Nothing very profound here. Just Frances and Bill taking a cruise to Long Island. We've made this trip dozens of times, sometimes in poor weather, but we have always had fun and appreciated the fact that we had a boat that would get us there, and back, and keep us reasonably dry along the way.
We left on Thursday, June 16, only about an hour late. The weather was more than good, it was what every boater wishes for: cool as we went down the Thames and then the wind on our stern once we turned west into the Sound. It was one of the few times we could remember that we could let go of the wheel and just make minor course corrections.
Our little Acer laptop laid out our course and we simply followed that across the Sound to Plum Gut, where we would enter Gardiners Bay. Sure, we also had a compass heading and a plan just in case the computer died but we always know where we are. Even in fog we can always turn on the radar if needed..
The software on out little computer is by Polar Navy for about $50. Download the charts at no cost, plan your cruise and cast off. We have power adapter that allows the Acer computer to get power directly from the boat's batteries so we're never out of juice.
Thirty-eight miles later we were at Greenport. We called them on Channel 11 and they confirmed our reservation. Note to any others like us: arrive mid-week. It is so much easier docking when everyone else isn't coming in or going out.
In a couple of hours, we were in what we call "vacation mode." That means forget the shore side stuff, relax and enjoy the surroundings. The marina was mostly empty this early in the year and that was fine with us.
We took a very short walk to the IGA (the most air conditioned market on the planet), bought some stuff, checked out the Farmer's Market across the street where Frances chatted with Eddie, who has been with the farm for years, and then strolled back to the boat.
Our other crew member, Pooka, was happy to catch some shut-eye with his favorite new toy.
For the next couple of days, we did as little as possible, as we were firmly in the grasp of Vacation Mode. We treated ourselves to breakfast a couple of times at the Sterlington Deli. (Note to those who are new to Greenport: breakfast or lunch, this is the best place in town.) When we were introduced to this deli years ago, the locals called it "the German girl's place." That German girl is now probably a grandmother and the deli is run by her son, Fred Schutz.
On Saturday evening, we met our friends Ellen and Dave for cocktails on the boat and then dinner at a restaurant about 750 feet away on Front Street. Nice evening with good conversation and very acceptable food.
Seeing Ellen and Dave is always fun and a wonderful chance to catch up on what's happening on the North Fork. For instance, we learned that Claudios hasn't been sold, contrary to rumor. Someone made an offer of $13+ million but then couldn't raise all the money so the Claudio family re-opened for another season. If the number of people and boats we saw packed in there on Saturday night is any indication, they are doing OK.
We were carrying our trusty old still camera, which we call "clamshell." Frances took this nice still-life of two bikes in the park. She has a good eye for composition.
We left on Tuesday morning and found ourselves with now a west wind, perfect for our ride back across the sound. And it was just fine, as was our little Greenport vacation.
We've attached some video, which we would classify as a little rough. We used three cameras, one of which is a little Go-Pro-like action cam that doesn't produce the best pictures. We came back with literally hundreds of video clips and still photos and, because of work responsibilities, it took us longer than expected to edit and organize them all into something that our friends would enjoy watching.
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