While we were in Baltimore suffering through the early summer heat, we decided we’d head North to find some place cooler. We planned a trip to Rhode Island over the 4th of July, intending to be at sea during the 4th. It would have taken us three nights to get from Baltimore to East Greenwich.
At the last minute we decided to relax a bit and take the entire week for the trip instead of rushing to Rhode Island.
We left Baltimore at 11AM on Saturday, headed for Cape May. We sailed up the Chesapeake to the C & D canal, going through a thunderstorm on the way. We took the sails down before the wind got too bad and, being in the sheltered Chesapeake, the waves weren’t very big. The ride was a little uncomfortable though, with the wind on the beam.
The C & D canal doesn’t allow sailing so we kept the sails down and motored through it. We were excited when we exited the far side since we’d never been in the Delaware Bay before. We exited the canal at 9PM with just a few minutes of daylight remaining.
Leaving the C & D canal into Delaware Bay
On the way to Cape May… Ok actually inside Cape May Harbor
We spent Sunday night in Cape May and left for Staten Island at 1PM on Monday. We were able to sail up the Jersey Coast until the wind died as we rounded Atlantic City and we had to crank up an engine. Up until about 10PM we saw fireworks on shore which surprised us a bit since the 4th was still a few days away.
Arrived at Nichols Great Kills Marina around 10AM on Tuesday. It was one of the most protected and quiet harbors we’ve been in. Not what we expected from New York City, but neither one of us had ever been to Staten Island before.
Our view of New York City. Great Kills Marina.
Wednesday was a short travel day but we left early, 5:45AM, to catch the current up the East River. Even though it was all motoring we had a great time seeing Manhattan from the water. We had to keep out of the way of an endless stream of NYC passenger boats, but we were early enough that there wasn’t much private boat traffic.
Manhattan from the New York Harbor
Statue of Liberty
We spent Wednesday night in Long Island sound at a mooring ball in Port Washington. The dinghy really got a workout. We went in for lunch, again to walk the dog, again for dinner, again for breakfast, and a last time to walk the dog before leaving on Thursday morning for Connecticut. Port Washington is very boater friendly. The town provides moorings that are free for the first two nights and there are dinghy docks (including one that is just across the street from a grocery store).
On July 4th, we headed to New Haven, CT. With no wind at all, we motored. We anchored in an area next to a yacht club and beach that was very busy with families celebrating the holiday. The jet skiers and boaters going by made for a rolly anchorage. Fireworks lasted up until about 11 and then it was peaceful. We didn’t see much of New Haven except for the anchorage.
Friday we sailed to Fishers Island. It was the first time we’ve sailed through fog. The radar really came in handy. We thought we were done with fireworks but Fishers Island had theirs on Friday night and we were anchored right next to the fireworks barge. There wasn’t much to do on the island. We did stop by the one restaurant and had a dozen oysters (which were delicious!) and a beer but other than that we spent all our time on the boat.
Saturday we sailed/motored up to East Greenwich, Rhode Island. We had fog most of the way until we turned North into the Narraganset Bay and past Newport.
Sailing through the fog in Fishers Island Sound