Our summer starts when we get home to Connecticut. No matter how early. No matter how cold. And it was cold. In May. We were on a dock temporarily at Old Lyme Marina and actually plugged in to power to get heat some nights. When we moved to our mooring it wasn't bad... until it got worse. Memorial Day Weekend was almost freezing, 40s anyway. And to make it worser, it rained all weekend. Only one other boat showed up for our annual Power Squadron Rendezvous at Hamburg Cove. Oh well. Did I mention we had two other adults aboard? With our 3 year old grandson? And we could not go in the cockpit due to rain and cold? Challenging. Good thing he's cute.
Early summer was holding some promise that the Covid situation would start to improve. Many people, like Carol, were now getting fully vaccinated, especially in the northeast states. This was good. Our medical visits started in May and continued into June. And July. Only one of my tests showed the need for a follow-up. The follow-up indicated no issues. My oncologist believes tests beget tests and are not always a good idea. In this case he was right. Tough judgement calls for patients when a test is recommended by your doctor. Anyway, all is still good. Still in remission. For now.
I have been getting an infused treatment every two months. Sort of a maintenance regimen. I had wanted an injection version but my Miami oncologist was reluctant to make a switch in treatment in March while heading home. In May, in Hartford, I got the injection instead of the infusion. It didn't work out so good. I got a fist size lump on my abdomen and an interesting rash along my belly to my side. Red then blue then white little bubbles. As I said, interesting. Nothing serious but I went back to infusions. They take longer to administer but nothing interesting happens. Like our aversion to adventures, interesting medical situations are also something to be wary of. Interesting usually isn't fatal but...
In July we took the boat to Coecles Harbor, Shelter Island. The 4th of July weekend started nice, was pretty miserable in the middle and ended nice. The middle part included cold, rain, wind and dragging our anchor. Hauling our anchor by hand after dragging in wind and rain was lots of fun. Ah, cruising. We had intended to meet our daughter and her family there but a medical procedure interfered. Not a procedure of ours for a change. Late in the weekend old friends from the New Haven Squadron cruised in and we visited them on their new boat. First visit to another boat in a long, long time.
Later in July we started our 'vacation' cruise. Not our vacation, of course. Cobbe and family were aboard for two weeks. Two long weeks.
We started out by heading to Mystic later in the day and got to Ram Island for dinner. The next day it was Block Island. 
A rare, quiet moment on 'vacation'.
It was crowded but we got ourselves a good place to anchor in Great Salt Pond near Breezy Point. We had a major wind shift with gusts that made us wonder if we dragged but it turned out okay. We were trapped aboard due to wind and rain for more than a day. Did I mention the three year old?
Several beach visits and a trip to the 'zoo' marked our four nights at Block. Many visits from Aldos, too. 
From there it was a passage to Cuttyhunk Island. It was uneventful on the way except for sea sickness for some crew in mostly flat seas. Ok, maybe it was another kind of sickness. Mostly in the morning. We got an expensive mooring at Cuttyhunk and had seafood delivered out to the boat. Then it was a few days in Hadley Harbor, also in the Elizabeth Islands. Beach visits, swimming, wading and a seal watching excursion filled our days before we went over to Lake Tashmoo on Martha's Vineyard. This is near Vineyard Haven and is very nice but with a shallow entrance.
After 4 nights it was back to another stop in Cuttyhunk. We visited the library and talked to local folks about changes on the island before we headed back to Block Island. Only a couple of nights in much tighter anchoring but we had a chance to visit with the Quigleys on Miss Ruby. We went to dinner together ashore and had drinks (drinks???!!!!!) at the Oar. Outboard motor troubles started here before we left for a night up the Mystic River and a visit to Mystic Seaport Museum. Yes, I work/volunteer there AND go to visit there, too. 
A week or so after this cruise (and an expensive outboard motor repair) we went to Essex Boat Works for our annual haulout for maintenance. We discovered we had a bent starboard rudder from a botched tow by TowBoat/US on our trip north. We had more than three weeks on land and a major bill for the repair. This meant no Labor Day weekend cruise and no overnight guests aboard. Cobbe still got to see Thomas the Tank Engine in Essex and the Nautilus submarine in Groton as well as other area attractions. 
Once back in the water we started on more expensive maintenance. This time on our engines. 1000 hour service was delayed last year due to Covid restrictions so all these expenses seem to be coming all at the same time. Ah, boating. The total oozed up over $10,000 in August and September but, as I said, some of this was due to deferred expenses. Wait until the boat show in October and desired new electronics are added to the bills.
As I post this entry we will just about be ready to depart on cruise #12 back to Marathon. Stocking up on supplies and wrapping up other boat preparation. Still an active hurricane season to be concerned about. Next report will be from Annapolis.
