NH is spending the winter at Newport Yacht Club after cruising more than 2500 miles in 2021

August 26th NH met up with our dear sailing sister ship Dark Star while on a mooring in Edgartown. You can hardly see our good friend Richard taking a cool swim in the fresh water while his beautiful wife Ellie is resting her back. 

NH also took a little detour into Lake Tashmoo and will definitely put this on the agenda for next season. It is a very beautiful quite spot but looks like you might have to get there early for a good anchorage. 

After a few day trips to Potter Cove, Bristol, Kickamuit, Dutch Harbor, and Point Judith NH is now at a slip at the NYC fully winterized where she will stay until April. Nana and Nandad will spend the winter planning our trip up the Hudson and into Canada in 2022 to continue The Great Loop. 

Sconset & Wauminet Nantucket

NH had a wonderful time on Nantucket and Nana and Nandad enjoyed a perfect lunch at Wauminet after a beautiful walk along Madaket Beach.

Nana loved this sculpture at Wauminet

Can you tell the time ?

August 2021 on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket

This map shows the area of Cape Cod in relation to the Islands of Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket both with their separate charms, architect and character. NH had many interesting cruises to both this season. The best part was that Nana and Nandad got to meet Michael with Tigran and Viken off the ferry at Vineyard Haven. As you can see Nandad and Tigran very comfortable on the foredeck.

Viken jumping from the deck side. A very courageous little boy.

Nana and Tigran doing really well cruising to Chappaquiddick Pt

Just to prove that we occasionally eat onboard

While taking a stroll in Vineyard Haven. Mother’s nature at her best.

Sunset at its best. Always magical.

July Friends & Family on NH

Our very good friends Pete & Muffin onboard with (MJ & Dave, Paul Tina and her brother Johnny - not in the picture). We had a wonderful evening onboard anchoring at Potters Cove followed  by a wonderful dinner at Simpatico in Jamestown. 

Dave,Ceire & Family taking the dinghy into downtown Newport 

Emma and Maeve at The Turkey Hollows in Block Island at the house they rented. Nana and Nandad went back & forth between NH and the house. what a treat.

The Sunsets are simply amazing on Block.

July onboard NH 2021

Nandad looking very serious on a hot day retreading the line to keep the safety net in place. Very important with all the grandkids visiting.

Sinead having a quite moment on our way to Bristol. We had a wonderful night on anchor in Bristol Harbor. Dana and Maeve stayed back in Holliston - we missed them.

A great ice cream stop.

Conor using our marriage savers to communicate with Captain Nandad. We also had the privilege of showing the Arsenault’s how NH gets pumped out!

Emma at the Helm

June 12th 2021 Conch Blowing with Conor & Ronan

Conor and Ronan had a great time laughing at Nana when she tried to blow the conch for sunset however when it was their turn they realized that there was some skill required.

Nandad with the boys on Patience NYCs launch of which we are very much indebted. Many rides back and forth to NH

Always chores to be done. Nice clean up job Conor and Ronan. Please come back anytime.

June 2021 NH on Block Island

Block Island is one of Nana and Nandads favorite spots. For many years Lambay has made the cruise and now New Horizon takes her place. The Embassy Cruising Guide describes it as “Heavenly” .Giovanni da Verrazano came to Block Island in 1524 and Adrian Block first chartered it in 1614. The Island is 7.5 miles long and 4 miles wide so a bike is very necessary. Wonderful hiking,fishing,beaches,restaurants and fantastic Aldo’s ice cream is a must. It is a place you have to experience and explore. 

The month of June brought family visitors , some for short cruises , some for overnight stay, some for the ten mile run but all had a fun time. Congrats to our runners for their participation. The picture below is 93 Third St Newport. 

The runners- great job Aideen,Sinead and Chris.

Nandad, Ceire and Avey on the launch heading out to NH

Nana on the launch with Ailish and Ollie.

Nana and Avey having a laugh at NYC

NH Newport 5/28/21

New Horizon on her new mooring ball number 293 in the inner Newport Harbor close to Goat Island - a great spot. She will now fly the Newport Yacht Club burgee. Our first family visitors were our daughter Aideen with her two boys Cillian and Liam. They were very brave as it turned out to be a very stormy night! 

Cillian and Liam on board NH

Nana and Nandad visited Fort Adam’s during the boots memorial for Veterans Day. What a moving experience.

Tuesday 25th Newport

Such an exciting day today. A little sloppy seas crossing from Fishers but a short ride. Great to pass Block Island where we will visit many times over the summer - we hope. As our new mooring  is not in place NH will take a slip at NYC until the mooring ball is in place - likely tomorrow. The diver will clean the bottom, we will have an assessment for solar panels and get measurements for the cushion that went overboard. We look forward to a great summer cruising locally, enjoying family and friends, and hopefully a return of some of those events we enjoyed in the past. 

The blog will take a hiatus for now after logging over 2200 nautical miles, through more than eleven states, 250 engine hours, cruising canals, rivers, creeks, ocean, and bays. It has been an awesome experience and NH has made this adventure extra special and feeling lots of gratitude. Nana and Nandad have learned a lot during that time and look forward to planning the continuation of The Great Loop in 2022. 

Monday 24th Fischer’s Island

This is a favorite spot for Nana and Nandad where they have spent many a fun time on Lambay ( Dehler 41 ). It is a very peaceful spot mostly full of private homes - two thirds of the eastern side is private restricted by a guarded barrier- but a quaint downtown lies to the west. The harbor has several moorings and today there are actually three boats inside. NH anchors outside and although she rock and rolled as the small boats continued to go in and out of the harbor it was well worth the sunset and almost full moon view we had for the evening. 

Nandad doing what he does best- nice job Nandad

Milford Yacht Club

Sunday morning was the perfect day for our cruise to Milford Yacht Club where we are planning on meeting our sister-in-law Bridget, who we have not seen in several months due to the pandemic. We left Manhasset Bay around 11 am after a very relaxing morning on the dock and we were  tied up at the dock in Milford by 4 pm. A very busy approach with Charles Island packed with beached boats and lots of activity heading into the harbor. Bridget can actually see NH from the comfort of her home. We had some wonderful home cookin, great catch-up chat and a wonderful breakfast at Pops before we were on our way to Fishers Island - our last leg of the journey to NH’s final destination of Newport RI. 

Manhasset Bay

Now Nana and Nandad are members of Safe Harbor Marinas so NH stays at Safe Harbor Capri Marina in Port Washington. Manhasset Bay is really quite large with lots of sailboats, moorings, marinas and three yacht clubs. It was once called Cow Bay due to the rich pastures where the 17th century settlers’ bovine grazed! Here the extremely wealthy lived in Irish castles and Norman mansions so the homes are truly spectacular looking out over the hills on the bay. It is in this spot that F Scott Fitzgerald is said to have written his famous novel The Great Gatsby’s. The fictional town of West Egg in the novel is actually Great Neck ( where Fitzgerald Lived ) and East Egg was Sands Point at the tip of the Port Washington peninsula.

Just a few of the sailboats in this lovely harbor. The Port Washington Water Taxi will pick you up from your boat, marina or anchor and take you to town. There is also a service to City Island. On recommendation from our lovely launch driver Nana and Nandad went to Finn MacCools for a great dinner. 

NYC 5/22

This picture will give you the perfect layout of our trip yesterday.

And this one will give you a good idea of our cruising today. We did leave early to catch the tide at Manasquan Inlet which meant we were up at  Sandy Hook by 12 pm so we did have to fight a little tide coming into New York Harbor. Sandy Hook Point was jammed with small fishing vessels and a little chaotic!The seas today were much calmer that yesterday so NH did not use as much fuel and it was a very pleasant ride. 
The Verrazano - Narrows Bridge was the first bridge to go under with lots of big traffic and water taxi’s , sail and power boats around. New York Harbor is the third biggest in the nation and snakes around Staten Island and flows into New Jersey’s Newark Bay stretching some 20 miles. Once we reached The Statue of Liberty and passed Governors Island (170 acres and open to the public for biking, picnicking, with free concerts and events) NH entered the East River so technically finishes this section of the Great Loop. NH has cruised FL,GA,SC,NC,VA,MD,DC,NJ,NY, for a total of 2109 NM. Well done Nana and Nandad.

The Loopers continue on up the Hudson for 134 nautical miles from the Battery in NYC to the Troy Lock and entrance into the Erie Canal - our plan is to continue that part of the journey May 2022.

Our visibility was not great so the quality of the picture is poor and we were also a little too far! 

There is always something magical about being on the water on your boat passing Lady Liberty. Again worth the picture even if it is a little on the blurry side! This is another experience that simply has to be experienced in person and where words and descriptions will not do justice. According to the Embassy Cruising guide the East River is a 14-mile-long tidal strait that begins in New York Harbor and ends at Long Island Sound. Eight bridges cross it and 13 tunnels burrow beneath it! 

NH cruises past Wall Street, South Street Seaport and beneath several bridges - Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg passing Brooklyn to port and Queens to starboard. The Queensboro Bridge, Roosevelt Island Bridge, and Triborough Bridge preceded Hell Gate Bridge - at Wards Island. This area has a reputation for strong, reversing currents and large standing waves! Cruising past Brother Island, and Rikers Island takes NH under the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge. Throngs Neck Bridge is next connecting the Bronx with Queens and leading into Long Island Sound. Now if this doesn’t make you dizzy Nana is not sure what would! Nandad did an amazing job at the helm while Nana was busy with her camera on the bow of the boat. An amazing accomplishment to all.
NH’s destination is Port Washington which is tucked into Manhasset Bay. By 3.40 NH is again secured at her dock at Safe Harbor Capri Marina in Port Washington. What a day.

Manasquan Capt Bills’ Landing

An early start today (6.30am) so that we hit a rising tide as we leave Utsch’s Marina and head out into the North Atlantic. Now in order to have a pleasant passage once again Nandad had to run NH at top speed. Nana took the helm for a few hour which really helps with keeping her equilibrium stable. She had to work real hard today for a few hours to remain intact ( this means absolutely no food and certainly not going down below to potty). The seas were about three feet with winds 10 to 15 so not really an unpleasant ocean by any means. NH made great headway so it was decided to continue to Manasquan Inlet. By 12 .30 NH was once again on the fuel dock - this time 160 gals ( our next boat will be electric ) and by 1.30 pm she was secured into her slip right beside the Shipwreck Grill. We were greeted by the most helpful staff so far and had a great chat with Captain Bill himself. Looking forward to having dinner tonite at the Grille.

Now the New Jersey coast all the way is really most picturesque with intermittent high rise buildings but mostly private homes once you pass Atlantic City. Nana was looking forward to taking lots of pictures as NH cruised about one mile off the coast however due to her challenge of trying to stay focused Nandad had to take the pictures. This picture is of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino from a distance. I believe it’s empty after years of underperformance and demolition is currently underway - but I stand to be corrected. 

Nana was so happy to have a wonderful walk to the perfect beach. NH is up the Manasquan River in a little town called Brielle. The Manasquan River marks the start of New Jersey’s Intercoastal Waterway. ( NH cruised outside due to the shoaling that takes place on the NJICW ). It was fun to watch the boats come into the Inlet later in the afternoon as the wind picked up the swells increased. There is no boardwalk along Manasquan Beach however a paved walkway separating the homes from the beach seems to go on forever where you can be up close and personal with some lovely homes. Lots of little creeks, rivers, and marshes in this area which is also full of fishing vessels. A very pretty spot that I bet is very busy in the summer months.  

Tomorrow Saturday we will head for NYc and ultimately  Port Washington. 

Just before we left to have dinner the River Queen pulled out with a private party. She look really pretty. Dinner at the Shipwreck was amazing - a little pricey but well worth it. Early the next morning Nandad watched as the fishing vessel Jamaica 11 took a very full load of tourists out on a fishing expedition.

Dockage at Utsch’s Marina Cape May NJ

Today NH cruised two canals , the C&D canal ( 12 miles ) and the Cape May canal (2.9 miles). Our efforts calculating the tides were very important today and well worth the time it took to calculate. Nice job for persisting Nandad. NH cruised along the C&D canal and came into the entrance of Delaware Bay as planned by 12.30pm. We had company along the way with a few fellow loopers. Just as we were entering Delaware Bay the Guardian Leader was entering the canal. She was the only big ship we encountered. That is her bow coming towards us and the cruiser at out bow is the DC Cruises boat.

We had a very choppy ride once we entered the Delaware Bay so NH cruised at about 16 knots as the skipper watched the fuel gauge drop very quickly! The price we pay for comfort. NH was docked by 4pm after taking on 130 gals of diesel, which was perfect timing to washdown, relax after a long ride and put dinner in the oven.

 Now five years ago Nana and Nandad were here with Ireland’s Eye. It is nice to see the marina continues to hand out their welcoming bag which includes a bottle of wine, biscotti, soap and lots of information. 

Just after dinner (8.30pm) Nandad noticed the depth gauge reading was 0.9 feet , which means we were very close to touching bottom!!! Now low tide is not until 9.15pm so once again the tide will dictate what time we leave in the morning.

An early start tomorrow morning to catch the tide once more and maybe make it to Barneget NJ. Nana is not a fan of getting out of bed before 7am but I guess will have to make an exception.