July 19-July 26, 2021
Cruiser’s Plans are Written In Sand
I left you last week with the idea we would head to Block Island on the 19th. You will be shocked to know that didn’t happen. Apparently, our race boat Sabotage, a Soverel 33, has not been winning enough races this season without Jeff on board. ‘The Syndicate’, aka the other owners of Sabotage, urgently needed Jeff aboard for the Wednesday night race. That worked out great because I did a bit of provisioning, and we had a chance to spend a couple nights at the yacht club, catching up with old friends.
We finally headed out to Mystic, CT by way of a nice overnight at Guilford. Mystic was great. We anchored at the mouth of the Mystic River, which is a busy anchorage by day, and quiet by night. We arrived Friday afternoon, and had the perfect sparkling day in town on Saturday. We had cappuccino and croissants at Sift for energy, and then spent almost the whole day at Mystic Seaport Museum. So many great boats. My favorite part is they had a classic Beetle Cat, the same boat Jeff taught me to sail on. It was of the same vintage of ours up at Haversham (early 1940s.) and it was fun to see our exact boat at a museum with a plaque on it! Our Beetle Cat is called The Owl. It was one of a set – The Owl and The Pussycat. If that doesn’t make you nostalgically recite that poem, you should google it. So charming. Anyway, the Pussycat was lost in a hurricane in the 1950s, but The Owl survived and has served several generations of new sailors.
Anyway, Saturday night, we motored across to Fischer’s Island, where we sheltered in a bay to hide from high winds out of the SW, and rain. As we entered our chosen bay, it looked too crowded. Then we noticed a guy on his bow, upping anchor. Perfect! We snagged his spot. Over the course of the next hour, the other 2 boats closest to us also upped anchor and left. Was it something we said? We know it’s not our stinky diesel smoke any more, the new engine is pristine!
Today is Monday and we just anchored in Dutch Harbor, around the corner from Newport. There is another Hylas 54 on the mooring right next to us! Lots of guitar playing and Aperol Spritzes and G&Ts ensued. After a day of rain, the pretty sunset was very welcome.
We will spend the next couple days in Newport. We are toying with the idea of Jazz Fest on Friday.
I’m enjoying reading of your exploits! You do a great job of keeping us al informed. Just one bit of advice: If you skip the Newport Jazz Festival you will regret it. I was fortunate enough to be home on leave one year, and managed to make it. Had a blast despite foul weather.