Onward’s Cruise Journal 2016
New England & Chesapeake Cruise


Updated: 22 Oct 16


September 2016


1 Sep 16; Thursday; Gloucester

  • The weather was a bit better today but still not great. I learned that one of the huge homes on the shore nearby is a museum. It had been the home of a leading US interior designer and he used it as a showplace for his craft. The couple who bought it when he died left it as it was with each room having a unique design based on a historical or literary theme. I would love to visit it and the Hammond Castle — but will have to wait for better weather.
  • Another day watching Hermine and I was convinced it was going to present a continuing threat. I took a chance and called Paul at Wickford Marina where Onward had hidden out from two other tropical storms. By good luck, he had an open slip available for a week so I immediately made the decision to depart for RI early in the morning. Other than that, I didn't' get much done due to the TS blaahs.
  • We Ventured in and I visited the Home Center to look for parts to fix the forward sink drain. There was no direct replacement for the broken sink to 1 1/4" NPT thread adaptor. I managed to piece together two potential MacGyver solutions.
  • Valerie and the children met us for dinner at the Beauport Hotel. This is the hotel we saw them building when we were here last year. It had recently opened and they did an amazing job. The ground level contains a parking garage and the hotel begins well above storm surge level. The restaurant, bar, and deck exploit the great waterfront location and is quite striking achieving a bright and open look while at the same time being warm and cozy. Nice. We had an enjoyable dinner and visit.

2 Sep 16; Friday; Gloucester to Dutch Island, Narraganset Bay
  • I was up and moving at 0500. By 0530 there was enough light to see so we weighed anchor at 0545 without any problem from lobster trap lines and headed out. The wind was from the NNE at about 10 - 12 kts and our course was about due S to the Cape Cod Canal so I set the mainsail to make some use of the following wind. We averaged ~7.5 kts for most of the transit. A 4' + long-period swell from the NE a remnant of Gaston, made it a bit rolly.
  • About 20 nm from the CCC I heard Maher call Canal Control. I then called him and learned he had sailed overnight from the Penobscot to bring Zarafa home from its sprucing up at Front Street Shipyard.
  • We entered the canal at ~ 1215 and soon were doing > 10 kts. Peg managed to get us to 12 kts as we rode the current W. We were in Buzzard's Bay by 1315 and set a course directly to the West Passage of Narraganset Bay. There were a number of other boats out in Buzzard's Bay but nothing like a normal Labor Day Weekend.
  • We talked to Nancy and Ed who were taking the ferry to Nantucket. We told them that due to Hermine we would have to cancel our planned and much looked forward to sojourn on Nantucket. They hadn't realized that Hermine was a potential threat until we had talked.
  • Onward set anchor in the harbor at Dutch Island at 1845 after a 100 nm sprint. I now felt relaxed because we were so close to our storm hide out. We were rewarded by a spectacularly beautiful sunset.

3 Sep 16; Saturday; Dutch Island to Wickford RI
  • We took a lazy morning after yesterday's sprint. We weighed anchor at 0900 and headed up the Bay for the short trip to Wickford Marina. There we were pleasantly surprised to have a nice slip waiting that allowed me to back Onward in so the bow was to the ENE. By noon we were all settled in, connected, and snug. Deep Breath! Nice.
  • We spent some time talking with Paul, the owner, introducing him to Peggy. He has done a nice job of continuing to upgrade the marina.
  • Relaxed and freshly showered I walked into Wickford with Peggy. We went to the Tavern my the Sea and enjoyed a nice quiet lunch. I couldn't resit having some RI clamcakes. Delish. We spent the afternoon walking and window shopping before returning to the marina. We spent a quiet night reading.

4 Sep 16; Sunday; Wickford RI
  • A gorgeous sunny & clear wind with just a bit more wind < 15 kts than yesterday.. What TS???
  • I received an email from Pat Ehlers my sailing bud from Onward's first sojourn down the ICW to the Bahamas — a fantastic voyage. He chided me for not keeping this website up to date — a well deserved prod. Playing with friends and having a grand time with Peggy has gotten in the way of my writing and internet access problems in the E Penobscot had gotten me behind in publishing what I had written. So with Pat's prod I got busy catching up.
  • Peggy woke up with the cleaning bug while my activity clutch was still slipping. So, I got out of the way and read and made a salad for lunch before napping — a hard day. When Peggy the Whirlwind was done she went out in the sunroom to have lunch and read. I could now safely get at the projects I had wanted to do: drain in shower and galley drains; then the fix of the forward head drain.
  • I decided to use the rubber 1 1/2" to 1 1/4" reducing connector to connect the 1 1/4: female npt union to the 1 1/2" sink drain stub. This seemed to do the job nicely. However, there is no way for my body to work in the forward head without being in a severely unnatural position and in pain. So I was worn out from this short task.
  • My sister, Kathy. and Andy picked us up at the marina and we headed to Dave's Market to pick up dinner from the deli before returning to their home where Kathy had spent the day painting trim. Andy looked quit good; a vast improvement from when we had helped take him home from the hospital in July. In the meantime his right foot bruise had become infected and he was re-hospitalized for surgery to remove the infected bone in his foot. This infection had apparently been plaguing him back in July abetted by poor blood flow to that foot. They improved the blood flow and got out the infection and that has made a huge difference. He will be in the wheelchair for a while yet and Kathy has become an amazing home care nurse. She and Nurse Peggy had a good time comparing notes.

5 Sep 16; Monday; Wickford RI
  • Dawn made it clear that today would be a gray day — it makes it easier to believe there is a TS menace headed in this direction — much more so than the beautiful sunny day we had on Sunday. I had some tasks I wanted to get done but I discovered Peggy had a bone in her teeth to clean and my tasks were in her way. So I went off in the cockpit to stay out of the way and she worked out her need-to-clean-anxiety. By 1400 she was all cleaned out and I got my tasks done.
  • The winds from Hermine began to pick up in the afternoon. However we didn't see more than gusts to about 35 kts. Good! Bill and Kiran Kimball came over for cocktails at 1800 and we later drove off to have dinner at an asian restaurant as the dying storm threw its last at us.

6 Sep 16; Tuesday; Wickford RI
  • Hermine's remnant was still hanging around < 100 nm offshore to the S-SW. One of the remnant rain bands was plying us with fine rain. While conditions offshore were not bad, I refused to move while any shred of Hermine was still alive.
  • At 1400 my cousin Irene drove over to have lunch with us. We returned to the Tavern by the Sea for a lunch and to catch up with her about our trip to Italy last fall. Irene had been a great help to us as we planned our trip (actually, as Peggy planned the trip as I wasn't much help) and we wanted to share our experiences of our visit to the home town of the Rocchio clan in Gallo Matisse. The rainstorm picked up and drove us off the deck to an inside table but our catch-up didn't miss a beat. The health gods were looking after me after lunch as the ice cream shops were all closed. Irene came aboard Onward so we could show her our photos and she updated us more about Rocchio family history.

7 Sep 16; Wednesday; Wickford RI
  • The weather forecast showed that Hermine had its last TS characteristics and is now a weakening Low. Peggy and I discussed departing for Long Island this morning but I waned to be sure Hermine is really really dead so we decided to wait until tomorrow. Jean from the marina office drove us into to Dave's market just to get some coffee. Some how all this other stuff we didn't know we needed jumped in the cart. How does this happen EVERY time??? Peggy and I need to mount a continuous watch on the cart in the future to prevent this autonomous shopping phenomena.

8 Sep 16; Thursday; Wickford RI to Greenport, Long Island
  • We departed the marina at 0730 and put into Brewer's fuel pier to top off mid and port tanks; 106 gal, not bad from our departure from Northeast Harbor.
  • We had ~10 kts of NW wind as we motorsailed down the Bay. However about an hour after we rounded Point Judith, the wind shifted to the SW and we doused the genoa. Off to the SE a large area of dark low clouds were the remnants of Hermine moving out to sea, finally.
  • Onward anchored at the usual spot just NE of the Greenport breakwater. We had time to relax a bit and have showers before Venturing off into town to meet Peggy's friends for dinner. This time Peggy had me bring the dinghy into the town's marina with its park and carousel. I don't know why we never thought of doing this before as it is beautiful facility with a very nice and well protected dinghy dock; a welcome difference from the exposed and rickety pier in front of Preston's. We tried a new restaurant, Agave, and it was great. I had a rack of lamb that was perfectly done with a subtle rosemary flavor. Delish.

9 Sep 16; Friday; Greenport to Sea Cliff
  • The dawn brought the promise of a pleasant day and Onward was underway by 0630. Peggy brought Onward through Plum Gut against a 4 kt current and turned S to continue to stem the ebb current as we proceeded W in the Sound.
  • Picked up a mooring at Sea Cliff Yacht Club

10 Sep 16; Saturday; Sea Cliff

11 Sep 16; Sunday; Sea Cliff to Port Washington
  • Mass & breakfast with Kiladas
  • Moved from Sea Cliff to Port Washington
  • Dinner with Yorkes

12Sep 16; Monday; Port Washington
13 Sep 16; Tuesday; Port Washington
  • • Tour of W K Vanderbilt II estate.

14 Sep 16; Wednesday; Port Washington
  • Lunch with Mike
  • Dinner with Wollins

15 Sep 16; Thursday; Manhasset Bay - offshore
  • Motorsailed @ 7.5 to 9 kts in ~10-14 kts E wind.

16 Sep 16; Friday; Offshore to Baltimore
  • Rounded Cape May at 0230
  • Docked, Anchorage Marina, C29, 1645

17 Sep 16; Saturday; Baltimore
  • Move from C-Pier to B-Pier
  • Seafood Festival

18 Sep 16; Sunday; Baltimore

19 Sep 16; Monday; Baltimore
20 Sep 16; Tuesday; Baltimore

21 Sep 16; Wednesday; Baltimore

22 Sep 16; Thursday; Baltimore

23 Sep 16; Friday; Baltimore

24 Sep 16; Saturday; Baltimore

25 Sep 16; Sunday; Baltimore

26 Sep 16; Monday; Baltimore
27 Sep 16; Tuesday; Baltimore

28 Sep 16; Wednesday; Baltimore

29 Sep 16; Thursday; Baltimore

30 Sep 16; Friday; Baltimore