This afternoon I took the boys out sailing for the last time this summer. We only paid for two months at the submarine base marina. With the summer coming to an end in addition to being on furlough, we decided to not extend the time at the base. Susanna and I should get a sail or two in before we have to take the boat out of the water, but I don’t think there will be time for the boys to go sailing until next spring.

Today we motored south of the base and put up the main north of the bridges. A gentle breeze pushed us downriver.  Before we passed under the bridges, the boys and I hanked on the jib. As we went south the breeze picked up. In New London harbor, the gusts would push us over at least 20-degrees, but the wind wasn’t constant. It would pick up and die down. It couldn’t pick a direction either. The gusts and waves made Ben a bit nervous, so we eventually dropped the jib.

We ran to pine island and turned around just short of the harbor entrance.  Once we turned back into the river we beat into the wind upriver for a bit, finally grew bored, and started the outboard. I think our timing was pretty good. A storm passed south of us as we drove up towards the base – we only caught a little of the rain. The bridges disappeared in the haze of the storm almost entirely as we motored past the base. We reached our slip in sunlight as the storm headed east.

Today was a perfect day to sail. Calm seas with 10-15 knot winds from the south. Not too hot. Not too cold. However, Susanna had to work, so it wasn’t totally perfect – I had to sail alone.

I motored out of the marina and down river against the wind. At least I could ride the ebb out of the river and into Fishers Island Sound. Just south of the bridges I put up the mainsail. I tacked my way through New London Harbor. The wind was reasonable and steady, but not strong enough to push us along under main alone. Around Eastern Point I climbed forward and hanked the jib on, trying to not get tangled up in the sail or knocked overboard. I got the sail mostly on right. I beat my way out past New London Ledge light and caught a left into Fishers Island Sound.

The wind  remained steady from the south and picked up a little bit. I picked up speed on a close reach towards Fishers Island. We were making over 5 knots (over the ground), but I think we had a little push from the ebb tide to help. I pointed towards North Dumpling Island and held the course until about a half of a mile short of the island. I turned around just short of the New York state line and cruised back on the Connecticut side of Seaflower Reef. I made the turn around Pine Island and Black Rock back into the Thames before the wind mostly died.

With sunset ninety minutes away, a weak wind, and fighting the end of the ebb tide, I decided it was easiest to just motor up the river and back to the marina.

Overall today I spent 6 hours out on the water and maybe 4 of them under sail. The trip to North Dumpling is 18 miles as the power boat goes. Needing to beat upwind added several miles to my trip. I only bumped into one buoy, and only added a small tear to the mainsail. I was able to get the jib on mostly right and stay onboard the boat the entire trip. Overall, it was a successful outing.

I also answered one of Will’s questions this trip. He had been asking if there were jellyfish in Long Island Sound. I sailed through miles of jellyfish in the sound.

I did not get any house projects done today. I scheduled today’s day off (as well as tomorrow) to spend with the family. Plus, it is too hot to do anything. We did try to weed the garden a bit this afternoon, but gave up after cooking in the sun for a few minutes.

This morning we took a quick boat trip. Again, no sailing (all under motor). We motored up to almost the place where we had anchored previously. It was low tide, so I was a bit nervous about running aground. I shouldn’t have worried, the boat has a very shallow draft (around 2-feet). We were able to anchor a very short distance from the shore (close enough to have the boat sit in the shade).

The water was shallow enough that the boys could stand next to the boat. It was shallow enough for me to walk out and move the anchor when the boat drifted too close to shore. Next time I’ll have to bring my water shoes – walking to shore on the rocks is tough on the feet. We hadn’t brought lunch, so we headed home after swimming for only 30 minutes or so.

The plans tomorrow were going to be to go to Six Flags. However, it is forecast to be nearly 100-degrees up at Six Flags tomorrow. That is way too hot to be enjoyable. Maybe we will decide to go sailing in the morning and bring lunch.

After sailing for a half-dozen trips, I have a mental list of winter projects for the boat. They include a much better ladder, some drink/cup holders, shade for the cockpit, and a way to organize the lines in the cockpit. However nice it is to dream about a bigger boat (it is an ADHD thing to always want something different) – I think we will stick with the same boat for another season or more.

It was hot today. Not just a little hot. Hot enough to cook the bottoms of feet on the driveway and hot enough to appreciate living near the ocean. Though not quite St. Louis hot. But, I have been living away from the middle of the country for long enough to no longer tolerate St. Louis heat. But at least it wasn’t as humid as last week. Last week was miserable.  If I wanted to live in Florida, I would live in Florida.

Anyway, today was hot enough that the boys didn’t want to play outside. So, after work, I took the boys down to the marina and we took a short trip north (up the river) to find a place to anchor and go swimming.  There was scarcely a hint of a breeze today, so we motored the entire time.

The water is perfect this time of year. Cool enough to be pleasant, but not cold. We anchored up near Gales Ferry (just past the Yale boathouse). There was a little bit of a current where we anchored, so I tossed a rope in the water for everyone to hold onto while swimming. We were tied up and home in time for dinner.

The trip up the river was pleasant. I haven’t traveled far upriver before. The channel is wide, and we didn’t find the bottom. Even with only my iPhone to navigate the way upriver. Once out of sight of the submarine base, the river feels much more secluded, with only the sporadic powerboat passing by to disturb the peace. 

Yesterday morning we took a family day to go sailing. We motored south of the submarine base and put our sails up and sailed to Pine Island. We dropped anchor near the island and the boys kayaked to shore.

Eventually I swam to shore to walk around with the boys (and I needed a break from the sun).  We didn’t feel comfortable going out of sight from the boat with it on anchor, so we didn’t get far in exploring the island.

After we ate lunch I pulled up the anchor and we motored over to an old concrete quay wall, nosed in and tied a line around a broken piece of concrete.  The wind was perfect to push the boat off the wall. Whenever we wanted to get on or off the boat, we would just pull the boat up to the wall. Of course, with only one line tied to a rock, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the boat.  Maybe next time we will find a second tie point and be able to picnic on the island.

I think we all spent too much time in the sun on the water, and are all a little tired today, so this morning has been a quiet day lounging around in the air conditioning.

A couple of lessons from yesterday’s sail:

• The kayaks fit on top of the boat, but it made getting forward on the boat a bit of a climb.
• I need to find a way to add shade to the cockpit. Maybe a bimini top if I can find one that fits
• Cold water is a must. We brought ice, but didn’t use it as much as we should for drinks.
• Susanna shouldn’t read below decks – it is a good way to get seasick.
• I need to redo the rope ladder – it is way to short to make getting on the boat easy. Or better yet – install a permanent on on the stern.
• The wind really seems to die down once you get north of I-95 on the Thames River.

Today I finally put the boat in the water for the summer. I reserved a slip at the submarine base for two months starting today.

The plan was to put the boat in the water right after work. However, there was a social at the officer’s club with free beer. So that took priority over putting the boat in the water.  But only for a bit.

I had parked the Jeep at the base marina and walked (and hitched a ride) to the social. I left the bar with Mark Matkovich (in his “much-better-at-towing-than-my-jeep” truck) and we headed home to pick up the boat and drove it down to the boat launch. It was much quicker this time than the previous launch. We had the boat in the water and the mast up in about 10 minutes after getting to the launch. It helps having two adults to do the launching and setup.

We took short trip up the river to the marina; spending a bit over an hour mostly motoring in the river. We did get the sail up for a little bit. Mark’s wife, Jessica, and baby, Michael, joined us for the trip. We even got to enjoy pizza with Susanna at her work after the sail.

So here is the trip for today. The GPS track seems a bit screwy. We didn’t change altitude that much.  Maybe the old iPhone can’t keep up with the navigation software.

Start Time: Jun 14, 2013, 6:24 PM
End Time: Jun 14, 2013, 7:38 PM

Active track info:

Distance: 4.2 NM
Total time: 1H 13M
Average Speed: 3.4 kts
Max Speed: 7.1 kts

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