Milford, CT

We left our Northport, NY mooring at 9:35 on Monday, August 2 to cross Long Island Sound bound for the Connecticut shore.  The skies were overcast but the seas were calm as we made the four hour journey.  The Connecticut coast is lined with hundreds of these traditional beach houses.

We had a little trouble finding an affordable marina or mooring along the SE Connecticut coast. We were looking for a place to stay close to Fairfield because my sister, Lisa, was in our hometown staying with friends and we wanted to be close by.  We found an excellent solution at the Milford Boat Works that was located deep in a long boat-filled harbor just a couple of towns up from Fairfield.

This proved to be a perfect place to stay. The owner is vey friendly and accommodating, the docks are in great shape, it’s a short walk into the center of town and the laundry is free!

Although we are both from Connecticut, neither of us was very familiar with Milford other than passing through on the Post Rd. (US1) or on 95, the main highway.  What we  discovered was a very lovely and historic town with a beautiful green running through the old town center.  And our marina was just a couple of blocks away!

Lisa arrived promptly at 4:00 and what a wonderful reunion we had after not seeing each other for over a year and a half due to Covid!  This was also the first time that Lisa met Archie and they were both very excited to meet each other!  Archie fell in love with her right away!

A little later, Lisa’s friends Jane, Michael and Dara came by for drinks and appetizers.  Lisa has known them since childhood. Jane and Michael live in Fairfield and Dara visits each year from her home in Paris.

We all walked up into town and had burgers at Archie Moore’s, a popular restaurant chain in the area. On the way back some of us indulged in some ice cream at the stand just a few hundred yards from our boat.

Lisa stayed on board with us for two nights - a first for her. She was happily ensconced in the V berth and when Archie discovered her whereabouts, he snuggled up with her every morning.

On Tuesday morning we took Archie for a long walk on the Milford Green.

Jonny kept busy with  numerous boat repairs (changing out the bilge pump and pumping water from the bilge as we now have a leak in our water tank).  Lisa wanted me to see Jane and Michael’s cool home in Fairfield so we took off and left Jonny with the laundry to finish as well as his regular list of chores.  We then undertook a hunt for a new small shop vac for the boat without success.  By the time we returned to Zendo, the boat repairs and the laundry were completed. What a great husband!

That evening, our cousin Sally, who lives in Woodbridge came on board for cocktails. We hadn’t seen her since last summer when we were in the Thimble Islands.  We walked up to a little hole in the wall restaurant called Seven Seas to have lobster rolls. They were delicious albeit quite expensive ($30).  Apparently this is due to limited supply, high demand and the reopening of the economy.

The next day was a lazier one. After walking Archie together and just hanging out, Lisa left in the afternoon because she had an event that evening where a number of her friends from elementary school were getting together at a local brew pub. She was very excited to see everyone.  We had a great visit with her and hope to see her again next week when she returns from a road  trip to Maine.

In the evening we were joined by Jonny’s cousin Michael and his wife Debbie who live in nearby Hamden.  For those who have followed this blog in the past you may recall hearing about them as the people we were visiting when the tree fell on our rental car during a big storm last year.  After a quick drink onboard Zendo, we walked back into town to eat at yet another good restaurant called Bistro Basque.

We sat outside in their charming patio area and practiced our Spanish with the very engaging owner who was taken by the fact that Michael’s daughter Aviva lives in Spain and his nephew by marriage is from the Basque region.  We had fabulous tapas and good wine and a very fun time!  We’ll see more of Michael and Debbie at our next stop in the Thimble Islands where we are headed the next day.

We will definitely return to this very comfortable marina, whose lawn is graced by this magnificent tree, on future visits to the area.

Northport, NY

We left City Island on Saturday, July 31 at 11:20 for the short 3.5 hour cruise to Northport, NY.  There were lots of sailboats on the Sound clearly relishing the breezes and the beautiful weekend weather.

Our efforts to secure a mooring in Northport for two nights were proving difficult. We were able to reserve one night at a mooring field close into town.  Finally, we booked two nights at a mooring at the Northport Yacht Club but when we arrived and contacted them to tie up, they directed us to a mooring ball that was adjacent to the area where we could anchor for free! So we said no thanks and dropped anchor in a perfectly fine location.  We were across from some of the amazing homes that line the waterfront here.

As soon as we got settled we took Archie on the dinghy into the town dock which is located adjacent to a big beautiful village green overlooking the water.  This area turned out to be a perfect place to practice some of the skills we’re trying to teach Archie.

Northport is a historic maritime village on Long Island’s north shore and is part of the town of Huntington. It was originally called Great Cow Harbour and was settled by 17th century English colonists.  It is very pretty with lovely Victorian era homes. Some of the streets are partially cobblestoned and Main St. has the remnants of an old trolley rail down the middle of it.  The village is extremely welcoming to boaters and dogs and we met many people enjoying the park and outdoor restaurants.

After strolling through the village center, we stopped at a tiny local brew pub called Sand City for a beer and chatted with a nice young couple who had sailed over from Fairfield (Lynn’s hometown) and who were expecting a baby the following week!  That evening we ate dinner on board and experienced a very calm and comfortable night at anchor.

The next morning Jonny inflated the paddle board for the first time this trip and took off for a paddle. He returned after a short time to see if Archie wanted to try it. Our little dog was game and took to the paddle board like a champ! We were so proud of him and captured the excitement on video!

By the time they returned to Zendo it was time for breakfast so we took the dinghy into town to have breakfast at Copenhagen Bakery which had great reviews.  This was a  very casual place with lots of outdoor seating. We put our orders in and found a table where a local band called Memory Lane was playing oldies from our era.  They were quite good and we enjoyed both the music and delicious omelets that were particularly chock-full of our designated ingredients!

In the afternoon we moved Zendo closer in to the harbor and took a mooring ball at Seymour’s Marina.  It was a great location, much closer to the village and we could take advantage of the launch to bring us in.

Later in the day we took the launch in and walked around town again and had a beer at another pub and met more friendly people and their dogs.

That evening we had an easy crab cake and zucchini dinner on board Zendo and finished watching A Bronx Tale on Netflix. After hearing of our adventures in Bronx’s Little Italy, our friend Henry, who is from the Bronx, recommended that we watch it. We thoroughly enjoyed this movie that  Robert DeNiro directed and starred in, especially after we had just been to the area that it was all about.

All in all we very much enjoyed our stay in this affluent but unpretentious and welcoming village.  We are excited about our next stop which will be across the Sound in Milford, CT where we will see Lynn’s sister Lisa who we haven’t seen since before Covid!

City Island, NY

On Thursday, July 29 we left our Coney Island anchorage at 10 a.m. and took advantage of the favorable currents as we headed to New York City. We went under the iconic Brooklyn Bridge and cruised up the East River.  We passed all of the wonderful landmarks and vistas that are NYC.

We sailed through Hell Gate at one of our fastest speeds ever passing sailing vessels that were headed against the fierce current. We can’t imagine that they made any headway at all!

By 12:45 we arrived at the Harlem Yacht Club in City Island, one of our favorite places to visit.  From the name of the club, one would think it is in Harlem but it definitely is not. The club was established in 1883 on the banks of the Harlem River and is one of the oldest yacht clubs in the United States. In 1894 it moved to  City Island. The clubhouse was destroyed by fire in 1915 and replaced by the current structure.

There are no docks here, only mooring balls.  We took one of the two beautiful launches to the yacht club and walked into town to find a park for Archie to play in. City Island is only 1.5 miles long and a half mile wide.  It’s very much like being in a small town. No building appears to be more than three stories tall and it feels like one big neighborhood.  On the weekend it can get quite busy because it’s known for its seafood restaurants but midweek was as quiet as can be.  

We met a man and his doodle who brought us to a big empty ball field where the dogs could play off leash to their hearts’ content. We met this same man twice more during our visit. He was with the NYPD and was so warm and engaging. He took us to see his boat that he kept at another yacht club on the island.  People here are so friendly and welcoming - we always enjoy our stay.  

On Friday, after taking the launch and Archie in for his daily constitutional, we left him in his crate and took the bus to Arthur Avenue in the Belmont section of the Bronx. We had read that as little Italy in Manhattan has shrunk over the years, Little Italy in Belmont has thrived. So we had to check it out! By the time we arrived we were very hungry and we found a fabulous place for lunch at Zero Otto Nove (089 is the area code of Salerno, Italy).   There we had an amazingly delicious lunch - a peppery arugula salad, spicy short rib appetizer, and a luscious mafaldine (new to us) pasta  with broccoli rabe and almonds. We ate almost every bite before remembering to take a photo!

Afterwards we strolled up and down the streets following all the recommended shopping spots from the research we had done. At the Calabria Pork Store, where the ceiling was lined with hanging sausages, we bought sausage and salami. At Madonia Bread and Bakery we bought luscious olive bread with whole olives embedded throughout.  We also bought cheeses, olives and a package of our new favorite malfaldine pasta. And at Borgatti’s Ravioli and Egg Noodles we bought two boxes of ravioli and a package of cavatelli.  Mr. Borgatti was captivated by the fact that we had traveled so far on our boat and insisted that we meet his wife who makes all the ravioli.

Later on we stopped at an outdoor cafe to have an espresso and cannoli and we noted that the street was named Mario Borgatti Way. As luck would have it Mr. (Chris) Borgatti, who we had just meet at his ravioli store, was walking by. We called out to him and of course he remembered just having talked with us. He told us that his father had started the business in 1935 and died at 97 in 2014.  A petition was drawn up and passed to name a section of the street in his honor.  What a great way to end our visit to Bronx’s Little Italy! 

We boarded the bus back to City Island and took the launch back and forth to give Archie yet another walk. Even though we thought we were full from our day in Little Italy, Jonny prepared lamb chops on the grill and corn on the cob for us to have for dinner and we managed  to eat it all!

On Saturday morning we took Archie for one last launch ride and walk in the park as we decided whether we would stay in City Island another day,  go into Manhattan or to Northport on Long Island’s north coast. After much discussion Northport won out because we had tried to go there last year but our dinghy engine cord broke on the ride in and we never made it.  So onward we go, leaving our charming little City Island until next time!