All Hands On Deck   Adventures on land and at sea

The timing couldn’t be better. We pulled into the Housatonic River and picked up a (free!) Housatonic Boat Club mooring yesterday afternoon. This morning, the rain began. We’re in for a couple days of solid rain.

The past two jumps down the sound have been uneventful. We left Mystic expecting 15-20 knots and were prepared with our solent. Of course the wind hovered around a gusty, shifty 10 knots or less. We sailed with our full main (gasp! so long since we’ve hoisted it all the way!) and full working jib. It was actually very pleasant sailing but we kept getting headed and eventually the wind pretty much quit completely. We motor sailed with the main up the rest of the way to Duck Island Roads. I actually selected Duck Island Roads as a potential stopping place when we last transited Long Island Sound. I found it in the pilot guide but it kind of sketched us out and we weren’t nearly as confident in our anchoring as we are now. Lee really wanted to give it a try this time and it split the distance between Mystic and Stratford perfectly.

We pulled in around 3pm, anchored in 10 ft. of water just off a waveless beach lined with houses and next to a marina entrance. Shortly after arrived, we set off in search of showers and ice. We hadn’t showered since Montauk and our ice was getting low. The channel entrance actually led to quite a few marinas as well as a yacht club, town dock, and eventually a restaurant dock back past a road bridge. We toured the entire harbor in the dinghy before settling on fancy marina near the entrance. We couldn’t find the town dock so we just tied our dinghy in a discreet location and explored the boat yard. The marina offices were closed, so no one could sell us ice, but we were excited to find the really nice bathrooms open. I got all ready to get in the shower, turned on the water, and waited for it to heat up. It never did. They had turned off the hot water for the winter : ( Lee came to the same realization and we met outside, determined to satisfy at least one of our needs. We gave up on showers but set off in search of ice again.

After docking by the launch ramp and asking in an ice cream parlor (I would have had ice cream but it was like 40 degrees outside) we ended up at a seafood restaurant. The bar tended proceeded to make fun of my pajama pants but offered us a pint-sized bag of ice. We graciously accepted it even though it wasn’t nearly enough and finally headed back to the boat. So ended another transient sailor adventure.

We explored Westbrook, the town on shore from our anchorage, in a chilly run the next morning. Then we continued down the sound to Stratford, CT. We stopped in Stratford in the spring and visited Lee’s friend Conor and his wife Kristen. They hooked us up with the Housatonic Boat Club, a club with quite a bit of character that rented us a mooring at very little cost. This time Conor got a hold of someone at the club who said they were closed down for the season but we could pick up any mooring we wanted. Yay for free moorage! There aren’t any facilities but it’s sure a convenient location.

Conor picked us up from shore last night and we all went out for Thai food (after Lee and I finally got our much needed showers). Not only did Conor and Kristen drive us to Stop and Shop to get ice, they also generously gave us access to their house as a refuge from the rain today. We’re getting things done online and doing a little laundry while our hosts are at work. Thanks so much you two! You have no idea how much a few hours in a house is appreciated by us grungy sailors.

Manhasset bay on the south end of Long Island, just this side of NY city, is our next stop. Right now it looks like we’re not sure whether to leave tomorrow or Saturday.
Since I have nothing particularly dramatic to report, I thought I’d throw in another video! This one is from the Maine-Newport sail.