Day 11: Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket

I have always dreamed of having a boat and visiting Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket by sea. I finally realized the trip. Today was the shortest leg of our entire journey, a mere 27 nautical miles from Oaks Bluff on Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket Harbor, where we latched onto a mooring ball.

Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket

Our setup at the dock in Martha's Vineyard was a bit unusual, and getting out was tricky, so we woke up the kids around 7:30 to get their help, after Ann and I had done some early shopping for bagels in town. We pulled our fender from the mid ship piling and attached it back onto our boat. The boat was touching both pilings with fenders, so I had virtually no room to maneuver. While Benny released the stern lines, I had to keep the boat even, and also far enough back for him to get back on while at the same time not hitting the dock or the boats on either side of us.

As I pulled forward, Ann and Elana had to released the spring lines, and we noticed that on both sides, our lines were intermingled with lines from the other boats. I quickly had them pull the lines out through the loops, which isn't that easy with 50 foot lines as the boat is moving forward. Fortunately, we pulled it off without a hitch and were on our way.

Leaving Martha's Vineyard behind

It was a bit chilly up top on the flybridge, but I didn't mind, and I was just grateful that there was no fog today after yesterday's long trip. I navigated alone on the bridge while the family stayed more comfortably below (except for a short spell where Ann took over so I could go down to the bathroom). The whole trip took just over an hour. As I pulled into Nantucket Harbor, we noticed some gorgeous yachts, ranging from 80 feet to 125, and the moorings here, unlike anywhere else I'm familiar with, can accommodate boats well over 60 feet.

As I approached the harbor, I noticed a famous lighthouse called Brand Point and snapped the following photo. If it looks familiar it's because I photographed a replica of this very lighthouse in Mystic at the Seaport Museum. The one here was built in 1901 (rebuilt after fires destroyed an earlier version), and the one in Mystic is relatively new, so it's in much better shape!

Brand Point Lighthouse on Nantucket

I hadn't fueled up since Providence, and our next two legs are going to be longer, so I contacted the harbormaster and asked about the fuel dock. I got some unclear instructions, and so I pulled down a narrow alley into one of the most difficult docking situations I've ever encountered. Between several large boats, with pilings on one side, and a narrow dock on the other. A strong current was pulling me into the fixed pier, while the wind was working against it at a perpendicular angle. The owner of the closest boat to me seemed quite displeased with my efforts, and we quickly learned that this was not the fuel dock. I had to back out, just as a large boat was coming in. The situation was pretty overwhelming, but I managed to get out unscathed and chalked it down to a docking lesson. The fuel dock was around the corner and easy to manage. 

After fueling up, we pumped out even though our waste tanks were only between 1/3 and 1/2 full because we are going to spend 2 nights on a mooring, and I subscribe to the "pump out when you can" theory. Once we were done with these chores, we got on our mooring, and set upon removing our dinghy and getting ready to explore Nantucket.

Sababa on a mooring ball in Nantucket

For the remainder of our time here, we will use our dinghy to shuttle ourselves back and forth to shore. There are a couple of dinghy docks on land for that express purpose. However, they are so overcrowded with these tenders, that we ended up tying up behind a couple of dingy's and climbing over them to get to shore. It's common practice, and everyone seems to manage.

Nantucket is a quaint New England town, pretty much what one would expect. Many of the streets are cobblestone and brick, and all the houses have similar wood siding, which it turns out is an island ordinance. 

Main Street in Nantucket

We took a two-hour narrated bike tour through the island, which I highly recommend. A great way to see the sights and learn about some of the history of the place.

The Rubins (minus Tamara) about to take a bike tour of Nantucket

Biking Nantucket

Our bike tour took us to Brand Point Lighthouse.

At Brand Point Lighthouse

We also saw houses of several notable celebrities. These were valued at over $20 million. Some of the smaller inland houses with no views are worth over $2M. Real estate here is about as high as anywhere I've ever been. One of the houses had gorgeous flowers.

Flowers along the driveway

We also stopped and took some scenic pictures.

Posing by the beach with Elana and Benny

And we saw the oldest operating corn grinding windmill in the country.

Old windmill in Nantucket

Ann and I tried a silly pose in front of the windmill, but I think we kind of botched it.

Don't quit our day jobs

We took the dingy back to the boat after the bike tour and all showered, while being conscious of our water usage. We need the tanks to last another 2 days before we have a chance to fill them again. It's the first time we are not at a marina dock on this trip, and we wanted to get the full mooring experience at least once. In fact, it is the last time we won't be at a marina with shore power, water, and easy access to land. We are running the generator full time, and even though I'm told by several trustworthy people that the diesel generator, and the way the boat is made, results in zero risk of CO poisoning, I purchased a carbon monoxide detector for each bedroom and installed them before the trip. I'll sleep better knowing that we are protected that way.

We then dingied back to land and found a nice restaurant for dinner. On the way back to the boat after dark, Elana snapped a nice picture of Sababa on a mooring at night. The Prestige is blinged out with fancy blue lights.

Sababa at night

Tomorrow, we are doing a 4x4 tour of the island and not traveling, so I will not blog. Friday, we will head up to Fallmouth and then Saturday to Boston, our ultimate destination before we turn around and head home. Boston will be our next and also our last two-day stop. The rest of the days will all be travel days as we attempt to get home in 4 days from Boston after taking 2.5 weeks to get there.

Day 10: Providence to Martha's Vineyard

It's been ten days since we left Baltimore. We are getting noticeably better at running the boat and taking care of all the details. I no longer feel overwhelmed by the size of the boat despite jumping 12 feet in size since my last boat. Once you live on a boat and run it almost every day, you start to become familiar and comfortable with it.

Yesterday was Benny and Tamara's birthday. We celebrated by taking Benny out to dinner in an Indian restaurant with his aunt, uncle and cousin, and then went to a vegan bakery known for their deserts.

With Ann's brother Michael, his wife Amy, and of course cute little Rebecca

Earlier in the day, we took Amy and Rebecca out in the dingy for a ride around the harbor and the Bay. It was a bit choppy, so we didn't stay out too long. We also rode the paddle boards for a bit.

Dingy ride with Amy and Rebecca

Today was a travel day, and we headed out for a 65 mile boat ride that was supposed to last around three hours. Things did not go as planned.

Day 10 route from Providence to Martha's Vineyard

It started out beautiful. Gorgeous morning, and after a quick pump out, we pulled out of the harbor and left Providence behind us.

Pulling out of our marina near Providence

As we turned towards the Bay, I felt completely at peace and could not imagine anything being more serene or beautiful than our surroundings.

Entering the Bay South of Providence to head to Martha's Vineyard

Unlike two days ago when things felt like they were going wrong, today I had all the navigation data in my multi-function display due to the chip I had purchased, and I felt confident and excited about the short ride ahead.

We passed some beautiful scenery. I love all the lighthouses and bridges around here.

Beautiful lighthouse with a bridge behind it

We even saw some swans.

Swan swims next to Sababa

And all of a sudden, we were going almost blind. FOG EVERYWHERE. Could not see even right in front of the boat. So, of course, the first thing I did was slow to barely moving. I then started blowing the horn about every minute and listening for other horns. Occasionally, I heard them in the distance. I regretted not having a fog bell on the boat and made a note to get one installed when I get home.

Of course, the most valuable piece of equipment in this situation is radar, and I am fortunate to have taken a 2 day intensive course on radar and AIS at the Annapolis School of Seamanship last year. So, I fired up the radar, and I got an error message. The radar could not work. Communication error. Seriously?!? I had used the radar every day on this trip, and I did not really need it, but we never had a problem. Today, it was an essential safety tool, and it did not work! I went down below to the main helm, put the boat completely in neutral so we floated, sounded the horn as I worked and did my best to get the communication working. I rebooted all the equipment, tried a few variations on the startup routine because I figured it had something to do with the order that things booted, and finally it worked!

Radar showed me where other boats were and helped us stay safe in the fog

I cannot stress what a lifesaver radar is when you can't see in front of you. It is pretty scary, you are gliding slowly, about 6 knots, through the fog, and you cannot see more than about 200 feet in front of you. The radar does a good job of showing you the other boats, who is in your path, and when you need to be alert. AIS is extremely helpful too, and on one occasion, I was able to communicated with another boat and arrange for us to each move 20 degrees to starboard as we approached each other. I never saw him, but we were on course to come within 400 feet of each other, and crossed about 1/4 mile apart and could not see each other. On another occasion, I heard the faint beep of a boat's horn. I figured out who it was from my radar and the direction of the sound, and we exchanged beeps until I was practically on top of him. He was a small fishing boat apparently anchored, despite the 50 feet of depth.

Visibility was only a couple hundred feet most of the day

The fog lasted over 2 hours, and it was pretty intense because of the level of concentration it required. Using radar, AIS and the VHF radio in combination, I believe a knowledgeable captain can navigate relatively safely, as long as they maintain a slow course, sound the horn at regular intervals, and leave nothing to chance. Stay alert at the helm, and  be patient.  Was it fun? Not really. But, I felt a pretty good sense of accomplishment when we came out of it successfully. As we approached Martha's Vineyard, the fog magically cleared away, and the sun came out, and we were able to go full throttle for the last 15 minutes, and I got Sababa up above 28 knots for the first time ever. It's good practice to push a diesel engine very hard at the end of a trip, and considering that my engine load was under 40% most of the way, I felt that a good full throttle run would be good for the engines. Also, it really felt rewarding to go that fast after chugging along so slowly all day.

Once we got to Oaks Bluff, our destination on Martha's Vineyard, we pulled into a harbor, and I drove around looking for the marina. I could not find it, so I radioed in on VHF 71 that they monitor, and I was told that the slip is along the outside wall of the harbor. In fact this is no marina, but just a bunch of pilings across along a busy sidewalk. Yikes! I've never docked in anything like this, and my crew had no idea how to do it either. The dockmaster told me I could go bow in, but that would have resulted in absolutely no way to get off the boat. So, I went stern in, and as I approached the pair of pilings, while yelling instructions to Ann, Elana, and Benny on how to tie a loop and attach the lines to the pilings for a spring line, I became uneasy with the distance between the pilings. They looked too close together. I stopped and asked the dockhand who had arrived what the distance was, and he asked me to hold on while he radioed it in. He came back with 17 feet. Well, our beam is 16 feet. That gave me 6 inches on each side. Yikes.

Well, Sababa handles great, and there was no wind or current, so I drove from the stern cockpit and kept myself as close to the starboard side piling as I could without hitting it. The dockhand kept repeating that I was okay on my port side, so I managed to get in safely. Meanwhile, my crew had managed to secure a spring line to the boat after attaching a loop over the pilings. The dockhand and I got the stern lines secured, criss crossing under the dingy, and we were all set. I wasn't too happy with the mid ship pilings being the only support and no bow lines, but there really wasn't much choice. We added fenders at each piling, and the boat is actually touching both fenders to the pilings at the same time. That's how tight our slip is. Really not meant for a boat this size, and we're the only one here that doesn't have bow lines connected. I guess it will work for one night. Don't love it, but don't see much choice. I kept an eye on the fenders because there is a 2 foot tide here, and sure enough the starboard one got loose and moved away from the fender. With the help of the guy in the boat next to mine, we tied the fender to the piling instead of the boat, and that should hold.

Tied up in Martha's Vineyard. Not my favorite setup, but it is what it is. Getting on and
off the boat has been a bit of a challenge, but there is a ladder on the dock that helps.

Martha's Vineyard is awesome. In our neighborhood, Oaks Bluff, we visited a community of "gingerbread houses", which looks more like a movie set than a real neighborhood. We couldn't figure out if these were all rentals, or if people actually lived in the little houses full time.

Benny in front of some gingerbread houses

We took a bus to Edgartown, another section of the island, and saw great shops, beautiful art galleries (where paintings ranged from $6,000 to 60,000), and a really nice lighthouse. In fact, we were supposed to stay on a mooring ball in Edgartown harbor tomorrow night, but when we got our new boat, we were told that the moorings there cannot hold a boat that size, and so we canceled that reservation, and we will head to Nantucket for two nights tomorrow.

Lighthouse in Edgartown

We took the bus back to Oaks Bluff and had dinner at a brewery where Ann and I had locally made beer, and we let Benny and Elana sneak a few sips as well. After a nice meal, we headed up to the beach to watch the sky as the sun set. As we are on the Eastern shore of the island, we cannot see the sun set, but the sky was very pretty at dusk. The last thing we saw before dark was one of the many ferries running back to the mainland.

Martha's Vineyard ferry at dusk. Three lines of cars waiting to board.

Tomorrow we head to Nantucket. Should take only about an hour to 75 minutes. Hope there's no fog!

Day 8: Mystic, CT to Providence RI

We left home a week ago today. It sure feels longer than that. On the other hand, seems sad that there are only 2 weeks left on our adventure, and only one more week with Elana aboard. She is flying home next Monday, after we visit Tamara at camp on visiting day a week from today. Tomorrow is Benny's birthday, so Ann is searching out vegan restaurants in the area, and we'll have to celebrate with Tamara when we see her in a week.

Yesterday was our full day in Mystic that made up for the day we lost in New York due to weather. We all agreed that we were better off in Mystic. Early in the morning, I woke up the kids, and the three of us went for a 2 mile run into town and along the water. Then, Elana and I pulled out the paddleboards and paddled up Mystic river for two hours. It was a great way to see all the boats and the other sites in town. Unfortunately for Elana, at one point she fell into the water, but she claimed the water was refreshing and was not hurt.

Paddleboarding up Mystic River

Mystic has a famous drawbridge, and although we did not have a camera with us on the paddleboat tour, I took a picture later from land. We paddled under it when it was down and had to duck as we went under.

Mystic's famous drawbridge

We spent the afternoon at the Mystic Seaport Museum. This was a phenomenal experience that I highly recommend to anyone who visits this area. It's a large complex full of small buildings each containing an exhibit. The theme is boating and early American life. There are also several boats in the water that can be toured, and some very nice exhibit halls.

Mystic Seaport Museum of America and the Sea

I really enjoyed touring the big boats as well as a replica of a Nantucket Lighthouse. We're spending 2 days on Nantucket later in the trip, so I will look for this one.

Nantucket Lighthouse replica at Mystic Seaport Museum

Aboard the Charles Morgan

Looking up aboard the tall ship

In one of the exhibits, they had black and white murals, and they provided props for people to dress in period costumes and take pictures in front of the murals, as though they are in the shot. Elana and I took several shots, and I posted my favorite one on Facebook - my first posting on this trip.

Elana and I in our 1920s shot

Minutes after posting this shot, I got a text message from one of my closest friends from grad school, Liorr Karasanti, who recognized this picture and wrote me, "Are you in Mystic?!?! So am I!!!" Liorr lives in Long Island, but she happened to be in downtown Mystic after bringing her daughter, sister in law and niece to a concert at Mohegan Sun the night before, and they were in a coffee shop hanging out before heading home. I was a short walk away, and we got together and hung out for a while and reminisced about old times. Small world! Thank you Facebook!

With my dear friend Liorr, who happened to be in Mystic - we haven't seen each other in over 15 years! She still looks the same!

This morning, I was up very early, before 6:00, and I tried a few ideas to get chart data onto my plotter. Nothing worked. I even dug up an old chip that I had used on my previous boat, thinking that might work, but it didn't. I was pretty stressed about getting through various channels on both ends of the trip and having to navigate with my iPhone app instead of my chart plotter. After Ann got up, I took a shower, and halfway through the shower, the water stopped. I had a premonition that I might be in for a rough day. It was either a busted pump or the tanks were empty. With heart pounding (because I did not want to imagine how I would deal with a busted pump or even broken impeller on this trip), I went up and checked the gage, and luckily, the tanks were empty. I guess we're taking a lot of long showers because I had filled them 2 days earlier, and they hold 210 gallons. I filled the tanks, and now we're flush with water. I also made sure all the faucets on the boat were off, and they were.

Our route from Mystic to Providence

We pulled out of Fort Rachel Marina, crossed the swing bridge, and left Mystic behind us.

Saying goodbye to Mystic on our way out

Despite not having the navigation instruments that I am accustomed to, I was able to enjoy the beautiful boat ride to Providence. The scenery is stunning, and there are many gorgeous lighthouses along the way.

Lighthouse on the way to Providence

Another gorgeous lighthouse with an actual house

As we were leaving Mystic River, I got another indication that this was going to be a rough day. A firefighting boat came zipping around until it was facing me, and then came straight for me. As it got closer, I moved to port to make room, putting myself uncomfortably close to the red channel marker. Surprisingly, the boat veered to come right at me! I was on the verge of panic and stopped my boat and was about to sound my horn. The firefighting boat, which was quite big and moving fast, zipped right by my starboard side, as I reached for the joystick control and pulled my boat sideways to avoid hitting the big red buoy. It was a close call, and no idea why in the world he did this. Again, it felt like my day was off kilter.

Continuing my theme of things going a bit wrong since my shower and the run-in with the fire boat, along the way, several buttons on my instrument panel popped out all of a sudden for no reason. I tried putting them back and did not realize I had actuated the functionality behind those buttons, and the boat started veering wildly. I got everything under control and thought that maybe I should just find somewhere to dock the boat and call it a day. But the mishaps were not over yet.

As we approached the marina in Providence, I called them and asked about their fuel dock. I asked about the small bridge right before the marina, wondering if I was really going to fit under it. In fact, I stopped the boat and watched some other, smaller boats barely get through. I had a bad feeling. The dockmaster at our marina said, "what bridge?" That's not good. I told him that I was outside the low fixed bridge right before their marina. He said there was no bridge in front of their marina. I assured him that there was, and that I was looking at it. He assured me that I was at the wrong marina. He was right.

When I originally booked this trip, I had reserved slips for our 47' Sea Ray, Lucky Break. However, a few weeks ago, we lost our minds and bought this 59' flybridge, Sababa, with a 24' vertical clearance. Whatever that fixed bridge was, it was under 24 feet. Anyway, I had to call all the marinas and change our reservations. In some cases, such as in Providence, they told me that they could not accommodate Sababa, or that Sababa was too big to reach them because of a bridge or some other reason. So, I went through my chart data and changed all the routes. Well, I thought I had, but apparently, I forgot to change the one to Providence.

Now here I was without my navigation data in the chart plotter and not sure where in Rhode Island I was, nor how far away our actual marina was. Fortunately, the iPhone came to the rescue, and I was able to find our actual marina, which we had passed 4 miles earlier and get us there. We fueled up, pumped out, tied up, and settled into our routine. As we were docked stern in, we pulled the dingy off at the fuel dock, and later, Benny and I went out and brought it to the big boat and tied it up alongside us.

Tied up in Providence

Once we were settled in, I washed the boat thoroughly (after failing to convince Benny to do it), and Ann and I took an Uber to West Marine where I bought a navigation chip for the chartplotter. We then walked about a half a mile to a grocery store (that walk along a highway was probably the most dangerous part of our trip so far), purchased several bags of provisions, and then took an Uber back to the boat.

Uber is really a game changer. For boaters who arrive in a port with no means of transportation, Uber means that you can pretty much get anywhere anytime. We have made extensive use of Uber on this trip, and I can't imagine what it would be like to do this kind of trip pre-Uber.

Later, we met up with Ann's brother Michael for dinner at a vegan/vegetarian restaurant in downtown Providence. His family was not able to join us because their daughter Hannah was sick with a fever. Tomorrow, we will see Amy and Rebecca, and if Hannah is better, she will come too. I will not blog tomorrow, as it is also not a travel day, and I'll cover our trip to Martha's Vineyard that is planned for Tuesday. Weather looks great.

Benny with his uncle Michael

Best news - the new chip works, and I have navigation data in my plotter again! So, the day was not jinxed after all!

Day 6: Norwalk to Mystic, Ct

It rained all night in Norwalk, and when we got up, it was still raining hard. However, the weather forecast showed that the rain would let up some time around noon, and although thunderstorms were coming, they would not arrive until around 5:00 pm in Norwalk. The forecast for Mystic, our destination, was better, and although there were thunderstorms in the morning, the afternoon looked clear, with thunderstorms coming again in the evening. All of this to say that we had a window leaving Norwalk at mid day and getting to Mystic around 4:30.

We desperately needed to pump out our waste tanks, so as soon as there was a break in the rain, we headed over to the fuel dock and pumped out. Elana has become very handy on the boat, and she handled the bow line and helped me with the dreaded pump-out routine.

Elana helping with the bow line

Of course, as we pulled out of the marina it began to rain again, so I drove the boat from the inside helm - first time ever. As soon as I tried to chart our course, I discovered that I still had no chart data in my MFD, and I had to use my iPhone app and the in water navigation aids to make our way through a somewhat tricky channel to get back to Long Island Sound. Visibility was low, it was raining, and my equipment was not ideal. I was pretty stressed out for about the first 20 minutes. Then we found open water, and I got the hang of using the app instead of the chart. The rest of the way was simple, but we encountered our first day with some waves. I'd say average waves were about three feet, and we were bouncing around. Still, the boat handled it great, and we were able to do about 21 knots without any discomfort. It was 66 degrees out and raining on and off, so none of us were up top where we normally like to ride, and we stayed inside the whole way. The water is deep in the Sound, and I noted the depth sounder reading 188 feet at one point. Unfortunately, we did not see any dolphins or other sea life. I guess those are more common in the ocean.

Norwalk to Mystic

When we got close to Mystic, we found an easy to reach fuel dock, and I was impressed when my crew jumped into action, we had the lines and fenders in place in under a minute, just as I was pulling up to the dock. A huge improvement over our earlier experiences, and everything was handled much more calmly and smoothly with Ann, Elana and Benny each comfortable and experienced in their roles. Professionals!

The rest of the way to Mystic was in a marked channel in a no wake zone, and I was easily able to navigate it without any equipment, which was good, because according to my chart plotter we were on land some of the time. I wrote to Navionics who provides the data chip with the maps and asked them how come I have no data on my charts. Haven't heard back yet. Looks like I'll be dataless on my charts until Martha's Vineyard in a few days.

As we approached Mystic, we had to wait for the railroad swing bridge to open. I called on the radio and the bridge tender said "5 minutes". About 15 minutes later, a train went by, and then 5 minutes later the bridge opened, and we went through. The one bad thing about a marina next to a train bridge is that you are next to a train bridge, so now every 15-20 minutes a loud train goes by, and they seem to feel they need to honk when they are on a swinging bridge. We are docked about 50 yards from the tracks. Let's see how late they run...

The spinning train bridge

As soon as we got through the bridge, we saw the dockhand signaling at our slip. It was a scary looking docking situation. I had to turn us around in a busy bridge crossing channel with another large boat coming behind me. Once I did that, I had to back into a slip right next to another boat about the same size as ours, with a current pushing me away from that boat and into the edge of the moving bridge, and with little room and no pilings between us. Of course, the owner of the boat was on his bow cleaning it, so I got to do this right in front of him. I had to fight the current and straighten out the boat and line it up with the slip. Of course, Ann is behind me telling me I'm not going to make it, but I had a plan, and I stayed even with the slip, on the side away from the other boat and down current from it, and eased Sababa in until I had 6 inches to spare, and then I slowly started to move back and inch the boat into the current and away from the dock as I backed her in. It went very smoothly, and I was pretty proud of myself, but I realized how intense the whole experience was when I caught my breath afterwards. One of the more stressful docking experiences I've had in a while, but I felt very good when the guy on the other boat told me that as soon as he saw how I was approaching it, he was not in the least bit worried. Called me a pro!

So, of course, as soon as we get all the lines tied and the power connected, Ann suggests that maybe I should turn the boat around so that we can get our dingy out in the morning. Luckily, she agreed that maybe that's something we should do tomorrow. Hopefully, she'll decide we don't really need our dingy in Mystic after all. Not loving the idea of docking it again here. But if I have to, I have to.

Tied up in Mystic near the swing bridge and next to a nice boat that I did not hit when docking!

Once the boat was secured, I took a shower, and we headed into town. It was only a short walk, which gave me hope that we won't need to use the dingy here.

Of course, we went to the restaurant that made this place famous, Mystic Pizza. Kind of corny because they had TVs all over the place running the movie on endless loop. The back of the menu told the story of how a movie producer traveling through town decided it was the perfect spot to stage her story, and the rest is history. The pizza was actually pretty good!

We ate at Mystic Pizza

Besides a famous pizza restaurant, the town also has a pretty well known and seriously cool drawbridge. There are large cement blocks 50 feet in the air that counterbalance the bridge when it opens. The bridge opens every hour at 40 minutes after the hour, assuming there is a boat that wants to cross. During off season, they require 8 hours notice to open it. Presumably that's how long it takes to get someone there to set everything up and open the bridge.

Mystic drawbridge

After dinner, we walked back to the boat, and I did a thorough washing down from stern to bow. It's supposed to thunderstorm overnight, but a hard rain won't wash off all the salt the way my washing does. So, we're in for the evening. Benny on his video games, Elana texting on the phone with friends, Ann reading and talking on the phone, and I'm working on my laptop. Typical evening on the Rubin boat.

Tomorrow is a tourist day in Mystic, so I won't write a blog entry, and the next day, we'll head to Providence, navigating with my phone app.

Day 5: NYC to Norwalk, CT

Day 4 was a land day in NYC and not worthy of its own blog post, since there was no boat travel. I will say that Chelsea Piers marina, while well located, is not the best place to stay. First of all, the Hudson River is really rough due to its proximity to the Ocean and the non-stop heavy shipping traffic, and Elana got nauseous a few times just sitting on the boat. Secondly, there are no amenities of any kind, such as showers, restrooms, etc. However, there are many to do there, including a golf driving range, a pool, an ice skating rink, many types of gyms and fitness classes and more. That said, our only activity at Chelsea was to jog along the water early in the morning. In the afternoon, we saw a broadway show, School of Rock, which I have to say was quite entertaining. Ann got us 3rd row seats with an isle - the absolutely ideal place to sit!

Great Broadway show

Besides seeing a great show, we did not do much in the city. Our meals were low key, and the one big dinner reservation we had was for Thursday night, and we ended up leaving before then. As we suspected all along when we planned this trip, we were not able to keep to our original itinerary. The plan was to stay in New York City until Friday, and then to head to Norwalk, CT. However, the weather forecast in NY and in CT for Friday was bad. So, we moved our itinerary up a day, and headed to Norwalk on Thursday instead. We will make up the day by staying two days in Mystic. So, trading one NYC day for a day in Mystic. Actually, I think that's a good tradeoff, as even in 2 days we had our fill of the city.

NYC to Norwalk

I'm finding the marinas to be pretty flexible with cancellations and moving days around. Hopefully that will remain the case because as long as we are a day ahead of schedule, we'll have to shift things around in several places.

This morning, Ann and Elana walked back to the vegan restaurant By Chloe and picked up "pancakes" and other breakfast "food", and as soon as they returned to the boat around 8:45, I had everything ready, and we headed  out for a 43 nautical mile boat ride to Norwalk. The Hudson was pretty rough, and in fact that was the roughest water we've encountered so far on this trip. We took it at around 10 knots so that Ann and Elana could eat in peace. Benny was still asleep.

Leaving Chelsea Piers behind us

As we circled Manhattan, heading South on the Hudson, I took in the views of Manhattan one more time. The East River is extremely heavily trafficked with commercial vessels and ships, and I had to stay really focused, but I managed to snap a few photos.

Just passed under the Brooklyn Bridge

So many pretty bridges around Manhattan

Once we got past Hell Gate (much ado about nothing), we headed into Long Island Sound. The water could not have been more calm. Not even one foot waves. We are getting spoiled. In the Sound, we saw the deepest water we've seen on the trip so far.

Instrument reading 111.4 feet of depth.

Had one hiccup leaving the Sound. My multi-function display plotter on the boat did not have chart details coming into the channel. So, I had no indication of depth or channel markers. I had two choices - just follow the channel markers and trust them, and use my waypoints to make sure I'm on course, or pull out my charting app on my iPhone and navigate using that. I ended up doing both - using my iPhone but following the waypoints on the charts and the channel markers. I will have to do the same when we leave tomorrow. Probably stressed me out more than it needed to, but I'm kind of a high strung person, and better safe than sorry in boating.

About 75 minutes after entering Long Island Sound, we arrived at Norwalk Cove Marina where we tied up stern-in to a really nice slip.

Tied up in Norwalk

We are docked next to a gorgeous 80 foot yacht (named Dot Calm) with two tenders, including an open bow speedboat (Dot Net), with two 350HP outboards, that most people would probably be thrilled to have as their primary boat. I vowed not to have boat envy, as I just bought my dream boat, and no 80 foot yacht is going to change that. Amazing that no matter what you do, there is always one bigger.

After I checked in at the office, I had a nice chat with Grandpa Steve, my student Nick's grandfather who is the marina manager. Of course he spoke very highly of his over-achieving grandson!

Once we settled in, and I plugged into shore power and took care of all the details associated with docking in a new slip (fastening and securing all the lines, lining up the fenders, shutting down the generator and the instruments, washing the boat, etc), we took our dingy out for a nice cruise around Norwalk Cove. We cruised around the marina admiring the boats, and then headed out into the open water on plane. The dingy does a good 25 knots at 3/4 throttle, and that's as far as I felt like pushing it even though the water was completely flat. We crossed under a closed drawbridge which started opening, just as we were going under it, and scared the bejeebers out of me. Then we passed through an old spinning railroad bridge, and finally through a deep water marshy area where we saw a dozen or so swans. Gorgeous animals. Unfortunately, I did not bring my iPhone with me because I was worried about getting it wet, so we don't have any pictures of that.

I let Benny drive the dingy, and we took it out into the Sound and drove around the Southern/Eastern shore where saw a really nice beach. Finally, we came back and put the dingy away. The process of stowing the dingy in the chocks, flushing its engine, securing everything, tying the paddle board to it, and washing everything took me over forty minutes. There's always so much to do. We need to pump out again in the morning, but we're good on fuel and water for our trip to Mystic tomorrow, and there seems to be a pretty wide weather window. I'd like to get out on the paddle boards once we get there tomorrow. Haven't used them yet on this trip.

Shortly after we were done with the dingy, a strong storm came in. We enjoyed watching it from the comfort of our boat, secure in the slip and glad that we timed our travel well, but also aware that one day we may end up in something like that on the open water. Amazing how all of a sudden the waves whipped up, and it was awe inspiring to watch the fury with which water in the marina came to life.

Once the storm passed, we took an Uber to South Norwalk where every other establishment on Main Street looked like a nice restaurant.

It's always four O'Clock in South Norwalk. We were here around 7:45 pm.

We settled for a Pho/Ramen place that accommodated all of our eating habits. I've never had Pho before, and probably won't rush back to have it again, but it was okay.

The Rubins eating Pho and Ramen in Norwalk

We then settled in for the night. Ann reading, me working on my laptop, and Elana and Benny playing video games on their phones. Our plan is to watch a movie over Netflix using the high speed marina WiFi. Tomorrow, we head to Mystic, and we'll time our departure based on the forecasts here and over there. Hopefully we can keep our great weather streak with no waves alive for at least another day.