Old Saybrook, CT to Marblehead, MA

On June 12th we took a slip at the Saybrook Point Yacht Club where we experienced the most motion in a slip...EVER!  Amazing how much rockin & rollin can happen while secured…. We went to my moms on Friday and reconnected with Becky, Brandon & Brooke! Poor baby had such a long day of travel on Thursday, she immediately took a nap on Grammy.... The weather continued to be rainy until the big day for Chris (my nephew) and his bride Jessica, June 14^th.  As if prearranged, the sky turned a beautiful blue, the sun shone brightly and the wedding, reception and brunch the following day couldn’t have been better.  Great Grammy finally got to meet Brooke, and we had four generations together for the first time!

Jessica and Christopher

My sister in law Karen, my nephew Matt, and my brother Don

Four Generations

The reception was held in Groton at the Branford House which overlooks the water.  What a beautiful venue.  I understand that most of you don’t know my extended family so please bear with me.  You’re about to see a few of my favorite pictures from the wedding and reception.  I can’t help myself!

My daughter Becky, her husband Brandon and their daughter (our granddaughter!) Brooke

My son Brian, his girlfriend Ama, and my mom

Brandon, Mom, Brooke and Becky

My sister Sue, who volunteered to shuttle the kids to and from the airport
and cooked us a nice dinner on the eve of the wedding, Mom, Brooke and Brian.

After the big day, my brother and sister-in-law hosted a brunch.  We left the marina and sailed toward their waterfront home.  We had to anchor a bit off the beach due to a rocky bottom and depth, so we took the dinghy in to their Jet Ski dock.  After a wonderful brunch, Jeff took several groups of people to the boat for a tour.  We said our goodbyes  to everyone and headed back to the boat for our continued voyage north.  Kids flew back to Austin and Jacksonville.  It’s always hard to leave friends and family when you don’t see them often.  Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there.

We left Old Saybrook at 3:15 and sailed to Coecles Harbor, Shelter Island to anchor for the night.  Beautiful anchorage – quiet and protected.  We did have one visitor…..

The next morning we set our sites for Block Island.  I used to go there when I was a teenager with my youth fellowship group.  We picked up a mooring ball in Salt Pond and dingyed into town to see what was nearby.  Decided to stop in at the waterfront bar/restaurant called The Oar.  We had a beautiful view of the harbor from the deck.

We left the next morning and motored our way in the rain to Newport, RI. Newport is an incredibly active boating town.  We have been making reservations for mooring balls since this is their busy season and they’re tough to come by.  The launch for Old Port Marine Services, “Restless” lead us to #669 – our mooring ball for two nights, just off the NY Yacht Club.  The captain of Restless had on a Red Sox hat.  Good to be back in New England!  And, OH the sights!  Something to see in all directions – until the weather deteriorated and the thick fog rolled in.  Even in the fog, the views are pretty darn neat.

We had already declared the 18^th as a lay day where we would check out the town and tour a mansion.  The one we chose was The Breakers, built by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1901.  We woke to a clear day (no fog!!!) and took off to find the mansion.  It exemplified wealth beyond comprehension. Not wanting to walk back to town (where our dinghy was tied up), we negotiated a ride with a tour bus driver who had two passengers from Boston for the day.  We enjoyed a bit of history on the ride back to town where we were let off close to our dinghy and the Black Pearl Restaurant, which proclaimed to have the best Clam Chowder in Newport.  The views from the outdoor patio there were almost from a different era.

We passed by St. Mary's church, where John & Jacquie Kennedy were married.

That evening we had cocktails on the foredeck in our SeaBag chair and enjoyed the Wednesday night sailboat races.  What a pleasure to see!

The New York Yacht Club

EXILE in front of the NYYC

EXILE again

 Newport Harbor at sunset

 From boat to boat they went looking for handouts, honking all the way!

We had a late departure the next morning as we awaited the inclement weather to pass.  We motored out of Newport, wearing our foul weather gear and hoping for clearer skies.  By 1:00 we were shedding our raincoats, the breeze filled in and we had a great sail up Buzzards Bay to Scraggy Neck.  We took the long and winding channel (sounds like the Beatles, eh?) to Kingman Yacht Center in Red Brook Harbor.  We caught up on laundry and treated ourselves to fresh New England seafood; steamed clams, scallops and schrod. While waiting for a table, we met a couple who have retired here, who have a son who works in Ponte Vedra Beach!  Small world….

Never fails.  We attract all kinds!

Our dockhand Jonathan, at The Kingman Yacht Center tipped us off to the availability of transient moorings hosted by the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead, which became our destination for the following day. It was a three boat convoy back out the long and winding road to Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal.  We timed it right for the incoming tide to take us through and spit us out into Cape Cod Bay. 

When did Jeff have time to do this?

 Boston Skyline

Unfortunately, we had to motor our way to Marblehead.  Nothing like the wind on your nose.  After listening to the motor for 7 hours, we were escorted to our reserved mooring ball at the mouth of Marblehead Harbor.  A bit rolly-polly as we were on the edge of the no-wake-zone…

We decided to spend the day here to explore and do some provisioning. Crosby’s Market is a great little independent grocery store here!  We loaded a grocery cart with what (hopefully) will be the last grocery stop before we get to Burnt Cove, our final destination.  With the grocery cart full to the brim, we guided it downhill for 3 blocks to the town landing, unloaded and while Jeff returned it to the store, I loaded the dinghy.  FULL to the brim!!  After storing the provisions, we returned to town to explore Old Town Marblehead.  There are four Yacht Clubs surrounding Marblehead Harbor; one for every economic strata.  Back to the boat to enjoy sailboat activity and dinner.

The Corinthian Yacht Club patio view

On our way out of Marblehead, we passed through the chain of islands to the east and we exited Salem Harbor for Cape Ann. Once we rounded Cape Ann we set sails, turned off the motor and had a glorious sail (def: 10 knots of wind, 0 wave height, bright blue sky, 6 knots boat speed & sparse lobster trap buoys) to the Isle of Shoals and on to Kittery, Maine. Oh yeah – we’ve arrived in Kittery in shorts, tee shirt and tank top.  And guess what?  More sailboat races!! Wow!