearly full moon with Joe and Leslie, and in the morning we had coffee and a chat with a Power Squadron friend who’d just toured Teddy Roosevelt’s home--Sagamore Hill was his little White House. It is located about a mile and a half from the viillage of Oyster Bay. On our way to our next stop, Cold Spring Harbor, we passed Malcolm Forbes’ 151’ yacht, the Highlander, complete with heliport. Google says that this is the fifth Forbes boat with that name. We waved from the fourth boat (that we know of) named Young America. The four Forbes sons entertain on the Highlander from April-Nov. and the decks were crowded. Cold Spring Harbor was once a busy whaling port, and we docked overnight at the Whaler’s Cove Marina. Sunday morning we missed connections with the Huntington UU Fellowship, so we left early to sneak up the bay into the Sand Hole. We anchored there for the afternoon and I had a great swim--saw NO purple jellyfish. They’d stung me in Stamford, and chased me out of Oyster Bay! Two swans followed our every move. By late afternoon the Hole was filled with boats full of families spending Sunday afternoon swimming and relaxing. We moved on to Huntington Harbor, with great care. How many sailboats could there be? And are they all moored or moving together right here? To give you an idea, we’re nestled into the West Shore Marina, which has 250 slips. It is one of nine marinas we had to choose from. This afternoon we walked to the Marine store, lunched on the lawn by the pool, and then spent half an hour watching a school of Bunker fish circle and leap in front of our bow. Apparently they are regulars in the Harbor at high tide. It’s cool enough now that Fred is heading up to the dinghy to affix it’s registration numbers and decals--make it legal. This is our home, and like every home, there is always something! See you next week…… Fred and Linda

Monday, July 14, 2008 Last Thursday, July 10, while I attended a meeting with the Building Committee, architects and contractor of the new UUCRT building (the church that burned 09/12/2006) Fred motored YA down the Hudson from Kingston to Newburgh. After a brief tie up at the Front Street Marina to load the carful of ‘stuff’ that we NEED on the boat, we left the car in Molly’s office parking lot on Front Street and we’re off! We spent the night anchored near Cold Spring (about a 15 mile run) in a beautiful cove. The town of Phillipsburg has created a small park and beach on the Hudson’s shores and we were delighted to see families relaxing there. We also enjoyed their bonfire from afar! And thanks to Pete Seeger’s efforts to get the Hudson cleaned up, I, like the families ashore, was perfectly comfortable to swim in the River! It is good to once again have swimming as my exercise plan! Traffic was minimal in the Hudson, even below the George Washington Bridge, so we had a very nice ride to NYC. By 5:30 pm we were once again tied up at Liberty Landing, and after dinner, took a long walk around the park. The statue was alight in the harbor, and the park was quietly delicious. Next morning we moved closer to the statue (photo op) and it is a tribute to Fred’s piloting that we got out of the harbor unscathed. Ferries, tugs and barges, water taxis, excursion boats, recreational boaters—motor and sail and even a couple of kayaks came from all sides in a steady stream. The overhead trams at Roosevelt Island added to the fun, but didn’t create navigational issues! Soon the Throg’s Neck Bridge was behind us. We’d left the East River and Manhattan and headed into Long Island Sound. How many sailboats are there? LOTS! The Sound was literally covered—many racing (at Larchmont) but most just enjoying a beautiful summer weekend. We moseyed along toward our stopping place, the Palmer Point Marina in Cos Cob, CT. Again, we took an after dinner walk. This time to the local Baskin Robbins store for ice cream! Really early the next morning we lowered the dinghy and took a sunrise cruise around the Mianus River and it’s environs. The fishermen were out, and the occasional scull with a hardy rower, and we spent some time exploring the Bridgeport Cove as well. Nice. Our cruise for the day was a very short jump to Stamford where we explored both the West and (briefly) East forks of the inlet, and then we tucked in behind the breakwater and anchored among the many Sunday cruisers. By late afternoon we were nearly alone in the anchorage and I swam a bit before dinner. It was a beautiful moonlit evening and we enjoyed the breezes coming in the hatches and ports. At 6 am it was driving rain coming in those hatches and ports, and we scurried to batten down. When the rain softened, I moved the avocado plant and geranium out to the deck so they could have a drink. The salt air burns their leaves, so they must live indoors, but they must not mind, as we see constant red blossoms and new growth. The aero garden has about finished it’s first round. The lettuce, chives and thyme are done; parsley is waning, and even the basil seems to be ready to retire. This is the first basil plant I’ve ever had the grew faster than I ate the leaves, and we’ll have a yummy pesto very soon. Apparently having only one cherry tomato plant is a problem for the garden (maybe not enough cross-pollination--it is designed to have 3 plants at a time, but I replaced the others with lettuce and herbs). Two green tomatoes are slowly ripening and new flowers open daily, so we haven’t given up on it yet! Stay tuned. On that cheery note, I’ll sign off. Jenny and Kris have opened the BLOG door for me, so I’ll see you there! Look forward to your comments and participation as you join us on our journey! Linda and Fred Aboard YOUNG AMERICA Long Island Sound

Barely Monday morning. (It's 11:14 am as I begin to write--may be tomorrow before I finish) And a few weeks since last I wrote. So here's what's up. At the end of the June 15 message we were just south of Ocean City, NJ and fighting with the NJ boaters and the NJ ICW. The Waterway from Cape May to Ocean City is shallow, narrow and totally twisted. Not to mention full of boaters. [Some of whom are also twisted, per Fred.] While it is really great to see NJ boaters out enjoying the water, it was far from a relaxing ride for us. So when the Waterway Guide (the Road Atlas for boaters) suggested that many people go out in the Atlantic Ocean for the 8 mile run from Ocean City to Atlantic City, we jumped right on that idea. Young America was very happy to have more than just a few feet of water under her keel, and it was a good 'trial' run in the Ocean for us--in sight of shore, short, and, just to keep our interest up, the weatherman said thunderstorms were approaching. We motored into Atlantic City and tied up at the Trump Marina--adjacent to the Casino. By the time we'd parlayed my $20 into $30 (not the $500K I'd dreamed of for the UU Church, but enough to apply to one of the worst buffet dinners we've ever had anywhere) and returned to the boat, the marina was filling up with boats and the rain began. It was, indeed, a dramatic thunder and lightning show, and by morning the sky was blue and the ocean called. So off we went and the next thing we knew we were approaching the New York Harbor! Big boats everywhere! Ferries, Cruise ships, barges and tugs--and when we'd gotten thru the busy part of the commercial area, there were sailboats racing east to west and back again across the Hudson. Skipper Fred 'sailed' YA through the melee without interrupting anyone's run! We tied up in the Liberty Landing Marina--just past the Statue, and once again Tarryn came to our rescue. This time she was with her mom, Kris, and together we jumped in the car to get home to Newburgh. (Fred and I had appointments in Nbg. on Wed. am). Friday morning we picked up grandson JT and drove back to the boat (in a one way rental car) for the splendid run up the Hudson River to Newburgh. The Hudson truly is magnificent and we enjoyed the beauty as well as the familiarity! Molly and Jeff picked up JT in Newburgh--we were tied up at Front Street--just outside the River Grill, scene of our marriage nearly 4 years ago. Sat. am we got an early enough start that we were able to anchor at the mouth of Rondout Creek for a half hour and put up the big flag (see prior message) and tie a stream of signal flags from stem to stern to 'dress up' YA. We made our triumphal run up the Creek to Certified Marine where Young America the Houseboat has been docked for nearly 20 years, and we arrived on Saturday, June 21 at 1:15 pm-- exactly the time we'd predicted! The band was playing Anchors Aweigh and 40+ friends and relatives were at the dock to say hello to our dream come true. It was a great afternoon--spitting rain didn't daunt the festive atmosphere. Fred spoke appropriate words about the boat and I broke a bottle of bubbly on her anchor (not the fiberglass bow where it might chip). For the next three weeks, we operated from our “Vacation home” at High Point Circle, spending time at the Marina as needed to make Young America ship-shape for the next leg of the 2 year adventure! More to follow! Linda and Fred