Onward’s Cruise Journal 2009
Cruise to New England
June 2009
1-25 June 2009; Chesapeake Bay / Baltimore
- Onward spent the month at the Anchorage Marina in Baltimore and at Bert Jabin’s Yacht Yard in Annapolis being prepared for a cruise to RI and Maine starting 27 June.
- I moved Onward to Bert Jabin’s Yacht Yard on Back Creek where it was hauled after lunch. I contracted with First Mate Yacht Services to have the hull cleaned, polished, all the Micron-Xtra paint sanded off, an epoxy adhesion coat and two coats of Trinadad SR applied. They started the work immediately which was great because I scheduled the relaunch for the afternoon of the 19th so I could attend a Corinthian’s cruise.
- While wandering around the yard I found Idarae aboard Molto Bene and got invited to have lunch aboard with her and Richard.
- Onward got relaunched as scheduled on Friday afternoon and I spent the night at the pier. I got to volunteer my services Friday night with Richard at the Annapolis Maritime Museum playing bartender - a skill I have honed in the Bahamas.
- Saturday dawned overcast and rain started about 0900 as I left the marina bound for the Wye R and the cruise of Annapolis Fleet of the Corinthians. Due to the rain and fog it was necessary to motor out of Back Creek and across the Bay. At Bloody Pt, the rain ceased and I was able to have a nice sail to Shaw Bay on the Wye River where I anchored awaiting the rest of the Corinthian fleet. By late afternoon I saw only one other Corinthian and I took the dinghy over to say hello. I found Andrew and Derick aboard and they told me the cruise had been cancelled due to bad weather just as I was leaving Back Creek. I invited them over for dinner after which we returned to their boat for birthday cake.
- Onward returned to the Anchorage Marina and I spent the week doing boat maintenance and working at Laura’s to get them ready to move.
- 26 June 2009; Baltimore
- The movers packed up Laura and Kurlen yesterday and were to arrive with the truck at 0800 to pick up. At 1100 we learned the truck had a breakdown and they were searching for another truck. At 1400 the car mover arrived and my Accord went off to LA to become Laura’s car. The truck finally arrived at 1500 but this was too late for us to have the Bon Voyage party we had planed to hold aboard Onward. About 2300, Laura and Kurlen arrived with their stuff and we as a group of exhausted people had a good night’s rest.
- 27 June 2009; Bohemia R.
- As we were preparing to leave the slip, I discovered the battery for the bow thruster had died and will have to be replaced when I get to RI. We left the marina and picked up fuel at Baltimore Marine Center. We were underway for RI at 0900. After motoring out of the Patapsco R, we were able to have a nice sail up to the Bohemia R where we anchored in mid afternoon. This gave us all more time to recover from the stress of moving and preparing for the cruise.
- 28 June 2009; Cape May
- Anchor aweigh at 0600 for an easy transit of the canal. We were also fortunate to catch the tide in our favor as we exited the canal and motor sailed at > 8 kts until mid-afternoon. We put into Cape May and anchored in my usual spot off the USCG station at ~1700. We had a nice dinner at the marina restaurant across the inlet.
- 29 June 2009; Cony Island Creek, NY
- Departure was at 0430 in the dark. The inlet is easy to navigate so there was no problem. We motorsailed up the coast averaging > 7 kts and were off Atlantic City in mid-morning. While passing by, I called Carolyn and Andrew aboard Pendragon and discovered they were anchored at Atlantic City, having made the offshore passage from Norfolk to Atlantic City. I tried to entice them to pull up anchor and join me.
- A disaster: Kurlen was given an iPhone by Laura and it has been his inseparable companion since - aiding and abetting his information addiction. I came up from my stateroom just after we passed Atlantic City to find Kurlen looking for his iPhone. We searched the whole boat a couple of times to no avail. Then he remembered an odd sound when he had sat down in the port stern seat and I remembered hearing the same sound when I was below in my stateroom - the conclusion: his iPhone now sleeps with the fishes.
- We reached Sandy Hook at 1700 and continued to NY Harbor instead of Atlantic Highlands. I gave Laura the option of seeing NYC in the twilight or in the early morning. She chose the latter so we put into anchor in Cony Island Creek - just SE of the Verazanno Narrows Bridge.
- This was a unique “urban anchoring experience”. The creek is narrow but well marked and the Navionics chart made it easy to enter with > 15’ even at low tide. Once inside the mouth, the entire N shore is a burial ground for old barges whose rotted out timbers and strange metal parts gave an erie cast to the anchorage. We found another sailboat anchored and I read a brief comment in another sailing blog from a boat that had anchored without incident -- so I decided to chance it and found good holding. The S shore was a mix of private homes, a park, pubic housing, and the amusement park.
- We decided to have dinner in the salon - which was a good call as we later found that the are must be the National Mosquito Breeding Area. They were so plentiful they crawled through and around the screens. It was the most miserable night I’ve ever spent aboard Onward.
- 30 June 2009; Oyster Bay. Long Island
- The mosquitos were gone and it was safe to weigh anchor by 0800 so we set off to make Hell Gate at 1030 slack. Laura and Kurlen were enthralled by the view of NY from the boat. As we sailed under the Brooklyn Bridge, I received a call from Mike Yorke - he happened to glance at the webcam from the Brooklyn Bridge and saw Onward sailing by!
- We put into Manhasset Bay Yacht Club where Mike picked us up and we met Maureen for a delightful lunch. As I wanted to get as far east as possible today, we departed MBYC and continued up the Sound for Oyster Bay.
- A storm front was approaching from the SW but we were able to exploit the winds for a great sail until we were about 8 min from the entrance to Oyster Bay. I was watching the Sound turn into froth as the storm approached from the distance and I managed to time the sail furling so that at the moment the last wrap went on the genoa furler, the storm front winds hit us. We made the turn to the E and were soon in the lee of the shore for an easy entrance into Oyster Bay. After anchoring we took the dinghy into the town marina and the walked around town. Oyster Bay is the boyhood home of Theodore Roosevelt and references to him are everywhere. We had a good dinner at the pub before returning to Onward.