Pasadena

     We are in Pasadena. The one in Maryland. Our annual haulout work is complete and we're just waiting for the weekend to pass to get relaunched. No launching on weekends here.

     We were hauled out on Wednesday and we were done by Friday afternoon but we have to wait before we head to Annapolis for two weeks. In the mean time we are watching sports on TV. NASCAR and WNBA playoffs. Nice lounge here.

     Getting here was pretty painless except for the day we left Mystic. The first time.

     We headed out on Monday, 14 September. Didn't get far. We went out into Fisher's Island Sound and found at least four foot seas right on the nose. That's pretty rough. We've had bigger seas but when they're coming right on the bow it's very uncomfortable. And slow. It took almost 30 seconds of thinking to decide to turn around and head back. Instead of going to our mooring we went to anchor inside the bight at Ram Island, right outside of Mystic Harbor. Comfortable in the lee of the island.

                                 That cloud and chop indicate why we stayed home an extra day

     The next day winds were lighter. We started off sailing but it faded quickly and it was back to our normal motoring. We had the current with us so we got to Port Jefferson before 1600. We picked up our usual mooring there. Wonder who owns it? We've never dragged while on it and it seems to be maintained well. More importantly it's always empty on the weekdays we come to it.

     The next day was nearly calm and as we motored we were calculating our arrival time at Hell Gate if we decided to by-pass Port Washington. Our next calculation was the current heading up the Delaware Bay. It looked like our timing was going to be good so we motored on through the City and then out into the ocean off New Jersey. Current was with us so the passage through the City was quick, not as quick as last fall, but quick. It was calm in the ocean, a very light breeze from the south east and seas of about 4-6 inches, so we motored on through the night. The most interesting event was sighting a large meteor as it passed overhead. It was green and appeared to be the size of a softball. Of course it was much bigger. I watched it break apart and then vanish after travelling at least 40 degrees across my vision. That's a long way. It was amazing!

                                                   Sunrise off New Jersey near Wildwood

      We got to the mouth of Delaware Bay at Cape May a little before 0900 the next day and flew up the Bay fairly quickly with the current and no seas. We got to Chesapeake City on the C&D Canal about 1600 and actually got a spot on the free dock. The anchorage was full and moving on would have been an issue due to the time. We think the monohull sailboats that were anchored could not squeeze into the spot we took between two boats because of their lack of maneuverability. A tight spot is easier for us because of our two engines that are about twenty feet apart. We also had help from the people already there.

     It was Wednesday and we had a week before out scheduled haulout in Pasadena. We waited for a more favorable current in the canal the next day and only went to the Sassafras River. Then it was two days at Worton Creek before heading to Bodkin Creek to wait for our scheduled day and time to start our annual work.

     Except for a nasty, bloody cut while changing engine belts our maintenance and clean up went fairly well. Our only disappointment was the canvas work we scheduled was cancelled at the last minute by the vendor leaving us no time to find another canvas professional. We can no longer recommend The Cover Loft of Annapolis. Too bad. We'll have to find someone in Marathon.

     After we leave Pleasure Cove Marina here we will head to Annapolis until the boat show on Columbus Day Weekend, about two weeks. Then our next work stop should be Wrightsville Beach, NC.
  

End of Summer

     It's the end of summer (okay, not technically) and we're only a few days from heading south again. It was a busy season but we actually got a fair amount of cruising in. Mostly it was doctor visits, maintenance and projects. The norm.

     No major surgeries in 2015 (yet) just a couple of cancer operations. By our new standards that's no big deal. I built a PVC panel hardtop bimini to for our cockpit to replace the old canvas one. The project went pretty well, not perfect but good. We are having the job finished by a canvas shop in Annapolis in October. They will make new side curtains and windows.

     We went to the annual Memorial Day rendezvous to Hamburg Cove with  the Squadron. It was warmer than last year and we had good weather with a good cruise back to Mystic. The major trip this year was the Squadron extended cruise out to the Martha's Vineyard area and we extended that cruise out to Provincetown for a few days and returned via Cuttyhunk and Montauk. Heather was with us on this longer cruise and boyfriend Mike joined us on the very last weekend.

     The most interesting part of this trip was the group decided to go into and anchor in Lagoon Pond, Vineyard Haven for the first time and we decided to join them. Why was that interesting? There is a bascule bridge blocking the entrance to the lagoon and the horizontal clearance is only 30 feet. Infinite Improbability is 24 feet wide making it a very tight squeeze. We estimate we got the boat in with clearances of 18 inches on either side. Carol almost had heart failure it was so close. When I heard her gasp I knew we were close on her side of the boat. If you add up our 24 feet plus 18 inches on each side it doesn't quite come to 30 feet. Something was off here but we made it in. And out.

          Another nice touch to this adventure is I wrote about the lessons learned here and submitted it to Points East Magazine. They will be publishing the article in some future issue and I will be paid for it. Being paid makes me a professional writer now. I think. Maybe. Even if it's a small amount?

     The other interesting event on this cruise was Heather being startled (okay, she screamed) by a whale breaching next to the boat while crossing Cape Cod Bay on the way back to the Cape Cod Canal. I was just a few feet away but by the time I jumped up all I saw was the splash and the "footprint". It was a small whale, by whale standards, but judging by the hole in the water at least 15-20 feet. Maybe a minke.

  That's about it. Just a couple weekends at Montauk and Watch Hill completed our boating while home. We usually don't do much. Our mooring is in such a great location we don't feel the need to leave. Well, we do leave but only because we know winter will come to there and when winter is coming we are going. South. In just a few days as I said.

     As we are travelling blog updates will be more frequent, usually at each longer stop.