Dateline: Fogpoint Cove, RI, July 24

Ahoy all.

Since the July 11 Club Rendezvous in Oyster Bay, ILENE has been on the move. Some Harlemites are interested in how we cruise.

Well first we cruise with our 18 and 15 year old kittens, Alphie, the calico and Cruiser.

We have not made long passages this year, as in the past when we got up to Maine and Canada. And so far, no new harbors for ILENE.

First stop (Day 2) was on anchor on Cold Spring Harbor, only 5 NM from Oyster Bay (no sails raised on that passage) and we did not leave the boat but enjoyed home cooking.

Then (Days 3 & 4) two cross-Sound passages to a “free” mooring in Zeiglers Cove near Norwalk (11 NM) for dine aboard, and back to a paid one at the Huntington YC on LI, for a day sail with a friend. (18 NM). I recalled the pleasures described by William F. Buckley in one of his sailing books from going from CT to LI on weekend cruises — beamy reaches. We went slowly but were powered by wind. Zieglers is a great spot where one sometimes has to anchor out (not this time) until the many power boats leave for the night. We were the only night residents in the cove, as usual, but a different fleet greeted us in the morning:

Day 5, Port Jeff (20 NM), a long slow, light wind sail, but a sail, to a “free” mooring in the mostly empty mooring field behind the beach. Again, home cooked. Days 6 & 7, to Mattituck (28 NM) and through Plum Gut to Greenport (29 NM) were sadly, mostly motoring days. Sails up but not enough wind.

In Mattituck we anchored in the basin but I made a stupid mistake: tying the dinghy, fore and aft, to the non-floating dinghy dock — too closely — at high tide. Returning after shopping and dinner the dink was hanging from the dock. Bowlines are great knots but don’t release well under strain. Fortunately I was not injured and the dink was not punctured when I got in, cut the lines and we dropped. Next morning I dinked over a bottle of wine for the lady fisherwoman who lent us the knife and helped out.

Greenport has no anchoring area and we were introduced to the high cost of cruising these days. The Shelter Island YC would rent us a mooring for $143, but a perk offered by Safe Harbor Marinas, where we have wintered ILENE, is “up to three consecutive nights at any of their Marinas, subject to availability”. With a big storm we took the dock. Their price, if we had not been comped: $10/foot/ night!!! We cleaned the boat, visited a favorite art gallery and restaurant and took in “The Odyssey." And Greenport was our first lay day so far (Day 8).

Then to Three Mile Harbor, a glorious, fast very broad reach in big wind using full main but no headsail (12 NM, but less sailing because exit and entrance miles were powered by the Yanmar). A delicious dinner at Fresco restaurant in Easthampton after dinking in from our $100 per night mooring (and not even any launch service supplied!)

Day 10 we went north of Gardiners Island, along the whole south coast of Fishers Island and through Lords Passage into Fishers Island Sound to drop anchor in Stonington, CT (35 NM).

Sadly, not enough wind so mostly motoring. Stonington has a relatively small anchorage area marked as such by buoys, because much of the former anchorage is filled with rental moorings. We found a good spot and were delighted to find that we were not crowded by late arriving boats when we returned from town.

Next stop was a $60 rental mooring in Newport RI for days 11 & 12. The passage was terrific, with wind of 17 to 20 knots, 60 degrees off our starboard bow, most of the way from Watch Hill Passage to Point Judith Light, where it came to the beam after we turned into Narragansett Bay. We used main and small jib. I was not playing the tides (our strategy was just to get to port before the rain) but I think we lucked out and had favorable tide the whole way. The lay day was for a dinner with an actress friend who moved to RI during Covid.

Lots of fun shore activities in Newport.

Day 13 was in beautiful Bristol RI (14 NM). With a late start and light winds from the north after several tacks slowly up Narragansett Bay’s East Passage, we gave way to motoring after an hour. We filled our starboard water tank at the Bristol YC’s dock, bought a 20 pound block of clear solid ice without bubbles and took our $60 mooring The launch dropped us off in town for French cuisine and, via a call to the operator’s cell phone, picked us up after the ice cream. And today is Day 14. We had planned to anchor at Newport’s Third Beach in the Sakonnet River but Southeast wind prompted an audible: Fogpoint Cove provides better protection from forecast Southeasterlies.

I hope to continue reporting periodically. Please ask questions.

Enjoy the summer; we plan to join the Labor Day Rendezvous.

Best, Roger