Onward’s Cruise Journal 2019
New England to Chesapeake


Updated: 20 September 2019


Onward is cruising New England for the summer.

September 2019

1 September 2019; Sunday; Nantucket to Dutch Island Harbor

  • Another wonderful Nantucket Sojourn has come to a close. I have spent a bit of time reminiscing the many visits since I first brought Onward here in 2007 with the help of Joseph.
  • We weighed anchor at 0530 with just enough light to see the water surface. We had a NE wind @ ~10 kts and the current in our favor. We motorsailed W and ran out of the favorable current as we approached Oak Bluff. It remained slow going until we reached Sakonnet.
  • We anchored in Dutch Island Harbor for the night about 1700. The Merlins joined us for dinner.

2 September 2019; Monday; Dutch Island Harbor to Port Jefferson
  • Another early start with an 0700 anchor weigh. As we moved W on Block Island Sound we picked up the favorable current and passed The Race doing 10kts SOG. With a long day of motorsailing we anchored in the outer harbor at Port Jefferson about 1700. Merlin managed to time its entrance to be sandwiched between incoming and outgoing ferries.
  • We joined the Merlins for dinner.

3 September 2019; Tuesday; Port Jefferson to Port Washington
  • A rather leisurely start at ~0730 so we could put into Danfords Marina to get fuel and water. It was almost low tide and a huge motor yacht was on the face dock so that its bow overhung by about 50' making it necessary to dodge around it and then avoid the ferry in its berth.
  • Merlin actually beat Onward out of the harbor by deciding to get fuel at Port Washington. We both picked up town moorings to wait out the passage of Dorian. We closed out the day and relaxed by going ashore for pizza.

4 September 2019; Wednesday; Port Washington
  • Lori picked us up at MBYC and we went home with her to make dinner. Along the way we stopped at NAPA autoparts so I could buy a new radiator cap for the defective one on the Fischer Panda generator. I also got to shop at one of my favorite food stores, North Shore Farms. Here Christian and Peggy got him some huge shrimp to cook with his special recipe. All in all about 4 separate meals were cooked for dinner to meet the varying palates of the children and adults. Much fun watching grandson and grandma kibitzing as they prepared the shrimp.

5 September 2019; Thursday; Port Washington
  • We took a train into NYC to explore for the day. The MTA eTix app proved to be a good way to get LIRR tickets. Unfortunately the tap-to-pay terminals for use of the subway is limited to only one line which we didn't use. We visited the Museum of Modern Art and took a guided tour of the history of musical instruments. For lunch we went out front and went to one of the lunch wagons and found the fare quite good. We spent the rest of the day in the MMA. A temporary exhibit on the guitar with instruments on loan from the cream of rock and roll innovators was wonderful. There were 4 videos by guitar greats that provided me with great insights into their innovation and experimentation. Very neat. We finished up with the Louis Comfort Tiffany exhibit that Peggy has heard me talk about but had never seen.
  • Before leaving the city we went to one of the Merlins' favorite restaurants from their stay in London, a French steakhouse. Delicious.

6 September 2019; Friday; Port Washington
  • Peggy went ashore to meet with friends for lunch. The outer edge of Dorian began to increase winds to >20 kts from the NE. We had plans to go ashore to have dinner with friends at Port Washington YC and I thought we might have to cancel them. But Matt showed up and said the winds were not bad and he would be able to bring us in and out. So we went and had a very nice evening.

7 September 2019; Saturday; Port Washington
  • As Dorian headed off to Nova Scotia, the weather began to improve and an early morning departure on Sunday for the Chesapeake began to look doable. We spent the afternoon running errands. Our stay was capped off with a delightful dinner at the Manhasset Bay YC with Mike and Maureen Yorke as hosts and the Merlins.

8 September 2019; Sunday; Port Washington to Delaware Bay Day 1
  • We dropped the mooring at 0530 and headed toward Hell Gate with an ETA just after the current down the E River would turn in our favor. A number of Canadian sailboats had stolen a march on us to do the same.'
  • We had a nice current with us for the entire trip down the river. I took the route along the W shore of Governor's Island so I could take a photo fo the Statue of Liberty to send to Kina who had just finished building the Lego version.
  • As we approached the Verrazanno Bridge, a weather check showed all looked good for an overnight passage down the NJ coast. So we followed the edge of the Ambrose Channel until we could turn to pass Sandy Hook.
  • Peggy was on the 1800 to 2100 watch when the engine began to lose rpm and then quit. I was napping but immediately realized the on-engine final fuel filter needed to be changed. I had intended to to it at Nantucket because it always seems to need to be changed about the beginning of September — but Dorian, the generator, and playing with my friends interfered. I was able to swap out filters without making much of a mess in about 20 min. The cleaning up of diesel fuel drips always take the largest fraction of the time. At least I've gotten smart enough to use plastic sheeting to limit the mess.

9 September 2019; Monday; Delaware Bay to Bohemia River; Day 2
  • At about 0130, I came awake with Peggy pulling on my toes — and the engine quiet. We always joked that the best way to wake me up would be to change engine rpm — here the the Starboard fuel tank had run out the engine had quit. After a quick flip of valves, I went back to sleep.
  • I came on watch at 0400 to find Peggy still alert and perky. I continue to be amazed that she is unfazed by the 1200 to 0400 watch — when my body just wants to shut down.

10 September 2019; Tuesday; Bohemia to Mill Creek

11 September 2019; Wednesday; Mill Creek
  • A lazy day catching up on ash & trash. In the evening we headed in to Cantler's to get our crab cake fix.

12 September 2019; Thursday; Mill Creek to Baltimore
  • At 0700 we weighed anchor and headed N to pick up our slip at Anchorage Marina. Wayne was there to greet us and get us settled in slip A53 - first time that far out on the pier.
  • We celebrated our homecoming by heading to Outback for our welcome back to Baltimore steak dinner. I had something new the inverse-sear prime rib — really delicious.

13 September 2019; Friday; Baltimore
  • A lazy day. I started doing homework on troubleshooting the Fischer Panda generators sudden failure to output AC power.
  • I spent time talking to Will Hild about doing an extensive service on the Yanmar which now has 9750 hours on it!

14 September 2019; Saturday; Baltimore
  • Did homework on cost of all the replacement parts the Yanmar will need for this service.
  • Spent time looking at arial photos of the devastation in the Bahamas so I can update the Bahamas Cruisers Guide.
  • While in the lounge updating software I spoke with a number of cruisers about the Bahamas and cruising. Based on the I decided to set up an informal seminar to encourage people not to give up on the Bahamas due to Dorian.

15 September 2019; Sunday; Baltimore
  • After noon, we took a walk to Fells Point and stopped Barcocina for a light lunch at a new-to-us waterfront bistro.

15 September 2019; Monday;
  • I arranged with the Anchorage to use the Boaters Lounge on the evening of the 23rd to hold the informal seminar on cruising and the Bahamas.

16 September 2019; Tuesday;
  • • The Ariels arrived and in the evening we took a walk to Fells Point to go to a restaurant they had heard about: Twist on Broadway. Food was very good at very reasonable prices.

17 September 2019; Wednesday;
  • More generator troubleshooting. Checked the wiring between power distribution switch and generator. All was OK so it next became necessary to check the capacitors in the power control box. Of course 3 of 4 screws holding the cover in place came out easily. The 4th and hardest to get at was corroded in place and had to be drilled out. I quit for the day in frustration.
  • Ariels enticed us to take a walk for lunch. We showed them all the good stuff around the local area of Anchorage Marina then took them to O'Donnell Square. After a tour of all the restaurants available, they chose Nacho Mamas — where we had an enjoyable lunch.
  • On return I was still too bummed out from morning effort to do anything useful.
  • We went off to celebrate National Cheeseburger Day at the Speakeasy restaurant on O'Donnell Square. We also tried out Dangerously Delicious Pies — they were!

18 September 2019; Thursday;
  • Another bummed-out day of Joy — continuing to troubleshoot the generator.
19 September 2019; Friday;
  • Another as the generator problem seems intractable.

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