10/09/2010

 NEXT MORNING, 0700hrs

We had to get going.

Breakfast was on our boat, which we had packed for. I hadn't packed for dinners because I thought we'd appreciate the time off our boat after a full day and I didn't want to have to take the time to prepare a meal and clean up and I really didn't know how well the stove, convection oven would work. Breakfast and lunch were taken care of.

Back out into the sound and the weather wasn't bad, which was a nice change. There were still some 1-2 foot rollers but our boat just moved right along. We had only covered 10-15 miles the previous day so we really had to get some water under the keel. Yes, being a semi-displacement boat she (that's our boat, not Jane, she always has an even keel) has a modified keel.

We had checked our fuel before we left Old Saybrook. The site glass on each tank, they are each 250 gal for a total of 500 gals, was about an inch, maybe 2 down from what was presumed as the top. Today's inspection showed that the fuel had dropped but not to a point of being any concern.

Down the Sound we went.

The Light on Little Duck Island

Our Boat only goes about 10-12 kts but Harvey's newly charged laptop was showing about 8 mph over ground. If you aren't in a hurry, which will be most of our cruising time, then the leisurely pace of a trawler is comforting. You get to go faster than a sailboat, you don't need to always be watching the sails and if it gets cold or rainy you go inside to steer. But if we could go 8 kts, that would be about 10 mph and we could do 100 miles in 10 hours which would be a great day.

About 2 hours out, Harvey's laptop reached the end of it time again and we still didn't have a solution. This is where Chadd showed his metal, again. He offered that we could disconnect the VHF radio and use that power. I didn't think it prudent to do that even though I had a portable VHF radio I had acquired from my new 'best' friend at West marine, but the Loran wasn't usable so we disconnected that and hooked the cigarette lighter receptacle, alligator clips to the wires and viola, we were operational with a circuit breaker switch to boot.



Harvey & Chadd at the lower helm.

Not mentioned previously, Chadd had also saved the previous day with his Blackberry finding the way into the river to the tie up. It didn't give depth, I'm sure there is an app for that, but it was good enough to get us into the river and the depth finder helped with the rest.

As we passed by Kings Point, on our way into NY, I think Chadd had a touch of nostalgia about his Alma Mater. It was nice to see it from that vantage point, I'm sure he had seen it that way many times but being a Kings Point (KP) lover from the day I walked onto the campus, it was nice to see it from that angle as well.

















We started going down through the city, NY that is, down the East River, past the UN, under the Brooklyn Bridge and out into the Hudson River.

This is boating for some who need to be watched all the time, but I guess if you need to be in prison, there are worse places



Let's go out for a row on the river



A different angle for the UN



At that point we'd made about 75 miles and still had a little way to go. If I remember correctly it was about 1630 hrs and we still had daylight.

Harvey had thought we could stay at the Liberty Harbor Marina opposite the Liberty State Park Complex in NJ but a call to them resulted in a full house with a group that came in so it was now a scramble to find another spot. At this point we'd done about 90 miles and needed a place for our boat and ourselves for the night.

Again, Chadd with his Blackberry (I got to get one of those, I just don't need the extra expenses on top of my 5 lines and all the rest I'm paying for now) found another marina just a little further up the Hudson, in Jersey City, which we got to with little trouble and tied up a little before dark. I can't remember the name of the marina and a check on Google doesn't come up with it but the restaurant where we ate, in the marina, is listed and it was Michael Anthony's restaurant. This is located in Harsimus Cove, Jersey City, New Jersey.

A little straightening up and up the dock to dinner.

Another restful night on our boat.



I grabbed this picture the next morning when I got up to take care of my personal duties. We used the shore side facilities when we could since we weren't sure of the sanitation facilities on board. We just couldn't find the switch to turn on the toilet and the electric-Scan, but more on that later.

10/08/2010

THIS IS THE BIG DAY!!!

The surveys are over, insurance is in place and the closing on 'our' boat is going to take place, today.
We have purchased or procured a big list of items supplied by the 'Captain' who is going to help me deliver 'our' soon to be boat back to PA and the West End Boat Club in Essington where I have been a non-boat member for the last several years.

I got to be a fast 'best' friend to Steve at West Marine for my purchases that I think helped him make his numbers for that month. Remember that the boat came with 'nothing' (there was a lot of nothing that needed to be removed from the boat, but that will fall into a later story).

Dock lines, fenders, an anchor, chain & rode needed to be purchased for the trip. This was just the tip of the purchases. Fire extinguishers, tool kit, electrical tool kit (this actually came in handy). Remember that this was a 'Boatel' for 25 years. Remember that there was less than 500 hours on each engine. Since there was very little history with the boat actually cruising I needed to supply the cruising materials. Since I didn't know what to expect, I asked my flotilla member, friend and soon to be my delivery Captain to help me deliver the boat. Harvey's delivery experience could become a literal life saver if things started to go wrong. Remember my feeling of apprehension, well these were some of the 'sugar plums' dancing in my head.

Jane couldn't join us and that may have been a blessing in disguise. You'll understand as you read along.

I was also accompanied by my oldest son Chadd who is a graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point on Long Island. He was invaluable on this trip.



So we are at the closing.

The seller, who has reached the end of his boating days, was represented by his daughter who at the end cried that the family boat they had enjoyed for 24 years was being sold. I told her that she, the boat, not Jane, will be in good hands and well taken care of (I guess that in the case Jane fits into that as well, but I was speaking about 'our' boat). I don't know if it helped but the closing went very quickly, here is your check, here are your papers, thank yous all around and we were out the door behind the seller.



A happy new boat owner


We had Chadd's truck, his Honda Ridgeline, packed to the gills with boat stuff, food, charts, and everything else we thought we'd need that needed to be moved from the truck to the boat. We didn't want to do this until after the closing, just in case...

We had all of our clothing to take on the trip, that was for Harvey, Chadd and myself. Not know what kind of weather and how many changes might be required, the dryer on board wasn't working (were you paying attention, there was no dryer on board and do you know what it would be like to sit around in cold damp clothing for several days) we had to be prepared for almost anything.

We got the boat loaded and items put kind of where they should go. Then it was off to West Marine and then get some lunch. The West Marine in Old Saybrook didn't treat me like the one in Delaware, but I got my Ensign to fly on the mast at the stern of our boat and a few other small items anyway.

We had lunch at the diner in Old Saybrook where we had eaten before and had a good meal. But we had to get going since this was Columbus weekend and we had 4 days, well until Monday night, Tuesday morning to get our boat down to PA. If we didn't make it I would have to get off and leave Harvey and Chadd to finish the trip. Jane had to get home since the twins were due to come home that weekend and they would need to be picked up from where their ride lived to get them home where  they would be for the looong weekend (now you see 2 of the reasons Jane had to get home).

So around 1400 hrs, we had a toast to Poseidon, Neptune & Davy Jones, for good luck on our trip (with even a little poured into the marina),





Our able crew with the Admiral (the one in the boat hat)

and we said our goodbyes and she headed down the road and we headed into Long Island Sound. The marina where the brokers office was and our boat lived for 25 years is right off the CT River.


When we hit the sound, it would have been prudent to turn around and go back, I did have the slip until sometime in December, and again, not knowing what to expect from a boat with a use of 20 hours a year and we were launching into 5-6 foot seas in Long Island Sound.

It was a good thing that I had the yard put new wiper blades on the wipers, although I think from the job they did, even with new wiper blades, that the wipers were in fact an afterthought to someone where the boat was manufactured as they didn't work very well but may have been better than me on the foredeck with a towel.

OUR boat performed admirably. That big broad bow did what it could to deflect as much water as possible and if we were in any other boat the wipers may not have been necessary since the water would have just sheeted on the windows. As it was we were getting spray across the windows.

So for 2 to 2 1/2 hours we worked our way down the sound heading toward NY. About that time Harvey's GPS on his laptop stopped working. The battery died and there was no where to plug it so it would work, keeping in mind that the boat was never prepared with an inverter since it was normally tied to the pier.

As luck would have it, at the last moment before we left home, I grabbed from my car, an inverter we used in our vehicles to drive a TV for our trips to Vermont when the kids were small. This is a good time to tell you to listen to that little voice when it tells you something.

The problem was that the boat didn't have a cigarette lighter receptacle to plug it into. I did have an adapter that had a receptacle on one end and alligator clips on the other, but we couldn't find a hot line to connect it to, especially in 5-6 foot seas, so we headed to shore to find a place for the night and something to eat.

We were able to find Duck Island Roads. It didn't look like we would be able to have the 5 foot depth that we needed (our boat draws 4'6" but I go on the high side to be safe) but a boater on his way out told me, now standing on the bow, that there was enough water, so in we went.

Inside was Pilots Point Marina. No one was on the dock so we pulled in and tied up.

After a little cleanup we went up to the restaurant, had a meal and a drink or 2 and discussed how well our boat had performed.

As the storm ran outside we tucked ourselves into our bunks and went off to sleep.

The next morning I got these pictures and shortly after we took off for our day on the water.