Old Saybrook, CT

We needed a couple of items from the market on Tuesday, June 25 so Jonny took Archie for a walk to the local market while I had my Spanish lesson. It turned out the market was also Spanish!  Shortly after he returned, we left the dock at New Haven’s Pequonnock Yacht Club and headed out at 10 a.m. bound for another new stop for us in Old Saybrook.  We had a great cruising day with clear skies and following seas which can make it a bit rolly but tolerable.  We passed two lighthouses as we approached the entrance to Old Saybrook. 

We arrived in Old Saybrook Harbor by 3 p.m. and grabbed a mooring in this lovely big harbor.  Most of  the mooring balls are private but when people are away from their moorings they tie yellow ribbons on them so transients like us can use them. We were one of very few trawlers among an array of sailboats. The one in the second photo was very similar to the Atlantic City catboat that we used to own.

Old Saybrook is a quaint New England town and one of its most famous residents was Katherine Hepburn whose family had a summer home on the waterfront for years.  There is even a small local theatre and museum with her name which we were too late to visit. We dinghied into shore where we walked about a half mile to get to the center of town. The main street was lined with shops and restaurants.  There are many lovely homes and beautiful gardens in this historic town.

We would have stopped for a drink or a bite to eat but nothing called our name so we headed back to Zendo.  The leftover pizza from Pepe’s served as our appetizer and we had salmon and a mushroom medley for dinner. 

The next day we were going to an anchorage in Niantic, CT where we planned to leave Zendo for six days. We’ll be renting a car to drive to Ithaca, NY for Sophie Bracken’s wedding. We’ve been friends with the Brackens since Stephanie and Sophie were in day care together! After the weekend’s festivities we plan to drive further into upstate New York to visit our Arsht friends Mary Ann and David Reid at their home in Cape Vincent right across from the St. Lawrence River.  Quite the road trip!

New Haven, CT

When we woke up on Saturday, June 22 we were socked in by fog and could hardly see the shore from our anchorage in Copps Harbor.

We waited for it to lift a bit before taking Archie in to shore. The place where we tied up the day before was completely submerged by water because the tide was in. So we found another place at the end of a spit of land where Archie had a great time wading and chasing a stray tennis ball we found. Jonny kept finding deflated balloons from a nearby party and was collecting them to protect the birds and fish.

After a pleasant walk we returned to Zendo and pulled up anchor by 10:50 heading for the Pequonnock Yacht Club in New Haven.

It was a smooth crossing along the Connecticut coast and we arrived for our first time at the Peqonnock Yacht Club by 2:50. We maneuvered with a bit of difficulty into our assigned slip but discovered that it was too small - we stuck out by a couple of feet! So we were reassigned to another slip and when we arrived there we were greeted by local boat owners who told us that the owner of that slip was returning later in the day! So we were assigned to a third slip and fortunately the third time was the charm and we settled in quite comfortably.  This is a very nice yacht club with mostly sailboats and quite a fancy restaurant - formerly the Chart House.

That evening we were going to have dinner with my cousin Sally who lives nearby but there were a number of strong thunderstorms that didn’t abate so we decided to have lunch the next day instead. We hunkered down in our safe berth and looked forward to our time in New Haven where we would be seeing cousins from both sides and a fellow volunteer  from the Arsht Performing Arts Center in Miami. 

Sally arrived on Sunday morning and we headed over to Pepe’s Apizza for their famous clam pizza. Unfortunately we got there when the line was basically around the block. We couldn’t wait that long to eat so we went to another Italian restaurant that Sally knew where we had pizza and salad for lunch.  It was good to catch up with Sally who I only see once a year when we make these trips.

Later that afternoon, Jonny’s cousin Michael came to pick us up and bring us to his home in nearby Hamden. We had a nice visit with Michael and his wife Debby in their fabulous vegetable garden next to their chicken coops. 

Later on we headed over to the New Haven Green for a wonderful free outdoor concert with a unique group performing Inuit and Soul music! The performers were from Alaska and their music was creative, soulful and a lot of fun to watch as they performed with native instruments and dances.  

The next day we met our friend Alfredo who we know from the Arsht Center for lunch. This time we were successful at getting into Pepe’s and had two delicious pizzas.  Of  course, I had to have my favorite white clam pie with bacon which Pepe’s is known for. And we had their all meat pie which was surprisingly delicious. Alfredo gave us a ride back to Zendo and he came aboard to see how we live six months of the year. 

That evening Jonny and I went up to the yacht club for a cocktail before dinner. We had a fabulous view of New Haven Harbor and it was a fitting way to spend our last night at this marina. We are happy to have another option as a place to stay on this part of the Connecticut coast.

Norwalk, CT

On Friday, June 21 we took Archie for a leisurely walk in the park in Port Washington, NY since we were in no big hurry to leave. We saw a family of swans along the shore and Archie played frisbee and found a fellow doodle to wrestle with for quite a while.

It was a beautiful day and we wanted to catch the tide as we made our way across Long Island Sound heading for an anchorage in Norwalk, CT.  We didn’t leave Port Washington until 11:35. It was a very calm and peaceful crossing on what turned out  to be a very hot day.  

We arrived at our anchorage in Copps Harbor by 3 pm.  Who knew there would be such a tranquil and isolated spot in busy SW Connecticut - but Jonny found it!

We took Archie in the dinghy to a narrow spit of land with a rocky shore and tied it up with an anchor because the tides are quite dramatic there. We walked and walked along the shoreline of Chimon Island which was next to a state park named for Stuart McKinney, a well-known Connecticut legislator.  The shore was strewn with dead horseshoe crabs and lots of seashells.  Jonny and Archie were very happy campers and were interested to walk around the whole island. However, the sky was starting to darken and there were rumbles of thunder in the distance so we headed back to Zendo to batten down the hatches.

It started to rain shortly after we returned and we were glad to be cozy and dry inside.  We have been trying to nail down places to stay in the New Haven and New London areas for the next week.  We’re planning to visit friends and family in New Haven and we’re leaving Zendo in New London to drive to a friend’s wedding in Ithaca the following weekend. 

We had lamb chops and corn on the cob for dinner and spent a relaxing evening at this pleasant anchorage, However when we were getting ready to go to bed, the wind shifted in an unexpected direction and we started rocking and rolling. It wasn’t too bad though and we were actually nicely lulled to sleep.

Port Washington, NY

On Thursday, June 20 we awoke to another beautiful sunny day. While I had a Spanish lesson with my favorite tutor, Jonny took Archie for one more walk through City Island passing a place that we’ll have to check out next time. 

 

After that we prepared for our very short cruise over to Port Washington, NY. We had gone there the year before for the first time and really liked the town. It is very friendly to boaters with inexpensive moorings and a convenient launch. We left City Island at 11:20 and tied up at our mooring by 11:55, a short 35 minute run!

After getting a pump-out by the mobile pump-out boat, we took our dinghy into shore for lunch. We decided to treat ourselves by making reservations at The Wild Goose restaurant which had an appealing menu and very good reviews. We started to walk up the hill into town. It was a mile walk but Archie started to limp a lot and he seemed to have something that really bothered his paw. In addition to that, it was getting very hot so we called an Uber to take us to the restaurant. 

That was a good move and we were very pleased with our choice.  The Wild Goose was lovely, the menu had lots of great choices and our waiter was great. Archie settled into a corner and was very well-behaved. We each had a drink and were very happy with our choices. 

By the time we left, the heat had subsided just a bit, Archie’s paw was fine and we walked back to the dinghy which was downhill all the way! 

Port Washington is also great for cruisers because it has lots of shopping with Stop ‘n Shop and Target nearby. We stopped for some provisions at Stop ‘n Shop before returning to Zendo where we read and napped for the rest of the afternoon.  Our lunch was so substantial that there was no need for dinner. This was the longest day of the year and we were in a perfect spot to enjoy the waning light.

City Island, NY

We caught the 6 a.m. bridge opening on Tuesday, June 18 leaving our Glimmer Glass anchorage in Manasquan bound originally for Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn.  But it was such a nice day we thought we might be able to make it all the way to City Island instead. The seas were remarkably flat, perfect for cruising.  It was sunny and warm and not too hot considering that there was a huge heat wave expected in the eastern part of the country. Jonny had the great idea of anchoring behind the Statue of Liberty and having lunch on board while we waited for the tide to turn so we could run with it up the East River and on to City Island. And that is exactly what we did for about 90 minutes, enjoying our time in the shadow of that great symbol,

From there we headed up the East River passing under the iconic Brooklyn Bridge and other landmarks which Archie seemed to enjoy watching.  

We arrived at the South Minneford Yacht Club at 4 p.m.  City Island is one of our go-to stops.  We like it because it’s like a little New England sailing village right in the middle of New York City. It’s casual and homey with only one Main Street and friendly residents.  

It was important for us to be in a marina because we were having a terrible time with our water onboard which had a strong sulphuric odor to it.  Jonny needed to drain the tanks and then shock them with bleach which we were hoping would correct the problem.

That evening I made twice cooked pork tenderloin, summer squash, and salad for dinner. Afterwards we took Archie for a walk through town stopping to buy the needed bleach and some ice cream for dessert at this funky market.

The next morning we walked Archie to a nearby park where he played frisbee and had fun playing with another poodle.  Jonny then spent the rest of the day on our water problem.  It was a drawn out process since he had to drain the two water tanks, fill them with diluted bleach and let that sit for 4 hours, then drain them again and refill them with clean water.  Fortunately his time and effort paid off and we now have clean odorless water! Jonny is ever so resourceful!

While he was doing that I was working on my Spanish homework because I’m now temporarily taking lessons with two Spanish tutors! You would think I would be fairly fluent by now!

That evening we had leftovers for dinner and made plans for the next seven days of our journey including meeting up with some of our cousins in the New Haven area.

Manasquan, NJ

On Monday, June 17 we left at 6 a.m. to take advantage of the calmer morning seas along New Jersey’s Atlantic coast. It was sunny and clear with just one to two foot swells. Our original plan was to go to Barnegat Bay and anchor at Barnegat Light. As we entered the bay, the wind kicked up and there were lots of whitecaps. This is the spot where we have the option to continue to cruise on the intracoastal waterway which would be much calmer than the ocean. So because it was still relatively early in the day, we decided to continue on the inside.  Our timing was perfect because the ocean was becoming more and more uncomfortable and we wouldn’t have wanted to be out in it.

We headed north to Manasquan where we like to stay in our favorite Glimmer Glass anchorage.  Unfortunately when we arrived at the inlet we had to wait 90 minutes for the little bridge into Glimmer Glass to open.  We hovered in the nearby waterway as the bridge tender kept extending the time for the next opening.  

By 3:30 we were finally able to drop the hook and settled into our quiet little spot amid the many summer homes in this popular shoreline community.

We quickly took Archie in to the little nearby pocket park where we tied up to a tree. 

 

We have stayed at this anchorage for years but it was only since we had Archie that we discovered the charming village of Manasquan, just a short walk from the park.  The hydrangeas were in full bloom which was quite delightful!

We strolled into town and headed to a local Italian specialty shop where we had purchased delicious food in the past.  I had a plan for dinner but we ditched it and instead bought some delicious prepared food to have for dinner.  We had chicken Milanese, cacio e pepe pasta and roasted zucchini for dinner. A real treat!  Afterwards, Jonny took Archie for one last trip to the beach while I cleaned up.

We didn’t stay up late because we had to get up very early again for the next leg of our journey to Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn.

Brigantine, NJ

We left Cape May at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 13 bound for Brigantine, which is next to Atlantic City. We left early to take advantage of calmer seas on the Atlantic Ocean as we made the 5 hour cruise. The winds and seas pick up in the afternoon so we’ll be traveling early as we make our way up the New Jersey coast.

It was a sunny day with calm seas and comfortable temperatures as we cruised about 1 - 2 miles off the coast.  Unfortunately, it was just far enough from land to make it difficult for me to do my Spanish class by Zoom so I rescheduled it for when we stopped for the day. The Atlantic City skyline showcases the many casinos still operating there.  Unfortunately the town has seen better days.

We arrived at the spot where we would be using a mooring belonging to a friend.  We planned to keep Zendo there while we rented a car to drive to Connecticut for the weekend. We arrived at Glenn’s mooring ball by 11:30 and tied up.  Jonny took Archie into shore in the dinghy while I had my Spanish lesson.  We packed for our weekend away and had a light dinner.

The next day we dinghied to a marina by the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City where we met Glenn who let us tie up our dinghy to his dock while we were away. We had rented a car from Turo (individuals rent their own cars) and the woman we rented from brought the car to us - so convenient!  We drove the four hours to Fairfield where we stayed with our good friends, Peter and Paula.  I’ve known Peter since 5th grade, growing up in Fairfield together. We both met our spouses at UConn and we’ve all been friends ever since.  It was great catching up with them as we hadn’t seen them since last year and this was the first time that we had seen their new home. They had moved to Fairfield from Longmeadow, MA about a year ago. We went for a great walk in the woods with our respective dogs who got along fine by basically ignoring each other!

The next morning we all took another nice walk and drove by my childhood home.  Later Jonny and I drove to Stratford to attend a Celebration of Life for his cousin Steven, who very sadly passed away from Legionnaire’s disease this winter.  He had to be airlifted from Barbados, where they were staying, to Miami where he was hospitalized.  The event which was held at Steven and Anne’s home was very special with no more than 30 people, all of whom were either family or very close friends.  Lots of stories were shared amidst tears and laughter. Steven was a unique personality and he made an impression on everyone who knew him.  He will be sorely missed.

That night we went out to dinner with Peter and Paula. The next morning, Billy, another friend I grew up with, came over to visit after  having just flown in from Israel the night before where he had attended a second wedding celebration for his son and new Israeli daughter-in-law.  It is always great catching up with my old buddies who have now become Jonny’s as well!

After a quick visit, we said our good-byes and by 11 we were driving back to Atlantic City and Zendo to continue our 2024 cruise.  It was a weekend  packed with family and friends and lots of love.