MORE OF THE USA

We had originally planned to sail as far as Maine but have decided to stay in the Long Island Sound area as it is so beautiful and there is so much to explore.  In addition when the sun is shining and the weather is lovely, going further north where it can get quite cold and foggy, has rather lost its appeal! Having rather charged through the Caribbean and up the US coast it is nice to take some time and really explore an area.

Essex, CT

Essex is a very pretty little town and we stayed in a fabulous marina, which cost a fortune! We really prefer to stay on the hook but sometimes it is nice to tie up to the land, fill the batteries and water tanks and be able to switch on the hair dryer without having to persuade the Captain that it really is a good idea to switch the Generator on at this particular moment in time.  Although why I bother I don’t know as within half an hour I look like a poodle again!

We had a lovely evening with our friends Mel and James, their boat is temporarily out of the water in Newport so they drove to us and stayed onboard. We had met in Lisbon and last seen them in Gran Canaria the night before they left on the Arc, and have been in hot pursuit of them ever since. It was great to see them and compare stories of our trips.  Returning to the Marina, after a visit to the oldest pub in America The Griswald Inn, we discovered we had missed the last boat back and we had to take the very small rowboat. Clearly only big enough for two people we presented it with the challenge of four rather happy individuals and it only just rose to the challenge!

 

How to get to the beach

We then headed inland up the Connecticut River, which we had been told

Gillette McMansion

was beautiful, and it didn’t disappoint. Some fabulous houses on the riverbanks and quite a few Mcmansions, not so attractive but the terminology rather amused us. We dropped anchor just off the Opera house at East Haddam and an airstrip for mini seaplanes, which kept the skipper entertained for the afternoon.  We discovered a free concert was being held, jolly nice of the locals to put on entertainment for our 29^th wedding anniversary! The singer was Livingston Taylor who was perhaps not as good as his brother (James) might have been. It was a great experience; whole families out for the evening some with a picnic, kids swimming in the river, most people with a beer in their hand and all nice and early and finished by 8.30pm.

The Opera House

Up early the next morning to get out of the river to beat the tide, and get under that bridge without the addition of any more grey hairs.  As we hit the sea we also hit a swarm of horrible blood sucking flies that almost caused us to go aground whilst Andrew perfected his killing of the beasts with a tea towel. They seem to be a constant problem and have developed into a new sport onboard called Kill the little f…ers! At the moment I am definitely first loser on the scoreboard but hope to improve, preferably without too much damage to the fixtures and fittings.

Lobster Supper

First stop on Long Island was Orient Point and then we motored around to Sag Harbour.  Finding ourselves in the state of New York we thought we might be back in the red light district, not the case but we were amongst a lot of small cruise liners. (Definition large white motorboat with at least three decks.) We went ashore and bought two cooked lobsters at $20 a piece for our supper and some decent white wine and had the best meal of our trip! It couldn’t have been any better in a fine restaurant. Good thing we had been on a two-hour kayak that afternoon!

Ian the Blue Fish

We managed at last to find a fishing shop near the boat and now have a reel for our rod so can fish again in search of Ian or Iona. After a very peaceful night in Smith cove we sailed up the North coast of Long Island to Mount Sinai and were very pleased to land Ian the Blue Fish on demand and who proved to be delicious and a nice change from Dorado.

Wake Surfing

Long Island Sound is very like a large Solent with multiple destinations and on the weekend it gets very busy. We spent a night in Port Jefferson on the hook, Andrew fascinated with the new sport of Wake Surfing as demonstrated in the photo. If you look closely you will see the large dune we decided to climb without any shoes, result very sore burnt feet.

Then a last night in Eatons Neck and it was time to take the boat to Stamford where we are leaving her for a few days whilst we head home for Georgie’s Graduation which we are very excited about! Then back for even more of the USA….