Back to May 2002
Saturday, June 1st • Cape May, NJ
AmyThis is a lay day for us. We're waiting for my aching neck to get better and for a good weather window for the 36-hour trip to Block Island. I got a fine massage after breakfast to move things along. We went ashore at mid-day. Bought salmon at the fish market at the Lobster House Restaurant. Nice change from pasta.
Sunday, June 2nd • Atlantic City, NJ
AmyThe whole anchorage emptied out at 6:00 a.m. We were headed for Block Island, but most other folks were headed up the Jersey Coast. We decided at about noon to hang a left into Atlantic City and give my neck one more day of rest.
Our afternoon in Atlantic City was interesting. An hour after we arrived, a gusty little wind picked up. The dinghy flipped three times, the main salon hatch got caught in the wind, flipped backwards and cracked and our luncheon chips flew about the cockpit. I now know what people mean when they say they find Atlantic City exciting. About an hour after it started, our little wind went away. We would have suffered less damage if we had stayed at sea.
A large building next to Harrah's blocked our view of the sunset. Happily the building subsequently lit up like a Christmas tree and gave us a fine light show as a consolation.
Monday, June 3rd/Tuesday June 4th • Offshore
AmyThe forecast is for not much wind. We headed out of Atlantic City for the thirty-hour trip at just after 6:00 a.m. The day was very quiet. The only action all day involved negotiating a fleet of sport fishermen. We did see two sea turtles but other than that no wildlife. Also, our head broke.
The bulk of the action came after dark as we crossed the New York City shipping lanes on our way towards the south coast of Long Island. During my first watch I was juggling four ships simultaneously. During my next watch there was just one ship to worry about but it was heading in our direction in a hot hurry. As you might suspect, we survived the experience but were glad to finish with the shipping lanes.
Morning found the wind blowing in our face at about 18 knots. We had 45 miles left to go and we needed a wind shift in a bad way. As we rounded Montauk Point, at the Eastern end of Long Island, and turned into Block Island Sound we were able to sail, pointing for all we were worth. What a nice sail we had as we headed for our first landfall in New England.
We spotted the red buoy off of Block Island's Great Salt Pond at about 1:00 in the afternoon. We also spotted the stern of Alize, a Tartan 3800. Alize is from Scituate and we had last seen them at Lynyard Cay in the Abacos. It turns out they were just completing the three day trip offshore from Norfolk. As we passed them in the harbor they were frantically pumping up their dinghy for a not very patient golden retriever who was dancing on the deck.
As we arrived in Block Island we really felt like we were home. The architecture was New England; the smells were of New England and the boats in the harbor all had ports of call we were familiar with. We both had mixed emotions. Although we are excited to be back near our family and our friends, our return to New England means that our cruise is nearly over. Our next stop will find us back in Massachusetts.
That's all for now, folks... Thanks for visiting!
