The Mystical Secret Place For Good Old Boats

Chris Gasiorek Shows Me Through Wonderland

During our stay at Mystic Seaport Museum we met Chris Gasiorek, who is Vice President Of Watercraft Preservation And Programs. While his job title may be long winded, Chris is straight to the point when it comes to recognising boat lovers. He approached us onboard Crystal Blues one morning and offered a guided tour of the hidden collection - a massive converted factory, now housing hundreds of preserved boats, engines and machinery just across the street from the public museum site.

Beautiful Scenes At Every Turn

Mystic Seaport Museum was built on the site of two traditional shipyards. As time progressed and wooden ships were superseded, the shipyard owners built mills on the site, in substantial brick buildings.

One of those buildings now houses the museum's boat collection, an almost un-imaginable treasure trove of boats that date back as far as 1824. Whilst the majority are wooden, there are others made of fiberglass, aluminum and even tin.

The museum is dedicated to preserving the history of ships, boats and maritime culture, including boat building.

So the vibrant living seaport experience is one part of that, drawing over a quarter of a million visitors each year, teaching sailing skills and keeping traditional craft in service. Another part is harboring a collection of unique and special vessels - the collection now housed in the old mill building. They call it the Watercraft Hall, and it houses over 470 boats - we spent a few hours in there, and probably didn't see them all.

The museum also has a large curated library of nautical documents and artifacts, including scrimshaw, charts, ship drawings, scale models and images. Significantly, it is now custodian of the fantastic Rosenfeld Collection - nearly one million maritime photography pieces dating from 1881 thru 1992, with images held in various formats, from glass plates through to color transparencies. This collection also includes the cameras and equipment used by the Rosenfeld family over the years.

The Admiral Views The Collection With Chris Gasiorek

The Watercraft Hall is open to the public only four days each year, though I suspect that enthusiasts with a special interest could be accommodated at other times, by arrangement.

I understand that the museum gains about half its annual funding from gate proceeds - the entry fee for visiting the site. The balance comes from private donations, plus a contribution from sales through the museum store and online store. Seriously, this is an amazing site, where the art, craft and history of ships and the sea is not only celebrated, but preserved for future generations.  More power to them! If you love boats, add this place to your bucket list, and click below to see some more lovely images of the Watercraft Hall.

Berthed At Mystic Seaport Museum

Good (bad?) news like this is handed out on paper flyers here at Mystic Seaport Museum, in Connecticut, printed here using a very old press. The Admiral and I visited the museum back in 1995, before we adopted Crystal Blues. Now it's great to be able to sail in here and stay for a weekend - Crystal Blues is tied to the wharf among a dozen or so visiting vessels.

The museum is huge, probably the best working maritime history museum in the world. Dozens of working vessels, many in operation each day, including the last wooden whaling ship the Charles W. Morgan. This vessel has undergone a massive multi-year refit and is in great condition.

The Charles W. Morgan Berthed At Mystic

On the site is a complete New England maritime village of the 1850's, with all the various trades and services represented. This weekend the museum events included a special display of antique marine engines, with enthusiasts setting up their working engines and the museum operating a dozen or so steam engines (using real steam, not compressed air) - my father would have loved it.. Earlier this evening there was live music on the common - by 6:00pm I was talking to the guitarist and by 6:30pm  we were performing together - what a joy. Live music rocks! Even better when you're invited back to play again next week ...

Exploring the entire museum has taken us two full days, however tomorrow we can move on. If the weather holds, tomorrow we'll head for Block Island, as a stepping stone to reach Cuttyhunk and eventually Martha's Vineyard.

The Shipsmith Workshop

Cruising North & East, To New York & New England

Crystal Blues Rests In Her Beautiful Reedville Berth

Early last week we said farewell to our friends in beautiful Reedville, and started our journey northward. Once again it was hard to leave, however the Chesapeake can be fiercely humid in July and August, and we wanted to spend some time with friends on (slightly) cooler Long Island Sound.

Cockerell Creek, Eastern Arm, Reedville

So we day hopped our way north, up the Chesapeake, pausing at Solomon's Island, Oxford, St.Michaels and then Annapolis. All cutesy, aged. restored and very prosperous places. In St. Michaels we partnered with the crew of the Freedom 45 sloop Jade Moon, Richard and Kathy Reavis. Richard is an accomplished guitarist and singer, so we added some rhythm to his guitar and some harmonies to the songs - sang our hearts out in fact, over two nights at anchor.

St. Michaels is a fantastic boating destination, where sailing skills are both taught and celebrated. A cute town dating back to the struggle for independance, and a proud place that hosts the impressive Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Of course our own sailing skills had almost been forgotten on this trip, as the wind was either dead on the nose (fortunately light) or non existent. So Mrs. Cummins had plenty of exercise and drank quite a lot of diesel, while the sails stayed firmly furled.

After St. Michaels we had two days in Annapolis, accommodated graciously by new friend Ben Fulton at his condo dock. We waited a day for weather to clear then moved through the C&D Canal yesterday morning, spent last night off the New Jersey shore (actually sailing with actual real wind) and arrived in New York City this morning. On the way up the East River we passed the magnificent Queen Mary II, berthed opposite Governors Island. What a proper ship she is - nothing like the wedding cake styled cruise liners most common on the world's oceans. Timing the tide correctly on the East River we rocketed through Hell's Gate at 11 knots (!) and were spat out onto Long Island Sound in the early afternoon. Crystal Blues arrived in Port Washington, NY, this afternoon and will spend the next six weeks cruising on Long Island Sound.

Queen Mary II

Manhattan In A Sunny Mood This Morning

Heading North, The Bahamas To Chesapeake Bay, USA

Smooth Sailing In The Bahamas

Crystal Blues will depart from Great Sail Cay, in the Abacos, Bahamas, early tomorrow morning. Right now we're sailing WNW across the top of Little Abaco Island, in brisk (25 knot) south easterly winds. Its a sleigh ride, smooth and quick with just a tiny staysail set and we're over 6.0 knots of boat speed.

The passage to the Chesapeake should take just over 4 days, subject to winds and the ever present Gulf Stream current. We'll clear in to the USA in Norfolk, and then head up to Reedville in Virginia for a break.

Departing George Town, Bound For Cuba

Exumas Racing Sloop

After almost a week in George Town Harbor we are ready to move on, with fuel and provisions loaded and our hearts looking forward to the next destination - the south coast of Cuba.

We arrived here in the middle of the George Town Cruising Regatta and learned to live with the constant VHF radio chatter generated by more than 250 cruising sailboats in the one harbor. The harbor could probably cater for many more - it's long, generally shallow and provides great holding and protection for anchored yachts.

The annual regatta here has a little something for everyone, from big boat racing to Bocce tournaments, beach volleyball, poker and even cruiser golf played on the local salt flats.  And yes, the local rum was a major attraction.

The local sailors also get involved, competing in traditional 16 foot sloops that feature heavy sliding boards to carry the windward crew and impossibly large main sails and booms.

To the north of us, the Atlantic Ocean is whipping up a major storm that is expected to send large swells down here later this week, so we're heading south before we're boxed in again. A series of cold fronts moving down off the US coast have complicated the local weather forecasting, and no one is relying on anything more than two or three days out. Subject to weather, we expect to arrive in Santiago De Cuba on Friday morning, March 16, truly ready for the local music, food and yet more rum.

A Soft Shackle Starter

Soft Shackle Main Sheet Block Attachment

Soft shackles can and do replace conventional stainless D shackles in many places aboard sailboats today. We like using them because they can articulate readily, they don't rattle, won't scratch other fittings and don't bleed rust (as all the stainless shackles will do in the long run).

On Crystal Blues we've been using them for some years, originally purchasing shackles made by our friend David at Precision Shipwright Services in Phuket, Thailand.

Eventually I was shamed into learning how to make my own, settling on a process that is clearly described here at L-36.com, a great source of boating and rigging info. We do like the "better" soft shackle described there.

Now I'm a hunter in all the chandleries we visit, looking for short lengths of Dyneema high strength line that I can buy cheap - off cuts, roll ends etc. On occasion I've been given short lengths for free, which are quickly converted into valuable shackles. Most of our shackles are made on passage, whiling away the hours on watch at sea, so it's not an onerous task. The calculator on the L-36 web page will guide you as to the critical dimensions and line lengths required.

Out Latest Production Batch - We've Been Busy

George Town Arrival

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in George Town, Exuma Islands, after a seven hour passage from Black Point Harbour.  Atlantic ocean storms to the north of us, while delivering snow and heavy weather in the UK and USA, are sending large long period swells down to this part of the world.  Moving on or off the shallow Bahamas banks requires a little care and planning, selecting a reef pass that is preferably wide and deep. The Admiral snapped this swell as we moved through the Conch Cay Cut into Exuma Harbour yesterday.

Skinny, Deep, Then Skinny Again - Passage To Eleuthera

Rosinante Enjoying The Conditions

Six days ago we worked our way through the skinny water of the southern Abaco Islands in Bahama, heading to sea and southward, destination Eleuthera. While only 50 nautical miles distant, this was an Atlantic Ocean passage and required the right weather window - so we grabbed the first available opportunity and headed out across the bar in the early morning, with a gaggle of yachts all homing on the same destination. After a somewhat tense exit (we crossed the bar at low tide) it was a joy to have several hundred meters of water under the keel.

Pelican Express, A Sundeer 60, Doing What She Does Best

The winds and currents gave us a boisterous crossing, with 18 to 20 knots of wind for most of the day, sloppy seas and plenty of movement on board. A true romp of a sail with the apparent wind exactly on the beam. We were the last to cross the bar at Little Harbor heading out, but our waterline length let us haul in those that crossed ahead of us, and we were second into Eleuthera behind our friends on Pelican Express.

Through the Egg Island cut we marched, anchoring at Meek's Patch near Spanish Wells, in just 3 meters of water again, for a spectacular sunset. That really was a fine Bahamas cruising day.

A Quiet Achiever, Sailing Alone Around The World

Alexandra At Anchor In The BVI's

Every now and again you meet someone who manages to alter your perceptions, re-align your values and generally give your heart a good shake-up.

Back in 2015 we sailed South West from Chagos, to Rodrigues in the southern Indian Ocean, a strenuous 6 day passage that tested our capabilities. After a thorough bashing we finally raced in to the tiny harbor on the island of Rodrigues, on a day when even the local schools had been closed due to high wind strengths. Frankly, I've never been so happy to arrive anywhere.

Alexandra In Rodrigues

Next day, a small sailboat came in off that same angry ocean, with just one young man on board. It had no roller furling sails, not even an engine. There was no generator, no refrigeration, no fancy autopilot systems, no electric toilets and certainly few comforts below decks. The boat was simple, minimalist, in fact so basic I was shocked. It was not in great condition, but it got him there.

Sean D'Epagnier had just crossed the southern Indian Ocean in that boat, on his own, through some dreadful weather. Having no engine, he sculled his way into harbor with a single large sculling oar, settled in and lit a wood fire in a pot on deck, heating a meal of seafood he'd caught. Squid lay on the deck, drying in the sun - his means of preserving fish he caught by line or by diving.

There in Rodrigues we helped Shaun with some fasteners and glue, and a chunk of timber to make a new sculling oar. Then, over the next two years, we bumped into Sean a couple of times, first in the BVI's after crossing the Atlantic and then again in Charleston, South Carolina. Each time I looked at the approaching sailboat and instantly said to myself - that just has to be Sean.

He's an intriguing character, doing it his own way. By his own words he's interested in the weather, climate, mathematical algorithms and graphics. Very importantly, most cruising sailors already benefit from Sean's work - he's a member of the development team that produce Open CPN, the superb freeware chart plotting program (check it out here). So there is a lot more to Sean than initial appearances might suggest.  Behind this crusty and unusually tough adventurer are a million stories.

He purchased his boat, a Bristol 27 built in 1973, for $1,000. She's named Alexandra. Departing California in 2011, he crossed the Pacific and arrived in New Zealand in 2012. There he became the subject of a search by local authorities, as his family in the USA hadn't heard from him for some months - it turns out Sean was fine, busily working his way around the New Zealand coast. Of course he didn't understand the fuss.

Sean & Alexandra Arrive In Charleston SC

He had further trouble in New Zealand when the authorities would not let him depart without making certain repairs to Alexandra. However by 2014 he was in the Phillippines, then moved on through Indonesia and set out across the Indian Ocean in 2015.

Early that year he commented online about the cruising equipment that he considers essential - his list included spare sails, a sculling oar, a sailing kayak, a wood stove and squid lures. It's fair to say that most of these items are not on my list ...

I spoke with Dave Register, Senior Developer for the Open CPN platform, who commented on Sean's enthusiasm and breadth of ideas - Sean has contributed to many add-on modules for Open CPN.  I believe that Dave see's Sean as a committed ocean traveler, kind of hard to track down - in fact I think Dave was never quite sure where he was in the world. I think Sean's family probably feel the same way.

During that first connection in Rodrigues I realised that Sean was obviously very talented on the IT and software engineering side.  However when we met again in the BVI's I learned he was developing a prototype low-power electric autopilot, so he's clearly into hardware solutions as well.

My most enduring memory of Sean is watching him sail into the estuary in Charleston one morning, short tacking patiently up river against the outgoing tide. As he slowly slid past the dock I yelled out and made contact, and he asked if I knew where and how he could clear in to the country - his country - this was just so Sean. I was able to call the Customs and Immigration team for him, and I have little doubt that they are still wondering quite what they encountered that day. Should you see Alexandra coming into your anchorage, I suggest you reset your values and offer Sean the hand of cruising friendship - he's surely earned it.

I've recently heard that Sean has re-connected with his family here in the USA, however right now I'm not sure where exactly Sean is in this world. Then again I suspect that, just maybe, that's how he likes it. He's a special person - more power to him.

Sean, Cruising The World His Own Way

Things That Work For Us # 09 - CUTCO Shears & Knives

I just love it when a company is so proud of its product they put a lifetime warranty on it.

After twenty years of hard use on board a cruising sail boat, it's even better when that same company stands by it's word. So hat's off to CUTCO, a manufacturer famous for their knives but who also make a really mean pair of shears.

Last month we sent our 20 year old CUTCO bread knife back for the free sharpening service they provide - that knife will slice hot bread straight from the oven and does a mean job with foam insulation. We also shipped our favorite CUTCO shears for service.

The bread knife came back beautifully sharpened, and the shears came back - well, brand new. They gave us a new pair (I guess we had worked them pretty hard), no charge. These shears will cut almost anything, including bones, light sheet metal and coins. Of course they work beautifully on heavy duty sail cloth and canvas, perhaps not so good on finer lightweight fabrics. They are so good that the admiral does get antsy when she can't find them ....



 

Heat, Biting Flies, No Wind ..... We're Lovin' It!

The Admiral Escaping The Flies & Heat

Welcome to Chesapeake Bay in the summer time. Heat, biting flies, no wind. But there are no lobster traps and very few rocky reefs, much to our delight. We had traveled overnight from New York down the coast, then up the Delaware River and through the C&D Canal, to enter the Chesapeake and pause for two nights in Annapolis..

Go Aussie !

A local told me that there are at least two rocks in Chesapeake Bay, but everyone has forgotten just exactly where they are. The bay is over 150 nautical miles long from north to south, and little more than 20nm at it's widest. A haven for yachting and boating in general, it is typically quite shallow with a deep water channel running up the middle of the estuary.

The world 505 sailing championships are running here at the moment. This morning, before we departed Annapolis, we had breakfast in the cockpit watching all 90 of these compact but high performance racing yachts breeze past us. The crews were from the USA, Canada, France, Great Britain, Poland and Australia, among many other nations.

Day Tripper Eats Insects, Then Departs.

As the Aussie boats sailed past we gave them a big welcome cheer, waving our large jar of Vegemite. What would the neighbours think?

After breakfast we headed south, working our way through the racing fleet and then motoring all day - no wind, but plenty of biting flies to kill. The deck is patched red with blood splotches. Just days back, cruising from Greenport to Port Jefferson, we had a beautiful Golden Finch on board. It stayed with us all day, ranging around the boat and carefully devouring every single insect on the boat. We really needed that bird with us today...

As I write we're approaching the mouth of the Patuxent River, where we'll spend the night anchored in Solomons harbor, just across the river from the Naval Air Station (remember Tom Cruise in Top Gun ? That's the place). The naval aviators aren't flying today, no super loud noises as we approach, so we'll look for them in the local bar when we arrive.

505 Sailboats Ready To Race In Annapolis

South West, To Warm Water & Sunshine

Repaired & Heading For Warmer Water

Having completed repairs at the excellent Journey's End Marina in Rockland, Maine, we quickly made a jump south and west over the past two days, chasing warmer weather.

Penobscot Bay To Block Island Sound

Crystal Blues was launched on Monday at 13:00hrs and we fueled, conducted a small sea trial and finished rigging the boat that afternoon. Early Tuesday morning we struck out southwards down a very cold Penobscot Bay, dodging the ever present lobster traps all the way until we reached the open ocean.

A Cold Captain

From there it was SSW to the Cape Cod Canal, a 150
nautical mile run that we covered in around 22 hours of mixed motoring and motor sailing.  We zoomed through the 9 mile canal in just under an hour and continued WSW down Buzzards Bay in light airs. Sunshine and warm air lightened the mood - Ley turned to the galley and produced multiple loaves of fresh bread from the oven.

What a difference a solid day of travel can make - by 4:00pm yesterday we were anchored in the Great Salt Pond on Block Island, stripped of our multiple layers of clothing and enjoying balmy conditions around 25degC. We had passed the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and were into warmer Rhode Island waters.

Thick fog shrouded the boat this morning, so we delayed our departure until mid-morning when it had mostly cleared. It was a glorious day for sailing with 12 knots of wind and smooth seas, so Crystal Blues was in her element. It was our best sailing day in many weeks.

We romped along at 8 knots for most of the afternoon, hard on the wind with only a light salt spray decorating the foredeck. Six hours of travel now finds us back in New York State, in Greenport at the home dock of our friend Arthur Stroem. It's damn good to be away from the cold, and even better to be away from all those rocky reefs and ledges .....

Warm Air & Sunshine At Last - Approaching Long Island This Afternoon

Here in Greenport we'll do a complete rig survey - it needs to be carefully checked since our incident with the rocky ledge. Then we'll look for a weather window to take us safely south to Reedville, just off the Chesapeake Bay. September is the major hurricane month on the US East Coast. While Texas and Florida are cleaning up from the last two hits, hurricane Jose is hanging around out there in the Atlantic, and two more disturbances are now rated 70% chance of forming hurricanes in the next five days. You can update on those right here.

A Busy Month For Atlantic Tropical Storms

Lobster Madness

A Carpet Of Floats

Coastal Maine is famous for it's lobsters - last year they landed more than 130 million pounds of lobster and exported over $200 million dollars worth of live lobster, with the majority flown to Asia. Along the coast, lobster shacks decorate every harbor, serving the thousands of tourists that flock to this coast in the summer months.

Cape Porpoise Lobstermen Landing Their Catch

Each lobsterman can have up to 800 traps in the water, and there are more than 6000 licensed boats out there. 

Estimates put the number of lobster traps in Maine waters at over 3 million, and I figure we've seen and dodged the floats marking half of them.

In fact sailing on this coast is hard work, with constant vigilance needed to steer around the thick carpet of floats that dot the water. In places you could walk across the floats with snow shoes.

On foggy days the navigation work load increases even further. Watching the radar for traffic, dodging floats, managing the navigation and constantly peering into the fog means that even a short four or five hour coastal passage is exhausting - we prefer not to go to sea if it's foggy here.

So how do you deal with this carpet of obstacles ? First, we simply don't navigate at night, but there are other things that help .....

Bristol Fashion, Herreshoff And All That

A visit to the Herreshoff Museum in Bristol, Road Island, was an essential stop for us on our New England cruise. We day sailed north from Newport to Bristol and took a mooring offered by the museum, the cost of which included museum entry for the crew.

The museum occupies the original Herreshoff factory site, amazingly complete today, with some buildings leased by shipwrights who are building and restoring wooden boats on a commercial basis. Dozens of Herreshoff boats are on display - from dinghys to motor launches to catamarans. It was here that the great Nathaniel Herreshoff conceived and built the beautiful yachts that originally challenged and defended the Americas Cup over a 100 years ago.

I've cruised extensively on H28 and H37 ketches designed by L Francis Herreshoff, son of the master designer Nathaniel. Our afternoon in the museum was an overdose of timber, craft and history, graciously supported by one of the museum volunteers, who recognised our keen interest and escorted us around the site.

The museum is a living, breathing heritage site that, to my delight, operates youth sail training programs in classic timber Herreshoff boats. In the image below you can see the crews getting underway for an afternoon of sailing - they sailed on and off the moorings, bringing back a flood of memories for me, as I started my sailing experiences that way.  Yes, we have sailed Crystal Blues both onto and off moorings, though it has been a while ...

Newport Rhode Island, Social Cruising Continues ......

After a relaxed 50 mile passage we sailed into Newport, Rhode Island, arriving on schedule for a much anticipated dinner date. Coming into the harbor we dodged beautiful schooners and even more beautiful 12 Meter Americas Cup boats, all carrying passengers on commercial harbor cruises. Newport just oozes sailing tradition, money and tourists. We were lucky - old acquaintances and business connections had come forward, inviting us to dinner at the spectacular  New York Yacht Club facility in Newport.

So the mighty Crystal Blues, flying her Royal Yacht Club Of Victoria and Ocean Cruising Club burgees, rested on a mooring in front of the New York Yacht Club, while Ley and I prepared ourselves for dinner, not such a simple task!

New York Yacht Club At Newport, R.I.

  
Barbara Horton Lees and Steven Lees were relaxed and gracious hosts, having arrived in Newport themselves just that afternoon. We enjoyed a magic dinner on the great balcony of that beautiful building, looking out over the lawns, then standing with the members for the traditional cannon firing and flag lowering at sunset. After dinner we toured parts of the club house, once the Brown family mansion.

Of course this is the club that had just lost the Americas Cup to team New Zealand, though the spirit at the clubhouse didn't show it, and by the end of the evening we might have felt just a little guilty for cheering on the New Zealanders a few weeks earlier .... though I have a feeling that the New York Yacht Club won't hesitate to take up that proud fight again.

They have an incredibly active sailing program, hosting numerous race series for many classes, plus active sailing development programs.

Our hosts, Barbara and Steven, have lived on board their own boat for many years, and are working toward a full-time cruising life, so we were able to share stories of our own experiences.

The celebrations continued next morning with breakfast on board their boat, before we parted ways, hoping to meet at sea again in the future. We departed Newport later that morning in a light fog, bound for Bristol, Rhode Island, accompanied by beautiful sailing schooners and memories of a very special evening.

The Great New England Social Cruise - Part 2

Noank Waterfront Homes

Leaving Norwalk, we motor sailed against a 25 knot north easterly wind to reach shelter in New Haven, Connecticut. Once again, this was a slightly disappointing harbor destination, however it did allow us to stage our way to the North East along Long Island Sound, in quite poor weather.  Life looked better the next day when we arrived at the village of Noank, at the southern end of the Mystic River channel, this time in beautiful sunny conditions.

Crystal Blues At Ram Island Yacht Club

First some perspective - Ley and I vacationed in Noank some 22 years ago, before we owned a boat.  In those day we just did a lot of boat looking, and there are very few ugly boats in Noank ... these folk have been raised with proper values! Everything is a classic, even the fiberglass versions.

This is a picture perfect New England village, set on a peninsular that sprouts beautiful scenes at every turn. All traffic for the Mystic Seaport Museum goes upriver past Noank, so it is a great place to sit and watch the passing parade of fabulous wooden and classic boats.

We were welcomed and hosted here by Sidney and Sandy Van Zandt, who are the Ocean Cruising Club Port Officers in Noank, having settled here after there own circumnavigation in a boat they built with their own hands - more power to them!

Sidney and Sandy also arranged a mooring for us to use, right across from their yacht club, made available by other club members.

Being social and resourceful folk, they also invited several members of the local Ram Island Yacht Club to welcome us, at their home, the very evening we arrived. The club is a family run organisation, supported by the goodwill of volunteer members and shows great family spirit, with an active junior sailing program.

So our three nights in Noank became a celebration of cruising and sailing, with many local guests visiting on board Crystal Blues.  We had gracious support from the Ram Island Yacht Club and it's members, who invited us to use the club wharf on our last evening in town. We really did not want to leave.

However we had to move on, as our very social cruise had forward bookings. So we sailed from Noank, onwards to the North and East, heading for yet another social event .....

Moonrise Over The Mystic River

Cruising USA - Generous Folk In Every Port

This is Ben, a clam fisherman who works the waters of Sandy Hook Bay, just 20 miles south of New York City. Ben is a "clammer" - hard work on these cold waters, as all the retrieval is done with muscle power, no engines permitted when actually fishing - he rakes the bottom with long rakes. He's also a sailor, and one of the very many Americans who have been incredibly gracious and generous hosts to us, since we arrived on the East Coast of the USA.

Fresh New York Clams

When we anchored in the Shrewsbury River near Pacific Highlands, Ben was on his way home.  He stopped his boat and said he'd like to offer us a meal of New York clams - could we pass over a bucket ?

Of course we could, and Ben loaded us up with a decent meal of large clams. They were delicious, and we owe Ben a beer or two when we pass his fishing grounds again in a few months.

Ben isn't alone in his generosity to cruising travelers - from the first day we arrived in Charleston (South Carolina) people approached us, seeing the Australian flag, and offered to help. In two days on the dock in Charleston we were offered moorings in three different harbours on Long Island Sound. One passing sailor watched me removing the Raymarine wind vane from the top of the mast and immediately offered us a spare that he had at home in his garage. Others have simply been there when we needed them, helping with local transport and sharing local knowledge, opening their homes and sharing meals and social time together.

Some of the support is tendered through connections with sailing associations - the Seven Seas Cruising Association and the Ocean Cruising Club in particular - those clubs have a network of friendly volunteer port officers in many of the harbors and towns along this coast. Club membership does have it's benefits.

Frankly, we've never felt quite so loved, there is a real sense of engagement and support here that we didn't expect - despite the many times we've toured and worked in the USA in the past. Yacht Club members are quick to offer support and if possible share their club facilities. So, hats off to the friendly people of the US east coast - from the Carolinas, to Chesapeake Bay and on to Long Island Sound, it is a delight to cruise here - we thank you all!

One Of The Protected Berths We've Been Able To Use - Thanks Walt & Mary !