After a lovely visit with Ellen and Gary and after a fabulous Thanksgiving feast with Chris and Tiffany and family, we had an early morning departure from Mystic Seaport. As we motored away from the dock, I heard a strange crunching sound looked back at our wake and noticed that we were breaking ice on the river! Not a big surprise as the temperature was still in the low 30s. 

Saturday Nov 24th: We carried the current down Long Island Sound for several hours and it was a huge boost - at times we were going 10 knots over the bottom!Not much wind so we motored most of the way and picked up a mooring in Wilson Cove, Rowayton just as it was getting dark. This is Jeff's home town and we were happy to have his local knowledge going into the shallow cove studded with oyster beds marked by nearly invisible stakes. Most of the moorings just had winter stakes but we were lucky and found one with a pick up buoy. We knew it was meant to blow overnight and we wanted know the mooring would hold so we could sleep. 

Sunday Nov 25th: We awoke to a beautiful sunrise over Sheffield Island and got going -again we were able to take advantage of a favorable tidal current though less strong in this part of the Sound. We timed our arrival at Hell's Gate so we would carry the VERY strong current - we zipped along down the East River going 9 knots. Not much other traffic besides a few tugs and barges. Seeing the city from the river is always kind of shocking, especially when you realize how many cars are whizzing by on a highway that is only a couple feet above sea level. The prospect of sea level rise looks especially daunting here and parts of the shore looked like you could reach over and pull it off like pie crust.

Here we are in a marina on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River with the skyline to the east. We had  a nice leisurely dinner and breakfast ashore with Sandy and John two nights ago - and since then have been waiting for the wind to die down just a wee bit to make our next move down the Jersey shore - hopefully tomorrow. This afternoon we are taking the water taxi over to Manhattan to do a few errands and walk. Nothing like walking for hours in this city!

Next stop -Baltimore via the Delaware River and the C&D Canal. 

We got underway on November 17 - thanks to Ellie, Charlie Doane, Melissa Paly and David Batchelder for waving us off the dock. Soon we were joined by PISCATAQUA for an escort down the river complete with three cannon shots and a loud HAZZAH as we rounded the point and aimed for Gloucester. Thanks to Matt, crew, and friends for doing that! Thanks to Bob Kozman for taking photos including these two, above and below.

The first five days have been a whirlwind of getting back into the routine. The boat feels all new and we are pleased so far with the improvements. We are intentionally just doing day trips to start, so have spent nights so far at Gloucester, Sandwich Basin at the eastern end of the Cape Cod Canal, Newport, and Noank. Yesterday we decided to come up the river to Mystic Seaport to make a quick trip to West Marine for a new macerator pump (will spare you the details of all that) and decided to spend the night tied to the dock at the Seaport while we watched the wind pipe up as the temperature went down. We were invited to have Thanksgiving with friends here within an hour of arriving so we will spend the afternoon ashore in a warm house. We are keeping our cabin nice and warm so no complaints there! we expect to get under way again early tomorrow morning and will head to Norwalk or Port Jefferson depending on the wind direction.
We are thinking of all of you today celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends and feel much gratitude to be doing this. We are working on getting the tracker set up and will put it on the blog ASAP.

​Yard manager John Glessner snapped this lovely early-morning shot at Kittery Point Yacht Yard a few days ago. All seems serene. The backstory is that 14 ½ months ago Chanticleer got whacked by Hurricane Irma in Tortola. We have had a big project on our hands from then until a few days ago. The boat was shipped home last December, and KPYY has just finished a major refit – new mast and boom, new bow pulpit, new lifelines, new hard dodger, new solar panels, new water-maker, new sails, new rigging, new canvas work by Back Channel Canvas, and a million and one other things, not to mention fairing, sanding and painting the hull. She looks great, and is better and stronger than at any time during our ownership – ready for a voyage to far-away places.