Complaints

     Believe it or not, several people complained my last post did not have enough detail. Apologies. We were a little busy as we got ready to depart for our fifth cruise south and the health events in the month of August.

     I'll sum up and add some detail here. We are now ashore getting upgrades, repairs and maintenance. We've been really busy for a week but now have a little break waiting for the next craftsman to start work. We're having engines replaced and, of course, had complications. The bed of one of the engines needs major work before it can accept a new engine. This is costing a lot in extra time and money. Nothing ever goes smoothly on a boat.

     Over the summer we only had six boating events. 1: Memorial Day weekend we met Heather's boyfriend Mike and took a brief cruise to Watch Hill/Napatree. We were surprised as we left Mystic Harbor with unforecast dense fog. Carol's birthday present, a new chartplotter GPS, came in very handy helping find the buoys. 2: We took a daysail (WHAT??? A DAYSAIL???? We haven't done that in a l o n g time) in June. We went out to meet the Morgan that was doing some test/practice sails in advance of its historic cruise. See info and photos on this in a previous post. 3: Carol and I took a cruise to Montauk for one night at the summer solstice. BTW... that's 21 June. 4: At the beginning of July I took a solo cruise around the forks of Long Island with the Waterbury Power Squadron.

     
     5: Later in July Heather joined us to do a similar cruise of the Forks before Carol's scheduled heart surgery.

     As August started Carol was in the hospital for a heart mitral valve repair. This turned out to be a replacement job. The recovery was the same regardless. Complications were only because some of the medications did not agree with her. This slowed her down for a few days but a week after the surgery we were underway on a cruise (6) to the USCG Academy in New London. Of course I wouldn't allow her to do anything. We hadn't been there by boat since the late 1980s. Got a chance to see the cadets doing their formations, exercising and getting their butts chewed out by their upperclassmen leaders.

     And that was it for the summer. A lot of doctor visits, some hospital time and then recovery time. But a month after surgery we were underway for the start of our fifth southbound cruise.

     We went from Mystic to Port Jefferson on our first day which was Labor Day. We believe we saw a large Leatherback turtle about halfway to PJ. Never saw one in the Sound before. We also caught a 2' Bluefish. Made a delish dinner. And a lunch the next day, too. Port Washington was our next stop and from there we went through the big city all the way to Cape May, NJ. We got a bit of sailing in off the coast of NJ until the wind shifted too close to the bow to sail. Seas were only about 1' so the overnight wasn't bad and the morning approaching Cape May was flat calm. We rested a bit and got fuel and then left after about an eight hour stay.

     The overnight passage up Delaware Bay wasn't too bad with some wind behind us. Carol's new GPS helped us negotiate the channel turns. The GPS did NOT help with the commercial traffic. AIS did but some large ship encounters were a bit rough on the nervous system. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was closed due to dense fog when we arrived but we did not know this and had no trouble going through it. Couldn't see the bridges overhead but could see the sides of the canal. What else do you need?

     Once we were in Chesapeake Bay we had a lot of time before our haulout appointment. We stayed a night in the Sassafras River, two nights in Worton Creek and two nights in Rock Hall. One night with nearby thunderstorms while we were in a very protected spot was the only minor concern.

     So now, again, we're onshore with the clock ticking off  and deleting our savings. We've been getting a nightly visit that has been disturbing Cleo.

Summer is over. Why is it so hot?

     It's the day after Labor Day and we are at Port Washington, L.I. having started our cruise south yesterday. A fairly cool summer has all of a sudden become very hot and humid.

     Our summer was eventful but only a couple of boating events occurred. We had a short trip to Watch Hill with Heather and her boyfriend around Memorial Day. I did a solo cruise around the Long Island forks with the Waterbury Squadron and a similar trip with Carol and Heather later in the season. Another interesting weekend was at the US Coast Guard Academy with District 1 of the USPS. We hadn't been there by boat since 1989.

     The big event was the replacement of a heart valve for Carol. The medical visits, tests, the surgery and the recovery took a big chunk of the summer. All is pretty good now. Relatively minor complications were reactions to the medications and not the heart itself. Now rebuilding stamina is the target and we're able to start our boating south and just worry about boat parts wearing out.

Fresnel Lens at the Coast Guard Academy Museum