Martha's Vineyard

Over a month has passed since I updated Sanderling's blog, so will quickly bring you up to date.

After entering the Chesapeake we cruised up the Potomac to Washington, DC, where friends from Grayslake, Illinois, joined us. The four of us then cruised down the Potomac to Chesapeake Bay and north to Solomons where we spent several days (and dodged a few tornados), then across the Bay to Oxford, Maryland, for a day, then back across to Annapolis, Maryland, for several days, and on to Baltimore where our friends departed.

At that point Judy flew back to Florida and on to Las Vegas for some American Heart Association meetings, and I helped my daughter, Jennifer, with some projects on her home in Baltimore. When Judy returned about a week later, Jennifer joined us and we spent three days cruising up the Chester River to Chestertown, Maryland, a delightfull little town and the home of Washington University.

After returning Jennifer to Baltiimore, we continued up Chesapeake Bay, down Delaware Bay to Cape May, New Jersey, then up the New Jersey Coast (stopping for one night in Atlantic City) to Great Kills, Staten Island, NY, where we spent several days recuperating from our long day's cruise from Atlantic City. From there we cruised through New York City and up the East River to Long Island Sound, stopping at Oyster Bay for several days, and one night in both Port Jefferson and Three Mile Harbor on the eastern end of Long Island.

We departed Long Island and soon ran into fog, so spent seven hours watching the radar and avoiding other boats which we never saw on our way to Wickford, Rhode Island. After a night there we cruised north on Narragansett Bay to Greenwich Bay and had a delightful dinner with a friend there at her home in East Greenwich. The next day we cruised in 15-20 knots winds to Bristol, Rhode Island, where we spent the 4th of July weekend with friends and their children and grandchildren. We observed the Bristol 4th of July parade - the oldest in the country (and perhaps the longest)!

We departed Bristol Sunday morning and arrived at Martha's Vineyard on a fair tide by mid-afternoon. We'll be in Martha's Vineyard anchored on Lake Tashmoo for a couple of days while a windy front passes, then head to Woods Hole, Boston, and then on to Maine.

Everyone, including Julie and Khepera, are doing well. We have now been underway for 296 hours and covered 1872 nautical miles.