Milford - at a dock

Finally got to sail

Hi this is Sarah here and today was a pretty quiet day. This morning when I got up it was very hot and humid. We had breakfast and then we said goodbye to Mattituck and headed over to Milford. We were able to sail but we only went 5 knots for our speed. Me, Matt, and Finn all took turns sailing the boat. After I read for a long period of time; so much that I was asleep when we were heading into Milford. I took the stern lines and helped with the fenders. After tying down the boat Matt, Finn, and me played card games like slap jack, knock, and exploding kittens. I won a good amount of those games and then Matt started to make dinner after, which are taco burgers (onions, and taco seasoning). So now were going to eat dinner and might watch a Kurt Russell movie after wards, bye!

The docks are nice and quiet

We were going to spend the rest of the trip at anchorages but when we looked at the weather report and saw a southwest wind predicted at 10 to 12 kts, we thought that was perfect for a long reach to Milford from Mattituck. But we made a fatal mistake, we broadcast our intentions before leaving the anchorage. That was the opening the weather gods wanted. Upon exiting the inlet, the winds were directly on the nose! The winds were out of the northwest and not the southwest! We should have hidden our intentions better to keep the weather gods guessing and maybe they would have guessed wrong. But usually in cases like that, there's no wind at all until you turn in one direction or the other, then it's right on the nose! We've even tried pointing at somewhere we didn't want to go but to no avail, the weather gods knew better.

In the end, nothing beats ice cream

In the end, we just clocked over enough away from Milford to get some sailing in at the expense of having to motor the last two hours into the wind to make up for the sailing while not pointed at Milford. On the positive side, everyone had a turn at the helm sailing and they all did fine. We took a dock at Milford Landing Marina and Matthew prepared dinner. I took everyone out for ice cream at one of the best places on Long Island Sound, Scoopy Doos. 

On Wednesday we're headed  back to Port Jefferson and one of our favorite anchorages where the kids can go swimming again. This time the winds are predicted to once again be out of the southwest but only at 4 to 5 kts, not enough to sail. At least the kids will be able to swim which is pretty important.

Mattituck Federal Anchorage

Our anchorage

Howdy! It is I the long lost Matthew! I make my triumphant return with a trade off at Branford with my younger sister Natalie. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the boat for more than a day sail. After a strong scrubbing of the cockpit, we had a pleasant ride out of Branford. We spotted a sub and went bonkers trying to get the binoculars up so we could take a closer look just to realize it was a tug and barge. The wind was real sassy today. Wouldn’t give more than 5 knots the whole ride over until we were just put the sails away when it picked up to 15. We are now anchored in Mattituck. I went ashore with Grandpa to get some supplies while Finn and Sarah swam off the back of the boat. Motoring the dink back and forth from shore to the boat was like riding a bike, one doesn’t forget the ever important landing maneuvers. For dinner we’re having some salsa and cheese chicken. I’ll be onboard until the end of the voyage on Sunday and will be adding to the blog till then. Happy sailing!

Now

Then

Matthew joined us for the rest of the trip. It's the same Matthew that we took to Maine 9 years ago! He's gotten a lot bigger, 240 lbs worth! We wanted so much to sail today but the wind just would not cooperate. It maxed out at 7 kts with 5 kts being the norm. So we motors all the way to Mattituck. 

The anchorage here is ideal. It's big enough for a half dozen boats but we're the only one present for now. There's a free dinghy dock provided by the town and lots of shops a short distance away. There's even a supermarket about 1/2 mile down the main road to the right not to mention the laundromat nearby too. 

Free dinghy dock too for access to town

We'll spend the night and the crew voted to return to Port Jefferson so they could all go swimming again on the beach by the anchorage. The water holds a big attraction for kids. 

Branford - at a dock

Kiddy heaven, it's part of the dockage fee

Today was cool. Finn here. We actually SAILED today. My little brother left today too. I was really sad though I didn’t cry. Mathew is on the boat now. We went to dinner at Lenny’s. I had a huge burger. I could barely finish my fries. Today was a fun day. Good-bye.    

Crew duty;

Our sail today was rather short. We had 22 miles to go and couldn't afford a 6 hour trip at 3 kts (the wind was averaging 7 kts from directly aft of the  boat). The big attraction of Bruce and Johnson is the great swimming pool for the kids so we wanted to arrive in time for a good bout of swimming to exercise the crew. I waited until we were underway before formally making the reservations over DOCKWA, the only way they would accept the reservation. You credit card is charged at the time your reservation is accepted and you'll forfeit 1/2 of the dockage fee if you don't show up.

Fried food may not be best for you but it sure tastes good when it's done right

The other great attraction is Lenny's. It's a famous seafood restaurant that does fried clams like no other restaurant in the world. It's been featured by the New York Times as one of the very best for that speciality on the east coast. They have other menu items but it's like going to a French restaurant and ordering a hamburger. It would be good but it's not what they are best at. Nevertheless, one of our crew did just that! We tried to pretend he wasn't with us but he was too close by.

Our new crew for the next week

Sadly, Rowan chose to go back with Monique today and Natalie had to return for a chance to be in a play. On the other hand, Finn and Sarah stayed and we picked up Matthew who will be a junior at Roger Williams University this fall studying architecture. We will restart our adventure with our modified crew on Monday and head over to Mattituck for their town anchorage, no more marinas the rest of the way.

Port Jefferson - at anchor

Yet another beach, this one at Port Jefferson

This is Sarah here and today was a great day! We started the morning with a nice breakfast and decided to head to port Jeff around 10. Grandpa pulled up the anchor, then I was able to steer the boat for a bit. We were able to put up the main sail and the jib, but we had to keep the diesel on because there wasn’t enough wind in our direction. It is really fun steering the boat because I like to learn so in the future me and Finn can have a boat of our own. Also it is nice to feel the wind in your hair and the water at your side. After I made lunch for my cousins and we were still just cruising along. We anchored, but had to move more further away from shore because of the depth and we went to the nearest beach. It was really nice going to the beach because I thought that the weather was hot and gross. After swimming and spending some time at the beach I stayed in the dink with Natalie to help Grandpa walk Hoolie. Now were settled down and just about to watch a movie before dinner, thanks for reading, bye!

Whatever you do, do not feed the swans at Port Jefferson I did once and found they were impossible to get rid of

Although the weather is nice for the Sound, the wind is not cooperating. Today we had less than 6 kts, not enough to even fill the sails. We headed out anyway since we wanted to get to Branford and the swimming pool at Bruce and Johnson with a dinner at Lenny's. When we arrived at Port Jefferson and immediately everyone headed for the beach! There's nothing like water to keep kids happy.

One of the great things about cruising Long Island Sound are all the excellent anchorages for free, many of which have sand beaches for kid entertainment. There's Manhasset with the free moorings, Northport by Sand City Island, Port Jefferson right by the entrance to starboard, Manatuck with the free anchorage area, Stonington with its designated anchorage area, North Cove free anchorage, and so on. You can cruise the entire Sound without every having to stay in a marina. The only problem is you do not always get wind.

We'll leave in the morning to reach Branford so the kids can enjoy the pool to their heart's content. We will meet Monique there and see who wants to get off the boat and who wants to stay for another week. 

Northport by Sand Island - at anchor

Just add water, instant diversion. Lots of splashing resulted a few moments later.

Hi, I’m Rowan, I’m seven years old and this is my first cruise! Today we went to the beach!!! We had fun today doing motoring down the river. I saw two beaches and a catamaran in the morning. I splashed around in the water and I saw two seagulls.

Playing with my new 40x zoom, this nest is about 1000 ft distant

Tonight was Rowan's turn at the blog. We had to endure a raining morning and we didn't get started until 2:00 pm after waiting for the rain and winds to die down. Meanwhile the kids baked donut holes and made pizza for lunch (busy hands and all). The bad weather finally abated and we were off. The wind died as predicted but there were rollers coming head on to the boat as we headed east so we pitched up and down quite a lot, more than I expected. Rowan seemed immune to all the motion but the others felt it more although nobody got sick. Rowan was up and down the stairs, inside and out in the cockpit, no difference. The rest were subdued.

Starting to get some sunsets

Once at Northport, everybody wanted to take a trip to the beach at Sand Island. The anchorage is very protected and the beach is a popular place with the locals. The beach is more pebbles than sand but it had water to splash around, sold!

Tomorrow is predicted to be a sailing day so we're all looking forward to a sail to Port Jefferson and another appointment with a sandy beach.  

The bridge replacing the Tappan Zee impressed Rowan no end

Hi I’m Natalie and I have been spending time on the boat with my grandparents and cousins having the time of my life. This week we went down the Hudson River using the diesel. Yesterday we spent a nice part of are day going down the Hudson on are sailboat and we had the most prettiest trip. Today we went through New York City and it definitely was rocky! We saw water taxis, ferries, and cruise ships and it was beautiful seeing the city side. On are way through New York City, we saw the Empire State Building, the Freedom Tower, and the beautiful Lady Liberty given to us from France! There was so many barges going by and the New York Harbor was so rocky that all 4 of us kids had to wear life vests! We’re in the beautiful mooring field of Port Washington and tomorrow we’ll be headed to Northport. We will have a lovely ride down the sound tomorrow and maybe we’ll be able to sail tomorrow! Wish us luck on our journey, Bon Voyage! Oh before I forget, the answer to the riddle Finn had yesterday is: Nothing, Nothing is greater than god, Nothing is more evil than the devil, the poor have Nothing, the rich need Nothing, and if you eat Nothing you will die!    

This elicited a big "Whoa!" from Rowan

Well we had quite a day today going down the Hudson River, around the Battery, and through Hell Gate. Our timing was not ideal with slack tide due to Hell Gate not until 3:30 pm! We left around 10:00 from Croton Point and the tide was against us about 1/2 the way. At the end we were doing 10 kts! From past experience I was expecting a fierce tide against me towards Hell Gate and I had one at first but it lessened and even though the current tables predicted a 2.5 kt tide against me, it was actually slack at Hell Gate. It was a rather smooth trip compared to our past trips through the area.

Everybody rushed out to see the Statue of Liberty

That's not to say there wasn't a lot of rocking and rolling! The water taxis ensured our ride was not smooth all the way. All the kids had lifejackets while up in the cockpit south of the George Washington bridge until past Hell Gate. What could be heard the loudest was, "Whoa!" from the youngest, Rowan, whenever he saw a barge or large ship. There were a lot of "Whoa's."

Who designed this!? Everyone thought it was weird

One "Whoa" was reserved for the Statue of Liberty that everyone recognized in the distance. The kids took pictures but with all the rocking and rolling, I'm not sure how well they turned out. Another great attraction is steering the dinghy. They all take turns including Rowan but the big challenge is docking to the aft of Fleetwing. Some come in too fast, some too far away, but they are learning. We do riddles during the quiet moments while motoring down the river. Finn and Natalie are great riddle fans.

All the kids piled into the dinghy for a ride to shore and a chance to drive the dinghy, a very big thing here

We'll just spend one night here and head out for Northport on Friday. There's a sandy beach there for exercising the kids. It's not so far so we should be able to sail at least part of the way. We have tentative plans for Sunday night at Branford if the weather holds.

Croton Point - at anchor, July Adventures on Camp Fleetwing

They were fascinated with the large ships going by

Today was AWESOME!!! This is Finn by the way. Today we sailed down the Hudson river. My grandfather gave us some riddles to try to figure out. The one I got stuck om was what is greater than God but worse than the devil what do the poor have and the rich need and if you eat it you will DIE!!! The answer will be in Natalie's blog tomorrow. We just anchored at Croton Point. I took a swim off the back of the boat and snorkeled a bit. Today was an AWESOME day but sadly I didn’t do any more than that. So I am sad to say this but BYE!!     

Exercise is a big part of keeping the crew happy

Today was quite the adventure on Camp Fleetwing. We have four grandkids aboard on a 42 ft sailboat. We do have two cabins but that's hardly enough room for four active kids. Their first task was to dewater the dinghy which was done amid much splashing with most of the water exiting the dinghy. We took on fuel and then we were off! The weather could not have been better with a high in the mid 80's and cool breezes. The kids gawked at the large ships going up the Hudson River and we motored on to anchor at the north side of Croton Point. 

Part 2 is keeping the crew fed!

Ann prepared a one pot meal with sweet and sour chicken which the kids enjoyed and we're resting  before everyone hits the hay. I think they are going to bed much earlier than they ever do at home. Our motto is, "If we're ready for bed, then the kids are too!"  At least the swimming off the back of the boat did tire them out just a little (but not much!). 

The Captain and Admiral are ready for bed! Now to convince the crew...

Thursday we head for Manhasset Bay via Hell Gate and the East River. Everybody will be wearing lifejackets for that trip. It can get rough through New York Harbor and especially through the East River with the tugs stirring up the water. There's no swimming in Manhasset Bay so we'll have to find another way to exercise the kids.