Shelter Island .... Saturday 29th September, 2012
At six o’clock it was still dark this morning. We ate breakfast before getting
underway. So keen were we to sail that
we put up the mainsail while still in the Great Salt Pond. We motored out to find modest waves with a
northerly breeze. Out came the genoa and we roared off at a spanking 3.5
knots? Consulting the GPS/chart plotter
we were actually making more like six knots.
This discrepancy was a bit perplexing as Mike has pulled the knot meter
and cleaned it before we left East Greenwich.
This was one of the last jobs we did on Thursday. Ah, the mysteries of the sailing vessel.
In contrast to yesterday, the seas were not really bad--some
swell with a bit of chop on top (sounds more like food than waves). Even the swell decreased as we got further
past Montauk. Then little by little the
wind got lighter until we found ourselves near the marker for Cerebus Shoal
and doing all of about 2.0 kts (or if you are reading the boat knot meter 0.3
kts). On went the iron wind and we
continued on our way toward Shelter Island.
After a bit we could see Gardiners Island. Somewhat later I, for one, could see almost
nothing. It was drizzling just enough to
cut the visibility, put lots of raindrops on my glasses and generally dampen
spirits all round. Eventually we arrived at Coecles Harbor on Shelter Island,
got anchored and had some lunch.
Lunch was followed by chores. These included (but were not limited to)
pulling the knot meter (again) and probing the innards of the rear holding
tank. The carefully installed tank
monitor seems to be reading ‘full’ perpetually…. We are happy to report that
the rear holding tank is virtually empty as we thought it must be. Less happily, there was not much to be seen
on the knot meter so that problem may persist.
A walk on shore (where else?), phone calls from Tasha and
Mike’s brother Martin, followed by a fine dinner of left-overs and spirits are
on the rise again.
Gloria
A grey morning west of Block Island
Off with the sunglasses and sun hats and on with the woolies and foul weather gear
A private dock in Coecles Harbor, Shelter Island, NY
Fir Cone
You two are brave souls! and still cooking up a storm. I hope it warms quickly. . . It is in the high 70s in VA; and still in the 80s here. . . keep up that southward momentum!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures as usual.
Hi Susan
Deletegreat to read your comments. We very much hope to see you if and when we make it to North Carolina