Bristol, RI

Jonny delivered a thank you note and bottle of wine  to Judy and Don and gave Archie one last walk on Wednesday, July 13 before we left Groton at 7 a.m. We were bound for Bristol RI, a historic town on Narragansett Bay.  It was a sunny day with pleasant temperatures but the seas were somewhat rolly as we passed Stonington, Fisher’s Island, and Watch Hill.  Once we passed Port Judith and got into the Narragansett Bay, the seas calmed. We saw lots of sailboats that were participating in the International Rolex Race. What a beautiful sight!

We continued past Newport and up the bay until we approached Bristol.  We had never been here before but chose it because it was a convenient place to meet Gerhard, Andy’s friend who has kindly offered to take care of Archie when we go to the San Juan Islands in Washington State in September.  We wanted Gerhard and Archie to meet each other and it was a perfect opportunity for us to see Gerhard again.  We tied up at a mooring ball in a nice calm harbor filled with sailboats.

Jonny picked Gerhard up at the dinghy dock and he came on board for a drink. Then the four of us (including Archie so Gerhard could see how well-behaved he is) headed into Bristol for dinner. We were delighted by the charm and beauty of Bristol as we walked down the main street towards S.S. Dion, the restaurant I had chosen.  There were several restaurants to choose from in Bristol but this one had such a good review by a fellow chef, that I thought it sounded best for us. And so it was! We had a delicious dinner with a variety of seafood appetizers that we shared and some delicious main courses. We really enjoyed our conversation with Gerhard and we felt really good about leaving Archie with him.

Originally we were going to leave for either Cuttyhunk or New Bedford the next day, but we decided to spend more time exploring Bristol so we extended our stay for one night. We headed into town and walked all around the historic center which is lined with lovely old homes from the early 1800’s, most of which were bedecked with American flags.  It turn out that Bristol calls itself the most patriotic town in the U.S. since it has one of the longest running 4th of July parades in the nation.  The town even has replaced the white stripe down its main streets with a red, white and blue stripe that defines the entire parade route through town.

It turns out that Bristol also has a darker history. In addition to its prominence as a boat-building and marine center, its leading family from past generations, the DeWolf family, was a significant slave trader. In fact, the slave industry was a major source of the wealth of this town. The DeWolf family was responsible for the trafficking and enslavement of over 10,000 people from Africa!

After strolling through the lovely and well-kept downtown area, we had a delicious lunch at a French restaurant called Le Central.  And later took Archie for his first swing! 

From there we walked a mile and a half to tour the Blithewold Mansion and Gardens situated on the edge of town overlooking the water.  The mansion was built by a well-known industrialist who died shortly after it was finished.  His family eventually transformed it into a beautiful home and garden. They eschewed the more ostentatious Newport style and chose a more natural and “rustic “ setting. We enjoyed strolling though the gardens and lawns which included the largest sequoia tree east of the Rockies, groves of bamboo and many lovely nooks and crannies.

As we walked back to the boat, the skies darkened and thunder was rumbling in the distance. We debated rushing back to Zendo or taking cover in Aidan’s, a popular pub.  We chose the latter thinking we could wait out the storm and avoid getting wet. It worked! But actually the rain circled all around us and we managed to avoid it completely! Naturally, we had to order the local Narragansett beer on tap.

We finally headed back to Zendo and had a good dinner on the aft deck consisting of grilled lamb chops,  potatoes and zucchini. We were watching some sailboats futilely attempting to race each other with their colorful spinnakers trying to catch the non-existent breeze. The moment caught in the photo below was quickly over.

We were very glad to have stayed an extra day here.  The waterfront towns in this area are just beautiful! The plan for the next day is to sail for the New Bedford - Fairhaven area.

Groton, CT

It was a calm night at anchor but by early morning on Sunday, July 10 the wind had changed and it got very rolly in Gardiner’s Bay.  Sophie and Ernie had invited us to come in early for breakfast before heading out.  Climbing into the dinghy was pretty challenging in the choppy bay but we managed to do it and Jonny rowed onto the beach. After a healthy and satisfying breakfast, they walked us back to the beach and we said our good-byes. Taking the dinghy back to Zendo was even less pleasant and pretty dangerous.  It took several attempts before we could get all three of us up onto Zendo.  With some difficulty Jonny finally got the dinghy properly secured and we were on our way by 9:30. Never again will we take our dinghy out in such rough waters!

Our destination for the day was to cross Long Island Sound again and make our way to Groton, CT. The trip to Groton was somewhat rough until we passed Plum Gut (the inlet between Gardiner’s Bay and the rest of Long Island). Once we got past that area the rest of our cruise was smooth sailing. 

Before going to Groton we pulled up to the beach in New London.  Three of Jonny’s high school classmates had contacted him to say they would be at the beach that afternoon and we should come by, and so we did. They were in town for their high school reunion which Jonny had to miss but they wanted to get together and see each other. They hadn’t seen each other for over 50 years! So we dropped the anchor near the beach and dinghied in to spend a couple of hours together. It was a great opportunity for them to reminisce and catch up with each other after all these years!

We arrived at Groton by noon and tied up on a mooring ball at the home of Jonny’s cousin Jimmy’s in-laws, Judy and Don. What a beautiful setting!  They had a very nice dock at the foot of the expansive lawn that sloped down from their home.  When we are in this area we usually stay in Jonny’s home town of New London at Crocker’s Marina. Jimmy had been urging us to stay at his in-law’s and now we understand why. 

Jimmy, his wife Robin, and Robin’s parents, siblings, and their kids were all gathered on the patio and we all enjoyed wine and nibbles together. What a warm welcome!

Jimmy had generously loaned us the car he recently bought for his kids who had just left for a birthright trip to Israel - a sleek black BMW convertible! Lucky us!  We would have transportation to get around to all the favorite places we like to visit when we’re in the New London area.

The next morning we took a long walk along Avery Point and the beautiful nearby neighborhoods. Archie was in heaven because he could run and frolic on Judy and Don’s huge yard and the lawns surrounding Avery Point.  This is the site of a branch of the University of Connecticut but it was previously owned by a major industrialist, Morton Plant, who built a beautiful and imposing home on the site along with his other homes in Newport and New York City’s 5th Avenue.

That afternoon we drove just 15 minutes to New London where we had lunch at one of our favorite waterside restaurants, Captain Scott’s.  We had a lobster roll and fried clams. Yum!

Of course that was followed up by a trip to Michael’s Dairy for their delicious ice cream which we ate on their grassy lawn.  These are two of our obligatory stops when we are in New London. 

We also stopped at Defender, the famous  purveyor of all kinds of boating equipment, to purchase a few items that we needed. Jonny has to replace the faucet in our shower which is leaking.  Then on to Home Depot to buy a drill to replace the one that went missing from our boat during its stay at Spencer’s Boatyard. 

We were sufficiently stuffed from lunch so Jonny, at least, didn’t want dinner. I, on the their hand, found room for the leftover pasta and scallops.  I only did it to make room in the refrigerator!

The following day after my Spanish lesson we went for a paddle on one of Don and Judy’s kayaks to a nearby sandy island.  Archie did well on the kayak perched between my legs. When he got to the beach, he went crazy running around the rocky shoreline, splashing in the water, and searching for crabs.  We get such joy out of watching him - whatever he does!

In the afternoon we discovered that Zendo was sitting on sand. The tide had receded so far that it actually took a couple of hours before we were floating again! No harm done but something we’ll need to be aware of in the future.

That evening, our last in Groton, we took Jimmy out to dinner at the On the Waterfront Restaurant in New London after picking him up at his business - Mallove’s Jewelers. He drove us back to Groton and we said our thanks and goodbyes.  This was another wonderful visit and we’d love to stay at this location in the future which Judy and Don encouraged us to do.

East Hampton, NY

On the morning of Saturday, July 9 Jonny was his usual energetic self and brought two load of laundry (including the peed on bedspread and blankets) up to the local laundromat before breakfast.  We then went for one last quick farewell breakfast with the MTOA group after walking little Archie.  We said goodby to our old and new friends, picked up the clean laundry and set sail by 11. The day was sunny and mild with a light wind and almost no humidity - perfect sailing weather!

Our destination for the day was Gardiner’s Bay in East Hampton to visit our friends Ernie and Sophie French.  We had visited them last year and they live in an ideal location.  Our anchorage was just a two block walk to their house.  We arrived at noon and dinghied up to the beach there. The only people who use this lovely beach are the few homeowners who live nearby. We have never seen more than four or five people there and usually fewer.

Archie was thrilled to run around the beach and sniff out dead crabs in the sand.  He also found a few pals to frolic with.

We hung out with Ernie and Sophie on their lovely deck and ate the leftover barbecue and fixings from last night’s farewell dinner along with other goodies that Sophie had prepared. 

After a couple of hours of catching up on our lives, Sophie drove us over to Sag Harbor where we walked the docks and let Ernie regale us with tales of who owns which fabulous boat in the harbor there. The most interesting thing was to see one of Billy Joel’s houses on the main drag with his boats docked right across the street. 

Sag Harbor is charming and busy and fun to explore.

We rewarded ourselves with ice cream cones before heading back to their home where we feasted on more of the leftovers that just kept on giving!  It was starting to get dark by 8:30 so we  took the dinghy back to Zendo and had an early night on anchor. It was a fun day!

Greenport, NY

On Wednesday, July 6 we were bound for the MTOA Rendezvous in Greenport, NY.  We took a lovely walk along the boardwalk in Old Lyme and chatted with a few people who were out there crabbing. The grounds around this marina are stunning.

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.