Reflections on our Journey

Reflections on our Journey

Friday 6th June 2025

This is the end of our fourth prolonged period living aboard Cotinga. 

2012-3        Bahamas as far south as Georgetown

2017-8        Caribbean down to St Vincent and the Grenadines

2020-1        East Coast USA down to Key west and the Dry Tortugas

2023-5        Caribbean down to Grenada

We have been at home for a few days now so it’s time to do some reflecting.

As the departure day drew closer, I became more apprehensive about the whole concept. So many months away from home, friends and family seemed very daunting. Adding in the uncertainty of the weather and sailing conditions made the prospect seem overwhelming. Now I find myself wondering why I was quite so worried. Overall we had a really good trip. Mostly the sailing was good—enough wind to move along with seas that were manageable. There were more challenging moments but they were few. I would say that I mostly enjoyed the trip. We visited many islands, met many great people and saw lots of terrific birds. We have a large number of places to which we would like to return—Puerto Rico, the DR and

Dominica to mention a few. Whether we will re-visit these places on a future boating adventure or by air travel, remains to be determined. Some places —such as the Ragged Island or Tobago Cays can only really be reached by boat. We will see what the future holds...

The near future will certainly hold plenty of work on the boat. It was a bit of a shock to have so many breakages/failures during the trip. Then there are the numerous “repairs/upgrades” that were too much to undertake while away from supplies and power tools. Just the much needed canvas repairs/replacements could fill up a lot of my time. Bigger projects such as re-bedding the chainplates and addressing deck leaks and fixing engine leaks will keep Mike busy for some while. While it is great to be home, it is an adjustment to resume life on “the hard”. I’m sure it will take some time. We very much hope to keep in touch with many of the people we met on our trip. Narragansett Bay is a lovely cruising ground, so we hope that we will be able to entice some friends up to this area.

Gloria

It always seems a little bitter - sweet to return. On the one hand we are happy to move back in to our land-home, with all the space and creature comforts (AC, working oven, etc) and garden, and it will be great to see family and friends. On the other hand, I feel somewhat sad that this particular journey is over. I like the lifestyle of living in our marine-home, the beauty and variety of the places we visit and the camaraderie of the sailing community. This time it seemed a little harder than previously. I think part of that is the realization that we are getting older and that this might be our last time taking the boat down to the Caribbean. We did seriously consider leaving Cotinga down in the Caribbean so we could fly down on a regular basis and cruise in the winters, but in the end we decided not to do that. We don’t want the hassle of managing the boat from so far away and we don’t necessarily want to be constrained to that particular plan. However, from a more positive point of view, I believe that I do have enough energy to get the boat back down to the Caribbean one more time if that is what we want to do. I think we would also both be excited to return to the Bahamas, and that’s a much easier proposition. 

This journey was an outstanding experience. We covered about 6000 nautical miles, explored some truly amazing places and met some exceptional people. It was a really good idea to split the trip over two years and leave the boat in Grenada for hurricane season (although we got lucky not to sustain any damage when hurricane Beryl hit the area whilst Cotinga was ‘on the hard’).  It’s a long way down to the Caribbean and takes quite a lot of effort to get there. It was great to be able to take it a bit slower once we were down in the tropics and really have the time to explore. It was also wonderful to have the opportunity to re-visit some of our favorite spots whilst working our way back up through the windward and Leeward Islands on the second half of our trip, and to do so with friends and family. Once we left the Virgin Islands we took a completely different route back to the USA, visiting several countries that were new to us (Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic) as well as some of the remoter parts of the Bahamas that we had not been to previously. So both years of our trip stand out in different ways.

On the whole, Cotinga has stood up to the rigors of the journey pretty well. The marine environment, particularly in the heat of the tropics, is brutal on the boat. It was shocking and a little scary how something seemed to break every day that Pete and Jo were with us after we relaunched in Grenada! Most of these we were able to resolve at the time, such as the raw water engine leak and alternator failure, but not the water-maker, it is toast. During the trip we had some seam failures on our mainsail and the dodger, and in general the stitching on the canvas work has taken a real beating. Our sails, sail cover, dinghy chaps and Gennaker bag all need work and our fender covers are in absolute tatters! We still have some issues with the engine that need repairs (fresh water leak on the heat exchanger, transmission fluid leak from the gear selector seal, and possibly a small oil leak of as yet unknown origin) and the transmission probably should be serviced. We have a couple of stanchions and a lifeline that need replacing after I screwed up a docking maneuver in the marina at Samana and got tangled with an anchor on the bow of another vessel ! We had a few problems with our navigational electronics and wind instruments and we plan to replace some components. In fact, we have a really long list of boat projects that are either essential or optional, depending on how we plan to use Cotinga in the future. 

The past 12 years have given me an incredible opportunity to photograph our travels. For me this has been one of the best aspects of living on the boat. As some of you know, I finally completed my first photographic book last summer and self published it through Blurb. “The Years Afloat - A Photographic Journey (2012-2021)” is available on Blurb.com. As I worked to complete the book I had to draw a line on not including any new material, otherwise I would never finish. In fact I made that decision before we set out on this trip in 2023, even though we were continuing to cruise, and so none of the material that I have taken in the past two years features in the book. To be honest, by the end of this passage I was beginning to run out of steam taking pictures and recognize that it’s time to move on to a new photographic project … I’m just not sure what that will be at this point. I am fortunate to own some excellent camera gear and it has seen a lot of use. However, much like the boat, that gear has taken a beating and no longer functions as it was intended. Like many other delusional photographers , I am quite convinced that a new camera will take my photography to new heights, but maybe I should figure out what I plan to take photos of first!

Mike

Our immediate plans are to enjoy some down time at home. We have lots of projects and activities that we are excited to do. We don’t know what longer term trips we might make, on land or at sea, but as our health so far remains good, we are in the enviable position of being able to pursue our dreams … we probably can’t do everything and might have to make some choices!

It is human nature that the most recent experiences are those that are at the forefront of our thoughts. In this respect the blog is fantastic for us to go back and remind ourselves of all that we have done in the past 2 years, so we are the real beneficiaries. We hope you also enjoyed it. Thanks you for reading and being part of our journey.

Until the next time !

Gloria and Mike

The Years Afloat - A Photographic Journey (2012-2021) has an introduction followed by eight discreet chapters. In this final post I have gone back and selected the one photo from this trip that I would most like to have included. (All of these pictures have appeared on previous blog posts)

Sailing Day and Night: Crossing the Comer Channel on route from the Ragged Islands to Long Island, Bahamas. (Why this one ... because of the astonishing color of the water)

Sea and Sky: On route from Montserrat to Nevis. (Why this one ... because of the dead calm conditions, approaching squall and overall atmosphere. One of my favorite photos from this trip) 

Weather: Heading to St Thomas. (Why this one ... we are ~ 5 days out from Morehead City, NC, hundreds of miles from land and there is no wind at all. Not bad weather, but not conducive to sailing ... we almost ran out of diesel. As I look back on the photo collection I realize we had very little bad weather and certainly very few shots of dramatic weather to chose from !)

At Anchor: Mosquito Bay, south coast of Great Inagua. (Why this one ... the amazing color of the water, with the sea floor visible, but the horizon a blur between sea and sky ... another shot with dead clam conditions!)

People: Annandale Falls, Grenada. (Why this one ... the children frozen mid-air with the girl in the background gazing up into the waterfall ... and the red shorts!)

Nature: Purple Throated Carib. (Why this one ... the flash light has caught the iridescence of the throat and the overall lighting is good, with a clean non-distracting background. It's like a studio shot out in teh field)

Buildings and Bridges: A collage of murals, Portsmouth, VA. (Why this one ... it's a bit of a cheat because it's 13 photographs compiled into the collage, and of course the artwork is not mine. But I really like the overall effect and I think it leaves a positive impression of these wonderful murals).

Abstracts: The stern of a blue boat reflected in the water, the mangrove lagoon Carriacou. (Why this one ... to me it looks like a painting of a seascape, perhaps with the moon rising or a lighthouse in the center. I just really like the picture ... and everything in this lagoon was destroyed when hurricane Beryl hit a few weeks later)

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)

Back to the Block

Back to the Block

Saturday 31st May to Sunday 1st June

After we arrived at Sag Harbor it blew like stink. We have had so little wind since Rod arrived in Portsmouth it seemed strange to suddenly be bombarded with 20+ knot winds. We felt completely secure aboard Cotinga, with plenty of swinging room and 100 feet of chain out. However, the harbor was so choppy that none of really felt like launching the dinghy and heading into town. It would have been a very wet dinghy ride. So on Saturday we spent the whole day hanging out in the boat, reading books and eating!

We expected the winds and seas to subside on Sunday and envisaged a leisurely downwind sail with ~ 15 knots of westerly winds. Positive tidal currents would either be early in the morning or from mid afternoon onwards, and when conditions didn’t improve as early as we hoped, we decided to split the journey in two. In the morning we would follow a winding route through relatively sheltered waters around the south side of Gardiner Island and then anchor on the east shore for a few hours. We could then complete the remaining 23 miles direct to Block Island later in the afternoon. 

We raised the full main sail and pulled up the anchor (with some difficulty) at around 8am and headed out of Sag Harbor. It turned out to be a wild ride. The winds were still consistently in the low 20s, with gusts up to 32 knots! The navigation through narrow channels and shallow water was tricky and required some exciting gybes. As we turned north, before tucking into the lee of Gardiner Island, we had a lot of spray flying over the deck and cockpit. Once anchored, we were well protected from the waves but still experiencing the gusty winds. We cooked lunch and postponed any decision to go or stay until later in the afternoon. 

By 3 pm it was clear that conditions were improving and we once again set sail with the full main. In contrast to earlier in the day, this turned out to be a leisurely passage. During our lunch stop we had moved the dinghy from the davits to the foredeck in anticipation of rough seas. However, although somewhat rolly, the waves were better than we expected.  Ironically, as we approached Block Island, the winds became so light that we fired up the engine and motor sailed the remaining 6 miles. Once inside the Great Salt Pond we dropped the main sail and picked up a mooring. There have been several occasions when we have arrived at Block Island and there hasn’t been a single mooring available. Today we counted just two other boats on rental moorings! We had Cotinga squared away by 8pm in time for a pretty sunset. We cooked up Pasta al Ametriciani (sp?) and had a cosy night on board.

It’s great to be back at Block Island. It has become something of a tradition for us to stop here at the end of our years afloat. Today we will go ashore and enjoy walking around and tomorrow we plan to complete the final leg of our journey back to East Greenwich.

Mike

41 11.022 N, 71 34.628 W

Powerboat moored at Sag Harbor

Ditto

Sailing to Block Island - 6 x multiple exposure taken with a wide angle lens on a tripod, in an attempt to illustrate the roll. You can get out your protractor and measure the angle!

Late afternoon sun in Block Island Sound

For anyone who knows Block Island, this is a shocking sight ... hardly any boats in the anchorage!

The last of the sunset ... it was still quite cold outside!

Port Jefferson and Sag Harbor

Port Jefferson and Sag Harbor

Thursday 29th and Friday 30th May, 2025

On Thursday morning, a fine mist was blowing across the harbor.  The chill from the previous night was still present.  This didn’t deter us from going to shore to buy some bread.  However,  the wind and waves were enough to make it a damp dinghy ride, especially on the way back.  We thought we would spend another night in Oyster Bay … but after lunch, having consulted the weather forecast, we changed our minds and decided to go back to plan A and move on to Port Jefferson that afternoon.  

The trip northeast up Long Island sound was characterized by about 5 knots of wind coming from north of east (of course).  Strange steep waves were encountered early on, perhaps a consequence of the stronger winds earlier in the morning and an opposing tide. Thankfully, these gave way over time.  We managed to get into the harbor without fighting with the ferry.  We anchored fairly close to the entrance and found only one other vessel anchored in this area.  Adjacent to our anchorage was a huge mooring field with not a single vessel present!  Admittedly, the weather has been cool but to find no boats seemed strange.  We passed a quiet night and most of the morning in this lovely area. We left the harbor with the large ferry in hot pursuit!

To minimize the hours of adverse current, we timed our departure for 10 am.  The trip to Plum Gut was estimated to take seven hours.  By the time we got there, the current would have changed direction and speed our transit through the Gut.  Initially, there was some wind and we sailed for about an hour, but the decline in wind strength finally led us to revert to motoring. Later, the winds picked up a little and with some positive current we were able to sail for another hour. By the time we approached Plum Gut the sails and current were pushing Cotinga along at about 9 knots.  This was not fast enough to outpace the ferry and we were forced to alter course to get out of its path. The ‘rules of the road’ are quite clear and sail has priority over power. Our responsibility is to hold steady and they are required to change course, but some boat captains seem to like to play chicken, so we thought it wise to get out of the way.

Once through the Gut, we turned more south toward Sag Harbor and into the direction of the wind.   Ten knots of true breeze was suddenly more like 15 knots apparent wind, making for a chilly passage.  It already seemed like quite a long day but the presence of pot floats meant we had to keep a sharp lookout for the last 1.5 hours.  Entering the bay we wound our way through islands and shoals to the “anchorage”.  We found a mooring field that was quite widely spaced and slotted Cotinga between some moored boats.  Knowing that the weather was going to become somewhat fierce, we let out plenty of chain and backed hard on the anchor.  We plan to ride out the strong westerlies that are forecast for Saturday in Sag Harbor. If conditions allow, we plan to visit the town.  If not we will hang out on board and get bored! 

Gloria

41 00.524 N, 72 16.867 W

The 'Dainty Dog' high and dry at the dinghy dock Oyster Bay (see previous blog entry)

Rod bursts into giggles after realizing that he is being photographed whilst taking photos himself

Overcast and little wind on route to Port Jefferson

overcast but low sunny lighting up the seas

Ripples on the water

I took this photograph of a pansy in Atlantic Highlands and wanted to post it, but had so many shots from the passage through the east river that it got dropped out.

Transit of the East River

Transit of the East River

Tuesday 28th to Wednesday 29th May, 2025

A passage up the East River of New York City is a memorable experience. If you time it right it can be a blast … if you don’t, I imagine it could be a miserable experience. When we arrived in Atlantic Highlands around 4.30 am on Tuesday, we saw another boat pulling up anchor, presumably to make the journey up to Long Island Sound. For us, departing on Wednesday morning, we figured we need to be up and on the move by 5 am.

After a few hours sleep on Tuesday morning we spent some time cleaning and tidying the boat (and ourselves!) before taking the dinghy into town. We wandered around, had a good lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, seated out in their garden, and did a little food shopping. Back on the boat we rested, ate a light dinner and had an early night as we were all still tired from the passage up from Norfolk. Getting up at 4.30 am the following morning seemed way too early, but we did have the anchor up by 5am and were motoring north across the Bay towards New York City. 

The sunrise was colorful, but unfortunately a layer of low cloud made the rest of the day grey and uninspiring. The light was flat and poor for photography. Rod was at the helm as we passed under the huge Verrazano Narrows bridge and made our way towards the Battery. New York is a very busy harbor and he had to dodge countless tug-barge combos as well as ferries. At one point we had Staten Island ferries approaching us from in front of us and behind, as well as another smaller fast ferry on our side. I think it was a stressful experience for Rod! However, our timing was perfect and we arrived at the Battery just in time to catch a positive current northwards through the East River. We moved briskly past lower Manhattan, the United Nations building and under the Brooklyn Bridge. We saw the damaged Mexican tall ship Cuauhtemoc tied up just north of the bridge - such a tragedy that it crashed under the bridge. As we passed Roosevelt Island things started to get really exciting! We encountered a large tug-barge, thankfully before the Hells Gate S-bend, and our speed surged. The water was swirling all around us and we set a speed record for Cotinga recording 13.5 knots over the ground. Given that we were probably motoring at 6.5 knots it means we had up to 7 knots of positive current. Needless to say our passage through the East River was fast.

Once under Throgs Neck Bridge we turned north into Long Island Sound and motored through glassy waters up to Oyster Bay. The shore line in this area has some of the most incredible stately homes that you can imagine. We dropped anchor off the town, just as it started to rain. In the mid afternoon Rod and I took the dinghy ashore and wandered around whilst Gloria rested on board. Oyster Bay is a pleasant, well-to-do place; a wealthy rail commuter town for New York City. It seems more up-market than Atlantic Highlands, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear to us. It also has 8 foot tides and when we returned to the dinghy we found it half out of the water, rocking on the base of the outboard motor and keel … not great planning on our part, but no damage done.

p.s In the evening it felt so cold and damp that we ran the heating system (Espar diesel forced hot air) for the first time since leaving Morehead City in November 2023 !

Mike

40 52.884 N, 73 32.364 W

Tremendous cloud lighting at sunrise ... leaving Atlantic Highlands

Manhattan from across the bay, with the Verrazano Narrows bridge visible on the left

Lower Manhattan with numerous barges in the foreground

A tugboat in a hurry (to get to breakfast?)

Lower Manhattan

I love seeing all the buildings, but the light was poor for photography

The Brooklyn bridge with Manhattan behind and the Mexican tall ship Cuauhtemoc tied up on the north side of the bridge

A horrifying sight ... the ship was swept backwards into the bridge at night shortly after the ceremonial departure. There were more than 200 people on board, with sailors up the masts. At this point it's not public knowledge what went wrong, but two people died and many others were injured. A terrible tragedy that strikes fear into the heart of any boat captain.

Swirling waters in Hell's Gate. We saw sustained speeds of > 12 knots and hit a peak of 13.5 knots!

Dead calm waters as we start making our way out of the East River and up Long Island Sound

Steppingstone Lighthouse, north of Throgs Neck Bridge

Flat seas in Long Island Sound