WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A DRUNKEN SAILOR? Cosmo speaks out!

This is an interview with Cosmo about his experience traveling aboard Obsession from Port Washington to Sandy Hook 

From your stowaway spot on a Obsession you get to see and hear a lot of the behind the scenes planning and action. What was it like waiting in Port Washington for Hurricane Florence to pass?

Aye, it was a long wait, Matey. Nine days of twiddling my thumbs (and drinking RUM) while Janice and David had fun in NYC, did laundry, and grocery shopped. They even went to a Mall where David visited a Tesla Showroom. He’d have to find a Pirate’s Treasure to buy one though. 

They watched the news and weather a lot.  In my opinion Hurricane Florence is going to have a huge impact on their trip south. They were wise to wait. 

Sewing sails by hand. It takes patience and strength. David has those qualities. Me, I’d rather watch and drink RUM! 

Sunrise in Port Washington the morning we left. A Pirate’s perfect day to leave Port Washington. 

Describe the mood on board the morning you left Port Washington. Well, you know, Janice is a morning person and very excitable. David is NOT a morning person and very low key. So it wasn’t surprising to me that Janice was up early (like 3:00am) checking the weather, the tides and currents and making lists. David, meanwhile snored away until she finally nudged him out of his bunk at 6:30am. They went about their business in a methodical way, The anchor was up and they were underway at 6:50am. Janice made lunches. But I noticed that neither of them finished their coffee.

They need travel mugs. Those fancy Obsession mugs aren’t practical for drinking coffee underway.  (I drink ALL my RUM straight from the bottle)

David’s calm, cool collected demeanor is one that will serve him well for steering and navigating not only today but for the entire trip. 

What’s your job on board?

Me? Ha!! I’m just a stowaway Pirate. I listen, I watch and I drink RUM. They don’t need my simple navigating eequipment and experience (a compass and a bottle of RUM) they have a Garmin GPS, Navionics and Aqua Map on their iPhones and iPad. They have weather, tide, wind and current apps on their iPhones too. They steer, raise, trim and lower the sails, drop and weigh anchor etc.  Me, I’m just along for the ride. (And the RUM). 

This Navionics App pulls up charts that show not only where you’re going like a map, but the water depths, and  the speed and direction of the current. 

This  Windy App shows the wind direction and speed. 

And the trusty Garmin at the helm is tracking our course. 

What were some of the highlights of the trip down the East River, through Hell Gate and the Narrows?

Janice took TONS of pictures. I absconded with a few to share with you in this interview. 

Under the Throggs Neck Bridge-a black garbage bag (no RUM)

Then The Whitestone Bridge

Rikers Island. No RUM for the guys playing basketball on the deck of the barge annexed for the overflow of prisoners. 

Hell Gate. We hit a speed of 8.5 knots because we had the current with us. A good pirate knows how to take advantage of these things to get out of hairy situations. It gives us more reasons and time to drink RUM!

Roosevelt Island

Governor’s Island 

AND FINALLY...

The Statue of Liberty

Off the southern tip of Manhattan we came upon ships, tankers, ferries, barges, tugs and barges and of course some pleasure boats. David steered Obsession through this maze with expertise and ease. Janice, on the other hand could hardly keep still. There was so much happening around us! And she wanted to take it all in. In her words, “It was mind boggling, exciting and exhilarating and stressful all at the same time. We are doing this! It is really happening!”

Beyond the Narrows we entered Raritan Bay and made a bee-line for Sandy Hook. We found our way around the sea-wall and to Bob423’s Favorite Anchor Spot in the Atlantic Highlands area. A nap, then a celebratory steak dinner with a champagne toast. (AND RUM)

Thanks, Cosmo for sharing your perspective. I do hope you left some RUM for David! 

Argh. He’ll just have to go ashore and buy some more! (RUM)

HAPPINESS IS

Happiness Is... 

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

While we sit in Port Washington waiting for a weather window (and hurricane Florence to do her thing) we do find time to find joy Aboard Obsession. Are we disappointed? Sure. But each day of our trip is one of a journey. A journey of a lifetime. We don’t know exactly what tomorrow will bring, but meanwhile we will try to find happiness. And look for that weather window! Sing along with Charlie Brown, his friends and me!

Happiness is finding a mooring. 

We had to weave between boats to a far side of Northport Harbor to find the LISCA (Long Island Sound Catalina Asdociation) free mooring. This harbor is chock full of boats. And (a”little birdie named Ann told me  it hosts at least 12 Catalina 42s. Anyway, we found it-right in front of William Vanderbilt’s estate. Did we have to come here in sweltering heat to moor next to a Vanderbilt Mansion?  Anyway, the best part of finding that mooring was that it was free! 

Lobsters and mussels

We met our new found Facebook friends, Ann and Bob Snider (Set Free) for  a Lobster and Mussel dinner in the Village of Northport. A place we will definitely visit on our return trip in May/June. Need I tell you how delicious dinner was? Not to mention air conditioning.  

Meeting new friends 

We met Ann and Bob Snider now we can’t wait to meet Merri and Doug Purdy and All our new Catalina42 Facebook friends. I’m amazed at how much we have in common. So many of us are retired (or soon to be) teachers, love music,  are handy and resourceful, and of course, love sailing and consider this their dream trip. I can’t wait to meet you all!  When we do then I’ll post your pictures. 

Happiness is learning to navigate

I’m learning to use Navionics on my iPhone to set routes and  chart our course. And now active Captain and Aqua Map. We have the technology! 

Using the headphones 

Little did I know how much we would appreciate having these new Eartech Headphones for anchoring and picking up a mooring. 

And two new gas cans

Happiness is watching a thunderstorm 

After more than a week of sweltering heat in Greenport, Northport and Port Jefferson we sat up one evening to enjoy a light show performed by Mother Nature. She did not disappoint, only in that it did not break the heat cycle for long. 

And hoping for rain. 

Happiness is two days of sunshine

The two days we spent in Port Jefferson were sunny and warm. It was Labor Day weekend and the anchorage was crowded with boaters squeezing in a few last days of summer. By nightfall almost all the boats and partners had packed up and gone home. 

Taking a day trip

We were a bit bummed that we couldn’t continue our trip from Port Washington to Sandy Hook. After all, we had the tide and current with us all the way, and the original forecast was good! But Mother Nature had other plans for us. So we planned a trip to The World Trade Center in NYC. And added a Broadway Musical to the itinerary topped off with dinner. 

Riding the train 

It’s not often that you leave a sailboat, ride a water taxi to shore, catch a taxi to the train station, ride a train (and pass through a tunnel that runs under the body of water you’ll be traveling onnin a few days) ) then catch a subway to visit The World Trade Center two days before the 17th anniversary of the 911 Attack.  

Happiness is five different forecasts

Of hurricane tracks

I have learned a lot following the forecasts and since I’ve always been a weather junkie it has been fun too. 

Happiness is sunrise and sunset

Daytime and nighttime too

For happiness is anyone and anything at all

That's loved by you

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d13_LoHQkRM&t=0h0m1s#menu

Happiness is singing together when the day is through

And happiness is those who sing with you. 

Thanks to all of you who read my blog and send me encouraging messages. 

WE’VE BEEN WORKING/PLAYING ON OBSESSION

We’ve been working on Obsession

All these past few days. 

We’ve been playing on Obsession

Just to pass the time away.

We can hear Key West a calling

“Rise up early in the morn”

And the ICW whispering

“Obsession, Come on Down!”

(Sung to the tune of 

I’ve been working on the Railroad”

The refrigeration and freezer are installed and working very well. However, we are thinking we’d like thermostats for both units. It’s hard to regulate the temperatures otherwise. Combined they use about the same voltage the single 14 year old Adler Barbour used. But with the extreme heat and humidity the past 10 Days, and several days in a row with relatively little sun, we had to run the engine often to keep up. Having a freezer means lots of good food too. Pan seared Salmon with fresh cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash and porcini mushroom couscous with chopped almonds and craisins. And fresh Vineyard Sound Striped Bass with tomato and melon salad and the leftover couscous from the salmon a few nights earlier. David pronounced them both “restaurant fare”. 

On our most recent trip to the Vineyard our VHF radio started acting up. Believe it or not-3 years to the day we purchased it. (Warranty is good for 3 years from date of purchase). So our first stop in Vineyard Haven was to West Marine to order a replacement. It was shipped the very next day to the surprise of the clerk and us! 

Our second stop was to a sailmaker. The sail cover zipper broke and had to be replaced. Annabelle from Sperry Sails had it all done by Friday. 

In between we enjoyed a dinner at The Red Cat and Illumination Night in Oak Bluffs, 

A morning out of the scorching heat at theVineyard  Haven Library, 

A day of window shopping in Edgartown

And finally the Oak Bluffs Fireworks. They did not disappoint. 

The next day the weather made a turn for the worse, thunderstorms and gusty winds, 

so we hunkered down in The Lagoon for two days, before heading back to Cuttyhunk one last time.  

The weather was perfect for David to dive on the bottom and replace the zincs on the prop in Cuttyhunk. 

A final Raw Bar delivery a fuel and water stop were on our agenda while we waited for the final round of thunderstorms to slowly work their way through before venturing out to Block Island.

 A minor delay, the port rub rail came loose when we were dockside getting fuel and water in Cuttyhunk and David again earned his lobster lunch. 

NOAH’s forecast of of 5-10 knot winds from the NW was seriously wrong. We encountered almost 20 knots, and it was more from the west, switching to the SW making it difficult to sail against the current. So, motor-sailing was the way to go, resulting in a pretty fast, salty 5 hour trip anchor to anchor. Along the way we encountered a tug and barge, fishing boats and cargo ships. 

Finally! Beautiful, sunny, drying weather In New Harbor, Block Island. 

We found our Favorite Anchor Spot open and with precision and ease (and the help of our new headphones) dropped anchor, showered and headed in to The Oar for Mudslides and  Sushi. 

We always seem to find the same seats at the upstairs bar, and enjoy meeting new people in that corner.  

The 

The next few days we fiddled with a few more things, tightened lifelines, sorted through “stuff” in drawers and cupboards, made covers for the dinghy fender and replaced the screens.  

We plotted and planned, then re-plotted and planned, met up with George and Marge Webster, (MAGGIE) Eddie Homer (IRISH WAKE) and Paula and John Joaquin (DOGS)

A few more laughs, a few more remembrances and a few more Mudslides. 

Sunday we finally moved on. While the plan was  to head to Fishers Island, we steered further west and headed to Coecles Harbor in Shelter Island. We passed 1GI. Gardiners Island Bell and it officially welcomed us to New York waters with a loud GONG!

Reasoning? Other than it’s a beautiful spot? And a North Pacific 43 sighting!

It’s an hour or less from Greenport where we will stay dockside for 4 nights (stay 3 get the 4th free), 

Grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning and charging batteries are on our list of things to do along with a trip to the library to update this blog, a surprise evening band concert, a movie (Mission Imposdible) to stay cool and some window shopping. 

Meanwhile, we’ve made FB friends with several Catalina42 owners planning to travel south this winter. Melvin Buster Bellwood and Michelle (Belle), Merri and Doug Purdy (Purdy Suite) and Dave Schiever and Michelle Mctygue  (Half Baked) who are presently in Lake Erie with their mast down headed this way through the Erie Canal. We share stories  and chat on FB, and can’t wait to meet in person. Others, like Ann Snider in Northport, Long Island, Addison Chan who spends much time in Cuba, Stephen Pace in CA was such a help with the refrigeration installation, Danny Villagoza with hisnever ending questions and research skills have offered ideas and encouragement, we look forward to meeting you and others in the coming months. We bumped into (not literally) Deb and Steve Crane (Outbound) from WI in Cuttyhunk on their way back from a summer “down east”. 

Our Current thinking is to be in NYC around Sept. 7. But who knows? We still  have to consult Eldridge and the weatherman, (Zack Green, I’ll miss sharing my sunrises with you and your forecasts), so here are a few last sunrises of Cuttyhunk, Block Island and Coecles Harbor. 

 

I think  “We hear Key West a calling...”