Martha's Vineyard June 13--15

     In the golden age of whaling (1830-1845), there were three major whaling ports in this area:  New Bedford, Nantucket, and Edgartown.  Edgartown, the first settlement on the island of Martha's Vineyard (1642), is where Texas Ranger has been on a mooring the last few days following a passage from Block Island.  Though it originally had a different name, it was renamed in honor of Edgar, son of the Duke of York.  It lies on the east end of the island, and features the white clapboard buildings so typical of that period in New England history.  It is a thriving community whose economy is now driven primarily by tourism.  In its heyday, there were about 120 whaling captains living here, and most of their homes--quite prestigious by the standards of their day--still line the harbor.  Those familiar with the sea chantey "Old Zeb" will remember the reference therein to Edgartown.  Many upscale restaurants and stores abound in the old downtown area, including the original Vineyard Vines store.
     On our second day, we traveled (very economical 3-day Senior bus pass) to Vineyard Haven, the harbor which receives most of the huge ferries that transport people and vehicles from the mainland, and wandered its "tourist trap" Main Street, with many interesting shops.  On the waterfront is the Black Dog Tavern--the original restaurant which gave rise to a bakery and a line of clothing well-known to most Labrador Retriever owners.  Leaving Vineyard Haven, we went to Menemsha, a small harbor near the northwestern end of the island.  It was nice to see the harbor, as friends have told us of their previous visits there by boat.  There was little to see except a couple of seafood companies and gift shops.  The Obamas have just purchased a home east of Menemsha--up a private road with no other access, but a beautiful view of Vineyard Sound.  The far western tip of the island was next on our agenda--the town of Aquinnah (Wampanoag reservation area) and Gay Head Light--the lighthouse marking the western tip of Martha's Vineyard.
   Our third day on the island included a trip to Oak Bluffs, a very unique village north of Edgartown.  It originated following the War of Northern Aggression as the site of Methodist camp meetings.  Originally participants pitched their tents in the vicinity of the central Tabernacle, but later those abodes evolved into gingerbread-style houses, over 300 of which still comprise the village.  The Tabernacle seats over 3,000, and is in Trinity Park across from both Trinity Methodist Church and the unique octagonal Union Chapel with its three-tiered roof and four doors, which was built in 1871 as an interdenominational chapel.  We finished off our day with some final sightseeing and shopping (not purchasing!) in Edgartown.  Though our mooring was between Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick Island which was made notorious by Teddy Kennedy--the inquest was held in the Duke County (New York had Kings and Queens counties) courthouse in Edgartown--we did not ride the small ferry across.

Federated Church

1828--Whale Oil

Chandelier

Old Whaling Church

1843

Dr. Daniel Fisher

House--1840

Whaling Capt. Houses

"Chappy" Ferry

The Essence of the Battle

Patriotic Gaff Rig

Edgartown Shoreline

Vineyard Haven

Vineyard Haven Marina

Original Black Dog Tavern

Black Dog Restored

This Ship

Menemsha Tuna

Menemsha

Gay Head Light

Oak Bluffs

Oak Bluffs

Oak Bluffs

Union Chapel

Camp Meeting

Tabernacle

Tabernacle--Capacity 3,000

Trinity Methodist Church

    

Essex, CT and Block Island, RI June 7--12

     Finally, a break in the yucky weather allowed more comfortable, even if not beautiful, travel along the Connecticut coast to Essex, up the Connecticut River past Old Saybrook and Old Lyme (passing through the Old Lyme Drawbridge).  We stayed at a picturesque marina on a small island (about 50 yards) off the shore.  A pontoon boat ferry transported guests across the channel "to town", where they were able to tour a classic 18th century New England village.  Things are just beginning to awaken in this part of the country, and some shops and services are still not in full swing.  Certainly the crowds have not yet arrived.  We enjoyed a relaxed few days and dined in not only small, local establishments, but also at the famed Griswold Inn which was opened in 1779.  The food was very good, but the atmosphere and décor were beyond belief.  Actually, a lot of the buildings in this town date from pre-revolutionary war days!

     We next traveled to Old Salt Pond on Block Island, RI.  Since the current through The Race at the eastern end of Long Island Sound would be against us all day (to the tune of 3.5 knots), we stayed north of Fischer Island where the adverse current was closer to 1.5 knots.  After passing Watch Hill Point, we turned south toward Block Island, a place I had heard about as a sailor (Block Island Race, Block Island Race Week, etc.) all of my life.  We had carefully checked that Race Week was still ahead, and that we would not conflict with the many boats that would attend.  On busy holiday weekends (e.g., July 4), as many as 2,000 boats anchor or moor in this harbor.  Fortunately, it was not nearly that crowded yet.  We had no problem procuring a mooring ball, and on a couple of days we walked to the other side of the island to Old Harbor, the larger town.  Magnificent old hotels, and many "tourist" shops, abound.  Sitting on the porches of the hotels and watching the harbor and surrounding waters while nibbling on a snack is the epitome of relaxed, "island living".    Food was good, and the Oar Restaurant in New Harbor (nearer our boat) was outstanding.  The décor consisted of hundreds of oars, many personalized.

     It is time to move on if we are to visit many of the locations that we missed when transiting this area a couple of years ago.  Because of crowds, many become practically inaccessible by July 4, and so we are visiting them before the Kadey-Krogen  40th Anniversary Party in Newport, RI June 29--July 2.

Essex Island

Essex, CT

Essex, CT

Griswold Inn, Essex, CT

Griswold Dining Room

Watch Hill Point, RI

Great Salt Pond, Block Island, RI

Great Salt Pond, Block Island, RI

Block Island, RI

Block Island, RI

Block Island, RI

Block Island, RI

National Hotel, Old Harbor, Block Island

NYC to Stamford CT and Surrounds May 30--June 6

     After the Memorial Day weekend, we transited New York Harbor and up (? or down...it has two "mouths" and no "source") the East River, riding the current through Hell Gate just east of the United Nations building at 12 knots.  I took no photos; as with all of our passages through NYC, it was dreary and somewhat foggy.  We arrived at our destination in Stamford, CT by early afternoon, and docked at a delightful Brewer marina.  We had decided, based on a fiscal study of the next week, to stay about a week, and visit surrounding towns that we had not previously visited by rental car.   The weather clearly deteriorated after our passage from Ft. Pierce to NC early in the third week of May, and since that time has been unstable, drippy and dreary with small fronts passing through every other day.  Each weekend morning at this marina, there is quite a gathering and casual "coffee club breakfast" on the docks, and we met many friendly and interesting locals who, despite the weather, are enjoying having their boats back in the water.  Particularly striking was a 108-foot sailboat docked here.  Its mast is 154 feet high, and it draws 9 feet with centerboard up; 19 feet centerboard down--definitely not a boat that would be at home on the Texas coast and bays!

     It is interesting that the etiology namesake locations of many diseases are not too far away--Norwalk, Lyme, Coxsackie, etc.; we did not try to visit them.  We did, however, visit Greenwich, Darien, Norwalk, Bridgeport, and New Haven.  Each was quite unique, from the imposing churches and high-end shopping of Greenwich to the very industrial Bridgeport to the erudite New Haven, home of Yale University.  The P.T. Barnum Museum, currently housed in an old bank building in Bridgeport, was particularly interesting, and the docent gave us a delightful narrative of the life of this entrepreneur (remember Jumbo, and Capt. Tom Thumb?).  The timing was especially poignant given the closure this past month of the Ringling Bros. circus.  Yale was replete with imposing buildings, and we toured their rare book library to view an original printing of the Gutenberg Bible.  The campus is spread over a great deal of the city, and therefore lacks the cloistered appearance of so many Ivy League schools.  We also drove through the Wooster Street area, their "Little Italy".

The weather has been slow to improve, and so our intended week-long stay in Stamford was lengthened a bit, but finally we are on our way east to visit more spots along the south shore of New England that we were unable to visit on our first trip to this area a few years ago.

New England

Teach Your Children

Low Tide

Look How Tall Now

Greenwich, CT

Greenwich, CT

Greenwich, CT

P.T. Barnum Museum

Yale

Yale

Yale

Wooster St., New Haven

A REAL Sailboat

Belhaven to Atlantic City to Staten Island May 20--27

     Friends on Bulldog Sally had passed us while we were docked in Belhaven, and anchored about five miles north at the mouth of the Alligator-Pungo canal.  We were away from our dock at River Forest marina at first light, and joined them just after they entered the canal.  We traversed this waterway in truly isolated, coastal NC, and then traveled up the large Alligator River, through the Alligator River Swing Bridge, and across Albemarle Sound.  While crossing the Sound in the mid-afternoon we were greeted by the arrival of a cold front.  It was supposed to have little wind, and so it was initially.  About the time we reached the north shore of the Sound, however, it was blowing 30 knots or more!  We traveled the remaining ten miles or so to our destination for the evening--Coinjock, NC.  There isn't much in Coinjock except the marina and its associated restaurant, but it is a vibrant business, especially during the "migrations" of boats up and down the ICW each Spring and Fall.  After fueling up (only $1.97/gal for Valv-Tect Diesel), we enjoyed dinner with Paul and Maureen in the restaurant.
     The following morning, with somewhat dreary skies, we all moved north, passing through various swing bridges and the Great Bridge Lock.  Bulldog Sally pulled off at ICW mile marker 0 in Norfolk to spend the night at the newly refurbished Norfolk Waterside, and we proceeded on to Hampton, VA on the north side of Hampton Roads.  We have stayed here before, and enjoy the old downtown area.  Weather was messy and quite cool...I suppose it is still not summertime this far north! 
     After a couple of nights, there was forecasted to be a small weather window of relatively calm seas before the return of the every-other-day cold fronts.  We hopped out at Norfolk, and ran overnight up the Delmarva coast to Atlantic City, NJ.  The weather was not rough, but  seas were just sloppy and on the nose instead of from behind as the forecast had predicted.  It wasn't a bad trip--it just wasn't fun.  We arrived in Atlantic City, another location we have passed by several times previously without stopping, and docked at the 600-slip Farley State Marina.  One highlight was a great visit with our friend and fellow Krogen owner Bruce.  He lives part of the year in Ocean City, just a few miles south, and we visited his beautiful beachfront abode before going to dinner.  The following day we toured Atlantic City, wandered through a couple of casinos (nothing ventured, nothing lost), and walked the Boardwalk.
     With another one-day weather window, we awoke before 0500 to the sound of boats departing the marina, and we were away from the dock by 0520.  While this sounds brutal, especially to night-people, we are far east in the time zone, and now in high latitudes.  Sunrise was at 0535, so it was actually plenty light enough to travel when we awoke.  We had a beautiful calm ride up the Jersey coast, rounded Sandy Hook with the New York City skyline visible in the distance, and headed west across Raritan Bay for a stop at Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island.  This is a bit west of the straight path into NYC, but is a sheltered spot and a good place to get "off the water" for the Memorial Day weekend.  We are actually just east of the south departure flight path for Newark airport, so to our west we see a constant flow of large jets ascending to their cruising altitudes and turning west.  Folks on the docks are friendly, and somewhat stunned to see a boat from Texas in their midst.  In a few days we will venture through New York harbor again, and up the East River to Long Island Sound.
We have come about 1200 nautical miles from our winter stay in Marathon, FL.

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Home of Miss America Pageants

Great Kills Harbor

Staten Island, NY

Fort Pierce to Belhaven, NC May 15--19

     After flying back to Jacksonville, we rented a car, picked up our life raft where it was being inspected and re-packed at the Revere factory, and headed for Ft. Pierce.  We spent a few days getting the boat ready and provisioned, and waiting for better weather.  At first light we departed Harbour Isle Marina in Ft. Pierce, went out the Ft. Pierce inlet into the Atlantic Ocean, and headed offshore for the first of several Gulf Stream waypoints.  These were farther offshore than we usually run, but with the northward push of the Stream (2-3 knots), the distance was easily amortized.  We made the passage from Ft. Pierce inlet to Beaufort, NC inlet which would have taken over two weeks in the shallow ICW, in 51 hours!  Having stopped in the Beaufort/Morehead City area many times, and arriving mid-morning, we traveled up Adams Creek into the Neuse River, and passed Oriental, NC to stop at River Dunes Marina.  We had never stayed there before, and it has good docks and a beautiful resort setting.  Unfortunately, there seemed to be nothing going on.  I had two requirements after the long offshore passage:  secure, quiet dockage for sleep recovery, and good internet connection.  It excelled on the former, but failed on the latter.  The next morning we departed and headed for Belhaven, NC.
     Belhaven is another quaint NC town that we had passed many times, but at which we had never stayed.  The River Forest Marina is simple (but with great staff and good internet connectivity), but sits in front of a beautifully restored century-old mansion which is used for weddings and other special events.  Golf carts are loaned for the short few blocks to town, and we enjoyed a relaxing 2 days.  There are some excellent restaurants, and after 4-5 days of eating on the boat, Kay was ready to enjoy them.  We also have another connection to this area--our physician was reared near here, and Belhaven is the closest thing with a name on the map to her home stomping grounds.  She had told us all about the restoration of the mansion, and it was neat to see this friendly small town (the dockmaster remembered her from school days).  Belhaven merits another stop some day...

River Forest Manor

Episcopal Church

Methodist Church

Baptist Church

Texas Ranger at Belhaven, NC

Kay Wants to Move

to the Mansion!