Rod’s Guest Blog

Rod’s Guest Blog

Wednesday 4th June, 2025

As readers of this blog will know, guests aboard Cotinga are expected and encouraged to write at least one blog entry recounting their thoughts and experiences during their part of this amazing journey that Gloria and Mike have embarked upon. This is my mine:

Way back at the beginning of October 2023, I joined Mike and Gloria (from East Greenwich, RI down to Morehead City, NC) for the first leg of this incredible  journey. In April of 2024, I again rejoined the crew of Cotinga for a portion of this cruise, enjoying nearly two weeks of cruising the Caribbean Islands of Antigua, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique and St. Lucia. So it seemed fitting to me that I rejoin the crew of Cotinga for the final leg home. After a bit of consultation and rapid planning, we all agreed to meet up in Norfolk (actually  Portsmouth) VA and continue from there to Cotinga's home port of East Greenwich, RI. Accordingly, I flew from RI to Norfolk, VA, a short hop of only one hour and 2 minutes!  After a shortish Lyft trip to Portsmouth I arrived at Ocean Yacht Marina and met up with Gloria and Mike, welcomed by a very loud outdoor concert going on in an adjacent venue.  The concert ended precisely at 11 PM, fortunately for us as we planned an early start Sunday morning. 

I am not going to recount in any detail our journey back to RI as Gloria and Mike have already done so.  They did ask me to write about my impressions of the trip back, so I will do my best. 

The first impression is of the incredible competence of Cotinga's crew.   They had our route, timing and provisioning for this final leg all worked out.  Over the years, I have seen how their abilities and skills as sailor have grown way past my much more limited skill and experience.   I would sail with them anywhere, anytime without any worries. 

My next impression/memory is that of being cold.  I don't know what I was thinking when I started packing clothing for the trip.  I had included several pairs of shorts, many tee-shirts, somehow thinking that this would be a balmy, warm cruise.   During the night watches on the way up the US coast to Atlantic Highlands, I was so glad I had come to my senses and included jeans, wool socks and may layers of outerwear!

My next impression is one of gratefulness.  When discussing our route back to RI, I expressed a desire to transit through NY harbor and the East River, a detour that would add several days and much complexity to the trip.  Gloria and Mike, I think, were somewhat anxious to get home, but they accommodated my request without a quibble.  

Although Cotinga and her crew have made this transit many times before, I have only done that once before and found it incredible to see all the hustle and bustle of the harbor and the buildings of Manhattan from the water.  As Mike has previously mentioned in his blog entry, the transit was rather more exciting than I had anticipated! 

A major part of sailboat cruising centers around food.   Mike is a great and enthusiastic cook and he turned out some really incredible meals.  Cooking aboard a sailboat can be very challenging due to space and boat motion, but watching Mike's cooking "ballet" was something to see. 

Despite Long Island Sound's notorious lack of wind, I never minded at all the hours we spent motoring to get home.  In fact, one of my last impressions of the trip was a feeling that even Cotinga wanted to get home. On our penultimate leg of the journey from Sag Harbor LI to Block Island, RI, I watched as Cotinga picked up speed as we approached the entrance to the harbor on Block Island.  We were motor sailing at this point and despite the fact that the wind had steadily been dropping to nearly zero, our speed through the water kept going up!  I really felt that Cotinga wanted to be in her home waters.

My last impressions/thought is of gratitude.  My sister and her husband have been so accommodating to me, not just on this trip but in all the trips past.  They have allowed me to do some cruising that I just never would have done without them. So, I just want to extend a heart felt "THANK YOU, THANK YOU" for all the good times I did have on this leg and for all the good times I have had aboard.

I don't know what Mike and Gloria have planned for the future with Cotinga, but may they always  have calm seas, sunny skies  and the wind at their backs!

Rod

Postscript: 

Rod - we just want to thank you for your kind words and for all your help over the years. It has been fantastic having you aboard, both on this trip and all previous ones. You are overly modest about your sailing skills - the truth is that most of what we know about sailing we learned from you, and every time we sail together we learn something new. Also, when it comes to boat projects it has so often been you that we turn to for help and advice. So THANK YOU!

We plan to post one final blog entry sharing our feeling at the end of this trip. We hope to have that up in the next day or two. We will then take a break from the blog until our next adventure, whatever that might be!

Mike and Gloria

The sun setting over the Great Salt Pond, Block Island (photo: Rod Breault)