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Sunrise over Buzzard’s Bay
Wind farm construction ship
We departed Popes Island in New Bedford Friday morning, at the crack of dawn. Actually, before the crack of dawn. Winds were not forecasted to be favorable to our direction of travel and that turned out to be true. We set out with the intention of reaching Fishers Island, a beautiful island off New London, CT so we could have a quick visit with cousins Margie and Joe Pagliarulo. We also had intentions of Sylvia being able to work while we were in motion. Well, the motion proved too intense to allow reading and typing so we decided to bail out on the plan. We packed it in early and were at anchor off Pt. Judith, RI by early afternoon. While at anchor, Sylvia was able to get the needed work done and the wind continued to build. Ultimately, it built to over 25 knots (about 29 MPH) with higher gusts, from due west, the direction we were headed. The anchorage, called the Harbor of Refuge at Pt. Judith is protected by a sea wall, but just barely. The waves had grown big enough to occasionally break over the wall at high tide. We spent a rocky but safe night at anchor there.
Dang blasted AP drive
While we are not superstitious (it is said to be bad luck to leave on a Friday,) we did have some bad luck on the sail– motor-sail, mostly. The autopilot, seeming recurring bane of my existence and very important crew-member, started to fail. It would steer for a while, then lock up and not work. We had to hand-steer a majority of the last three days. More to come on this subject below.
On Saturday, the wind had not abated and it was still blowing from the west. It was forecasted to decrease and shift to the NNW later in the morning, so we decided to get moving toward Fishers Island and dinner with my lovely cousins. The AP was still refusing her duties so Sylvia and I spent a long morning and afternoon of hand steering to FI. We arrived safely and were picked up at the FIYC, Margie and Joe are members, and shuttled to their awesome house for a much needed walk on the beach and shower. We had a delicious dinner of sea bass caught the previous day by Joe, cooked to perfection by the same. Margie completed the meal with potatoes from her garden, spinach and salad, also form her garden. After dinner, they took us back to the yacht club and we dinghied back to Sans Souci with full bellies and fond memories of the evening. Unfortunately, we didn’t think to take a picture with them!
Sunday we had a leisurely morning and left the anchorage late morning bound for New London. We found a spot to anchor near a marina and we decided a walk was in order. We got some steps in and explored the New London lighthouse. Tomorrow, after work we will Uber to Defender Marine in the next town west and I’ll buy a new AP drive. Hopefully we can get it installed and working so we can get on down the road toward New York City and Hell Gate.
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Sunday we had a leisurely morning and left the anchorage late morning bound for New London. We found a spot to anchor near a marina and we decided a walk was in order. We got some steps in and explored the New London lighthouse. Tomorrow, after work we will Uber to Defender Marine in the next town west and I’ll buy a new AP drive. Hopefully we can get it installed and working so we can get on down the road toward New York City and Hell Gate.
Hello, Sylvia! Looking forward to reading more about your adventures!