Restless of Auckland - MYSTIC SEAPORT SOUTH THROUGH NEW YORK TO CAPE MAY, DELAWARE TO CHESAPEAKE, and SASSAFRAS RIVER, 39:22.50N, 75:55.69W

MYSTIC SEAPORT SOUTH THROUGH NEW YORK TO CAPE MAY, DELAWARE TO CHESAPEAKE, and SASSAFRAS RIVER, 39:22.50N, 75:55.69W

Restless of Auckland

Roland and Consie Lennox-King

Sat 15 Sep 2018 12:15

We took a trip up Mystic Seaport, a lovely waterway going up to the Mystic Seaport Museum. We had been told foreign yachts could have 1 free night, but this is no longer true, and it was a shock to learn that since DOCKWA have taken over the bookings, it now costs $4.50 plus tax per foot for a night, please leave by 11 a.m. Dockwa is a group that manages a lot of marinas, and for example, Liberty Landing marina, in New York has increased its prices from $5 a foot to $10.60 a foot plus tax per night.
We walked Geoff to the train station and waved goodbye, before setting off back to Long Island Sound, and anchoring at Fisher Island about 5 miles away. He returned to his catamaran, ‘Salanjo’ in the Chesapeake.

3.9 we motorsailed 55.5nmiles down Long Island Sound, to anchor at Black Rock for 2 nights. We took our dinghy upriver to meet up with Pat and Chris Blossom, acclaimed American marine artist, whom we had met in NZ, and had a lovely BBQ dinner at their home in Stratford, followed by ice-cream.
5.9 we had a slow sail 27 nmiles to Mamaroneck, where our nephew Peter and his family live. Keir was arriving in Mamaroneck from Scotland. We refueled and filled up with water, and Ruth drove me to the supermarket for provisions. Great-nephew Jack had his first day at school, and was keen to spend the night on our ‘pirate ship’, but we saw Hurricane Florence on the radar, and decided it would be prudent to head south to a safe anchorage in the Chesapeake.

Fri. 7 Sept we set off at 0630 south with the tide, through New York, and sailed 211 nmiles in 32 hours. Roland and Keir had worked out the times to get "maximum help from the tides through New York, and south around Cape May. Some of the trip was quite roly, and we had some thunder and lightning, but the weather report had offered us waterspouts and big waves, so we were lucky. We rounded Cape May, and then had another positive ride up the Delaware bay, and yet another current through the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal, saving us many hours of adverse currents. We anchored up the Sassafras river, as far away as we could get from the hurricane. We did oddjobs while waiting and watching the weather. Geoff is also up here in his catamaran, and we have been to dinner and to the supermarket together.

We are worrying about Hong Kong, as super-typhoon Mangkhut is on the way there. Olivia and Shenton moved into their new apartment last weekend, they have taken the sails off their boat ‘Alegria’ and made her as safe as possible, often more damage is caused by flying debris and boats that have broken free.

14.9 we will go to Annapolis to collect our NZ friends Liz and Trevor for a week aboard, and hopefully all storm surges and adverse weather from hurricane Florence will have dissipated.