Nantucket Days 1, 2 & 3

On Tuesday we found our way to Nantucket. It was very hot and there was no wind so we motored the whole way. When we arrived we saw huge motor yachts. One even had a pool on it's top deck. The harbormaster led us to our mooring and gave us a bunch of helpful guides to help us figure out the town. I was hopeful that the showers here would allow me the ability to dry my hair but no such luck. It was shower shoes and hot steamy air all the way. An environment not conducive for hair drying. I've given up on that luxury this trip!

The first day Dad and I walked the town. There are far more shops and restaurants here and everything is very expensive. We watch the Sox play Tampa Bay two nights in a row and caught the World Cup semi-final game at a local restaurant. The next day my friend Annie K took a plane from Martha's Vineyard to hang with us for the day. It was great to see her again. We rented bikes and rode down to Cisco Beach to check it out. Then, we rode to Cisco Brewers/Distillery/Winery. There were many libations to taste. We tasted their brews first and then decided it might be best to fill our bellies before heading on to taste vodka or wine. Fortunately, there was a wonderful farm up the road with a farm store that had delicious sandwiches and other good eats. We bought our food and took it back to Cisco to eat on their patio with Bloody Marys. After that we biked back to town. Dad headed back to the boat and Annie and I did a little bit more window shopping. I did happen to find some shoes, which isn't a huge surprise. But, it was a good deal!!

Today, we are relaxing, reading and later we're going to the store and to the laundry mat. We are anticipating the arrival of Carol and the Petersons on Wednesday and we can't wait!

Happy Birthday Susanna! Happy Birthday USA!

We've had a great time on the Vineyard thanks to the Knopfs who have been so gracious with their time and helped us with so many things during our visit. The highlight of the trip was 4th of July when the Knopfs rafted their boat with ours so we could have a fun picnic and watch the fireworks together. Annie Knopf made a yummy meal topped off with a delicious flag cake made from scratch.

Also, congratulations to the LeReche family on the birth of their beautiful baby girl. Susanna Megan LeReche was born at 4:15 pm July 5th weighing 8 lbs 10 oz. She is a wonderfully healthy baby and I can't wait to meet her. Way to go Nick and Corinne!! I love you guys!

Today Dad and I are off to Nantucket our final stop on our New England tour. We'll be there about a week and half before we head home.

Shitter's full!

Since leaving Block Island we stopped in Newport for a couple of days. Dad has been there many times before so he showed me the Newport Shipyard that housed many old America's Cup boats and beautiful yachts that had come up from BVI for the summer. Apparently, boaters can't get insurance down south during hurricane season so they bring their boats up north.

Next we headed to Martha's Vineyard. My dear friend Annie K. has a house on the Vineyard and she was sweet enough to save us a mooring before we got there. She also let us do laundry at her place and showed us around town. It was a tremendous help! The night we got in she escorted us to dinner and we had the best meal. I had a salad that had mashed potatoes on top with a lemon butter sauce (yummy!). She ordered french fries with parmesan cheese, mushrooms, caramelized onions and truffles on top (double yummy!).

The following day Dad and I got the boat ready for a visitor. Chip came to town!! Yippee! But before he arrived the most disgusting thing that could ever happen....happened. Dad and I noticed that there was something leaking from the exhaust pipe connected to the waste tank. A waste tank is where everything from the toilet goes until we are able to dump it out in the Atlantic or pump it out. Dad thought that he had opened the tank while we were out in the ocean, but apparently there was a blockage because we discovered that not only was the tank not empty, it was about to burst. (GROSS!!!) I got the pleasure of opening the tank. I slowly unscrewed it one turn and brown juice dribbled from the opening. As I was gagging my Dad said, "let me take over". I, being the dedicated crew that I am, said "no, I got this." - HUGE MISTAKE! I unscrewed the cap and a brown volcanic like mass spewed from the top just missing my face. Yes, folks you know what that brown mass was. I don't think I need to spell it out for you. I was surprised that I was able to keep calm but at that point I did let Dad take over and I went below to wash my hands about 50 times or more.

On a brighter note, Chip did get in later that afternoon and we had a lovely dinner on the boat before heading to town for drinks with Annie and Ted. Today, we rented bikes and explored more of Edgartown and Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard. And, tonight we'll head back in to town for some dinner. More highlights from Martha's Vineyard and 4th of July to come.

The one thing I learned this week is that the gauges on a boat are typically right. If your Dad says that the waste gauge should be reset - DON'T reset it. It probably means the shitter is full!

New Kids on The Block

On Friday afternoon we arrived at the Great Salt Pond on Block Island. Block Island, considered the "Bermuda of the North", is located in the Atlantic Ocean 12 miles south of the mainland. We were told that the island is frequently foggy and that was no joke. We have woken up to fog and gone to sleep with fog for the past few days.

When we arrived on Friday all of the mooring balls had been snatched up so we dropped our anchor on the eastern part of the pond. Since it was already early evening we decided to stay aboard and make dinner.

On Saturday we got up early and went ashore to rent bikes. We found our way to downtown where all the ferries are docked. We walked around and looked in some of the shops before heading to Aldo's, a local restaurant, for a pizza and a bucket of beers (only $13)! There we were able to catch the USA v. Ghana World Cup game, which was very disappointing (those Ghanians sure know how to fake injury!!). We also started to notice that there are a lot of folks who come to Block Island for the summer season to work from all over the world. There were two bartenders at Aldo's. One was from Bulgaria and the other from Brazil. There was a woman who stopped in to see the game from England and several others from other countries. It is a very small island with a lot of diversity. After watching the game we found a local seafood market where we picked up some shrimp and swordfish to grill for dinner back on board the boat. I had never eaten swordfish before but it is supposed to be excellent in this area. According to Dad, the fish could have been better. I wouldn't know the difference though. We left our scraps for a seagull barking at us for food. I didn't realize how loud those birds can get. He sounded like a rooster! He was so relentless that he perched on the outboard motor of our dinghy until we gave him what was left of our dinner. Word must have gotten around the birdie community about our food because the next morning we woke up to two beautiful swans on the starboard side of our boat. One was a mother with two baby swans in her feathers. Also that morning we woke to someone yelling, "Andiamo". We had heard the same yell the morning before and just assumed it was a person having some fun after a long night of partying. Apparently, Aldo's restaurant also owns a bakery and they sell their pastries and coffee to people in the harbor. The yell is to let us know they are around and that we can call them on VHF to order food. So we did just that. Dad flagged them down and we shared coffee, a cinnamon bun, and an egg biscuit! Yum!

Then we went ashore and rode around on our bikes until turn in time, which was noon. We had some lunch and came back to the boat for some reading and relaxing. Tonight we plan to head back to the Block for dinner and hopefully some local music, which we've heard is pretty entertaining.

Dad and I have had a lovely trip so far. It's almost half way done and we've seen a lot. However, we both miss our spouses a lot and wish they were here to share this fun adventure with us.

The Good and The Bad About Traveling with My Dad

From Huntington, NY we sailed to Essex, CT. It is a beautiful, picturesque town. We decided to stay two nights because of a front that came through with some thunderstorms. However, in that time we got to investigate the town and get a sense for the culture. The GREAT thing about traveling with my Dad on this trip is that I am a learning a ton about sailing and life and really getting to know him better as an adult. The BAD thing about traveling with my Dad is that wherever we go people think we are a couple. While he does look young for his age, people still think that we are one of those modern day couples where the old man went out looking for the "newer model". Therefore, we clarify every trip to a bar or a restaurant with an anecdote about our lovely "Father/Daughter trip". Dad thinks it is flattering, but it disturbs me a little.

On a more positive note, the town of Essex, CT is beautiful. Apparently the Griswold family had a huge influence on it's development as they opened the Griswold Inn and there is a place called Griswold Corners (Griswold also happens to be Carol Forrester's, my wonderful Bonus Mom's, maiden name). I was able to go for a jog this morning and see more of the town which is filled with historic homes and luscious landscape. We will be sad to leave tomorrow but excited to see what's ahead. Our next stop is Block Island, Rhode Island. We plan to rent bikes and see all of the sights and absorb all of the culture.

For all of our friends interested in our recommendations for traveling on Long Island Sound we highly recommend Essex, CT for a quaint, romantic getaway (not that their was anything romantic about our visit - remember he is my DAD!).

Huntington Bay to Port Jefferson

Since my last post we have traveled out Long Island Sound to Huntington Bay and Port Jefferson. Both are charming, quaint towns. At our most recent stop, Port Jefferson, we've started to get more of a sense of that "small town feel" but we definitely know we are still just a stones throw from Manhattan. Everyone tells us that we can just hop on the Long Island Railroad and make our way back to the city. Dad and I have started to get into a rhythm. We start by having breakfast, making coffee using a coffee press (I think we finally have that mastered after a few very strong cups of coffee), taking the dingy or launch service (which is a fancy way of saying that we hail the harbor master to come pick us up in his boat and take us ashore) to the nearest yacht club to take showers. Then, we go on a long walk taking in the sights and learning more about the city before we head out on a sail up the sound to our next destination. Once at our destination we go ashore for a drink and a conversation and then head back to the boat for dinner. Then, we chart out our course for the next day and hit the sack. We've both slept like babies on the boat.

Tomorrow we are headed across the sound to Essex, CT. We've read that there are a lot of homes and sights to see with the name Griswold, which happens to be Carol's (my stepmom and my dad's wife) maiden name. We'll be sure to take more pictures there. In the meantime, check out our pictures on Facebook.

One of my goals for this trip has been to expand my knowledge of sailing, especially about navigation and overnight trips. So far, I am proud to say, I have learned how to tie up to a mooring and how to chart a course using a nautical chart. Considering we have only completed week one of our trip, I am pleased to have learned so much so fast.

Stay tuned for more....there's lots more to report very soon!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of the Dads out there and especially to my Dad who is the captain of this wonderful adventure. You rock!

The past two days were spent checking out the sights of NYC and figuring out other modes of transportation aside from sailing (subway, ferries, buses, etc...). On Friday, my Dad and I met up with my friend Courtney and went to the Today Show to hear James Taylor sing with Carol King. Then, we walked all through Central Park. Later we met up with a few other friends for lunch (Cindy and Anne F.) and watched USA tie Slovenia in the World Cup. Then, we trotted over to meet Dad's friend Jeff Rogers at Miya Shoji studio where we saw some incredible Japanese art. Thanks Jeff!

On Friday, my friend Jenny and I toured the city again while my Dad hung behind to do the chores on the boat. Thanks Pops! Today, we said good bye to all of our New York friends and headed up the East River past Manhattan to Long Island Sound. On the way we past under several famous bridges (Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Queensboro Bridge, and several others). We also passed LaGuardia Airport and waved to the inmates on Rikers Island. Now, we are tied up to a mooring at Manhassett Bay Yacht Club. We tied up in perfect timing, just before a thunderstorm rolled through. We took off our shoes and had a beer as we watched the rain come down (see picture above). The MBYC opened in 1891 and has done a great job maintaining it's Gatsby-like charm. Tomorrow we take off to Huntington Bay just a little bit further down the sound. Once there we plan on taking the dinghy ashore to check out the town and buy some provisions.

Thanks to all of you who are following the blog and keep the comments coming! We love them. You can check out my latest photos on Facebook. For those who do not have Facebook, I'm also working on posting pictures on another public site which I will post a link to soon once I have it set up.

And, one last shout out to cousin Carson Hogge who recently graduated from Freeman High School and is headed to VMI soon. Way to go Carson!!