BOSTON
Fran & Zach arrinve in Boston
USS Constitution -bult in 1797 & has long history with American Navy. nicknames "Old Ironsides" because the timber is so hard the cannonballs would bounce right off when she was hit
Beacon Hill is an exclusive & historical part of Boston. the gas lights linning the streets have been going non-stop since 1912
Boston city has preserved their old historical buildings
PROVINCETOWN, CAPE COD
The Pilgim Tower dominates Provincetown skyline
We hired bike to check out the town
Zach checks the water for fish
Fran gets to try her first lobster
Captain Zach does a great job on watch
WOODS HOLE, CAPE COD
Harbour Seals
MARTHA'S VINEYARD, CAPE COD
Vineyard Harbour
The local fishermen are out enjoying the early morning
A storm is brewing in Vineyard Harbour so we left for Newport before it's arrival
NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
Pete & Zach in the +30knot winds in Newport Harbour
Lots of people decorate their houses with pumpkins & pots of chrisanthemums in vibrant autumn colours
A local church has a fund raiser selling pumpkins
Pete & Zach make a lobster pot out of our shoe basket - shame they didn't catch any lobsters!!!!
There was a`Morgan Car Rally at The Elms, the 196's cars were all in beautiful condition
A good time was had by all at Fran's Pirate Birthday Party
"Spruce" gets loaded onto a freighter for the homeward journey to England
BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND
The autum colours put on a stunning show
The beautiful wooden boats at the Hereshoff Museum
PORT WASHINGTON, LONG ISLAND
House boats are a permanent fixture in this marina
We had a great day with Al & Fiona
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
We had a great view of Manhattan as we came through Hells Gate & down the East River
Re-construction is well underway at "Ground Zero" where tey are building a Monument, Information Center & Transport Center
There's a lovely walking & bike trail along the Hudson River
The Concorde is on display at the Intrepid Museum
Ice skating at Central Park
The little kids dress up for the Pumpkin Festival at Central Park
The big kids get dressed up for the Halloween Parade in Greenwhich Village
The street is blocked off to traffic in the weekends fo the Maddison Ave Street Market
The "Brown Stone" houses in Brooklyn Heights
Team New Zealand boats feature in the Model Room at the New York Yacht Club
Times Square
Coney Island board walk
NEW YORK to CAPE MAY
A visitor joins us for our run down to Cape May & checks outthe GPS - maybe he's lost!!!
DELTAVILLE, CHESAPEAKE
Don & LaVonne are busy moving on to their fabulous 80' catamaran "Cats Meow" with their 2 cats to go full time cruising
Another beautiful day in Fishing Bay Harbour
They say the autumn colours aren't as good this year in Deltavile because of the hot dry climate over the summer, but they look pretty good to me.....
It was still raining lightly when Fran & Zach arrived on 6th October, however the following day the sun came out so we took the ferry into Boston City & went exploring. We went to the aquarium which was pretty neat, with a big penguin colony, 4 large Gallapogos Turtles & of course lots of fish. We took a "hop on hop" off 2 day bus trip around the city & out to Harvard University. Harvard is the oldest university in USA with a population of 30,000 students; it looks just like you see in the movies. Of course we checked out the shops, Macy’s in particular, say no more …… We stumbled upon a great fresh fruit & veg market & at the end of the day everything was going very cheap.
The bilge alarm went off during the night; it took a while to track down the source of the leak which turned out to be another hole in the port water tank. Lucky it’s something Pete can fix.
10th October we set off for Cape Cod. We had a bit of a slow start & had to motor sail for the first 2 hours, but then the wind picked up & by the time we reached Provincetown we were doing 10 knots in a 20 knot breeze. We spent a day in Provincetown which is a very popular tourist destination with its quaint Cape Cod houses & beautiful beaches. We found some friendly fishermen & relieved them of 4 tasty lobsters in exchange for $20 - what a bargain & so tasty too…..
12th October we had a good sail over to Cape Cod Canal, but no wind when we got through the other side of the canal, so had to motor all the way down Buzzards Bay to Hadley Harbour. We spent a quiet night in the secluded land locked bay & the following morning motored the short distance to Woods Hole. Here we visited another aquarium, not quite as good as the Boston Aquarium but it’s the second oldest in the world, opened in 1871. At lunch time we set sail for Martha’s Vineyard & anchored in Vineyard Harbour in time to see a stunning sunset. Pete & Zach did some fishing & caught a nice looking fish, along with 3 inedible crabs. We had a peaceful night in the anchorage, but decided to leave the following morning as the weather forecast was predicting the arrival of strong winds within 24 hours. So unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to go ashore on Martha’s Vineyard, but had a good run to Newport, Rhode Island before the weather turned nasty.
It was a good call to leave when we did because the day after our arrival at Newport the winds arrived, gusting over 30 knots, & blew solidly for 3 days. Our first night in New Port we had heavy rain & managed to fill both our water tanks, however the next day turned out lovely & sunny even though the wind was still blowing. Fran & I went ashore to do some washing & check out the shops, while Pete & Zach stood watch on Saliander & made a lobster pot out of our shoe basket. Unfortunately they only caught 5 crabs (inedible once again) & a conch –maybe they should stick to fishing…..
The second day in Newport & we were still getting constant winds over 30knots, so Pete stayed on board again while Fran, Zach & I went ashore. We went on a tour through the Elms, a beautiful French style chateau built for a Philadelphia millionaire & his wife in 1901 as a “summer retreat”. Zach was delighted when we took him to Wal-Mart where he brought some more wrestling figurines to add to his huge collection & Fran did well in the shopping department too.
Fran & Zach’s last day in Newport & the wind had finally started to subside, so Pete was able to leave Sali & come sightseeing for the day. We did the famous “Cliff Walk” that passes some of the beautiful mansions that overlook the water. We also sampled some of the local seafood delights at the harbour side Seafood Festival & were entertained by some talented musicians who also did “Flat Foot Dancing” (a type of Irish jig/tap dance). We had a “surprise” Pirate Party as an early Birthday celebration for Fran & our friends Sue & Andy from “Spruce” joined in the celebrations. Of course we had to have lobster for dinner & had a lot of laughs playing “party games”.
Monday 18th October – sadly it was time to say good bye to Fran & Zach. They caught a train to New York where they spent the last 3 days of their holiday. We collected our new bikes that had been waiting for us in Newport, it was great to have our own transport again & we had a good 5 mile ride out of town to check out some shops. We spent the next 3 days catching up on chores & re-stocking the pantry. We also spent some time with Sue & Andy before their home bound departure for England on 21st October. We went along to watch their yacht “Spruce” get loaded onto the deck of a freighter ready for departure. There was a strong breeze blowing & Spruce was getting a bit of “rock n roll” treatment as they sidled up beside the freighter, but all went well & she was lifted safely on board. Andy & Sue accompanied “Spruce” as passengers on the freighter.
After seeing Sue & Andy safely on board we continued on up to Bristol, Rhode Island. Just after anchoring we had a big electrical storm lasting a couple of hours. We stayed the night in Bristol harbour & visited the Hereshoff Museum, a famous boat building yard that made their name designing & building beautiful classic wooden boats, including 5 winning Americas Cup boats in it’s hey day. We enjoyed seeing the America’s Cup Hall of Fame where a number of our famous Kiwi America’s Cup sailors were honored.
23rd October we headed back to Newport for the night & caught up with Jane & Bruce, who live in Newport, we met them on their boat “Tiger Moth” in Croatia in 2008. The next day we left for Port Washington on Long Island. It was a slow trip as there was very little wind & by the time we got to Long Island Sound the tide had turned against us so we had to battle against the current. Luckily there were very few lobster pots around, so we were able to sail through the night & dropped anchor in Port Washington at 2.30am on 25th October. My friend Alison, from Melbourne, was holidaying in New York with a friend so on 26th October Al & Fiona took the 45 min train ride from Manhattan to Port Washington, to visit us for the day. We had a great time catching up & took them back to Sali for lunch, then a tiki tour around the harbour before they returned to Manhattan. We were lucky with the weather as the following day was rainy, a good day to just vege out for a nice change.
October 28th we decided to head to Manhattan to see if we could get a closer anchorage. It was another beautiful sunny autumn day & we got a great view of Manhattan as we cruised down the East River & back up the Hudson River, passing a lot of the iconic buildings & bridges. Unfortunately there was no place for us to anchor as the currents were too strong & we were too big for the mooring buoys. The marinas were also not an option as it would have cost us US$250 per night (that was the winter rate, it’s double that in summer time). We sailed back down the Hudson River, passsed Ellis Island & the Statue of Liberty, & made our way to Great Kills Harbour on the south eastern end of Staten Island. It was a well protected land locked harbour, a bit tricky to get in as it was low tide which meant we only had a couple of feet of water under the keel at times, but we made without any hitches.
We decided to take our bikes into Manhattan & set off riding our bikes to the ferry that left from the northern end of Statten Island. We wondered why the locals tried to talk us into catching the train to the ferry & after riding half an hour without getting far we soon realized the error of our ways. We managed to find a bus to take us, bikes & all, the rest of the way to take us to the ferry. After that lesson we took the train to the ferry, much easier…..
We spent 3 days riding around Manhattan & over to Brooklyn Heights where we saw the beautiful tree lined streets & the old “Brown Stone” apartments. We visited the Intrepid Museum where they have the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier which was in WWII, the Growle Submarine which was in service during the “Cold War” (since replaced by nuclear subs), the Concorde Jet & a number of other smaller aircraft now housed on & below the decks of Intrepid.
We’ve been enjoying the stunning autumn hues of yellow, orange & red from all the various deciduous trees that are prevalent on the Eastern Boarder. Central Park was no exception & being the weekend there were plenty of people out & about making the most of the last days of the Indian summer. In fact the Park was packed with people who were there for weddings, ice skating on the outdoor rink & a Pumpkin Festival for the little ones who were dressed up in Halloween costumes of all descriptions. They close the roads to traffic in the weekends, but with all the people around it made it difficult for the many cyclists, joggers, tuktuk’s, as well as horse & carriages trying to negotiate their way around the park.
31st October, Halloween, we saw a lot more children in their costumes, especially in Greenwich Village, as they went around the local restaurants & businesses, escorted by their parents, “Trick & Treating”. That night there was a big Halloween Parade for the “big kids” We waited around to see it but there were so many people lining the streets & because we had our bikes we couldn’t get near enough to see anything. However it was just as much fun seeing a large number of the spectators dressed up in costume.
On our forth day we decided to leave the bikes on the boat & try the subway. We arranged rendezvoused with the daughter of our New Zealand friend’s, John & Larraine. Katrina & Lou, her American husband, live on Long Island, but Lou works in Manhattan, so met them in China Town & had a lovely diner at a Vietnamese Restaurant.
New York is truly a melting pot of cultures & people, but we were really astounded at the number of people we heard speaking foreign languages which would have been at least 50% of people on all the streets. Down in China Town you could swear you were in the heart of Hong Kong & Coney Island was full of Russians & Russian signage on the shops.
We were also privileged to visit the prestigious New York Yacht Club. We had to dress up for the occasion, no jeans & sneakers allowed here!! Thanks to our Newport friends, Jane & Bruce, who were able to arrange for our visit because of their membership at the club, & thanks for the beers too….
Of course no visit to New York would be complete without seeing a show on Broadway. I chose “Jersey Boys” which was about the life of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. We weren’t disappointed - the music was fantastic.
We had 5 straight days of sunshine, but a very chilling wind, in fact the temperature got or down into the 30’s F one night. By this time we’d had our fill of the “Big Apple” which was just as well because the following day the rain & wind made an appearance. We headed over to Sandy Hook where we fueled up & prepared for our departure early the following morning.
The bilge alarm went off during the night; it took a while to track down the source of the leak which turned out to be another hole in the port water tank. Lucky it’s something Pete can fix.
10th October we set off for Cape Cod. We had a bit of a slow start & had to motor sail for the first 2 hours, but then the wind picked up & by the time we reached Provincetown we were doing 10 knots in a 20 knot breeze. We spent a day in Provincetown which is a very popular tourist destination with its quaint Cape Cod houses & beautiful beaches. We found some friendly fishermen & relieved them of 4 tasty lobsters in exchange for $20 - what a bargain & so tasty too…..
12th October we had a good sail over to Cape Cod Canal, but no wind when we got through the other side of the canal, so had to motor all the way down Buzzards Bay to Hadley Harbour. We spent a quiet night in the secluded land locked bay & the following morning motored the short distance to Woods Hole. Here we visited another aquarium, not quite as good as the Boston Aquarium but it’s the second oldest in the world, opened in 1871. At lunch time we set sail for Martha’s Vineyard & anchored in Vineyard Harbour in time to see a stunning sunset. Pete & Zach did some fishing & caught a nice looking fish, along with 3 inedible crabs. We had a peaceful night in the anchorage, but decided to leave the following morning as the weather forecast was predicting the arrival of strong winds within 24 hours. So unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to go ashore on Martha’s Vineyard, but had a good run to Newport, Rhode Island before the weather turned nasty.
It was a good call to leave when we did because the day after our arrival at Newport the winds arrived, gusting over 30 knots, & blew solidly for 3 days. Our first night in New Port we had heavy rain & managed to fill both our water tanks, however the next day turned out lovely & sunny even though the wind was still blowing. Fran & I went ashore to do some washing & check out the shops, while Pete & Zach stood watch on Saliander & made a lobster pot out of our shoe basket. Unfortunately they only caught 5 crabs (inedible once again) & a conch –maybe they should stick to fishing…..
The second day in Newport & we were still getting constant winds over 30knots, so Pete stayed on board again while Fran, Zach & I went ashore. We went on a tour through the Elms, a beautiful French style chateau built for a Philadelphia millionaire & his wife in 1901 as a “summer retreat”. Zach was delighted when we took him to Wal-Mart where he brought some more wrestling figurines to add to his huge collection & Fran did well in the shopping department too.
Fran & Zach’s last day in Newport & the wind had finally started to subside, so Pete was able to leave Sali & come sightseeing for the day. We did the famous “Cliff Walk” that passes some of the beautiful mansions that overlook the water. We also sampled some of the local seafood delights at the harbour side Seafood Festival & were entertained by some talented musicians who also did “Flat Foot Dancing” (a type of Irish jig/tap dance). We had a “surprise” Pirate Party as an early Birthday celebration for Fran & our friends Sue & Andy from “Spruce” joined in the celebrations. Of course we had to have lobster for dinner & had a lot of laughs playing “party games”.
Monday 18th October – sadly it was time to say good bye to Fran & Zach. They caught a train to New York where they spent the last 3 days of their holiday. We collected our new bikes that had been waiting for us in Newport, it was great to have our own transport again & we had a good 5 mile ride out of town to check out some shops. We spent the next 3 days catching up on chores & re-stocking the pantry. We also spent some time with Sue & Andy before their home bound departure for England on 21st October. We went along to watch their yacht “Spruce” get loaded onto the deck of a freighter ready for departure. There was a strong breeze blowing & Spruce was getting a bit of “rock n roll” treatment as they sidled up beside the freighter, but all went well & she was lifted safely on board. Andy & Sue accompanied “Spruce” as passengers on the freighter.
After seeing Sue & Andy safely on board we continued on up to Bristol, Rhode Island. Just after anchoring we had a big electrical storm lasting a couple of hours. We stayed the night in Bristol harbour & visited the Hereshoff Museum, a famous boat building yard that made their name designing & building beautiful classic wooden boats, including 5 winning Americas Cup boats in it’s hey day. We enjoyed seeing the America’s Cup Hall of Fame where a number of our famous Kiwi America’s Cup sailors were honored.
23rd October we headed back to Newport for the night & caught up with Jane & Bruce, who live in Newport, we met them on their boat “Tiger Moth” in Croatia in 2008. The next day we left for Port Washington on Long Island. It was a slow trip as there was very little wind & by the time we got to Long Island Sound the tide had turned against us so we had to battle against the current. Luckily there were very few lobster pots around, so we were able to sail through the night & dropped anchor in Port Washington at 2.30am on 25th October. My friend Alison, from Melbourne, was holidaying in New York with a friend so on 26th October Al & Fiona took the 45 min train ride from Manhattan to Port Washington, to visit us for the day. We had a great time catching up & took them back to Sali for lunch, then a tiki tour around the harbour before they returned to Manhattan. We were lucky with the weather as the following day was rainy, a good day to just vege out for a nice change.
October 28th we decided to head to Manhattan to see if we could get a closer anchorage. It was another beautiful sunny autumn day & we got a great view of Manhattan as we cruised down the East River & back up the Hudson River, passing a lot of the iconic buildings & bridges. Unfortunately there was no place for us to anchor as the currents were too strong & we were too big for the mooring buoys. The marinas were also not an option as it would have cost us US$250 per night (that was the winter rate, it’s double that in summer time). We sailed back down the Hudson River, passsed Ellis Island & the Statue of Liberty, & made our way to Great Kills Harbour on the south eastern end of Staten Island. It was a well protected land locked harbour, a bit tricky to get in as it was low tide which meant we only had a couple of feet of water under the keel at times, but we made without any hitches.
We decided to take our bikes into Manhattan & set off riding our bikes to the ferry that left from the northern end of Statten Island. We wondered why the locals tried to talk us into catching the train to the ferry & after riding half an hour without getting far we soon realized the error of our ways. We managed to find a bus to take us, bikes & all, the rest of the way to take us to the ferry. After that lesson we took the train to the ferry, much easier…..
We spent 3 days riding around Manhattan & over to Brooklyn Heights where we saw the beautiful tree lined streets & the old “Brown Stone” apartments. We visited the Intrepid Museum where they have the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier which was in WWII, the Growle Submarine which was in service during the “Cold War” (since replaced by nuclear subs), the Concorde Jet & a number of other smaller aircraft now housed on & below the decks of Intrepid.
We’ve been enjoying the stunning autumn hues of yellow, orange & red from all the various deciduous trees that are prevalent on the Eastern Boarder. Central Park was no exception & being the weekend there were plenty of people out & about making the most of the last days of the Indian summer. In fact the Park was packed with people who were there for weddings, ice skating on the outdoor rink & a Pumpkin Festival for the little ones who were dressed up in Halloween costumes of all descriptions. They close the roads to traffic in the weekends, but with all the people around it made it difficult for the many cyclists, joggers, tuktuk’s, as well as horse & carriages trying to negotiate their way around the park.
31st October, Halloween, we saw a lot more children in their costumes, especially in Greenwich Village, as they went around the local restaurants & businesses, escorted by their parents, “Trick & Treating”. That night there was a big Halloween Parade for the “big kids” We waited around to see it but there were so many people lining the streets & because we had our bikes we couldn’t get near enough to see anything. However it was just as much fun seeing a large number of the spectators dressed up in costume.
On our forth day we decided to leave the bikes on the boat & try the subway. We arranged rendezvoused with the daughter of our New Zealand friend’s, John & Larraine. Katrina & Lou, her American husband, live on Long Island, but Lou works in Manhattan, so met them in China Town & had a lovely diner at a Vietnamese Restaurant.
New York is truly a melting pot of cultures & people, but we were really astounded at the number of people we heard speaking foreign languages which would have been at least 50% of people on all the streets. Down in China Town you could swear you were in the heart of Hong Kong & Coney Island was full of Russians & Russian signage on the shops.
We were also privileged to visit the prestigious New York Yacht Club. We had to dress up for the occasion, no jeans & sneakers allowed here!! Thanks to our Newport friends, Jane & Bruce, who were able to arrange for our visit because of their membership at the club, & thanks for the beers too….
Of course no visit to New York would be complete without seeing a show on Broadway. I chose “Jersey Boys” which was about the life of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. We weren’t disappointed - the music was fantastic.
We had 5 straight days of sunshine, but a very chilling wind, in fact the temperature got or down into the 30’s F one night. By this time we’d had our fill of the “Big Apple” which was just as well because the following day the rain & wind made an appearance. We headed over to Sandy Hook where we fueled up & prepared for our departure early the following morning.
We had a good run down the 130nmls to Cape May averaging over 7knots, & arrived at 1.30am on 6th November. We spent a couple of days catching up with Robyn & Wolf who were at their B&B for the weekend. Wolf showed Pete how to make 12 loaves of cinnamon bread with 36 eggs. We got to sample the bread the next morning for a French toast & bacon breakfast – yummm.
9th November we set off from Cape May to go up the Delaware. Our plan was to go up & through C&D Canal, then back down Chesapeake to Annapolis & Deltaville. However the wind was blowing straight down the Delaware with a nasty sea running, so we decided to opt for the coastal route & go up the Chesapeake. We had an easy run down the coast & decided to call into Ocean City for a night. It was a bit tricky getting into the harbor as the tide was ripping out of the narrow channel at the rate of 4 knots with 2-3ft pressure waves at the entrance. Once inside the harbor we discovered there was insufficient room for us as the only area we thought we could anchor had silted up & it was too shallow for us. Consequently we had to turn around & head back out to sea, touching the bottom a couple of times on the way through. We sailed through the night arriving at the Chesapeake entrance just on daylight. Unfortunately the wind was still coming from the North West which meant pounding into the wind & waves up the Bay. By this time we decided to forgo our visit to Annapolis & just go up the 30knmls to Deltaville. We dropped anchor in Deltaville at 6.30pm on 10th November.
We had a wonderful time renewing acquaintances with our Deltaville buddies. Don & Margaret are intending to launch “Caribee” before Christmas, Don & LaVonne are in the final throes of moving out of their house & living full time on board “Cats Meow” & Tim & Mary are busy having garage sales in preparation of selling their house in the spring to go full time cruising. Lee-Anne & Ian, an Aussie couple on “Windwalker” whom we met in Cape May, were also anchored in the Bay so we introduced them around & now they’ve got so comfortable they don’t seem to want to leave – can’t say as I blame them. It was also great to catch up with Thyra & Theresa, who introduced us to their friends Chris & Judith from Maine. We’re hoping we can meet up with Chris & Judith next year when we’re in Maine. Yesterday us girls (Margaret, Lee-Anne & I) had a day up in Richmond shopping, while the boys (Don, Ian & Pete) went “tyre kicking” Don brought a second hand truck, while the girls had fun getting groceries.
Today is 17th November & there’s a good weather window to get around the notorious Cape Hatteras so we’re on our way having a great sail down the Chesapeake doing 9knts, next stop is Beaufort, North Carolina.
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