2023-07-30 From sleepy New England Stonington to Busy crowded Newport

We got to Fishers Island early Sunday morning, as the museum Kris wanted to see was only open from 11 to 12.   We arrived in plenty of time, after motoring over from Enders Island.

"Small" home on the point near Enders Island

The Henry L. Ferguson Museum was small, but since we were the only people waiting for it to open, we got the grand tour, with 1/2 talk on the history of the island, the people that have owned it, and other information from the docent, who also lives on the island, and whose family was part of the group of the last owners.  Kris new about the marina because of their Osprey WebCam she found last year.  

Nice sculpture outside museum

Museum has small trail walk with froggy and turtle filled pond

Inside museum

After the museum, we headed back to the boat, where it was surprisingly rolly with boat traffic.   

It calmed down at night and in the morning so early next morning Dean jumped in and started to clean the bottom of the boat which had a surprising amount of waterline scum.

After the cleaning we decided to move, and  headed over to Stonington, CT. which was only a few miles away.

Stonington has a small anchorage area, but nice dinghy dock, and is kind of a sleepy little town with a few tourists, but mostly locals.

The wind was calm so Kris decided to work under the boat on a sealing project.

Knee bracing was critical to hold the kayak in position while working

After the work, we walked up to get ice cream, and enjoyed seeing all the different homes and architecture.

Old lighthouse and now museum - we didn't go in ($10 each - rather have ice cream)

Nicely kept up old home

Quite the different style of home from the previous photo

We thought maybe old church - but it is a private residence.

Someone important lived here once

Not all the homes in the best shape - quite the lean on this one

Beautiful gate

We decided to leave the next day for Newport, as the winds were going to build to over 20, and we did not want to sail in that.  We made the right choice and had a beautiful sail up to Newport, RI.  

Scenery along the way to Newport.  Nice lighthouse and "small homes"

I don't know how we do it, but always manage to end up in Newport during the Folk Festival, which is held at Fort Adams, and draws large crowds, and lots of boats.  Watching boats is fun, but makes the anchorage difficult.

Fun watching boat traffic

Harbor gets crowded

We found a nice spot next to another Manta - Osprey.  Met Will, who is a new owner and had a nice chat with him.    It was time for a walk to get some groceries.  Kris wanted to walk by the Umbrella Sky display.  More impressive in the write up than in person.

Pretty to look at

Will had recommend a stop on our way to the grocery store at Aardvark Antiques, so we took his advice and did a quick stop.  It is an amazing store with more sculptures and yard art than you can count.

Looks perfect for your average suburban home

Quite an eclectic mix

Swordfish, frogs, flying dogs, and more

Inside is just as amazing

Quite the place, with quite the mix of items.

After our Aardvark Antique store detour, we did our shopping at the Walmart and Stop and Shop groceries, and back to boat.

Some strong north winds were predicted, and Kris was nervous as we would have a rock breakwater behind us when the wind shifted, so we moved to a new spot, which looked great.  We watched a couple of boats drag while the winds built, and then around 9:00 they shifted to the north, and we found ourselves too close to a boat that was now behind us.   Since they were they first - we had to move, and of course it started to dump rain.  So we upped anchor and tried to find a new spot in a very tight anchorage while the rain was pouring and it was dark.   Could not find anything we were happy with, so after our third attempt - we gave up and headed to a new anchorage about a mile north.   Spent a very lumpy night, but no danger of hitting another boat.   Oh Well - that's boat life.

We will stay in Newport a couple more days, and then spend some time exploring more of Narraganset Bay.

 

2023-07-23 Working engine - Amazon delivery - moving east again

We spent another day in Setauket.  Our dinghy has a slow leak, so Dean wanted to get some Flex Seal paint at the local Ace Hardware and try painting.   Of course we walked right by the deli, so had to stop.

Tried to count all the sandwiches on the menu at Se-Port deli, but stopped at 85, as our order was ready.

We got back just in time, as the winds picked up, and the rain started.  Got our tanks filled up though.

There has been lots of rain lately and the Connecticut River is flooding, washing down lots of debris, so we had to keep our eyes open when we headed out the next day to motor sail over to Duck Island.

Duck Island was just a quick overnight stop so we could get into our next spot at Old Saybrook early in the day.  

We did pass one large floating part of a tree on the way, 3 foot diameter and 35 feet long.

Not something we wanted to run into.

We were planning on anchoring in the river, as the mooring field we use at Old Saybrook is quite tight, but with the river flooding and all the debris washing down we decided the mooring field inside a protected cove would be safer.  The issue is that the cove is small, and the mooring field is quite tight.  To be prepared,  Kris stayed on the boat outside the mooring area, while Dean took the dinghy in and scoped it out.  He thought it was OK to proceed, so we did, and Dean was right.  A little tense and nerve racking, but we made it in on one engine through the tight mooring field, and got hooked up to the mooring ball without damaging our boat, or anyone else.

We met our friend John for lunch, and had a nice lunch with him.  John was also kind enough to be our shipping address for our new heat exchanger case, and some Amazon orders.

Finally, a heat exchanger case that is the correct one - BUT - it wasn't painted.  Luckily Kris had already got some official Volvo Penta engine paint, so se set up a small paint booth in the cockpit and went to work.

Unpainted raw cast aluminum heat exchanger case

Kris's paint booth.  Notice spinach cans holding up exchanger case (That is how you know Kris is doing it, Dean doesn't touch spinach 😀)

New painted on left, old on right

Dean also got busy, with the paint purchased earlier, and put a full coat on the dinghy.

Dean painting the dink.  It looks shiny and new like.  Hope it helps seal and keep it from leaking as well.

We also got some Amazon goodies.  Dean got a rain jacket, and Kris got some sprout trays.  She has wanted to try growing sprouts, as in the Bahamas just eating Romaine gets old.  Plus Dean likes sprouts, so maybe he will get some green in his diet as well.

Kris's first batch of Alfalfa sprouts.  One on left too full, one on right too empty, but both worked and sprouts were delicious (according to Kris - Dean has yet to try them)

One other Amazon purchase was  foldable hand cart, which we used the following day to get gasoline for the dinghy, and propane.  With the gas at 30 lbs and the propane at 25 lbs the cart made it an easy trip.

The cart worked excellently - pulled it about 3 miles, and no issues.

Old Saybrook is a cute little town, with a good hardware store, grocery store, small WalMart, Farmers market twice a week, and lots of little restaurants.

Cute sculpture outside the Library

Nice mural on main street downtown.

We had one stormy day on the mooring.  Kris got the heat exchanger case installed, and we stitched up some seams on our dinghy cover, and relaxed on the boat.

Stormy weather at Old Saybrook

Old Saybrook has a 72 hour limit on guest moorings, so we left on Saturday, and had a nice sail up to Enders Island.  Never anchored there before, but it seemed a good spot with the North winds, and once the boat traffic died down, it was a peaceful night.   Today the winds go south, so we will head over to Fisher Island, as Kris wants to check out a museum.  Winds should be good in a couple days to head to Newport Rhode Island, which will be our next long stop.

2023-07-16 Why are boat projects so hard? - At least we have good food

We made our way over to Fairfield Connecticut on Monday, where were we needed to do two things.  First on the agenda - of course - was to pick up some packages that we shipped to an Amazon dropbox, but more importantly - lunch at Super Duper Weenie.   For those that don't know, Dean used to work almost across the street from this famous restaurant (Yes famous - was featured on Food Channel show) and ate their weekly.   We go there for lunch anytime we are in the area.

Can't say much for the decor, but -----

They make good dogs and fries.

One of the Amazon packages was  new set of screwdrivers.  It is hard to keep things non-rusty on the boat, and the screwdrivers we had were some of the same ones we had on What If - 9 years ago.  It was time to clear out the screwdriver stash.

All 32 screwdrivers on board

OK, still have 20, but its better.

The only issue, is that Kris hates to throw things that still have use in them away, so the old screwdrivers are still onboard, until she can find a place to donate them.

We also met with our friend, and financial advisor while in Fairfield.  Bob was kind enough to allow us to ship our new (used) heat exchanger to his house.   We had a good meeting with him, and he treated us to lunch at the Boca Oyster Bar.  If you are ever in the Bridgeport, CT area near the water - it is excellent food.

Feeling good with two excellent lunches under our belt (our loosened belt after all the food), we opened up our heat exchanger to clean and prep for install when Kris said "Uh Oh".

Yep, they sent us the wrong part.  Kris had a little panic, checked to make sure it was not her mistake, and then contacted the company in the Netherlands.  Of course - they were already closed, but next day they agreed, they had shipped the wrong item and they would give us a full refund, and pay to ship the part back to them.   

Of course, this left us without a heat exchanger, and having to find a place to ship back the part.  So instead of heading further NE up to Rhode Island, back across the sound to Port Jefferson / Setauket we went.   

Still being down an engine, Kris got online, and luckily found a new Heat Exchanger for only $1400 (ouch).    She called them, and they confirmed it was the right one, and was in stock.  So after a little crying, we pried open the wallet and purchased it.  Order placed, we focused on returning the one shipped from the Netherlands.  Found a place to ship the part back, so Dean hauled the 35 lb part, up hill for 1.5 miles to the shipping place, where they said it would be $350 to ship it back to the Netherlands.    So Dean hauled it back downhill 1.5 miles and back to the boat.   We did stop and get some great sandwiches at Se-Port Deli in Setauket.  They have huge tasty sandwiches.

1/2 a Se-Port Deli sandwich.

Contacted the Netherlands, and let them know the shipping, so they agreed, and arranged shipping through their account.   So next day - yep - back up the 1.5 mile hill to the shipping place with the heavy part, but this time we got it shipped.    Back to the boat, and got an email saying the heat exchanger that was in stock - was actually not in stock - so sorry, but they could get one in 5 to 7 days.    We didn't not trust them anymore so Kris contacted the Volvo Penta dealer we worked with when we had What If, and we have used for parts when in the Northern U.S -   McDonnell Marine Service.  Kris had talked to them when this all started, but they said there were no exchangers and were backordered.

Lucky for us, they were now 2 in the U.S. Volvo warehouse.  And now only $1,500 dollars.  The used one from the Netherlands was only $600.   Ordered that - and still have high hopes it actually exists and is in shipment.    We now had some time to kill, until it arrived so had time for some touristy stuff.   Port Jefferson is a touristy town, and we normally don't go there, but they had a Farmers Market that looked interesting.

Port Jefferson used to be quite the shipbuilding area.

Port Jefferson - Farmers market in the background

Downtown near the ferry terminal

Marina and ferry terminal at Port Jefferson

Farmers market was too expensive for our tastes, so we enjoyed a nice walk around, but then back to boat.   

Dean continued to look for a dinghy leak - as it is still losing a bit of air, and Kris worked on making new sunshades for the cockpit.   The new shades are larger, and different material.

New cockpit sun shades.

Kris also has done a bit of kayaking, as the winds have been calm in the mornings.  It is interesting to see the waterfront homes.  Wonder how these poor folks can stand to live in some of the run down shacks 😄

One of the medium sized homes.

We shipped our new heat exchanger to our friend John over in Connecticut - and it should arrive Monday or Tuesday, so we will leave today, and hopefully have a nice sail the 44 miles to our next spot.  Usually we take a free mooring in a small cove by where John lives, but it is tight, and we don't feel comfortable going in on one engine, so we will try a new anchorage in the river.  We will see how it goes.

2023-07-09 Heat Exchanger is dead, Surrounded by fireworks, Boat Projects

Monday morning we headed to the post office, and picked up the remaining engine parts to fix our heat exchanger.  Luck would have it, the post office employee was a sailor, and when he saw the package was "gaskets", he got quite lively talking about sailing.   Other folks in line were a bit upset, as our transaction took a bit longer than normal.

Back to boat, and installed fixed heat exchanger case, with new gaskets.  Filled with coolant, and - UH OH - leaking coolant.   Took everything back apart - and found the exchanger case still leaking.  Just too much material had corroded away, and the pitting inside must have been weakened with the heat from welding enough to spring a leak.  Can't get the welding tip inside far enough to fix, so Plan B.  Found a used one online from the Netherlands and put the order in.    We though about a new one, but they are on backorder - late August or September at earlies to get one.  

Welded up, but you can see a small puddle of coolant inside - too far to reach with welder.

Glad we have two engines.  

We had planned on moving east to see some fireworks, but that plan wasn't going to happen since we needed to now plan on getting our new engine part in Connecticut in a few days.  So we stuck around, and had a 4th of July in Port Washington.    We don't have a traditional lifestyle, but we did do a traditional meal - sort of.  Chips and dip during the day, and a big afternoon meal of hot dogs, beans and soda.

Dean's 4th of July all Americana dinner

We knew the town was not going to put on a fireworks show that night, so did not expect much, but pleasantly surprised.  The neighboring town did a show, and we could see it quite well from the anchorage.  All three yacht clubs also had small fireworks shows, and across the bay were two more shows.  That plus some of the homeowners having parties with smaller shows.   We sat on the boat and swiveled our necks for an hour watching show after show.  We were literally surrounded by fireworks.  Impossible to see them all, so we just picked the best shows, then the closest shows, then the further shows.  There was a constant rumble of exploding fireworks from around 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. without a break.  We could hear the rumble of the New York fireworks, even though we could not see them.

We were surrounded by fireworks

We had not cleaned the boat in a while, and it had the yellow stain "mustache" that we get every year when travelling north or south on the ICW, from the tannins in the water.   Dean decided it was time, and when the winds was light and the anchorage calm, he took the dink around the boat cleaning and waxing.

You can see our yellow "mustache"

Dean working on the side of the boat.

While Dean scrubbed, Kris worked on sewing new sun shades for the cockpit.  They are still not done, need some webbing to finish, and it is on order.

One last grocery trip, and we were ready to leave Port Washington.   It is a nice stop, convenient for groceries, and has a nice hardware store as well.  

Port Washington dinghy dock

We had hoped to sail up to Lloyd harbor, but it was a motor trip.  Pretty day on the sound though.

Execution Rocks Lighthouse

Tub pushing a barge, NY in background

Lighthouse in Lloyd harbor by anchorage

Next day, was a combination of motoring and sailing up to Port Jefferson.  When we see floating balloons we try to detour and pick them up.   This trip we got 2, but lost one.

Dean with his catch for the day.

Kris's catch, a very large one, might be over the legal limit

Port Jefferson is a busy harbor, but the anchorage is in a restricted speed zone, so it is not too bad.   

We took the dink into the dinghy dock, and walked up to the hardware store for some PVC pipe we will used in our cockpit shades.  Tide was quite low.

Steep ramp down to dingy dock in Setauket (town by Lloyd Harbor)

Went for a nice kayak trip, as the winds were calm.  One of the things about cruising that is interesting is seeing the change in geology, biology, and human culture as you travel.  Different vegetation, different sand and rocks, different animals, different architecture, accents, etc.

You would be hard pressed to find a rock like this near shore anywhere south of Maryland.

Nice boulder, left from last ice age (I think)

While Kris paddled away, seeing birds, turtles and rock, Dean worked on finding the latest leak in our dinghy.

Leak is located next to an already patched area

He found a leak, next to an area that we already patched, so now a larger patch is needed.   We keep hoping the dinghy will last a few more years, but it is showing its age - now 18 years old.

We will stay here today, and Monday head over to Fairfield Connecticut area, to pick up some Amazon items, and our replacement heat exchanger casing.  If this one doesn't work, then we would be up the creek without an engine for a while, so lets hope it works.