Archive for September, 2008
We’re back at Haven Harbor Marina in Rock Hall, Maryland which is where we bought Gypsies (formerly known as Adagio) back just about a year ago – how time flies when you’re having fun … or preparing to sell everything you own, quit your jobs and run away!
Tammy posting here…
Doug and I have spent a fair amount of time down here at Haven Harbor Marina so coming around the breakwater at Swan Point was a fairly welcome sight, especially since we had 22 knot winds which were kicking up the Bay something fierce on our trip south from Still Pond yesterday. We got a really early start from Still Pond and even saw the sun rise again, all in an attempt to beat Mother Nature (both weather and tides) – if there was any question, MN is winning but we’re learning!!
We first saw Gypsies last September when Colleen, John, Doug and I did a long weekend road trip to DC and various points in Maryland in search of the “perfect cruising boat”. Anyone who has ever been boating knows there is no such thing – all boats are compromises! However, when the four of us walked onto Gypsies it was love at first sight – the “virgin berth,” as the second stateroom has been affectionately named, is one of those compromises! (Secretly I think John and I were just unwilling to cross what has become known, at least to us, as the “freaking Bay Bridge” again! Those of you who have gone over it, know what I’m talking about – this bridge is so high and long that someone has even developed a business to drive people to the other side who get part way and freak out!! That’s just not right!!)
Doug and I came down to Haven Harbor several times last October for the marine survey and the sea trial, and then again in December when we also got to see the Patriots beat up on the Baltimore Ravens on a very brisk Monday night – I think we’re in for a really long season this year! Back to Rock Hall for us in February to talk with the marina guys about upgrading Gypsies’ electronics, and putting in both a water maker and a fuel polishing system – our cruising plans have always involved places where you can’t always count on good water or fuel so these were a must. Doug and I also drove here in April bringing with us the first of many loads of gear to begin to make Gypsies our collective home and checking on the progress of the marina guys. Another trip down with a U-Haul for two weeks in May with yet more stuff and more checking on the work in progress! By the middle of May, Gypsies was ready for her trip north which Colleen and John joined us for (except for the water maker which had been back ordered so we decided to have them put it in when we came back in October) – by then we were on a first name basis with many of the mechanics here in Haven Harbor!!
So here we sit at the marina as Randy puts in our water maker! Knowing we would be here for 3 or 4 days, the Gypsies crew decided to take advantage of the time to get lots of work done on the boat and to provision before heading out into the Bay for the rest of the month and then south down the ICW. Yesterday after we got here, Colleen and I cleaned all of the silver on the outside of the boat – we’re talking rails, cleats, davits, hinges, rails (oops already said that one, but if you saw the boat, you’d know why I said it twice – there’s a lot!!) Doug was the grease monkey down in the engine room (or the holy place as he calls it – now I know why I don’t go to church!) – doing maintenance on the various engines, the generator and other systems. Meanwhile John had grill cleaning duty. Finally around 2:00, we borrowed Haven Harbor’s courtesy car (how cool is that?) and went to the hardware store and of course our home away from home, West Marine, for supplies. A quick hit at the grocery store for more beer and wine and we had a very productive day!
But you know what they say about all work and no play….happy hour at the Harbor Shack was calling out to us and lest we ignore such a call, we found ourselves seated at the bar overlooking Rock Hall Harbor enjoying $1 bud light cans (ugh, did I really drink that??? and even worse, did it really taste that good???) Several coldies later, we decided to also take advantage of the Shack’s special sandwich night and it was BBQ pork sandwiches and fries all around. The total damage for all the beers and dinner was a whopping $36 – I love the south!!
Today was another day of work for the Gypsies crew, although I managed to get in a great walk around town this morning where I just so happened to come across another place, the Main Street Bar and Grill, advertising you guessed it, happy hour! We all need our inspiration… Colleen and John worked on the brightwork all day (to you landlubbers that means varnishing the wood railings) while Doug and I dealt with more engine maintenance, waterproofing the canvas bimini and covers and miscellaneous tasks. When happy hour comes, I think we’ll all be ready! This cruising can be tough work, but somehow I think, all in all, the fun scale is still tipping pretty heavily in our direction…
September 30th, 2008
Last post, we were hunkering down to ride out the gale that John nicknamed “Gail” at a dock in the Sassafras River in the Chesapeake Bay. Piece of cake!! It’s truly amazing how our attitudes have changed over this past month – after riding out Tropical Storm Hanna in Newport and regularly seeing small craft advisories and 20-25 knot winds, Gail was mostly a non-event for us. Sure we had big winds (gale force warnings are issued when winds up to 47 knots, to you landlubbers that is 54 mph, are expected) and lots of rain, but we had chosen our hidey hole well and were protected from the brunt of the storm by the surrounding terrain. In fact, except for the boat rooster’s occasional calls, we all slept through the worst of it.
Tammy here by the way…
Having already seen all of what Georgetown and Galena had to offer on our enforced beer march the day before (which believe me wasn’t much – the wild turkeys were the highlight!), we set out to explore the Sassafras. Leaving Georgetown, Gypsies was followed by a flock of seagulls who kept drafting off our stern. 
They seemed to think we might be a crabbing boat which are so plentiful in the Bay and that they would be receiving fish treats – boy were they disappointed. Despite valiant efforts by Colleen and John, we have yet to catch a keeper – lots of fishing, just no catching!! But we remain hopeful – as our friend Stevie O always says, even a blind squirrel finds a nut sooner or later… we like to think that we are just saving ourselves for the big fish once we get further south!
The Sassafras River is very picturesque with numerous shallow creeks (or cricks as Doug’s southern cousins call them) and small islands making kayaking and dinghy exploration the way to go. We dropped anchor about mid-river at the mouth of Back Creek behind a headland to block the wind. You’d think we knew what we were doing! A little ways away from us is a pretty desolate looking sailboat – what once may have been a liveaboard, John thinks now is a die-aboard. No one wants to check for the body… the Black Pearl has nothing on this boat!
While John was fishing, Colleen and I took the kayaks to explore some of those cricks – we must not be far enough south since we didn’t hear any banjo music. What we did see was spectacular – huge blue herons, hawks circling overhead, deer at the edge of the water, egrets, ducks and yes, even fish. One even jumped across the bow of my kayak – I swear he stuck out his tongue at me as he passed. We followed one crick all the way to the end through a chute of tall marsh grass – no alligators yet! In fact, the Sassafras is so far north in the Chesapeake that it is actually fresh water and not salty – maybe that’s why the fish aren’t biting (yup bet that’s it!). Out into another crick we found a massive field of lily pads – no frogs, so it was very strange looking! Without realizing the passing of time, it had crept up on happy hour, so back to the boat we went for cocktails!
We are staying an extra day at Back Creek so we can do some more exploring – by dinghy this time. Even though its overcast and cool, I’m sure we’ll have a go at it. There are many cricks and islands that still await us….and nowhere else we really need to be!!
September 27th, 2008
Sorry. Bad pun there for you college basketball fans, and besides, we’re not at THAT Georgetown.
We’re in Georgetown, Maryland.
John here.
After a series of long (and rather arduous) passages, it was nice to have a leisurely, three-hour cruise from Summit North Marina through the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal into the Chesapeake Bay and then up into the Sassafras River here in Georgetown.
Of course, the leisurely cruise did include encounters with two mammoth tankers in the canal, but with Tammy and Colleen at the helm, all went well.
At the end of it all, in spite of a pretty stiff breeze, Doug glided us in to the end of a T-Dock at Sailing Associates, one of several marinas in Georgetown — one that charged a reasonable $2 per foot, by the way — and once we were safely tied down, it was time for exploring.
We were exploring for places to buy beer.
Our stock had run perilously low, so with backpacks all around, we took a two-mile hike to the neighboring town of Galena. On the way, we traversed a drawbridge that decided to open when we were mere feet from the rising span — we beat a hasty retreat — and later on, we walked past an organic turkey farm, where the tenants were happy to come out and cackle their greetings.
The liquor store was small but well-stocked, and after careful deliberation, we decided upon our old stand-by — that being a 30-pack of Coors Light — and a bargain-priced case of Yeungling Light.
(My daughter Jen, who developed a taste for Yeungling while at Lehigh University, is probably cheering as she reads this.)
After our purchase, there was bit more math involved — 54 beers divided by four bodies meant 13 beers per backpack — and that, in turn, meant the walk home was a bit less swift than the outward journey.
Not that we needed the rest, but we paused briefly to study an historic marker outside the Georgetown Yacht Basin to soak up a little culture.
When the beer was safely iced, we settled down to on-board chores. For me, one of those chores included a daring act of personal grooming. See, before we departed New Hampshire, my lovely wife Colleen accompanied me for my last session with my hair stylist, Shari Pothier. Shari gave Colleen a crash course in cutting my hair, but this was the first time I had ever let Colleen come this close to my throat with scissors.
She had clippers, too, and initially, I was afraid I would come out of the session looking like a radiation victim (or perhaps, a rather elderly Marine), but given what she had to work with — that being me — she did a great job.
Then I let her have a drink.
And no matter how it appears in the picture, I do have clothes on under the barbering shroud.
Our meal-time routines have become remarkably well-choreographed, so later on, we dined on grilled pork riblets in a spicy Hawaiian marinade, with fresh green beans and garlic roasted potatoes and we did so while watching the Red Sox on my laptop, thanks to that amazing Sling Box contraption Jen and Nic got for us.
Makes me think this whole internet thing might be a worthwhile invention.
With an unnamed wind storm bearing down on us — I’m calling this gale Gail — we decided to spend Thursday sitting tight at the Sailing Associates dock for another day.
And we will write more, on another day…
September 25th, 2008
John posting here.
You want gamblers? Go elsewhere. The irony of it is that our overriding interest in safety — as a counter-point to our lack of interest in gambling — kept us tied up in Atlantic City for four nights.
Our actual port of call was the Atlantic City Aquarium in Absecon Inlet, where we got a great price on a slip at a buck and a half a foot. Little did we know we would pay for that later on. Anyway, having spent three really rocking days and nights at anchor and on the water, the chance to set foot on terra firma was too much for Colleen to resist when we tied up on Thursday afternoon, so she and I set off on a long walk. Coincidentally, before we set out, Colleen actually said, “Maybe I just need some Chinese food.”
When Colleen says she needs to walk, she needs to walk. So we did. Two or three miles, anyway, all the way to the Boardwalk,
and we were on it for all of two minutes before a woman walked up to me and said, “Are you John Clayton?” She was a devoted reader of mine, so I confessed and we chatted about her New Hampshire roots — my Red Sox hat is what caught her eye at first — and when we made our way back to the boat, we passed a small Chinese take-out called “Goodies.”
Colleen’s original wish came to mind, but we had already taken out food to cook on the grill. Then came one of those moments where you realize that the four of us are spending WAY too much time together. As soon as we stepped aboard, Tammy said she was really craving Chinese food, so naturally, we went back and purchased a (reasonably priced) Chinese feast at Goodies.
All was not good, however.
We were docked alongside one of those ubiquitous party boats, and when we were retiring about 10 p.m., we were curious because there were lights on the boat but no one was around.
Until about midnight.
All of a sudden, our shared dock was a loud and rowdy place. There was a booze cruise heading out, and the passengers — already well lubricated — were raising a ruckus right outside of our portholes.
Tammy was up in her PJs, ready to repel any boarders who tried to climb aboard Gypsies, but eventually, the boat took off and all was well. Until it returned at 4 a.m.
Not a great night for sleeping.
The next day — too rough to go to sea — we traipsed back up to the Boardwalk for some people watching.
Colleen is convinced that the ugliest people in the world live in AC, and the proof was all around us. Fortunately, we found a — how shall I put this? — a modest tavern called the Pic-A-Lilli Pub, where we ate (chicken wings) and drank (Coors Light) and enjoyed the company of AC’s few beautiful people. Teeth were optional.
Day three? Rough seas again, so it was back to basics. While Doug did work on the boat, Tammy, Colleen and I took a taxi to the Brigantine area of AC to do some re-provisioning at an ACME grocery store. Two hours (and $250 later, not counting cab fare), we were back and headed back to the Boardwalk.
Again, not being gamblers, what to do on a Saturday afternoon in Atlantic City? This time, we went to the Atlantic City Bar & Grill to watch college football and drink cheap draft beer. I was talking to a kindly couple from Jersey — Jack and Janey — about our journey and while they were enthralled with our plans, they were aghast at our choice of beer, so they bought us a pitcher of excellent Shock Wheat Microbrew.
People in AC were getting better looking by the moment!
Saturday night, our neighboring party boat hosted a “Sweet Sixteen” party, so imagine the horror and the music.
Sunday, same ocean conditions.
We were bored with the Boardwalk, so we stayed aboard. We listened to the Patriots — yuck — and got collectively itchy. Thus, when a small-but-rough window opened itself on Monday morning, Tammy powered us off at 8 a.m. — dolphins danced for us at the mouth of the inlet — and by 12:30, Doug was tucking us into a slip at Utsch’s Marina in Cape May, NJ.
While I set off on one of our boating bicycles to find wine (in five liter boxes that were broken down, and the remaining bladders tucked into my backpack), the others crossed a bridge to West Marine for needed parts and spares.
So it’s 7:48 p.m., and now we’re settled. Soon we will dine and tomorrow at 9 a.m. — iffy winds and weather notwithstanding — we set off for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and the Summitt North Marina in Delaware.
September 22nd, 2008
Doug here. You don’t get to hear from me much since we have two professional writers on board but occasionally you’ll be stuck with me.
Tammy last left you with us sitting in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, watching the sunset. We have started capturing the sunsets and there is a set on our Flickr account that shows them. They are quite magnificent. The trip today was from Sandy Hook to Absecon (Atlantic City) which is a 10 to 11 hour steam under the best of conditions. Our day started this morning at oh dark thirty (5:30 AM to you land lubbers). We had the boat ready by 6:00 and just waited for the sun to get up high enough for Tammy to see to navigate out of the anchorage and across Sandy Hook Bay. So we got a rare opportunity to see both a sunset and sunrise in the same harbor. The sunrise is something we don’t often see since it happens so early. We’ve tried rescheduling it for later but it didn’t work. The boat rooster (see Boat Kitties post) may give us more opportunities in the future.
We raised anchor at 6:25 AM and headed north out of the bay. As we approached the exit to the bay we had to enter one of the exit lanes from New York Harbor and found a very large boat in our path. This boat was one we had to dodge the night before on our way in. It seems they are dredging this particular channel so we were playing tag with the dredge boat. Tammy had to slow down for a few minutes while McFarland, the dredge boat, did a 180 degree turn in the middle of the channel that we needed to use to get out of the bay. Once McFarland was out of the way, we proceeded out into the Atlantic Ocean again for the first time since leaving Newport, RI over a week ago. Of course, Poseidon had a surprise waiting for us. He decided we needed to deal with 3 to 5 foot seas coming from both the port stern quarter and the starboard stern quarter. Now powerboats like ours, unlike sail boats I am told, do not like following seas. Having them following from both sides was not fun at all. I asked Tammy, our weather girl, how this could happen and she explained how there were two fronts fighting with each other (my words not hers, she was of course much more eloquent). This is akin to what happened in the Perfect Storm, just on a much smaller and less dangerous scale.
I decided at this point that I had a bunch of work to do inside the boat and left Tammy and John up on the flybridge where the motion is more exaggerated. They did a great job for two hours at which point I felt that it was not fitting for me to be hiding down below and went up to stand my 2 hour watch at the helm. So, to make a long story short, we battled the following seas for over 9 hours as we watched the coast of New Jersey pass by, which is exactly what the coast of New Jersey should always do…pass by! The following seas did help our speed and we cruised at over 9 knots most of the way down the coast so we picked up time from our normal cruising speed of 7.5 to 8 knots.
Tammy, John and I took turns standing 2 hour watches at the helm. Colleen was down below with the cats, all feeling the effects of the following seas. Colleen was probably wishing she was on her father’s boat, a sail boat, which likes following seas. As we approached Absecon Inlet about 3:30, I took over the helm to bring her into the marina. During the approach to the inlet we heard a disturbance on the radio that a small boat was disabled and up against the rocks nearby. As we began to enter the inlet we realized that the rocks they were up against were along the entrance to the channel and all the rescue boats that had been deployed (Marine Police, Coast Guard and Sea Tow) were all in the middle of the entrance channel leaving no room for us to maneuver and we had following seas pushing us into the inlet. We got on the radio with the Coast Guard and worked out timing of their rescue operation and only had to jog in place for a few minutes. After that, docking Gypsies at the Marina was rather anti-climatic, something docking rarely is.
So here we sit, drinking a beer, watching – you guessed it – another beautiful sunset!
September 18th, 2008
Today was one of those banner days that only cruisers get to experience – the sun was shining, the seas were calm and after 3 1/2 hours of navigational prep work the night before, the Gypsies crew conquered the ripping currents and commercial traffic that make up the East River, Hell Gate, the Battery and New York Harbor!
Tammy here by the way…
We moored last night in Little Neck Bay which sits at the very western tip of Long Island Sound – not much to see in terms of a town, but the sunset over the Throgs Neck Bridge was unbelievable!
The Bay provides the perfect jumping off point for what can be a treacherous run through New York. The currents and conditions in the East River and down into New York Harbor are legendary – more than one guidebook and fellow cruiser had warned us to make sure we took Hell Gate at slack tide (of course that gave us all of 4 minutes – yes there is only 4 minutes of slack tide at Hell Gate – that should tell you something!) We plotted our course working back from Hell Gate and tried to make the rest of the trip, which is no piece of cake, work with the tides and currents. On paper we looked good to go…
We threw off our mooring lines exactly at 10:35 a.m. – we were taking no chances at missing slack tide! As we went under the Throgs Neck Bridge, we fell in behind 6 or 7 other boats (obviously we all had the same idea and we were either all geniuses or all going down together). The trip up the East River was like a convoy. We’re a little faster than most sailboats (not much but some) so we had to weave our way through – it felt like we were playing Frogger (come on, you all remember the old Atari game – guess I’m dating myself). Luckily there wasn’t much commercial traffic coming our way – just a couple tankers, some tugs and about 50 ferries!
What a different way to see New York City – when we were working, it seemed that all we saw of the city was LaGuardia, conference rooms at midtown office buildings and the cabs rushing us from one to the other. Of course there was the occasional closing dinner where we went out on the town but we don’t talk about those…largely because we don’t remember them. Today we got to see New York in all its splendor – maybe that’s just my rose colored sunglasses speaking but it sure seemed to rise up and greet us. Gypsies passed Rikers Island, Hell Gate, the Harlem River, and Roosevelt Island almost close enough to touch; we cruised under the Williamsburg, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Verrazano Narrows Bridges;
we got to see downtown, ground zero and Ellis and Liberty Islands. Can I just say how majestic lady liberty looks from the water?? 
OK so we had the Staten Island Ferry breathing down our stern when we passed her, but it somehow all added to the ambiance of the day. 
We waved to John’s daughter Jen, who works for Merrill Lynch (interesting times), as we passed her office building, all the while thanking the powers that be that we were in boat shoes and teeshirts not suits, ties or heels!
We then entered the Narrows, which is really the lower end of New York Harbor, named such because it is where all the water from the upper bay and rivers funnels down to a point under the Verrazano Narrows bridge causing some amazing currents. Gypsies normally rides at about 8 knots but today she hit 10+ – she was kicking up her heels. The Gypsies crew looked back at a city that so many of us New Englanders love to hate (we’re at the top of the list when it comes to their sports teams) and even we had to admit the skyline was pretty spectacular.
Leaving New York astern was another milestone the Gypsies crew has accomplished – one more state on our trip south ticked off the list meaning we are closer to reaching those little latitudes on which this dream is based. 
We are now sitting at anchor in Sandy Hook, New Jersey just outside New York Harbor in a very protected anchorage watching yet another amazing sunset.
I know they happen every day but they are each so spectacular in their own right. The Gypsies crew can’t wait to get to the islands to see the green flash! Tomorrow’s plan is to rise with the sun and put as much of New Jersey behind us as we possibly can. Even the charts identify New Jersey’s shore as one sewer or drain after another – not exactly what we had in mind on this journey! While that MAY be selling NJ short (have you ever driven the turnpike?), there aren’t many good anchorages along the NJ coast. We had been hoping to reach Cape May but that’s a long trip for one day (about 14 1/2 hours), so we’ll just have to make due with Absecon, a/k/a Atlantic City. I’m sure the crew of Gypsies will find something fun to do in the east coast version of sin city.
OK I’m back – Colleen just caught a flounder (or at least what we think is a flounder – we’re still figuring the whole fishing thing out)!! Too small to keep but she’s working on it, determined we’ll have fish for dinner tonight. Luckily we’ve got back-up plans in case the fish don’t cooperate! Cruising after all is all about being flexible and rolling with the waves that are thrown at you! Hopefully tomorrow’s waves will be nice and calm!
For additional pictures click here to see our Flickr set.
September 17th, 2008
Don’t ask us about Northport!!!
September 16th, 2008
John posting here.
On Sunday, Sept. 15, we had our first visitors since Gypsies officially got under way. Those visitors included my 26-year-old daughter Jennifer and her fiancé, Nic Pakler, who drove a rental car from their apartment on East 45th Street in Manhattan to the town docks in Stony Brook on Long Island.
Acting upon our strong recommendation, they came bearing two 30-packs of Coors Light, plus two cardboard cartons containing non-descript boxed wine, so naturally, we were extremely glad to see them.
Their first taste of the cruising experience – other than that lesson about bringing adult beverages – was a prolonged dinghy ride from the Brookhaven Town Docks in Stony Brook to where Gypsies was anchored off the beaches in Smithtown Bay.
It was rather tame and dry, as dinghy rides go, but heavy shoaling made for a circuitous path. Fear not, seasoned cruisers, for they would experience the more typical dinghy ride on the way back.
The weather was spectacular, as was anther surprise gift from Nic. He bought us a cable connector that will allow us to watch Red Sox and Patriots’ games on our flat-screen (after connecting to my Mac Book) by means of a free, on-line gadget they got us called Sling Box. Bottom line? When we have Internet, we get the Sox and Pats for nothing, no matter where we are in the world!
In honor of our guests, we did the typical cruiser cook-out, that being beers, burgers and dogs, all served top-side, al fresco.
There was a lot to talk about with the kids, who met Doug and Tammy when they drove up to Kennebunkport to visit in advance of our trip. They’re getting married in June, so there was wedding talk. They both work in high finance in Manhattan, so there was money talk – not that we have any, anymore – and there was much talk about the voyage.
Since Colleen has bagged our only fish of record so far – look for my photo of her landing a funky, flying catfish kind of critter – she gave the kids some casting tips and they both tried their hands, alas without success.
Sunset and tides played a big role in the duration of their visit, so at 5:45, they said their goodbyes to Colleen and Tammy while Doug fired up the dinghy, Meanwhile, I outfitted Jen and Nic in our olive-drab ponchos. I’m sure Nic thought it was some kind of cruising, fashion-related, hazing ritual, but once that chop started splashing into their laps on the 40-minute return dinghy trip, they had officially been baptized into the ranks of the cruising community.
They had come bearing gifts of beer and wine, and we sent them away with a bag of garbage to dispose of somewhere on the hard. Talk about cruiser hospitality! The good news is that, in spite of that send-off, they plan to connect with us somewhere in the Bahamas, perhaps in March.
As a proud dad, I know I’m biased, but I can’t wait to see them again.
To make the day even more special, as Doug and I made our way back to Gypsies via the Braille method — no kidding, hands and heads over the side checking for depth (along with Doug’s nifty hand-held depth finder — we had the splendor of a full-blown vermillion sunset on one side and a full moon on the rise on the other, which Doug was able to capture in spite of our rocky perch in the dinghy.
As days go…
September 15th, 2008
Given the glorious weather and the salty, seasoned-cruiser way in which we conducted ourselves, you would have thought that we had hit the Caribbean about three months ahead of schedule.
That’s what can happen when you catch Block Island on the right day.
John here, by the way.
It was only a three-hour run from Newport to this tiny island off the coast of Rhode Island, and since Block Island is a short-season resort, we were happy to learn that an off-season mooring in New Harbor was only 20 bucks a night.
Tuesday afternoon was a rainy affair, which provided a good opportunity for some journalism and for all of us to catch up with e-mails, but no one was disappointed when the sun was shining Wednesday morning.
Since the harbor’s launch service had already been suspended for the season, we dinghied ashore and set out to explore Block Island. It’s a lot more like Bermuda than Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard.
It’s lush and green and quaint, and after a five-or six-mile hike, we’ll all attest to the hilly terrain.
Before we set off on that hike, however, we needed a bit of liquid refreshment, so we stopped at Ballard’s Beach Bar. Four Narragansett cans, please – pints, of course – because when in Rome, budget-minded cruisers do what the Romans do.
The highlight of the hike was the Southeast Lighthouse, a massive brick and stone structure that was actually moved to save it from erosion on nearby cliffs back in 1993. 
Just a few steps away were the Mohegan Bluffs, where a series of steps led 300 feet down to the beaches below. Looking up from the beach, the bluffs were a cross between a lunar landscape and Hawaiian island volcanoes, and we have the pictures to prove it. 
The hike home, while mostly downhill, was a thirst-maker.
Fortunately, we found refuge in a bar called The Yellow Kittens, but that was just a haven for an hour, because the real fun began at 5 p.m. 
On our initial walk up from the harbor, we tried to get a beer in a bar called Captain Nick’s. The manager politely told us the bar was closed, but there was an event beginning at five that night called the “Bartender’s Ball,” and we were welcome to come back.
The inducements? Well, the event was a thank-you for all of the restaurant people on the island, so they were serving $2 ‘Gansett drafts. That was one lure, and then, when she mentioned that there was also a free barbecue, do you think there was any chance we weren’t coming back?
Yes, we came back with a vengeance. The bar was a basic as can be – we’re talking frat house basement, here – but the crowd was a fascinating cross-section of humanity, from the yuppies to the blue-collar workers to the heavily-inked chicks who may or may not have been refugees from a methadone clinic.
But for $2 beers and free food? Hey, we’re cruisers. If Charles Manson was a regular at Captain Nicks, we’d be there drinking. To make things even better, a young man named Matt was running the Narragansett promo, and we all scored free T-shirts. Hi neighbor, have a ‘Gansett indeed!
Morning saw us leave the mooring ball and Block Island behind, with our sights set on Long Island. We were surprised on our voyage, however, by the sight of a US Navy nuclear submarine running above the surface as it crossed in front of our bow. 
Naturally, we took evasive action and made it safely to port. We’re now anchored in Fort Pond Bay just a stone’s throw from Montauk, and plans for our next anchorage are being formulated as I close…
September 11th, 2008
Tammy here…
We’re sitting on a mooring in Great Salt Pond at Block Island, RI watching a major thunder and lightning storm – I think we all liked storms a lot more when we weren’t so much at their mercy! Today was a rough crossing from Newport to Block Island with up to 4-6 foot seas; we left early again to try and beat Mother Nature to the punch. You’d think I’d have learned by now – she does whatever she feels like and usually not what or when NOAA says! The boat kitties were not having fun – they curled up on our bed together for safety but looked very accusingly at us every time we went down to check on them. I sent Doug most of the time so they would think it was his fault – only kidding. Now that the boat has stopped rocking, they are doing fine – who says you can’t bribe cats with treats!
Yesterday was one of those amazing cruiser days – the seas were still really hopping from Hanna so we decided to stay an extra day in Newport. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the winds were blowing about 15 knots under glorious sunshine – perfect weather for a long hike. I suggested to the crew that we should do the Cliff Walk which is about 3.5 miles (or so it was advertised). With all in agreement we dinghied in to the dock (dry for a change – more later), tied her up at Bowen’s Wharf and set out. Well it turned out that it was about a mile and a half walk to the start of the Cliff Walk – oops.
But the Cliff Walk was worth it – it is a spectacular walk/hike that parallels the ocean while passing many of the famous Newport mansions and other summer homes of unbelievable size. All of our cameras worked overtime! We started to see numbers along the walk and came to understand that they were mile markers. All was good with the crew until we passed the 3.5 mile point with no end in sight…nothing to do but press on.
At about 4.5 miles (plus the 1.5 m to get there), I was no longer looking like the hero! Finally after almost another mile we came to the end – what an awesome, albeit long, hike! 
It being late, everyone’s thoughts immediately turned to an icy cold beer – oh yeah and lunch (did I mention it was about 3:30 by then)! Unfortunately (for me) that was not to be for awhile since it was another mile and a half back to civilization. Finally we found a little pizza place, Firehouse Pizza, only to be told it was BYOB. No problem for these cruisers since across the street was a liquor store! It was amazing how quickly our humor returned once we had cold beers and a couple of really good pizzas in front of us! 
The proprietor even gave us some tips on where to spend hurricane season since he had lived down off the coast of Venezuela for 10 years! You just never know!
While we had been on our “walk” the winds had picked up and therefore the seas in the harbor which meant that Colleen and I got very wet on the dinghy ride back to the boat – somehow the boys always wind up in the back. I think they have a plan! Next dinghy trip no matter how nice it is when we leave, I’m bringing my lightweight foulies!!
Once back at the boat, we were again reminded how great the cruising community is – Will from Ragtime, the sailboat we shared our float with during Hanna and who we had some great conversations with over the past couple days, had left us a bottle of wine on the back of our boat when he headed out as a bon voyage/have a great trip present. How kewl was that! Another one of our “neighbors” through the storm who was just finishing up his several year cruise and heading back to Arkansas with his wife and 3 kids had come over that morning to give us his fishing pole and a bunch of food that he couldn’t use any longer – he even offered us his charts for the Caribbean. He was so excited for us starting out on what he knows will be the adventure of our lives and his comment to us was just to help out some other cruiser when we were done cruising – done cruising?? Does not compute!! With all the amazing people we are meeting and places we are seeing (and we’re just getting started), I’m not sure we’ll ever want to stop cruising!! Even the torrential rain can’t dampen our spirits (especially with the Red Sox only a half game back of the (Devil) Rays!!) We listen to the Sox religiously each night on the radio!
Another great thing about cruising is that there’s no schedule, so we think we’ll just stay in Block Island tomorrow too so we can do some exploring!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gypsiesinthepalace/sets/72157607248284673/
September 9th, 2008
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