2025-08-03 Good times in Block island, then brisk sailing, and Kris flies out

 Spent Sunday in Block Island just relaxing on the boat.  A bit of a rainy day.  Kris worked on a small project, putting in LED strip lights in the V-berth and engine room. It made a big change - should have done it a long time ago.   

Kris also did some cooking prep of beans, rice and made her oatmeal-walnut-flax-banana-applesauce-cinnamon bread that she has for breakfast.

Engine room with old light that we upgraded with LED 

Now with old light removed, and strip lighting installed around edges.  Much brighter.

Monday we went to town, got rid of trash, and did a walk around.  Not much has changed since we were here in 2023.   The hotel that burned down shortly we left in August 2023 is still not rebuilt.  

Bridge between dinghy dock and main town

National Hotel-Built in 1903 after the original one burned down - seems to be a trend here.

Not a very busy main street early in the morning.  Later will be packed with people

Busy but nice dinghy dock

We spent a lot of time on Monday measuring our jib.  Kris made up a nice sketch of all the dimensions to send to the sailmaker.   We got quotes from Mack Sails and Doyle sails – who both have built the special Manta jib with the camber spar feature, so we were confident both would do OK, but Mack had a much lower price.   We asked Doyle to lower the price, and they did – so we went with them, as Mack has had some bad reviews, and frankly, their communication just stinks.   We should have a new jib in 6 to 8 weeks.

Tuesday was just a lazy boat day.  Dean read a book, and Kris played a computer game off and on.  Kris’s Mom is in hospital, so lots of texts and call between her and her sister arranging and figuring out plans going forward for their Mom going to Memory Care.

Wednesday, we walked into town and had a nice lunch out.  Ate at "The Lunch Bucket".  Good fries, and burgers were not bad either.   They even had Impossible burger (meatless), so Kris was happy about that. 

Yummy lunch

Thursday we were up and left before 6:00 a.m., and we wanted to move 72 miles west to Port Jefferson.  Kris needed to be to catch a flight on Saturday to Bend, Oregon to help out with her parents' situation.    Day started with more wind than expected, but then we had to motor through fog so thick that we would see what we hit, just before we hit it, but no time to avoid it.  Luckily, that only lasted an hour or so, and then it lifted.  And then it came back.  And then it lifted – and you get the picture.   By 11:00 the fog was gone and by noon the winds built, and we were having a great sail.  Then the winds built, then the winds built.   Jib only, current with us going 10 knots.  Quite the day.  Got in to Port Jefferson by 5:15.  Oh, did we mention the torrential rain.  Dean had to change out of wet clothes twice from going forward on deck, and we were both soaking wet because – yes – torrential rain while anchoring.    So glad we sailed today, as tomorrow is forecast to be even worse.

Kris on shift, wearing her foul weather jacket in the blustery day

Friday another rainy, cloudy day, highs of 75, so stayed on boat and Kris got ready for her trip.  Turns out the weather was better as far as rain, but windy in the morning and no wind in the afternoon.

Saturday Kris took an Uber for her two Uber, three train, three flight trip to Bend, Oregon.  She made it in fine by midnight Saturday, but tired.

Dean will be a bachelor for a bit now.  Kris plans on coming back in a week or so.

 

2025-07-27 Newport, RI - a couple of tourist trips

We were still carrying our old mainsail around on the boat, as we did not want to just throw it into a dumpster somewhere.  On Sunday, we took our old main sail into “Sea Bags”.  It’s a store that accepts used sails, then in their factory in Maine, they cut them up, and sew them into different bags.  Since our old main was so large, we got the choice of any bag in the store for free in exchange for donating the mainsail.   We picked out a nice bag we can use for shopping trips.  Could have got a larger duffel bag, but we have many duffels already, and wanted something we might use more frequently.

Taking in the old mainsail on a chilly morning

Dean was smart and used the cart to haul the sail through town to the store

Lots of selections of bags in the store

Sunday afternoon we went back in, amongst the crowds, and got some ice cream.  Last time we were in Newport, we found a “Triple Berry Pie” ice cream at Kilwins that we both loved.  They don’t have it anymore, but they do have an “All American two berry pie”, that was similar, but not as good.  

Enjoying an ice cream

Monday we took a tour of Fort Adams.   Every time before when we have been in Newport, the fort has been closed because they host the annual Folk Music and Jazz music festivals there.  Since we were earlier than normal, the fort was still open.   It was a good and interesting tour.  More information here: Fort Adams History   The construction and the view were the best part of the tour.

Fort wall construction is interesting.  Unfired bricks so they don't become dangerous shrapnel if hit by cannon

Some very thick walls, so you walk through long tunnels to get inside

Brief tour of underground listening tunnels in case invaders were trying to dig in.  Someone with a sense of humor put a plastic rat in this listening post.

View of Newport harbor from the fort

Tuesday we did some buffing and waxing of the cockpit, and then we went out of lunch at “Wally’s Wieners”, not as good as Super Duper.   They have more than hot dogs, though.  After lunch, we walked up to the UPS store, as we had two Amazon packages that had arrived.  They found one, but think the other one got picked up by mistake by the UPS driver, and will have to be re-delivered.  Whoops.   We got some groceries and headed back to the boat for a chilly night.  It was only a high of 75 during the day, and 58 degrees overnight.

Kris buffing one of the harder to reach spots, or taking a nap, you decide

Wednesday Dean relaxed, Kris did a bit more buffing in the morning, and then went on a tour of one of the Newport Mansions.  Toured “The Elms”.   Was a great tour.  The mansions during the "Gilded Age" were built to show off the owner's wealth and status.   Think they did a pretty good job of that.  The Elms only has bedrooms to house 7 people, but staffed for parties of up to around 400.  French chef on staff for cooking, and 30 to 40 staff for the family of 7.

Back of the house

Servants stairway

Dining room.  Just the amount of work to carve the ceiling panels which is all wood is very impressive

Everyone has a work of art glued to their ceiling - don't they?

Just a small cozy backyard

Indoor fountain

Thursday we went on a 4-mile walk to get some exercise, and then back to town later to meet our financial advisor to sign some papers, and had to get some ice cream while in town of course.

Friday was shopping day, so went in early, took then newly done walking path all the way.  Makes it easy to get to the shopping area, but no shade, so is a warm walk.   Caught the bus back.  Newport has two free buses all summer, which is great.  So when the bus came we got on, and after we sat down the bus driver told us that we were on the not -free bus, so we needed to get out at the next stop.  So next stop we got off, and then he asked where we were going, and we told him the bus depot, so he told us to get back on, no charge.   He was a very nice man – we could have walked, but riding with groceries is so much nicer.

Nice walking / biking path

Waiting at the bus stop with groceries

Early Saturday, we left and set sail to Block Island.  Had a decent sail, winds lighter than forecast, but still in by lunchtime.  Found a decent anchor spot.  Will be here a couple of days - no firm plans yet.    It has been a strange summer, with the boat closed up most the time, it has not gotten over 85 or so for over a couple of weeks.   We are wearing jackets into town and blankets on the bed every night.   We are not going to be prepared for the heat when we head south at this rate.

2025-07-20 More friends and Newport, RI

We left New London Sunday and motored the short 7.5 miles to Fisher Island, where we planned on hanging out a couple of days waiting for good winds to sail to Narragansett Bay.

We have found the wind forecasts to be off a bit, often changing overnight, so planning is difficult.   Same thing happened, supposed to have good winds on Tuesday, but Monday morning showed them not, so we decided to leave Monday.

Lovely sunset at Fisher Island

We have friends we met in the Caribbean that have a home base up near East Greenwich, as winds looked good for anchoring near the area, we decided to head there first to meet up with them.  

Had a decent but slow 32 mile sail in light winds up to Dutch Island Harbor. Retrieving the anchor the next morning was a bit more difficult than usual, as we hooked on some debris, but got it off OK.  Had a short motor up to anchor off of Goddard State Park near East Greenwich, RI.    

Looks like a mess, but came loose pretty easily.

Dean was very brave, and got out the hookah, and got in the 80 degree water to clean the bottom.  It was murky water, and he could see a foot, oh well.  Came up covered in shrimp, but at least our bottom is cleaner.  Not much, a few small barnacles he could feel but not see, but mostly slime.

Wednesday, we headed in at noon to meet with Mike and Gloria.  Walked up and had a nice lunch, and even better visit.  Then they were so kind, and drove us to the grocery store, where we stocked up and filled up the back of the car with our bulky groceries.  We try to stock up on bulky or heavy stuff at stores that are very close to a dinghy dock, or when kind people offer us a ride.  So sorry, we completely forgot to take any photos of the day.

Thursday Kris went for a nice long walk in Goddard State Park, and we spent the afternoon relaxing, watched a sailboat race, and kids out in small boats doing class.

Trail inside Goddard State Park

Trail along beach in Goddard State Park

Charm at anchor - we always look further away in photos than in real life

Amazing, this tree is still standing

Friday we had a very nice sail south, finally got the spinnaker out, almost 2 years since we have used it.  It is still looking great, no mold or issues after being stored for so long.    

Pulling nicely in light winds

Unfortunately, Kris noticed some issues to the jib as she was working the foredeck, and noticed our bolt rope for the jib is broken, along with some other wear items.   Looks like we need a new jib.

Kris checking out the jib

On the sail, we passed a sailboat race.  We wondered how that many people get a Friday off to go racing.  It was a good race, a one design fleet, every sail carbon fiber black.

There were at least 24 sailboats in this Melges IC37 one design fleet out racing.

We also saw our old friend the windmill boat anchored out.

It is just fascinating engineering on this ship

We pulled into Newport, and found a great anchor spot.  While dropping anchor we were slowly backing, paying out the 100’ of anchor chain, a monohull came motoring toward us, going behind us.  Dean put the engines in neutral to stop backwards movement, and we gave each other the WTF look as the boat passed no more than 10’ off our stern, completely oblivious to the fact we were backing up.   Oh Well.   We completed anchoring with no more issues.   Always fun here just to sit and watch boats.  At any time, there are probably no less than a dozen boats on the move in and out of harbor.  Mostly sailboats.

Newport Harbor - lots of boats

Saturday on our way in with the dink, we stopped to talk with our anchor neighbors off of Off-Piste, who we had see several times in the Caribbean, but never met before.

After a brief visit we headed into the dinghy dock, got rid of some garbage and books at the Marine Center and then headed through a very busy downtown and walked a couple miles up to a marine store and Walmart.  We had noticed one of our tack control lines was getting frayed, so got some new line at the Newport Nautical, and then headed over to Walmart for a few odds and ends.  Newport has two free bus routes in the summer, so we caught a free bus back, after picking up some sandwiches at Subway.

Newport bus depot - empty but very nice

Downtown Newport very busy with people everywhere on a sunny Saturday.

Cars and people everywhere - you can see Kris in her sunhat in lower right

We will most likely be here all week, as winds not favorable for heading back west, and we have things to do here.   There is lots to see, and lovely boats to look at.

Lovely yacht 175'+ heading out on a cloudy Sunday morning, on the bow there is a person standing between the head sails

2025-07-13 Lots of friends in Bridgeport and disappointing fireworks in New London

 

Had a nice sail from Port Washington to Cockenoe Island.  A bit of a lumpy anchorage until sunset, then it all calmed down.  Long Island Sound can get lumpy with boat traffic, especially on weekends, but when night falls, it is just wind driven waves, which you can plan for.

 Monday we got to Fairfield, and stayed at a transient floating dock at Fayerweather Yacht Club.  They only charge 1.50 per foot per night – so great price.   There is no water or power at the floating dock, but you can use the clubhouse, and the launch is included in the price.  Fun fact - Fayerweather is very close to Captain's Cove in Bridgeport.  Captain's Cove is where we had our first Manta, What If hauled out while we worked on it, and where we started cruising from in 2011.

Charm at the floating dock at Fayerweather, with Captain's Cove in the background.

Monday afternoon Dean went and had a nice visit with Jim Sinnott, a friend from work when Dean was at Bigelow tea.  They had a good time catching up.   Kris stayed on board and took the water maker motor apart again, cleaned and checked the brushes, as it was running sluggish last time we used it.

Tuesday we went for a nice walk – and got eaten up by mosquitoes, which are quite bad here near the water.  In the afternoon, we met with our financial advisor.  Good news – we are not broke, and are under budget on spending, so he told us we could and should spend a bit more if we want.   Kris is happy, as she wants a new shower control valve, some engine maintenance maybe, and to stay at a dock with power for heat should the temperature drop below 60 degrees at any point.  Yes, we are the big spenders.

A pretty little street in the Black Rock area of Bridgeport, CT

Nice bee farm bordered by two homes with a lot of flowers in the yards.

You just never know what you will see when walking around neighborhoods.

Wednesday, we met our friend John McCraw for lunch at Super Duper Weenie.  Dean and John worked together at Bigelow, and used to eat there frequently.  Good catching up with John.   After lunch, we walked to the grocery store, got a few things, then back to the boat. 

Kris and John enjoying the french fries.

John and Dean in front of Super Duper Weenie.

Wednesday night was a nice treat, we went out to dinner with good friends Mark and Laurie that we spent a bit of time with when we lived in Connecticut.  Our son Derek was friends with their two sons.  As it happens frequently, the parents remain friends, while the kids grow up and grow apart.   It was a great dinner, and even better conversation and catch up.

Dinner with our friends Mark and Laurie.  Great to catch up

Thursday we headed east, as we wanted to make it to New Haven by the 12^th of July for a big firework show.  It was a motor trip, with flat seas, better than headwinds though.   About halfway into the trip we came to a spot where currents must meet because we saw a bunch of Mylar balloons spread out over an area.   Since the seas were flat, Kris decided we needed to pick them up.  We motored in circles, zigzags and other various turns, until we had picked up all 13 of the Mylar balloons we could see.  Even got a small neon green nerf ball.  I think anyone who spend time on the water gets to hate Mylar balloons.  Even with the balloon detour, we made it to New London and anchor down by 6:30 p.m.

Kris stuffing collected Mylar balloons into a trash bag

Flat calm seas - a bit cloudy - but excellent motoring weather

Friday we took it easy.  Kris worked on some financial stuff, and we took the dinghy out and toured the harbor a bit, because we saw a large ship lifted on legs.   They have three wind farms going in around the area, and New London is the staging point for them all.   You realize how big those windmills are, when you see one blade on a cargo ship, and it takes up all the room from stern to bow.

The special ship just for installing wind farms.  Lifts on its 4 legs to remain stable.  Weird to see that big of a ship on 4 small looking legs.

Yes, that is a wind turbine blade filling up that very long ship

We watched that same ship on stilts leave the harbor later.  You can see the 4 legs and how tall they are.

Saturday, we got busy on a couple of projects.  We had ordered new foam for Deans salon cushion when we changed the fabric, back in January 2024.  Used the older foam for all the rest of the cushions.  Kris noticed her foam seemed a bit saggy, so wanted new foam, and Deans side is still nice and supportive.  So we got new foam for the bottom cushions on Kris’s side and installed that.  

Old foam and leftovers from new foam.  Now to cut it all up and stuff it in a trash bag

We also started working on a new water catch for the port side, as the fabric on that side is falling apart and developed a hole, letting all the water out.

Saturday night was the big day – largest fireworks show in Connecticut.  It was not good.   Fog started rolling in around 7:30.  When the fireworks show started you could see the fireworks launch from the barge and go up and up, and disappear into the foggy clouds, and then the foggy clouds would turn white, or red, or blue, but that is all you saw.  Disappointing.

We imagine this was a rather pretty red colored large firework.

We will head out today when the fog lifts to Fisher Island, and spend a couple of days before heading off to Newport, Rhode Island.