Thursday morning I woke and was a little stiff from the sail the day before but also the boat spent most of it's time broadside to the swells due to the current. Lots of bumpy and rock 'n rolling. But nothing for an experienced voyager like myself. Getting the anchor up was no big deal except I forgot that the helm was locked midship and the was full and all those pretty rocks were coming on fast. Luckily I got to the helm in time and made a great escape.
The sail from Long ledge to the mouth of the CT river was another good one but it was getting pretty warm and humid-- I thought this was fall? The night before there were some thunder storms but far enough north that all I saw was some lightning far away a didn't think anything of it. At the the mouth of the river the current and waves were bit confused but once inside the breakwaters it was smooth as glass and with the tide bringing me up the river we made it up the river to Essex in short order.
The river is really very beautiful and has always amazed me that it didn't end up like the Thames in New London. John Lewis at Fort Rachel was kind enough to give me some great local knowledge of the river and Essex which really helped me out. Being the socialite that I am I decided to sneak up a little creek behind Nott island which is directly across from Essex. Certainly it would be an easy row over to go visit with Nancy. Since I had made such good time and it was so warm maybe a swim was in order after the hook went down.
I slowly made my way up the creek to a point where there was a smaller boat than mine; definitely time turn around. Clearly this was some poor guy trying to keep a boat ( under the wire) to avoid mooring fees etc. I also noticed that all he had was a small anchor line and probably not much on the other end of it. A concern if you're down current and weather. I turned the boat against the the current which was still coming up river and since there was no wind putting the hook down was easy. I slowed the boat and put it neutral she slowly came to a stop.
I very confidently went up and slowly let down my 22lb plow and at least 60' of 5/16"chain. All this is major overkill considering the boat is only 26' long and the depth could not have been more than 12-15 deep. With the hook down I went back aft and backed down on it to really set it in to the mud. Because it's chain and the engine's so small sometimes it's hard to tell but no boggy here the weight of the chain alone would hold it. It was really muggy and hot so I thought that maybe I'd put up the awning but decided to go for a swim first. After all hadn't I earned it by successfully navigating all the way from Niantic.
The swim was wonderful because the tide was coming in I felt like I was swimming in a lake. Once done with the dip while cleaning up the boat there were two squalls that came through-- no rain but lots of wind quick short bursts. Again no problem with my gear but was concerned about the guy north of me. Luckily I had scrapped the idea of the awning because I could of had a mess on my hands. The skies cleared as quickly as it came and I settled down with a beer and the rather large decision of what to have for dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment