Another Bite of the Big Apple

This past week found us back in New York City, moored once again at the 79th Street Boat Basin. We arrived here after a 36 hour sail directly from the C&D canal, with an early morning departure to sail down the Delaware River and skip over New Jersey.

The weather reports were clear when we left, but in the early evening, off Atlantic City, clouds began to gather until a thunderstorm system descended like a black hand over our boat. We’ve had bad weather before, but this was pretty frightening as night fell and a severe lightening storm raged overhead. I grew even more concerned after we heard a boat a few miles ahead of us, the Monica, make a series of panicked calls to the Coast Guard seeking to report their position in case they capsized. Luckily, Dave had the first night watch, and tethered in, while I tried to get a little sleep down below. After being thrown out of bed twice by the waves, things calmed down a lot, and by morning we had dry weather as we breezed into New York Harbor.

After recovering from our overnight, we had a chance to take advantage of all that NYC has to offer, getting together with friends for dinners and drinks, exploring museums with Amelia, taking walks in Central Park, running along the Hudson River and taking in an Amelia-approved Broadway show (Mary Poppins). It really was the perfect NYC long weekend, made even more fun by our location right in the heart of the Upper West Side.

Anxious to make miles towards home, we left early Tuesday morning and sailed down the Hudson, around the Battery and up the East River to Long Island Sound. We had a fantastic sailing day with strong winds and favorable currents, averaging over 7 knots, until the engine failed in the middle of Long Island Sound. After a little diagnosis, Dave determined that the boat was heeled over so far that, despite having a quarter tank of diesel, the engine intake was getting insufficient fuel. We refueled in Stamford, CT, and stayed overnight there, before continuing to Fishers Island today. And that is where we are, in a peaceful anchorage, ready for a quiet night before continuing north.

Back in Back Creek

We had a spectacular sail from St. Michaels to Annapolis and find ourselves, three weeks later, back in Back Creek (part of Annapolis where we spent November of last year). We’ve found that Annapolis is much livelier during the late spring and summer, definitely living up to it’s reputation as “America’s Sailing Capital.”

Soon after arriving here we were joined by our boating friends from Wyoming and spent a fun week together before their trip, sadly, came to an end. Together we had a chance to explore the restaurants of Annapolis, ranging from absolute dives (Dave’s choice – a Mexican café) to a fine French bistro (Tim’s choice and a real treat). Dave and Tim also took the kids into Washington to see the sights and to Baltimore for a return visit to the aquarium.

We have been docked at Jabin’s Yacht Yard, one of the largest boat yards on the East Coast. It is a very busy place, with boats constantly coming and going. We took advantage of our situation by having Serendipity hauled out for inspection (happy to see no damage from our 15 run-agrounds on the ICW) and some minor maintenance.

Our location in Annapolis also enabled me to return briefly to Boston twice. The first trip back was to attend my tenth Harvard Business School reunion. I co-chaired the event (an interesting job to do remotely over the past year) so had to be there to host. It was an incredibly fun four days of great events, with nearly 900 attendees, culminating in a spectacular gala at the Boston Public Library. I really enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with many classmates and old friends. I must admit it took me a full day of grooming appointments in Boston (hair cut, hair color, manicure, dentist, and dress alterations) to shake the salt off. The second trip was a brief visit for a training session at HBS; another fun opportunity to re-connect with colleagues. On both trips, it was a little strange being back in our big, empty house and walking the streets of our tiny town. It felt very odd after the wide open spaces we are used to, and gave me a little glimpse of some of the challenges we will likely face on our return.

Between trips, Dave, Amelia and I had a chance to do some more regional exploring. We rented a car and drove to Charlottsville, VA, so that we could see Monticello, Jefferson’s rural Virginia home. Touring his home (also his muse) gave us a chance to gain additional insight into this very interesting historical figure. We were also able to visit the University of Virginia (although we realize Amelia is a little young for college tours) and we drove back along Skyline Drive through the beautiful Shenandoah Mountains. After getting back, we also had an opportunity to spend some time with a former classmate, Logan Smith, and his family, who have taken up residence in Annapolis, and kindly shared their local pool and barbequeing prowess with us.

We are now waiting out some unfavorable weather, but expect to say goodbye to Annapolis tomorrow morning at 5:00 am as we sail out of Back Creek and continue up the Chesapeake Bay toward home.