Monday, Groundhog Day, 2 February 0.0 SM
Sarasota’s cloudy, windy, damp, showery and…it’s a BYOO-ti-ful day!
Cruising the Coast on 27'
Album: To Blue Hill and Back
A boisterous but brief thunderstorm rocked the harbor in mid-afternoon.
Vessels of all sizes and shapes surround the much-photographed Motif #1.
Yachts take up the mooring field but work boats predominate along the piers that line Gloucester Harbor.
Eastern Point Light with the sea beyond as seen from the yacht club on a breezy afternoon.
An impressive breakwater lines the entrance to Scituate Harbor.
The Mayflower replica is on a pier just west of the Plymouth Yacht Club whose moorings lay beyond.
A long sandy bar separates the harbor at Onset, sheltered from virtually all directions
The railroad bridge that spans the Cape Cod Canal is just west of the campus of Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
In what proved an unusual experience, wind filled her sails and Steadfast beat up Buzzard’s Bay.
Dinghies describe a colorful palette at New Bedford Yacht Club in Padanarum.
The raw bar is open for breakfast at the Thames Street landmark Benjamin’s.
You get to know your neighbors in Great Salt Pond, with boats on all 400-or-so moorings and in the snug anchorage.
A quintessential New England town, New Shoreham (Block Island) is a photographer’s delight.
The famous Hammersmith Farm is one of the many stunning properties on the Newport shore.
Just a couple of blocks from the US1 bridge, the convenience of Downtown Mystic Marina is worth the long motor up river.
The “moorings” in Milford Harbor are a series of floating piers down the middle of the channel.
Even on a calm day, the current’s enough to set the buoy to listing off Fisher Island.
The mooring field off Huntington Yacht Club is a long row from the town dock, in turn a good stretch of the legs from the retail district.
Northbound with the current past Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.
A handsome granite light marks the entrance to Huntington Harbor on Long Island’s north shore.
It’s a long first step: the tidal swing at Atlantic Highlands, NJ, can make boarding a challenge.
Kids at sailing camp, tourists on a classic 12-meter, lobstermen with the day’s catch, all of Newport seems underway.
Though not far from the casinos, Kammerman’s has something of a “rustic” feel.
The handsome waterfront homes of Atlantic Highlands, NJ, keep watch on the harbor full of yachts.
Drying towels in the slip at Charlie Dock, Utsch’s Marina, Cape May. Note the neighboring sport fishermen, a few of the 300+ tied up here.
Bounty motors under one of several bridges that span the C&D Canal
The replica HMS Bounty, lying at anchor in Sassafras River (MD), later was lost at sea in Hurricane Sandy.
Words of wisdom as offered in a window of the shop nearest Rockport Town Dock.
The wind always blows, it seems, across Star Island among the Isles of Shoals.
“Oysters” are in the name but we came for the steamers and weren’t disappointed!
A causeway connects Star Island to an adjacent private island.
The yacht club has an impressive view of downtown Portland, ME, just a short launch ride away.
Undeterred by fog, competitors assemble for the Long Cove Regatta.
Once Downeast, it seems each rocky point presents a classic tableau to tempt any artist, and lobster pots to test every sailor.
At day’s end, the fishermen first bring their catch to the co-op pier, then once their boats are moored in Tenant’s Harbor, leave their tenders ’til morning.
Steadfast lies to her easternmost mooring, Blue Hill Harbor, ME, before beginning her journey home.
Eggemoggin Reach is a popular passage for the Windjammers that ply Maine’s waters each summer.
Some of the same seaweed that so often clogged the engine water intake hitched a ride somewhere along the way Down East.
Rockland, ME, is artist colony, summer resort, tourist haven and, oh, yes, lest we forget, a working seaport.
Lobster pots are hard to pick-out heading into the glare of the early morning sun out of Rockland, ME.
Deciding where to point the camera is nearly as much of a challenge as piloting the channel.
The residents of South Island have their own storage building on the Lyman-Morse pier at Tenants Harbor.
The teenager who became author-actor Sterling Hayden spent a couple of years in this home on a rock island in Boothbay Harbor.
Long gone forebears once lived on Jewell Island at the mouth of Casco Bay.
On one of the hottest nights of the summer, Steadfast sits in the wind shadow of a hundred foot motor yacht at Chick’s Marina, Kennebunkport, ME.
Jim takes a relaxed turn at the helm using his Sperry for hands-free steering.
Lobster fishermen get an early start at the Rockport Town Pier.
Molly Bawn rests quietly off the pier at East Anchorage, the Crawford’s beautiful Blue Hill home.
Once in New England waters, it was not unusual to pull a wad of seaweed like this out of the Perko water intake strainer each morning.
Identical twin lights leave no mistake that this is Thatcher Island.
Gorgeous homes line a snug harbor filled with classic yachts at Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA.
The typically quaint shopping district, including super market, is just up this path from the harbor.
New Bedford’s cobblestone streets lead to the waterfront where whalers once departed for the hunt.
These women practice for their next dory race, a popular sport in New England harbors.
One of the several classic America’s Cup veterans thrills a crew of tourists out for a day-sail.
No description needed for the view looking back toward Block Island and Great Salt Pond.
Motor-sailing along the Connecticut shore, the dinghy strains at her painter.
It’s easy to ignore the seaplane port on the Lower East Side until one sets down a hundred yards off the port quarter!
A passing front shielded the setting sun for a dramatic close to the trip down the East River.
Still rising to its full 1,776 feet, the Super Tower at Ground Zero was easy to spot heading south from Jersey City.
Bells ring whenever the railroad bridge lowers for the frequent commuter trains that cross the Manasquan Inlet.
Patience leads the way under the Manasquan (NJ) bridge for an early start into the Atlantic.
A new ocean-front casino towers over the boardwalk, making it easy to steer to Atlantic City.
Favorable current and wind made for a pleasant morning sail part way up Delaware Bay.
It’s just the perspective, of course, but ships on opposite headings in Delaware Bay seem too close to each other to pass safely.
With flat water and a favorable current boosting speed to 7+, the trip up Delaware Bay was all “down-hill.”
There’s not much room to anchor but with dockage on both sides of the canal, Chesapeake City is a good place to wait out the weather.
The C&D’s an easy trip, unless you meet a big girl like Ocean Challenger.
We shared a toast but the Captain didn’t have much to say when he learned I favor Gosling’s.
With a favorable tide, it doesn’t take much wind to sail the muddy water of Elk River.
Sassafras River, our first stop back in the Chesapeake Bay, proved to be a quiet anchorage and a quick jumping-off point for the next day.
You may not find this maneuver recommended in Chapman’s but it worked and lunch was delicious.
TowBoat was quick to respond when Patience needed help getting into port at Rock Hall.
The rewards of sailing include sunset views that never get old, like this over Rock Hall Harbor.
No artist’s hand could paint a prettier picture than the blooms by the bathhouse at the Sailing Emporium, Rock Hall.
It’s always a relief to spy an open mooring close to the action at the City Dock in Annapolis.
The Thomas Point Light may be the most famous and photographed on Chesapeake Bay.
The anchorage off Zahnhiser’s is a favorite, just downstream from the Maritime Museum.
The up-close introduction to boat-building in Crisfield was a real education.
Visitors to Crisfield enjoy the sunset over Tangier Sound, regardless of regulations posted on the town pier.
Patience glides slowly past the crab shacks that line the east channel into Tangier Island, VA.
The menhaden fleet from Reedville trolls the length of the Chesapeake Bay.
A quiet evening with the crew of Quintan was the perfect prelude to the final few miles home. Quintan lay silhouetted against the morning sun.
Jane stows the fenders as Tony guides Patience down Queens Creek for the next leg of their cruise to Florida.
The trip was so relaxing, our girl took up a new hobby along the way: aquaculture.
It was tough saying ‘good-bye’ but a great adventure lay ahead when Steadfast cast off down Queens Creek.
There are blueberries for pickin’ along the way and a stunning view when you get the 900′ up Blue Hill, ME.
Fresh lobstahs, cold beyah AND a gaw-juss view: they do dinnah right Down East!
Somewhere in that soup, a suspension bridge spans Eggemoggin Reach just east of Buck’s Harbor and that’s where we’re headed.
One of Maine Windjammer fleet, this gaff-rigged schooner tacks past us on our way down Eggemoggin Reach.
The wind picked up later but wasn’t quite ready for the start of this day’s race in the Atlantic 30 Nationals at Blue Hill Bay.
After pulling into Rock Hall for repairs, the crews of Patience and Steadfast make the most of it at the Waterman’s Bar & Grill.
Any sailor knows the virtues of a broad-brimmed hat but Tony’s chapeau is just a tad snug to be of use anywhere but in the quiet slip at Utsch’s, Cape May, NJ
The artist’s colony in Gloucester features several galleries and great places to eat on the waterfront.
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At Sea with Steadfast 
Yup.
Ahh Bill, you’re killing me…..