svindulgence.com Blog

We’re now in Manhassett, LI….waiting on a weather window for our trip down the New Jersey Shore. Right now it is blowiing like stink (for those who are not nautical….its alot). The forecast is for winds gusting to 30 knots for the next couple of days.

We’ll need to re-provision, re-water, and re-fuel. On the casualty list is my ham radio…it broke shortly before Earl. I’ll need to overnight to ICOM it get it repaired as it will be crucial in Caribbean. I found this frustrating as I had no internet and my VHF reception up the CT river was not very good. I was hoping to get updates from my trusty Ham rig…but to no avail.

We spent 4 very pleasant days at Hamburg Cove off the CT River above Essex, CT. The water was fresh and kids and I enjoyed our swims. It was like we were on a small lake with a Blue Water Cruising boat.

We prepped the boat for the Hurricane by removing all the canvas (sails, dodgers, etc)….I think this is what kept the Hurricane away. Lorri and the kids went to visit with Hedi and David Burns in Weston, CT. I got some rain and some mild winds, but nothing worth noting.

While there, we met some other cruisers from Fleetwood England, Duncan and Joan from s/v Talisa. We spent some nice time together and Duncan even helped to haul me up the mast. We hope to meet up with them later this fall in the Chesapeake.

We have done very little sailing since leaving Maine on 8/14…the wind has either been non-existent or directly on the nose. It looks like this might be case until we get to the Caribbean. We had a couple of long “move the boat days” down Long Island Sound. We are now in a nice spot ready for a transit down the East River, past NYC. We’ll be here at least until Friday (or some appropriate weather window).

Our moving life has begun again, after a full week of idleness.  We made the best of our time in Marion, but it was high time to skedaddle.  Yes, avoiding Earl is a priority, but I was also growing weary of spending so much time in a place I had no roots in – a permanent guest.   We had an uneventful motor accross Buzzards Bay to Cuttyhunk and it looks like we’ll be mostly motoring today to Block Island.

I know Hurricane Earl is on the minds of our family.  Oddly, contrary to my normal doom and gloom outlook, I feel reasonably comfortable that we will weather it soundly.  Thanks to my new best friend, iPhone, we have a Hurricane app and access to NOAA and Sailflow websites that give us pretty accurate information about wind and waves along the coast.  Our current plan to head into Long Island Sound is based on those data sources and although hurricane models are not always accurate, the reality is that we have no choice but to use them – we certainly can’t remain here. 

Unlike land life, cruising offers few choices.  What you eat is determined by what is in the ship’s lockers – you cannot run to the grocery.  What activities you do is determined  by what is within walking distance of the local town dock.  What clothes you wear is determined by what little you brought with you.  Who you spend time with is determined by what boats are in the same harbor.  And where you sail is determined by direction and strength of the wind, height of the seas and strength and direction of the current.   Life is less frantic with few choices, even if some of them seem unpalatable.

The repairs have been successfully made in Marion (the bill wasn’t too bad). The issue with the refrigeration was due to a miss-match of the high and low side of the compressor (the high side port was on the low side and vice versa)….this is why I haven’t been able to successfully charge the system for the last 3 years.

The engine part was installed and the leak fixed. The boat is running well as we motored all the way here from Marion (approximately 3 hours).

Cuttyhunk is very nice…I wish we could spend a couple of days here. However, we have a hurricane headed our way and we need to make it as far west (up Long Island sound) as fast as possible. We may be stuck there for a while as Fiona is right behind Earl…and that could create problems with our off-the-coast passage off New Jersey to the Delware River.

Its good to be on the move again. We all enjoyed a nice stroll and swim on the beach here. Our next stop is Block Island and then Long Island sound. Our plan if Earl is comming ashore is to head up the Conn. River….how far depends on Earl.

Another day playing tourist….the kids and I went to see the battleships at Fall River. After we came back, Georgia and I went for swim. We did some more dingy exploring in the marsh catching Blue Crabs (these guys are very mean and very aggressive).

The Wurtses had us over for Sunday dinner (again)…we had such a great time last Sunday, we decided to stick around. Tommorrow will be a big day. We’ll need to drop off the rental car, reprovision, top off the water tanks, and refuel. Hopefully the part will be here, so we finish the engine work and we can get the refrigeration work done. I’d like to get underway by afternoon. As you can sense, we are eager to be underway.

Hurricane Earl has made me a bit apprehensive…I’d like to get underway and get some distance south. This will give us some more options as the track gets more accurate. Adding to that, another Hurricane is forming behind Earl….the quicker I can be in the Chesapeake, the safer I’ll feel…shallow water, mud, and lots of nooks and crannies to crawl into.

We visited Plymoth Plantation today…something I’ve always wanted to do…very cool. It was nice talking with Indians at the Wopanog village and the english settlers at the english village. We also visited the Mayflower.

I am especially glad I am reading the book “Mayflower” and was able to verify some historical questions about the settlement. I actually engaged in a philosophical conversation with one of the re-enactors based on information from the novel….very cool.

The only downside was the crappy lunch we had in Plymouth (Pebbles Restaraunt)….I think I picked up a bug. It could have been the breakfast we had at the Wave restaraunt in Marion. Maybe my stomach can’t handle the crappy land food anymore…no more fatty, fried food for me.

Tomorrow the kids and I are off to battleship row (*it was a choice of church with Mama or battleships with Papa…no frog march here). This is something I have been wanting to do for years but could never justify the 4 hour trip to Mass. Now we’re stuck here with nothing to do…fortune strikes twice!

I have this particular facination for WW2 submarines. I don’t why…but always feel this inexplicable draw to these ships.

Still here in Marion….we’re starting to be recognized as locals.
We have met some nice folks…I especially like the guy with the “Impeach Obama” booth in-front of the post office. He didn’t like me…I refused to sign his petition. I explained to the young man(as I expained to the “Impeach Bush” hippies) that is what elections are for.

We had a nice dinner at the boat yard…a customer appreciation cookout. We met up with Wurtses….a nice time was had by all.

Now to answer the question….why are you still there? You won’t believe it but we are still waiting on parts. This really shouldn’t be so difficult, but some weanie Vice President at Westerbeke has deamed it so.

I had to break out the project manager this afternoon….the part will be here tomorrow. We should be underway Monday afternoon.

I have rented a car and we are off to Plymouth Plantation tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll hook up with Wurtses over the weekend.

Someone asked me recently how I got “time to myself” on the boat.  Simple.  I refuse to participate in the Captain’s excursions.  When we first started cruising, John was a little disappointed when I insisted that I did not want to explore XYZ island, beach, town, etc. with the rest of the family.   He thought I was being lazy.  After a while, the lightbulb lit, and he no longer bothers me about it.  After lunch today, John frog marched the children into the dinghy and insisted that they “explore” to get some fresh air.  I feel a bit sorry for them, truthfully, but I’ve already had a peaceful hot shower (power at the slip means hot water for Indulgence), done some laundry, put away the lunch dishes, and now sit blissfully at the computer with only the sounds of the boatyard activity and lapping water making their way through the hatches.   

The very nice boatyard folks occasionally come and go today to discuss engine and refrigeration fixes.  There is a possibility that we could be here through the weekend  b/c the part for the engine did not arrive on this morning’s UPS delivery.  We are a bit discouraged by this – we now have perfect sailing weather and could be making our way south to the Chesapeake, which is where we’d like to be before a hurricane makes its way up the coast.  We hate to miss a long weather window sitting at this slip despite the abundance of hot water.  It’s getting time to move – even for lazy ole’ me.

We’ll we managed to solve the intruder problem as well as the unrully kid problem. I also managed a nap today. A very nice rainy day finally….

Yesterday wasn’t quite a relaxing as I hoped.

Instead of fixing boat issues, I was fixing computer issues all day. I was trying to find a video streaming site to watch a move while it rained outside…in the process, my computer was attacked by a series of rogue programs trying to take it over. I then had to spend the rest of day removing the malware.

After dinner, I decided to break out the movie collection on my portable hard-drive only to find that the HD wasn’t working. I then proceed to work late into the night trying to figure out why my computer wasn’t recognizing the portable HD (defective cable….Iomega is sending a replacement in 7-10 days).

I left the boat to take a bathroom break…and ran into two policemen with flashlights in the boatyard. Apparently they were looking for an intruder…fortunately I didn’t match the description. I went back to boat and told Lorri of my meeting with the police.

The boatyard is completely deserted….it is misty and foggy…this is the stuff of horror movies…ax murder stuff. I turn in around midnight….Lorri asks me about the hatch boards and I say that it is not necessary (we rarely put them in).

In the middle of night, Lorri startles and says someone is in the cockpit…I proceed to yell (Lorri says scream…I was only trying to scare the intruder). This makes Lorri scream….which makes me scream…making Lorri scream.

I get the flashlight and hop on deck…nothing. Turns out it was the cat. We then proceed to start laughing, which makes the kids laugh (they thought that I saw a bee in the boat…this has produced the same type of scream in the past). I make a quick round throught the boatyard just to be sure and nothing (actually I ony get as far as the Dock as I am spooked). I get back to the boat and put the hatch-boards in. Needless to say it took us some time to get back to sleep.

Today….I am going to Amazon for the Videos and hopefully will get a nap. After that, I am going to finish my “intruder” bars this afternoon. This will allow us to lock ourselves in the boat and the keep the Freddy Kruger’s out.

Still rainy, still waiting for parts….

today we met our friends the Wurtses then we went to the local book store and got a few books. Right now you’re probably thinking, “This is boring:  get to the part where you catch a whale! Sadly, this is not how cruising is; cruising is not lying on sandy beaches in the sun, cruising is not saling on a nice day while dolphins jump around you, cruising is not family bonding time. I’m sorry to say that cruising is more sitting around doing nothing, getting seasick in eight foot seas, and having your parents yell at you. I’m sorry to admit to all you innocent people out there who thought cruising was a nice break from work.  It’s not.