Snakes On A Boat!

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By Rich

Before long, we’re going to be convinced that if we do this cruising thing long enough, we’ll have seen pretty much everything. This weekend we cancelled our planned overnight cruise to St. Michael’s in the face of forecasts of strong northerly winds for Sunday. Why choose a destination to the south that would cause us to beat our brains out coming back uphill to return home? Instead we decided to power north to Rock Hall for a return visit to the ridiculously picturesque anchorage in Swan Creek so we could be driven back downhill on Sunday. The Creek was absolutely everything we remember it being from our trip last year and rivaled many of our New England destinations on the bliss-o-meter. Continue reading Snakes On A Boat!

Cruising Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club

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By Rich

Seawanhaka was my childhood yacht club, so I think it only fair to disclose a personal bias right up front in blogging about a visit there. Having stated that caveat, and even adjusting for personal bias, our visit to Seawanhaka made for one of the best evenings we’ve experienced this summer. That’s quite an accomplishment given that we’ve had one hell of a great season cruising New England waters! Continue reading Cruising Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club

Cruising Port Jefferson

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By Rich

Take one part ferry terminal port, one part tourist village and one part scenic mooring field, mix it all up in a pot and you have the somewhat odd concoction that is Port Jefferson. Located on the north side of Long Island about half way down the Sound, Port Jefferson is a great stopping point for cruisers making their way from one end of Long Island to the other. And odd though it may sound conceptually, Port Jefferson ‘works’ really well as a scenic cruising destination all its own. Continue reading Cruising Port Jefferson

The Dumbest And Most Reckless Thing I’ve Seen On The Water Yet

By Rich

On these pages I’ve had occasion to speak of certain power boat operators I’ve come across in derogatory terms.  I hate to generalize – I really do. I have every confidence that there are plenty of skilled and responsible power boaters (I know some of them, and some read this blog!!) and plenty of lousy sailboaters as well. But for whatever reason – maybe there are more powerboaters, maybe the sport attracts a different mentality, or maybe power boats’ relative ease of operation lulls their skippers into over confidence – I seem to see much more foolish or irresponsible behavior on the part of power boaters than I do sail boaters. Continue reading The Dumbest And Most Reckless Thing I’ve Seen On The Water Yet

Single-Handed Passage: Newport To Port Jefferson

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By Rich

It’s late August, and with our scheduled Newport-area cruises complete, we decided to start the trip home to Annapolis via a slow September cruise of Long Island Sound. As the first leg in the journey, I decided to work on building some new skills by making my first single-handed passage. Although I’ve done a fair amount of single-handed day sailing since we bought Le Saberage late last summer, single handed passage making would stretch a whole new set of muscles. Continue reading Single-Handed Passage: Newport To Port Jefferson

3 1/2 Hours Of After-Work Bliss

IMG_7780By Rich

Last Friday after work the conditions were perfect for a little after work single handling. There’s nothing quite like dropping the mooring on a whim, rolling out the jib, and banging around the Bay with the main still under it’s cover. Before I knew it over three hours had passed and I still couldn’t resist one more bounce across the eastern passage of the Narragansett.

Pure bliss.

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Return To Block Island (And A Heavy Weather Sail Home)

IMG_7631By Rich

This weekend we returned to Block Island with our good friends Erik and Shannon to see if we could broaden last week’s experiences with a bicycle tour of the interior of the island. We motored out Friday in a very weak breeze and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon and evening on the mooring followed by the obligatory drinks & dinner at The Oar. Continue reading Return To Block Island (And A Heavy Weather Sail Home)