Thursday, June 14, 2012

Day 340- Newport, RI

Newport, where we've been for the past few days, is a sailing mecca.  We've been here many times before but never on our own boat.  The level of activity, even in crappy weather, is astonishing.  There are small boat races daily, preparations for the America's Cup series to be held here next week, the Newport-Bermuda race is scheduled to leave tomorrow and a parade of tall ships will be here in early July.  Our heads are spinning from the amount of activity around us.  When it gets overwhelming on land, we retreat to the boat anchored at the entrance to the harbor and watch the endless activity on the water.  It has been gray, rainy and in the low 60's since we've been here.  It feels miserable to us after months of warm, sunny weather.  But does not seem to faze the true New Englanders around us, who paddle, sail, row, motor happily through the foggy drizzle.  I think we may have some adjustment ahead of us...
We're starting to deal with the realities of incorporating ourselves back into a land based life.  We plan to take a break from cruising next week and try to secure housing for the fall.  If all goes well, we hope to spend a little more time exploring on the boat before starting school and work in a few months.

Foggy Newport harbor
Cool museum in Newport

Monday, June 11, 2012

Day 337- Block Island, RI

After a mellow 3 day passage up the coast from Virginia we're enjoying Block Island.  With only 5-10 knots of wind, we motor sailed about a third of the way.  The moonlit nights made night watches more enjoyable.  We saw a lot of traffic off the New York City Harbor entrance even though we were about 100 nm off the coast.  The most challenging part was dodging fishing and research boats that had gear deployed in the water.  It wasn't always clear where exactly the gear was, especially at night.
Block Island has a New England feel.  Not sure how much of that could be attributed to the cool weather,  which doesn't feel so good right now.  Hot water for showers has become much more valuable than it has been for months and we've had to put fleece jackets and down comforters to use.  Other than the "cold weather" it feels nice to be back in home waters.  Looking forward to catching up with friends and family.

The biggest fish caught on this passage, a sea bass we think

Another nice sunrise on passage

Getting caught up on school work


New Harbor, Block Island

One of the old grand hotels on Block Island

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Deltaville, VA to Block Island, RI

We pulled up anchor in Deltaville this morning around 6am and have made approx 75 miles since. We are now off the coast of Chincoteague Island, VA. The winds have been light but we've been able to sail most of the day. Other than almost hitting a really big, red, highly visible buoy, the trip has been uneventful. Somehow this particular buoy snuck up on Pablo. It seems to take us a day or two to get settled into passage life so tomorrow all this will seem routine again. As long as the weather holds out we aim to arrive in Block Island, RI in 2-3 days.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Day 331- Deltaville, VA

Borealis was hauled four days ago and Pablo has been working on projects almost non stop since.  He has replaced a few thru hull fittings, re applied bottom paint and over hauled the head.  The yard did a fantastic job polishing the topsides.  Borealis is looking pretty spiffy and not showing the 6000+ nm we've traveled.  The girls have enjoyed playing on land for hours and hours with friends from sv Gadjo Dilo and sv Puff.  It feels good to be back in the water after way too many trips up and down the wobbly ladder and numerous trips to the local West Marine to pick up parts.  And it was odd to be on the boat on the hard... and not feel the movement of the water.  We did feel some shaking when a series of tornado producing thunderstorms passed over.



Yes, that is the head in the cockpit, it was on deck for a few days and now back where it belongs!
It turns out nail polish application is more successful when not on a boat