Hamburg Cove, CT to Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY

So we finally got back to our ship in Hamburg Cove Connecticut! We drove up with one of Dad’s friends and he dropped us off at Mr. Matt’s house where we spent a night. We spent half of the next day there too and got a nice tour of the quaint town by Miss Alison.
We finally set foot on our sailboat. She dealt fine. Ilira withstood Irene well. No damage. Nothing.
We went down below and saw that Francois had left us a note:

Hi David,
We wanted to let you know that your boat handled the storm. The strongest winds that we got were around 38 Kts but it did keep us up during the night. I put on the chaffing gear as you asked. Looks like it worked well. We hope that everything is better than you thought back home. We wish you and your family all the best. Be safe!
Hopefully our paths will cross again…
Francois

Once aboard we got the boat ready to sail again. We put the jib back up, put the anchor back on deck, and took off the extra lines. As we finished a brilliant sun set lit up the sky.

We stayed an extra day in Hamburg Cove to relax from the ride.
So on Monday we headed out. We went down the Connecticut River toward Long Island Sound. There was a lot of floating debris in the River from Irene. Branches, logs, tires, and plastic bottles were all floating along aimlessly in the river. But we moved on into the Sound and headed for Oyster Bay, NY.
We had fog for an hour or two. So Dad and I kept our eyes glued to the gray ahead of us. It was hard looking for things that weren’t there. Once we were out of the fog we were all encouraged. I flopped over on a floating cushion and fell asleep for around a half hour. :)
We kept plodding along. As the sun began to slide down the sky I sat up on the bow, (my favorite spot) and enjoyed the sun’s warmth and brilliant light. The water was calm and the wind light. It was very nice.
We pulled into Oyster Bay as the sun set and grabbed a mooring. We ate a nice dinner of pasta and red sauce watched a movie and went to bed. It looks like the weather might be foggy early in the morning so we might not leave Oyster Bay until late morning tomorrow. But we’ll see what the weather does. I look forward to seeing New York Harbor again. And I hope we can spot the new Twin tower that’s being built!!!! That would be so cool!
Anyway, good night all.
God bless,
Victoria

Into the Hurricane

Part I

So we woke up this morning and Dad was talking to Mom on the phone. Dad said Mom was down stairs in the guest bedroom listening to the wind howl all night. She said she was so glad the night is over and that it is daylight. But now the water is coming up. Zani and I ate breakfast as Mom called Dad back again and they talked. She told Dad that our windows had been fluttering like canvas last night from Irene's fury. They called each other like every fifteen minutes and talked for a while.
Nervous for Mom, we finished our breakfast.

Mom said that there was a dock floating in the side yard. She said the water was half way up the tires in the garage and that the water came up to the landing of our front steps. In the half-hour she talked to Dad the water came up a foot. Then we heard Mom say "Oh my goodness!! Oh my goodness!!!" Dad was asking her what was wrong. She told him that the creek room stairs were floating away. Our one thousand pound concrete stairs were ripped off the house by the flood water and pushed away from the house!

Not long after that Dad decided we were leaving. "Girls! Hurry up and pack your stuff, we're going down there!"

Dad went up on deck to lower the dingy and to ask François, if he could keep an eye on the boat for us while we're gone, amongst other things.
Zani and I went into our cabin and began taking all our casual clothes and all our work clothes and putting them in a bag. Then we packed our necessities. Dad came back around then and came down below. He was very tense. He listed in a hurry; what we needed to do, who he needed to call, and when we needed to leave. Then he said he needed something to eat, he couldn't focus. I gave him a poptart and his hand was shaking as he ate it. His adrenaline was pounding, as were all of ours.

While Dad called Mr. Matt to ask him if he could get us a rental car, Zani and I started packing everything else. We began sorting through food. What food we could leave, what food we'd take on the way, and what we would do with the refrigerated food. We got lots of water, because we weren't sure how long it would be until stores would open down there. Dad was tying stuff down on deck by now, as Zani and I hurriedly went through the food. Dad came down and told us we had an hour to get out of here. The car rental places close at 12:00 and Mr. Matt is going to pick us up at 11:15 and the rental place was about 30 minutes away. We had to hurry.

Dad hurriedly packed his clothes as Zani and I secured our belongings that were left on the boat for the storm. It was already raining outside from Irene. Finally the boat was secured and the things were packed, so we started bringing our gear out into the rain and into the dingy. Dad went around the boat with last minute checks and tie-downs.

Art came over and after a little storm chit-chat, offered us to use the space in his dingy for our belongings. Zani started piling the food, laundry, trash, and duffel bags into the two dinghy's along with our pillows and my computer. François and Marie (with their miniature poodle, Rosilie) came over on their dingy and also offered their assistance. Dad showed François where the key was so he could go down below if he needed to. The boaters behind us wished us good luck as we stepped off Ilira, leaving her to fend for herself. I got in Art's dingy, and followed Dad and Zani who followed François and Marie to the Marina. It was long way into the dingy dock, but thankfully the rain let up.

Art looked like an old time sailor with his white beard and tanned skin. We talked about his grandchildren and his home in NJ. He seemed a nice guy. Our dingy parade reached the marina and we all tied our dinghy's up. Zani, Art, and I, unloaded the dinghys as Françios and Dad tried to find the harbormaster to see if we could keep the boat on the mooring until we got back.

We unloaded all our stuff onto the dock and then I went to find Dad to ask him what to do with our stuff. Dad was in the Marina driveway talking to Mr. Matt and his wife, Miss Alison. I hugged Mr. and Mrs. then went back and brought all our stuff and packed into their little black car. Once it was packed and we were ready to go. Dad shook Art and François hands and thanked them. Françios gave us his contact information and then we were off. We all piled into their new car and left the marina. The first thing Miss Alison did when we were all buckled in the car was wrap her arms around Zani and I and declare to her husband: "For the first time I out number you!" (referring to us three girls against Dad and Mr. Matt)

As we found out on the car ride to their home, it wasn't easy for us to get a rental car. Most of the car rental places Mr. Matt had called were round-trip cars. They wouldn't let us go one-way to NC. The ones that were one way, when we told them we were going to NC wouldn't let us get a car. They finally found an airport that rented cars one-way that would let us go. But first we had to go back to their house.

We pulled into their driveway and got out. We took out the refrigerated food and packed it into a cooler they gave us. Then Miss Alison went into full-fledged Mother Mode. She started giving us various bags for us to use and asking if we wanted orange juice, Gatorade, or soda, "because you guys are going to want something besides water and I could pour it into little bottles for you. You don't want just water, you'll want something with flavor." "No, thanks were fine." Zani and I said. And she'd wave us off, until Dad talked her out of the Orange juice. So she got us apple juice in bottles, instead. She is a very sweet person. We are fortunate to have such good friends.

Then she invited us inside their home. We said hi to Ryan, the youngest of her two sons, and then he gave us a tour. Then we helped Miss Alison take down all the outside furniture and put it by the shed for the storm. Then as quick as we arrived we left. Miss Alison took Ryan to his baseball game and Mr. Matt took us to the airport to get us a rental car.

The airport was not far away from their house and soon we had a car. We'd asked for a mid-size car for when were in NC so we could get around easier.
Once we got the car we drove it to Mr. Matt's car and we unloaded our stuff from his car and into ours in the rain. It was raining a lot, but as we know now, we'd see plenty more later.

So after thanking Mr. Matt, we got into the car. I sat in front and Zani sat in the back. Then we drove out of the airport and headed for NC; into the oncoming hurricane. We headed into Irene's fury, not knowing what we'd see when we got home.

Part II

For most of the car ride I was Daddy's little navigator and weather watcher. When we first headed out I helped find the roads and turns until we got onto the highway.

We were in a little car, for a very long ride, never mind the fact that we were driving through the hurricane. But the rain was the worst part. During the whole trip it only stopped raining twice. Each for about a half hour and it took us about 12-13 hours to get home. It was monotonous. We only got relief when we went under overpasses, which stopped the rain only for a second, before it would come down in a 'splat' as we came out form under the over-pass and it would pour down on us once again. The pelts of rain hitting the windshield continually, was the worst part about driving through the hurricane.

Dad was almost constantly getting calls. Three people were calling him for our navigation and weather: they told us what Irene was doing and which highways and/or bridges were closed. We also had Mom and my grandparents calling us along the way.

There were very few driver's on the south-bound lanes of the highway. We were the only ones on a bridge once and we were all a little spooked. But we noticed three cars behind us and felt relieved.

We met a family driving from Maine to their house in Maryland at the gas station in MD. They, too, were trying to get home for the storm.
Then it was just us and a small pod of drivers who were riding into the hurricane. We drove right through the eye of the storm. I tracked where we were on my laptop as we went a long. Around eleven-thirty Dad and I saw a lot of fallen trees on the highway. The lanes were covered by fallen leaves in a layer an inch and a half thick. Trees were down on all sides as we drove. The fallen tree and leaf spots were patchy. Some places it seemed like a tornado came through, other places seemed barely touched. We drove through this for around an hour.
I was getting pretty tired by now. It was a long day with a lot of stress and my eyes wanted to close. But I didn't want to fall asleep for fear of Dad falling asleep. Zani had been asleep in the back for an hour or two.
Dad said I could go to sleep. I told him I wanted to stay up and help keep him awake. We debated about this and finally we decided that if Dad was feeling tired he'd wake me. So I let my head rest and closed my eyes, it couldn't have been five minutes later, when all of a sudden a huge gust of wind blew hard on the car. I jerked upright. "I'm staying up." I said. Dad didn't object.

The wind blew hard after that for a while. We'd go by some trees and it would slow then we'd come out and the wind would blow strong against the small car, again. It was very dark. The power was out and the only lights were our headlights and a few other driver's. Then suddenly, it looked like a spinning tornado was going to cross the road right in front of us. Then it just disappeared into thin air. It freaked me out. The same thing happened a few more times and then Dad figured it out: They were radio towers. Because they had no lights on them and with the wind blowing and clouds moving it made it look like the radio towers were mini tornadoes.

Dad and I cheered softly (so we wouldn't wake Zani) as we crossed the border into NC.
As we neared home the rained slowed and then finally stopped. It was so nice not to hear the loud, static-like sound of pelting rain! :)
Soon we were crossing the New Bern Bridge. We were the only ones on it. (Granted it was like one in the morning the morning after the hurricane. Who, besides us, would be crazy enough to do that?)

Zani woke up then and we all looked around to see the signs of the hurricane. We saw a few angled signs, but basically it was just dark and quiet. Their were no other headlights to greet us until we got to Bayboro. We saw a few downed trees, but not a lot of damage. We started to joke around saying "Mom made all that up just so she could see us. She was probably so lonely without us she made the whole thing up."
Of course we knew she hadn't, but we hadn't see much damage. Then around fifteen minutes away from the house we started seeing leaning telephone poles and fallen trees. We had to go around a fallen tree in the road as we tried to get to Mom. We rode over its branches and continued ahead. We dodged a few more small trees and branches in the road as we neared Mom's farm. Telephone poles were now leaning a lot and one leaned right over the road. The pole was just high enough we could squeeze under it, so we did. That was pretty scary, even though we knew the power was off.

We were parallel to the road leading to Mom's farm when we saw a humongous puddle ahead of us. We couldn't see its end. But we did see an abandoned car in the middle of the road in the puddle (more like a small pond) about thirty car lengths ahead of us. So carefully we started driving through the puddle. About half way to the car Dad opened his door to see how high the water was. It was getting too deep, we had to go back. So Dad slowly backed the car back to the dry spot by Mom's farm.

We sat in the car and stared at the water for awhile. Then finally Dad said he wants to know how deep it gets. So he called Mom and told her our problem and said he was going to walk out into the water and see if we can get through. So Dad and I got out of the car and walked through the water for a ways. Air bubbles came up through the cracks in the road as the water pushed against us, flowing from on filled ditch to the other across the road. Dad and I were mid-calf deep and we hadn't reached the car yet. We wouldn't be able to get through.
Besides that fact that the abandoned car was in the middle of the road. We woulda had to try going around the car into the deeper water near the overflowing ditch. And there is no way we'd make it by. So Dad and I turned around and waded through the water back to the car. We were so close! We drove all the way from Connecticut and fifteen minutes away from the house we couldn't get through. We were bummed. We'd probably wait there in the middle of the road for the water to go down low enough for us to drive through.

Once inside the car we called Mom and told her we couldn't get through. Then Mom came up with brilliant idea! We could go around! We could drive back to Bayboro and around. So we turned around and headed back about 20 miles.

We went under the precarious leaning telephone pole with the transformers on it again and rode around fallen trees and branches as we headed for Bayboro. We saw many more fallen trees on the way home. Trees wrapped in telephone wires, trees fallen near the road and branches everywhere. One the way home, we drove over, under, and around telephone wires and poles. As we neared home we saw the road we were going to take (the one with the puddle) blocked off by a fallen tree wrapped in telephone wires. We wouldn't have been able to get through anyway.

We headed home through the dark. We drove into our neighborhood at a slow pace and looked around. It was dark. The neighborhood had no power so the only light in the whole neighborhood were our headlights. There were a lot of fallen trees and branches. Then we pulled into our driveway. Half way down the driveway our path was blocked by a long deep pile of debris. A mixture of pine needles, pine cones, branches, docks and tons of other stuff.

It was too thick to drive over in our little car, so we got out, grabbed a bag or two, and walked over the debris to the house. The place was so quiet. There was no wind, no birds, no squirrels, the houses were dark and silent. The whole neighborhood was silent. It was the calm after the storm.

We marched up the front steps of our house and were greeted with Eddie's frantic barking. Mom came downstairs and let us in and we all hugged her while Eddie joyously licked us all. At two thirty in the morning we finally reached home after Irene.

Part III

We spent the next week cleaning up from Irene. We cut up the three docks, straightened Dad's palm tree and a few holly's and the cypresses. It took Zani and I over a week to shovel out all the debris, but with the neighbors generous help we finished it soon after. The mosquito population went nuts after the storm. We coated ourselves in bug spray before we went outside to clean up. We were without power for five days. Which meant no AC. So after a long day of cleaning up and fighting mosquitoes we'd take a cold shower and sleep with the windows open to try to cool down the hot and stuffy house. Dad got the cement stairs back in place and after about two weeks our yard looked almost un-affected by the storm- accept for a few yellow patches of grass where debris had smothered the grass. The garage took a lot longer to clean up. The water had come up at least 22-inches in our garage and the whole place was filthy.

But we have an AWESOME GOD! Who kept all of us safe. Thankfully the storm didn't do as much damage to us as it did to some others. One of my friend's teacher's, who was in her sixties, stepped outside onto her second story balcony to see what the weather was like during the storm, when the wind slammed the door shut, locking her outside in the height of the storm. She had to wait until the flood waters got high enough so she could jump off the balcony into the flood waters and swim to her house and get inside for safety. Others have all of their belongings piled at the side of the road. Their belongings had gotten all soaked by the flood waters. Some people were being cut out of their attacks weeks after Irene had passed. We are very blessed.

I made this video of Irene for you all to watch. It has pictures from our drive down and of some of the things Irene did in the area. I hope you enjoy the video.







God bless,

Victoria

North Cove to. . . ???

Last night we had a long talk about where we were going to stay for the now Cat 3 hurricane.

We narrowed it down to two places: Milford and Hamburg Cove.

-Milford

Pros:

• We would be at a dock so we could take some of the stuff off the boat.
  


• We know friends that are near by.






Cons:






• Milford is known for flooding.
  


• It is almost a full days sail away.






-Hamburg Cove







Pros:







• It was tucked up the CT river.



• It was only 1-3 hours away.
  


• Our friends are close by here too.






Cons:








• We would be on a mooring.



• We didn't know if there would be any moorings left.
  


• We would be so far up the river, that if there were any big debris we wouldn't be able to get out.





By the time we went to bed we had not made up our minds.




When I woke up this morning Dad was talking to some people on a mooring next to us. They suggested Hamburg Cove, they said that there were 60ft hills surrounding the harbor.




So we decided that that is where we would go. (I really didn't want to go back on the raging sea. And I also felt more comfortable on a mooring versus a dock.)






Man, was Dad anxious. He started the engine nearly 3 minutes after I woke up. And was determined to get there as fast as we could. When I say he was quite nervous that there might not be any moorings left, it's an understatement.




He kept asking us things like "Is there anybody else behind us?" "Do you think that boat ahead of us is going to the same place we are going?"






We were astonished that it was so close by. It was only an 1 hour away (and no, that's not because we were going too fast, never mind that that is a very hard thing to do in a sailboat. ;)




When we turned the corner we saw the quaint little harbor.








"Are there any moorings?" Dad asked anxiously to me.




"Yeah, I see at least one," I said looking through the binoculars.





As we got closer Dad instructed as to get the first mooring we see. "Dad look," we said, there was a selections of about a dozen to choose from.






We were very happy to be on a secure mooring ball with a low rate, and Dad, was overjoyed.








~








Once we got settled, we talked with the people on the 36ft Benteau in front of us. They were from Montreal, Canada and we later found out that they were heading to the Bahamas. The couple seemed very nice. They had a small little dog on board, slightly smaller than our little pup.




About 15 minutes later the couple came over in the dinghy and talked with us for a while. Their names were François and Marie. François looked to be around Dad's age. We all became friends very quickly. While we were chit-chatting with them, another man came by and said hi. His name was Art. He was one of those people that you could tell from a mile away that he was a sailor. He seemed quite friendly. He told us that this Cove was fresh-water. I couldn't wait to swim in it, I had never swam in freshwater before. After Art left we talked with François and Marie for a few minutes before they left to check out the showers at the clubhouse.




After they left I helped Daddy attach an extra line to the mooring chain with an extra shackle that Dad had. We threaded one of our long dock lines through it and attached it to one of our cleats as an extra storm line. This took a while however, and François and Marie were back. By the time we finished the sun was getting to us, and the water was trying to lure us in. And before we knew it we were all swimming in the freshwater.




The freshwater seemed so different than the saltwater we are all used to. Instead of pushing the water away when swimming, it felt like we were cutting through the water. I was so wicked cool.






Hamburg Cove seemed like a hotspot, many weekend boaters got moorings and spent the day swimming.

So many kids were jumping into the water off their decks that is sounded like a dozen flying fish splashing at the same time. Everyone there was having a blast, you would never guess that there was a hurricane a'comin'.

We swam over to EXP, the name of François's and Marie's boat. They introduced us to their miniature poodle, Rosilie. She is very cute (and a bit yappy I might add.) François told us that they got a rental car for a few days, and told us that there was a huge warehouse of boating supplies here that he wanted to go check out, otherwise they would have gone swimming with us. They asked us if we wanted anything while they were out. We thanked them, but we didn't need anything. We swam for a while longer before we got out to take our jib down. We had been undecided whether or not we wanted to take it down. But everyone else seemed to be taking theirs down, and we figured we better be on the safe side. This worked out much better than I thought it would. We were able to take it down quite easily and get it safely down below.




By this time we were quite hot, so we jumped into the water again. After a while we got out and decided to explore around the harbor in our dinghy. It seemed to go on forever. There was a channel just for the dinghies because if you went out of the channel soon enough you would be stuck. But as we went along there were sailboats and as we went in further there were more sailboats and they were good sizes (most of them were slightly smaller than our own sailboat.) We asked one of the guys who was on his sailboat how deep it was, he said is was 10ft as long as you stayed in the channel. That was kind of cool.




When we got back to Ilira, I made a nice dinner for the three of us. And we sat outside and ate. There was a very nice boat next to us that Dad like very much. We were wondering what kind of boat it was and Dad was hoping the owner would come so he could ask, when minutes later a guy who owned the boat came in a dinghy and boarded the vessel. So Dad got to ask him what kind of boat it was. That was pretty cool.




There was a pretty sunset at the end of the day, which Victoria couldn't resist taking a picture of. :)













Hope you will all be safe through the storm. God bless.






"May you experience the Love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully." (-Ephesians 3:19 NLT ) And may "Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord," (2 Peter 1:2)






Zan

Cutty Hunk to North Cove, CT River

We left kind of early this morning, a smaller boat name Gratitude that was on a mooring beside us, wished us good luck. They seemed nice folks. We decided to keep going and try to tuck into Long Island Sound for Irene.

Dad took up most of the day calling different harbors in Long Island Sound trying to find a slip in a safe harbor. We were kept busy, memorizing names, crossing off people from the list, looking up numbers, ect. Right now we are trying to aim for Millford, CT.

But I really shouldn't be writing this post because it was not very pleasant for me, it was quite rough and I ended up getting sick. :( I hate that. It was a long day too.

But after I ate some, I felt much better and a bit more lively. And the waves were much smaller by now. I was talking with Dad when he interrupted me to ask Victoria if that was the green marker; pointing off into the distance. Something was wrong. That marker wasn't suppose to be there. "...No I think it's two light houses..." Victoria replied.

Dad put the boat on autopilot and went up to the front of the cockpit to get a better look. "There is a lot of rough water around there splashing up on it. Is there a sandbar there?" Dad asked more to himself than anyone else. He raced back to look at his chart plotter. "It should be 60ft here," Dad confirmed. Dad swiped the binoculars from the cockpit table and peered through them.

"Victoria is that thing moving? ...That things moving." Dad replied to his own question anxiously.

"What is that?" I asked staring at the thing in wonder as Dad raced back and put the boat on standby and veered us off course a bit. Dad leaned out the cockpit to get a better look; as Victoria and I took turns looking through the binoculars.

"Guys, I think its a submarine." Dad said straining his eyes, "I don't think so Dad, it looks like there are two of them." Victoria concluded.

"I think it is." I said peering through the binoculars. I handed them to Dad and he looked through them, "Yeah it is, look ," he said, "it's coming towards us, that second thing is the end of it; see."

We all exclaimed, bewildered, as the two things formed into a long sub. The sub rose to the surface. As we got closer we could see a hatch open and three guys come out and look around. It was so wicked cool. Dad called them on VHS and thanked them for not surfacing underneath us. Of course they didn't reply, but Dad's pretty sure they heard us.

We were all hungry and cold as we entered between two jetties into the CT River. We decided to tuck into North Cove.

We past a sign that said that the orange streamers were free for transients.

We looked around for the "orange streamers" but couldn't see any, the grayness and fog didn't help either. We scanned the mooring field for the steamers.

"I think it just means those orange things," Dad said pointing to what we later found out were orange noodles with the line going through the center of it. Almost all of the moorings had swimming noodles on them, the problem was that non of the moorings had just orange noodles.

Dad steered us over to a small mooring. "Dad, this one was a green noodle, what does the green noodle mean?" I called.

"I didn't see, just try to get it," Dad shouted back to me.

Victoria and I got the line up with the boat hook but the eye of the line was much too small to fit over our cleats.

We moved around the field looking for the "right" mooring. But it was still windy in the cove and Dad was having a hard time getting close to the moorings. We tried a couple more, but they had names on them. None of them seemed right.

We were all getting aggravated and we were hungry... you get my point.

We spotted a lady on a sailboat and asked her what to do. She pointed to two moorings and told us that either of those where free. On each of those moorings were small faded orange strips of ribbon. We thanked her and soon we were secured on a mooring.

Personally I was joyous that we were no longer moving and there were no longer big waves.

Later when I was making dinner a transiet boat came in and asked us which mooring had a orange streamer and Dad and Victoria were able to point out the last one.

We are going to sit tight for tonight and see what the morning brings.

God bless you all greatly and "may you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully," (Ephesians 3:19NLT)

Zani

Bassets Island to Cutty Hunk Island

So we woke up this morning and checked the weather. It seems that Irene is going to go right up The Cape Cod Canal. Right where our mooring is. So Dad says he's thinking about ducking into Long Island Sound (instead of leaving the boat at the canal and flying down) So we decided to take the boat over to Cutty Hunk Island.

It was a little windier today than when we pulled into bassets, so we did a little sailing and I took a shift at the helm. That was fun.

After passing a few other islands we came into the marina. One of the islands we passed had a ton of cows and no fencing. You could just motor over there on your dingy and try to pet a cow. (Which we saw one family do) After we set the anchor in the marina we lowered the dingy and motored ashore. After tying our dingy we walked onto the Island. Their is a tall hill on Cutty Hunk that overlooks the whole Island so we headed up to see the view.

When we reached the top we could see the whole Island and the other Islands nearby. It was cool. We had a 360 view of the ocean surrounding the Island. It was pretty awesome.

The Island was so pretty. I loved walking around and taking pictures. :)

After splitting an ice cream three ways, we headed back to the boat. Once on board we checked the weather again and talked to people. Irene is still heading toward NC and then on up through Cape Cod. Irene is currently a category three hurricane and is expected to hit NC on Friday. Mom is hurrying around securing things and getting ready for the storm.

We are going to stay here tonight and see what the weather brings in the morning. Hopefully we can continue on, but we might have to turn around and go home.

God bless,

Victoria

Day Two in Bassets Island

We woke up this morning, ate breakfast, and then went up into the cockpit to see what the Manns were doing. Maggie and her Dad were setting up a rope swing, for when we splash into the water later. :)

Shortly after, we all got into our bathing suits and went for a swim. All of us were in the water for a little while. There were a ton of jellyfish, so we threw them back and forth to each other.
After a while Maggie got out their surf board and was sitting on it. Then the three of us came up with a fun idea, we decided to, all three of us, sit on the surf board and paddle around our two rafted boats. Well that was some idea, we got half way around and fell off, then half way around the second boat, we all fell off again. But falling off was half the fun! Then we all paddled over to the Island and walked a third of the way around it, then hopped back onto the surfboard and paddled out. We had a lot of fun =D






Then after making a swimming obstacle course out of various floating items, Mr. Mann and Maggie finally talked Zani and I into trying their rope swing. It was our first times doing that, but it was fun!




Then finally, we came out of the water after three hours of swimming, and sat in the sun on the bow. The warm sun dried us all off. Then Maggie went back over to her boat and she and her Dad had lunch while sis and I stayed up on the bow.

Then Dad came over and told us that Irene is heading toward North Carolina. He says he's thinking about turning around and going back home and putting the boat at our mooring on the Cape, then fly to NC to help Mom, and have Zani and I stay at our grandparents house until he gets back, and then we'd start the trip again. Dad says we'll stay here tonight and see what the weather is like in the morning. I hope Irene will diminish to nothing, but God is in control, no matter what.

After our talk with Dad, we had our lunch and then talked a bit more with the Manns. Then it was time for them to leave, so we said our goodbye's and watched them go.

After they left, we chilled out some, then checked the weather and called Mom and other people about our situation, and then finally got ready for bed. Which is where I should be. lol

Goodnight,

Victoria

Bassets Island

So were off sailing again!

Today was a beautiful day. Bright blue sky, deep blue sea, and a bright sunny day.

So we started off the trip with a short little jaunt to Bassets Island. It was a gorgeous day and a calm trip over.

Our friends the Manns, who we had invited over, came and rafted with us after dinner. It was good to see them as we didn't get to see them much this summer. So Maggie, (who's Zani's age) and her Dad, came and talked on our boat for a while. We ate minty chocolatey cookie goodness while staring at the clear stars overhead. It was a nice night.

We talked for a while then we all headed to bed. Maggie and her Dad said they could stay till around noon tomorrow. That's good, because we are planning to go to Cutty Hunk Island around that time tomorrow. I'm tired, and I'm looking forward to swimming with Maggie and her Dad in the morning.

God Bless,

Victoria

Block to…Home!!!!!!!!!!

Cold, cold, and…oh yeah! Cold! Today we are well wrapped in clothes once again. Supposedly there's to be a squall coming through, so we got into our jackets once again, put all our things down below closed all the curtains to keep the rain back and packed lunch so we wouldn’t have to go below soaked. But after all this it ended up to be nothing, I think we might have gotten a quick 20 sec shower but that’s it. Victoria was disappointed because she put lunch together for us all water proof and we ended up eating it in dry weather. But Dad said we should be happy because it could have been bad. So that was the excitement of the day, well at least for a little while. It was really foggy too. It got foggier and foggier, so much so that Dad had to use his GPS to get into his own mooring field. We were thankful our ball was still available. We were afraid someone else would be on it. Fortunately, no such thing happened.
We packed up the boat for an hour or so when (just our luck too) it started to rain, so (once again) Dad had to fix the dinghy engine in the rain, although praise the Lord it worked.
We then had to repack our bags into water-proof bags. Now it was raining really bad, so Victoria had a brilliant idea. Dad had a tarp so we packed all the things (like clothes) that didn’t really matter if they got wet in the bottom of the dinghy (which by the way we had to bail out with a cup because there was so much rain water, and we still had a bit of water in it and it was only getting wetter.) Then we put our “non-wet” stuff (such as books) that were wrapped in bunches of plastic bags, and we put those on top of the “wet stuff.” After that we spread the tarp over it and tucked it in on the sides. Then I had to lay over the tarp to keep it from blowing, and told Victoria that I would “shield her books with… [my] body and to guard them with… [my] life.”
Victoria stayed behind on Ilira to help Dad pack the dinghy for the next trip.
I lay on top of the tarp soaking wet, my body spread as wide as I could to cover the biggest area. The whole time we rode into Monument Beach, I was referred to by my Dad as “Paper Weight.” I’m not exactly sure why he picked me to be the paper weight (seeming that I’m the lightest) but I didn’t mind. It was adventurous, besides this way I got to see Mom sooner. )
We finally hit solid, home ground. Mom came out in her rain coat to help us unload as quickly as possible, and I stayed behind with Mom, while Dad went back for another trip and to fetch V.
We both got into the car, and then we hugged each other. It was good to see Mom again. It seemed like weeks this time (although later we figured out it was only 5 days) and of course it was good to see Eddie too. I dare say he was happier to see me then I was to see him! (And I missed him a lot too!) Mom and I commented on the great weather we always seem to bring with us.
Soon the car was packed and all four of us were reunited again. It was good to be in Mass again-- so many familiar things, familiar smells, sights, roads… and of course the rain—my favorite being the smell. There is no better fragrance to me, then the smell of Massachusetts more specifically Cape Cod.
“Wow you’re going fast,” Dad commented.
“Really I thought I was going slow, I get kind of nervous with the dinghy trailer.”
“What you’re doing is way faster than 7 knots!” Dad said.
And we all began to laugh. Man, I got to tell you, it’s wicked good to be home.

God bless you guys today and for the rest of the summer!
-We Three Sailors of Oriental Are

Bridgeport, CT to Block Island, RI

Today we were greeted by the regular wind, rain and a gray—the normal welcome party of New England.
It was cold and we were all had multiple layers on, I thought it was so silly that Dad told me to pack sweatshirts in North Carolina because it was in the 90’s but today I was very grateful for them. You knew it was cold when Dad (who always wears shorts no matter what the weather) actually put on long pants.
We put our anchor down around 5:00 this afternoon, when it started to rain again.
We had gone on land at Block Island once before with our friends and we had gotten clam chowder that Victoria absolutely loved. So we all wanted to go back to the same place and get clam chowder again. So we lowered the dinghy, but the motor didn’t start as expected. So Dad had to try to fix the dinghy in the rain. But alas that didn’t even work, so we had to call the launch. The guy seemed nice enough he told as that it would be three dollars.
“Total?” Dad asked.
“Per person.” The launch man replied. So we stood in their in indecision, but we decided since we hadn’t spent much at all on the trip and we all really wanted to go, so on board we went. We all squished in under the overhead of the launch in our rain coats and foul weather gear. I wore a shirt and two coats and my capri's, Victoria wore a shirt, a zip up and Dad’s big jacket, and Dad: shirt, sweatshirt, foul weather gear jacket, and of course shorts.
One other man was on the launch, he was one of the crew on one of the racing sailboats. We figure out (as we did last time) that it was racing week so the harbor was packed. We picked up a few more people and we were soon off and on our way walking up the road. But we had a problem. We didn’t remember where the restaurant was. We came upon a restaurant so we figured we duck out if the rain and ask for directions. This place served New England clam chowder too but we remembered the resturaunt looking different. So we tried to describe the place to the lady behind the counter.
“It had a porch I remember,” Dad started.
“Well there are places over there, one up from here and one further up, and this place and they all have porches.”
We described it further. “There is no place like this here,” The lady said.
Were we imaging? Was it in some other port?
“Unless you’re taking about in town. There is a place that looks like what you were describing.”
“Yeah it could be. Where’s that?” Dad asked.
The lady gave us some instructions. Dad asked her how far it was, she said it was about 10 minutes.
So off we went. The rain soaking through our pants and seeping into our shoes, and I kept slipping a lot so finally I took off my flip flops. (I’m not know for keeping shoes on my feet for long)
After what seemed about 10 minutes, we asked a person who had grocery bags in his hand (so we figured they came from town) we asked them how long it was to town. The man thought for a moment.
“Probably about 5 to 10 minutes.” The man shrugged.
“Okay thanks.” We said.
“10 more minutes, it was only supposed to take 10 minutes originally.”
So after about 10 more minutes we found ourselves at the right place. We recognized the place as we remembered it. We were soon seated in the screened in porch and sipping up warm New England clam chowder. For Dad and Victoria it wasn’t as good as they remembered it, but they thought it was still very good, but for me I thought it was better. :)
We looked at each other, wet coats dripping wet hair very wet pants. We smiled; we all thought it was worth it.
When we were done we were going to check out some of the shops, but we were all too wet and cold to look, so we decided to head back. It was already a wet adventurous day, but we had no idea that both—wet and adventure— were going to increase greatly.
We thought we would have a dry walk back expect maybe for some mist because when we were in the restaurant it had stopped. Boy where we in for surprise, just as we were a great distance away from shelter, it started to rain bucket loads.
“Run!”
We all bolted through the rain until we reached a tree branch that we stopped under. If we were not soaked through before, we were now. We were now practically standing in a puddle up to our ankles.
We ran a little ways and then stopped and just walked to catch our breath. The rain was getting a little lighter. A deep puddle that flooded over the road and onto the sidewalk was a few feet away. We looked back, a car was coming.
“Run!” Came the cry once more, and we charged across the “lake” as we tried to out run the car so we wouldn’t get sprayed on worse by the car running over the puddle that would send a small tidal wave over us. We did out run the car at last until we were past the puddle. We then walked a ways. Then it started to rain hard and we bolted around the corner and ducked under an overhang.
We waited for a few minutes to wait out the rain or at least until it slowed. We were so surprised to see so many people out and about. We past lots of pedestrians, bikers past us by, we crossed paths with joggers, and people who were just sitting on their porches.
I pointed to 12 or so people hanging out on the porch of their house up on a hill. Someone on the porch pointed back at us. I waved. They waved back. One even cupped his hands and yelled hello.
What a wonderful wet day!
Walking, jogging, sprinting, running, slowing, bolting, walking.
Then it started to rain really hard, and I mean hard! You couldn’t see very far ahead of you. Thunder, lightning, running once more, but of course there were no shelter. So we kept running, splashing through puddles and soaking our pants.
Bucket loads upon bucket loads, it was raining cats and dogs.
We soon spotted a shop with a porch through the rain and ducked under it to get out of the rain. We laughed as it came down harder and harder, gushing out of gutters pouring off the road and onto sidewalks. We were glad to be watching it instead of being in it.
The shop was closed so we didn’t go in but there was a bench, so we all sat and talked but mostly watched the rain. We sat there for probably 7 minutes until Dad coaxed as along.
We ran the rest of the way back to the marina. We waited another 15 minutes till we could get a ride back by launch. At last we were back on the launch although this time we didn’t bother to go under the overhang, we were already soaked, a few more minutes of it wasn’t going to make a difference.
We soon climbed back onto our boat.
“That will be 9 dollars.” Said the launch man.
“I already paid you on the way in.” Dad said.
The launch man paused and added “Its 3 dollars per person each way.
We protested, but we ended up paying the guy. Now unfortunately that wasn’t worth it. But nonetheless we had fun.
We stripped off our soaked jacket’s. Even under two coats my shirt was wet.
We all took warm showers and I even heated up some warm soup. What an adventure. What a day. What a very wet day!
May God be with you all always, and may he bless you greatly!
Your soaked friend,
Zani

Great Kills Harbor, NJ to Bridgeport, CT

We went through New York City today. There were lots of skyscrapers and the every-buzzing sound of honking, sirens and busy streets.
We went under a really tall bridge on our way into NYC. The bridge was 135 feet! That’s about double our mast’s height!

But the big container ship behind us made it under with little room to spare.

We saw a pretty stone building on our port as we left the bridge behind.


As we pulled in to NY Harbor we were welcomed by Lady Liberty. Her bold, sincere face looked back at us as we entered the harbor. She clasped a bronze torch over her head with proud duty as she guided us into the harbor, by the “flame” of her patriotic torch.

Just want to point out the “colorful ants” at the base of Lady Liberty, are people. Just so you can see how big she is. :)

It was very cool to see all the sights and the sounds in NYC. All the cars zooming about, the giant buildings dwarfing the rest of us, sirens and beeping horns echoing off of buildings, helicopters and airplanes flying overhead, and the random trees planted in alleyways.

We passed Riker’s Island on our starboard as we were leaving NYC.

We passed an airway strip and planes flew right over us and onto the landing strip.

As we left NYC, the sounds faded and the buildings grew smaller and we entered the calm sea. And, as expected on a trip such as ours, we were met by pirates!

Thankfully the Pirates let us go and we continued on our journey. lol

We arrived in Bridgeport, CT safely and got some fuel. We were to meet some of Dad’s friends from the beach. The fuel guy was nice enough to let us tie up at the dock while our friends would be there. So we tied up (next to Unicorn, a steel-hulled ship made of the metal of U-boats) and then went up the dock.

Dad said we should take a walk around the docks and look at the dockside restaurant and shops. So we went for a stroll. We stopped in the dockside restaurant and asked for ice cream, but they had none so they recommended we get some from the ice cream the ice cream store on the docks. We thanked them then looked around the restaurant. They had some cool decorations. An old piano, long canoes, oars, pictures of the place years ago and a fish tank. It was nice.

Then we wandered out and looked at the small shops they were painted and cute shops. Unfortunately I left my camera on the boat and didn’t get pictures of them. Dad and Zani got Strawberry Sundae’s and I tried some Sherbert slushy. It had soda in it (and as you all know I don’t like soda), but it was okay. I felt bad I made Dad pay for it so I drank the whole thing. :P We found a trashcan for our remains near a mirror and we all had fun looking in the curved mirror which made us all look like squat sturdy people. It was funny. :) We then headed back to the boat and cleaned it up for company. Dad’s beach friends came and stayed for an hour or two with us. It was nice to see them again.

Signing off,
Victoria

Atlantic City to Great Kills Harbor

We woke up early today and left after some indecision. Deeper Season the catamaran we had met in Mobjack Bay changed their minds from yesterday and said they weren’t going to go today. The weather didn’t sound too good: blowing 10-15 knots and 3-4 seas so they weren’t going. Dad was concerned for Zani who gets seasick and after some debate and then a troller in our anchorage leaving too, Dad decided to go. So we dragged ourselves out of bed, put some clothes on and helped Dad with the anchor and the navigation out of the narrow channel.

There were a bunch of snow white herons as we headed out of the anchorage.


We got out of the tight channel successfully as the rising sun lit our backs.


There was a pretty beach to our port as we left the anchorage.

We left Atlantic City and started for Great Kills Harbor. The weather, as it turned out, was fine. A small breeze of 4-8 knots was all the blew and 1-2 foot seas. It was a beautiful ride. And a very nice day.
We had the best surprise that day by the sea! We saw a whale!!!!!!! Dad suddenly pointed and yelled “look!" and I flipped my head around and saw the back of the whale curving down into the depths of the sea. Zani wasn’t quick enough though and didn’t see him. But for a few minutes after we saw his spray from his spout, shoot up, so Zani got to see him that way. It was WICKED AWESOME!!!!! =D
It was a pretty uneventful day and a smooth ride. It was really cool to see the whale. Definitely the highlight of the day!
Signing off,
Victoria

Father’s Day: C&D Canal to Atlantic City

We left early this morning. I heard Dad get pull the up the anchor and after a half hour I snuck out of bed, careful not to wake my sister and snuck out and into the cockpit with Dad. The day was just waking the sun rose lazily with a light pink glow surrounding the sky around it. I said good morning to Dad and we hung out in the cockpit and together watched the day awake.
Zani came up a half-hour after I did and said good morning to Dad. I whispered to Zani when Dad was busy looking at his chart plotter, to go downstairs after me. She did, and remembered it was Father’s Day. So we each made Dad a card, grabbed his present and went up to the cockpit. “Happy Father’s Day!” we said excitedly swinging a present in front of us with smiles on our faces. Dad had no idea. He completely forgot it was Father’s day. So he was very surprised!
He read our home-made cards and opened his present. Dad said we made his day. (more than once!) =D

On the back of the card I made for Dad, I wrote a poem.
(poem below)

Keep On Going

You go through the C&D Canal,
And you hook up with a pal,
then you keep on going…

Sail through the Delaware Bay
and around Cape May,
then you keep on going…

Stop at Atlantic City,
where the lights make you dizzy,
then you keep on going…

Don’t stop at Sandy Hook,
Cause it’s really sandy gook,
So you keep on going…

Land in Port Jefferson,
Take the dingy for a spin,
Then you keep on going!!!!

In the C&D Canal the waters were pretty calm and we we’re able to cruise at 9-10 knots. (The current helped us out. ;) The sun was now rising high in the sky as we sailed along.


Then we sailed into Delaware Bay. Then to Cape May. As usual the seas around Cape May were a little rough. The waves were around four feet. So with wind, current and shoals all around us, we pounded through.

Up-up-up- Down! *splash*

We made it in one-piece around Cape May and headed for our Port O’ Call: Atlantic City.
We got there just as the sun was setting.

We had to go through a very narrow channel to get to our cozy anchorage.


To our surprise we saw Deeper Season there! We had met them in Put In creek. It was ironic that we saw them again.

Signing off,
Victoria