We left the Old Lyme Dock at 9:50 for the short cruise across Long Island Sound to the Mitchell Point Marina in Greenport. Three helpful dockhands greeted us upon our arrival and helped us tie up. Of course, Jonny frequently reties everything to his own specifications! We were already surrounded by other trawlers that were here for the conference.
We were in Greenport for three days for the MTOA (Marine Trawler Owners Association) NE Rendezvous, our first here in the northeast. We had never been to Greenport before so we were anxious to see it. It is on the north fork of the eastern edge of Long Island and only has 2000 residents. A ferry runs from Greenport, which is next to Orient Point, to New London, CT which just happens to be one of our next stops. The welcome sign featured our mascot, a turtle, symbolizing the rapid pace at which we travel!
Immediately upon our arrival we saw people we knew, having been members of MTOA since 2014. After a quick lunch on board we ventured out onto the grounds surrounding the marina which were quite nice. A large park was adjacent to us and behind it was an indoor carousel filled with happy children. It was a great place to walk Archie and we did an initial exploration of the town. Northport is really a charming and very authentic town, not as chi-chi as some of the other towns in the Hamptons. There were inviting shops and restaurants on the town’s Main Street, some that were quite old and others that were newer and more trendy.
Afterwards I went back to Zendo to prepare my contribution to the evening’s pot luck dinner - a new and quite delicious broccoli salad recipe from the New York Times.
By 5 we were enjoying docktails on a nearby dock followed by a well organized pot luck supper. We started meeting new MTOA members primarily from New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts and greeting others who we already knew.
The conference started the next morning with a number of interesting workshops and guest speakers. It was especially helpful to meet people who were very familiar with the areas that we planned to cruise in this summer. We received so many recommendations of places to visit and people to meet that there’s no way we can do all of it. But we will definitely act on many of the recommendations including the offers of mooring balls and free dock space as well as great anchorage suggestions!
As one of only three board members present, Jonny received some very nice recognition and on the last night we were thrilled to be awarded a gift for having come the most distance to attend the conference. It was a quilt with a map of the New England coast and since we are both New Englanders by birth (Connecticut), it was especially meaningful!
We enjoyed spending time with Pat and Joe Apicello who had kindly offered us to keep Zendo at their mooring ball at their home in Falmouth, MA when we travel to Seattle in September. We also made some tentative plans to travel with them prior to that, perhaps Cuttyhunk Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Maine.
We also met with several boaters who were interested to hear more about our trip on the Down East Loop in 2015 which we did in our first year with Zendo. It was a 2400 mile cruise on the “road” less traveled.
The last night’s dinner was at a local barbecue restaurant - which was casual and fun. The food was really good and because we were one of the last ones to leave, the restaurant encouraged us to take a lot of the uneaten food home with us. More on that in a future post. On our way back to the boat we passed this lovely concert in the park adjacent to our marina. Such a nice small town vibe here in Northport!
Poor Archie had to stay on Zendo everyday while we were at the workshops and dinners. We tried to take breaks throughout the day to take him for walks and he was very good the whole time. However, on the last night as we arrived back at Zendo we ran into a couple outside of our boat who were from Niantic, CT next to the town that Jonny grew up in. They knew Jonny’s mom and we were chatting for awhile. Unfortunately poor Archie could hear us and he was anxious to get outside. We didn’t let him out fast enough and he punished us by peeing on the rug and on our bed! That’s the first time he’s had an accident on the boat but we can’t really blame him since “when you a have to go, you have to go!”
All in all, it was a very worthwhile experience and we feel we’ve made some wonderful new friends and contacts. The next day after the last breakfast event, we’ll be heading to nearby East Hampton to visit some old friends.
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