Mystic, CT – Annapolis, MD

At Sea – Mystic – Long Island – Manhattan – The New Jersey Coast – Around Cape May – into the Delaware Bay – to the “cut through” (Chesapeake and Delaware Canal) and into the Chesapeake Bay
During my time with Janie, we talked a little bit about Face Book and what we perceive are some of the shortcomings of the platform – among them, Janie said was that “Nobody takes a picture of themselves in their curlers”. The point of course being that we usually only show the great days and successes without including some of the human challenges we all suffer. It got me thinking – “Am I doing this in the blog”? Am I being as honest and forthright as I could be or am I varnishing over the tough challenges only to report on the successes? Well, the short answer is of course, yes but I think my motives are mostly pure. My reasons are not really to make people believe that it is all roses out here living in 64 feet in all types of weather and human frailties but rather, given that Im so incredibly filled with Gratitude for the experience, I don’t ever want to be perceived as complaining – even about the tough stuff. So, in an effort to be as honest and vulnerable as I can possibly be, from this point forward, Im going to make an effort to include some of the less than fantastic stuff that happens to us day in and day out.

We left Mystic 4 days ago and traveled 12 hours to the Long Island Sound where we anchored for the night. Believing that we had found the “perfect” anchorage and the best possible conditions for that anchorage, we relaxed our efforts of securing, as much as possible, the boat for the night. Alec and I fell into bed exhausted and both of us drifted off to sleep. The next thing we heard was things clanging and falling and as we jumped up to investigate, the motion became much more severe – rocking Gratitude in the unusual orientation of side to side rather than forward to aft. Making an effort to hold on we both jumped up to see what could be done to mitigate the “damage” – me with closing lockers and securing loose items (the large pumpkin on top of the salon table “flew into” the chair knocking both over) – I will be forever grateful that pumpkin goo wasn’t added to the list of carpet damage we experienced. With the lights out for the night, Alec ran up to the wheelhouse (flew is really a better word) and realizing that he didn’t have wings, plummeted unceremoniously down crashing onto the stairs leading up to the salon and wheelhouse. I heard the wing engine start and Alec attempted to thrust us into the waves bow first and bless him, he really tried everything mechanically possible to mitigate the horrendous roll we were experiencing. “Knowing” that a 64’ Nordhavn can’t “tip over” and “believing” it are 2 very different things as your home, and the items that make it so, are being tossed about like rag dolls. After things calmed ever so slightly I caught sight in the very dim light of something on the carpet – turning on the lights revealed nothing short of an absolute “crime scene”. Apparently, while attempting to fly to the bridge, Alec injured his toe (nearly ripping the tip off) and not feeling the pain due to the adrenaline, he then proceeded to leave a very messy trail of blood from one end of the wheelhouse to the other and back again. Honestly we have never seen anything like this. We now had a more pressing problem and I ran to get the first aid kit and attempt to get the bleeding under control. Convincing Alec to lay down and elevate his bleeding toe was tougher than it sounds. I had, at one point, considered getting the sutures kits that Dr. Mike and Marcie had given us but Alec (preferring to take his chances with gauze and tape) nixed this idea. 2 days, several hours of scrubbing including using the bissell carpet steam cleaner and the carpet is still pretty rough looking. Oh Well – Maybe we can have it cleaned professionally in Annapolis. One of the things that I have learned about myself on this journey is that I have a tough time dealing with physical frailties – myself or other’s. Sorry Alec. Ill have to work on that.

I had an uneventful but nervous nonetheless arrival into the Delaware Bay with a cascade of very large boats exiting or waiting to exit (think 600 foot+) Alec was sleeping and I was very reluctant to wake him given our 4 on 4 off watch schedule. The arrival was in darkness so complete I couldn’t see the bow of our own boat. I have never been in this canal before and forming a picture based on the navigational aids on board while adequate was disconcerting. Once the sun rose, I felt far more reassured and the trip inside the Chesapeake/Delaware Canal became more interesting and less terrifying 🙂
We arrived in an anchorage yesterday at 1400 after approximately 31 hours of non-stop running to spend the night. We all enjoyed a deep sleep but this time, the boat was completely secured before turning the lights our for the night. So, here we are, in the Chesapeake headed to our marina for the night. Our trip here has included many memorable events, among them, a bucket list item of passing under the many storied New York bridges to view up close and on our own boat the beautiful Statue of Liberty which I did and documented in several photos below.

Please let me know if this is info you are interested in hearing 🙂 We love you all!

Laurie, Alec and Jack