Oct. 5, 2026 Complete Change of Plan and Today's Weather Made us Pay

 Monday, Oct. 5, 2026   Essex to Eaton Neck Anchorage   68 miles and 6.4 hours

Musings by Martha:  Did you ever go to bed thinking the entire next day had a set plan/schedule, only to wake up and everything suddenly changed?  That was my Monday morning.  We had reservations and paid for three nights at the Essex Dauntless anchorage.  The plans (in my mind) were to meander around town most of the day, maybe stopping at a bakery and getting a fancy coffee, checking out some of the shops, then have dinner at the Griswold Inn and stay for their Monday night singing of shanty songs.  We had been told about these Monday night gatherings when we drove up to Essex by car back in early August, so we've been looking forward to stopping on the south-bound trip and making sure we were there on a Monday night.  The usual 7am alarm goes off and it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day out, with the sun streaming in the portholes of the stateroom.  At some point close to 8:00, John poses the question of "if you had to choose between the shanty song night here or stopping at Lewes, Del, which would you choose?"  I actually want to do both...but apparently the weather forecast is really REALLY good for traveling down the coast of NJ on Wednesday and if we stay another night, we'll miss that nice weather window and for a 12-hour trip, it's certainly nice to have ideal weather.  John knows how much I want to stop at Lewes, so I tell him that one is non-negotiable...I'm willing to head out now and we will come back and visit Connecticut next year, by car, instead of traveling all the way up here by boat and we'll coerce our friends, Rich and Lynn, into experiencing shanty night with us. I suppose the point of my rambling about this is that well, this is boating. Things can change on a dime, plans can change on a dime, the weather basically controls your decisions and how many times have I heard John say "there's a reason it's called pleasure boating".  I appreciate all the diligence he takes in making sure all the traveling is as comfortable as it can be, but changes to plans can come with repercussions.

All of today's weather forecasts say 2' waves and 10mph westerly winds, so we scramble to get ready to leave and drive from the flybridge.  As we head out the Connecticut River, the Old Lyme RR bridge is open, but as we are about 10 minutes from arriving at the bridge, the bridge tender hails us that he's sorry, but he has to close the bridge and will reopen as soon as he can.  Not a big problem, we maybe waited about 10 more minutes and then it re-opened.  We get through the bridge and out into the Long Island Sound and it becomes very obvious that the winds are more than 10mph and waves pretty consistent 3 footers.  The winds carry the spray over the bow and even up to the flybridge, so we make the decision to run from inside the pilothouse instead to stay dry. 

Essex disappearing in our wake as we leave the mooring field on a beautiful morning

Biggest concern going down river is the glare off the calm water

Got to the I-95 hiway bridge when the bridge tender called that he needed to lower
 the bridge.  We crept up expecting to see an Amtrack train pass.  All we saw
was one of those pickups with the drop-down railroad wheel attachments cross
over before he lifted it back up.

Passing by the lighthouses that guard the breakwater at the river entrance. 
Still looking pretty idealic!

Back to the usual blogger - John:  We're out on the Long Island Sound and I'm wondering "what happened to all those beautiful cruising conditions we had on the sound when we were headed north?" By the time we're 2 hours into our trip conditions are nasty.  Waves are on the bow, wind is on the bow, and we have a 2 mph current on the bow slowing us down.  Our usual 1400 rpm's and 10.5 mph is only making 8.5 mph.  This will make for a LONG day.  Bump rpm's up to 1700 hoping for better speed and a more comfortable ride. Works for a while but as the winds continue to build so do the seas.  Coast Guard Special Marine Weather broadcast comes on saying small craft advisory is out due to possible gusts to 35mph.  That was not on ANY of my weather info this AM!.   About every 3rd wave sends spray onto the windshield. We're headed to the anchorage at Eaton's Neck.  Used it before so know we'll have good protection from waves but will feel the wind which is now forecast to continue overnight.  Decide we just want to get there quick as possible so push the throttles to cruising speed at 2300 rpm. Gets us to 15 mph and a bit smoother ride but kicks up more spray which the wind is now catching and tossing all over the boat. At times the spray from 2-3 waves in succession tosses water so furiously on the windshield the wipers on high can't even clear it.  We see two boats all day.  A charter head fishing boat that is smartly headed back for shore and the ferry from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson.  A couple other boats show up on AIS but are never visible to us.  We beat our way through at cruising speed for three hours and eventually make it to the anchorage. Wind still blowing but just a ripple of a wave as we get the anchor set and give it an extra tug to make sure it's set.   Looking only to the clear blue skies it would appear to be a wonderful cool crisp sunny fall day.  It makes for a wonderful sunset.  But the wind continues to howl after dark. We can feel the boat swinging and tugging on the anchor while the bimini framework rattles with each gust. At 9pm winds are still steady 15+ and gusting over 25.  Set three different anchor alarms just in case we drag in this narrow anchorage.  Despite it being a very physically and mentally draining day there's no good sleep to be had. I'm nervous all night and get up every 2 hours to check our position.  Wake up tired but glad to find everything is fine.  Except that the boat is covered top to bottom in salt.  That's going to require a serious washing at some point.

No pictures taken during the balance of our trip.  Three points of contact
required at all times.  Did get a nice sunset picture once we were anchored.

Journey for Oct. 5, 2026

Oct. 3, 2026 On to Connecticut

Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026   Hadley Harbor to Essex, Conn.  97 miles and 9.0 hours 

Wind had swapped around from SW to NE overnight as expected.  Winds running 10-15 mph.   Glad we opted to move to the mooring ball and didn't need to worry about the anchor as we swing 180 degrees.  Making a crack of dawn departure at 6:30. Anchorage is quiet except for the sound of the halyard slamming against the mast of the sailboat behind us in the wind.   Running from down below in the pilothouse as we're finally out of lobster trap buoy territory. Martha at the controls as we unhook the mooring line and head out.  Dead low tide so navigating through the narrow twisty entrance takes extra caution.  She makes it look easy.  Once clear it's evident the winds are chopping things up.  The thoroughfare that goes out to Woods Hole is notorious for its currents and today's wind against current makes for a confused and choppy ride out into Buzzards Bay.

Coastal Queen made a few passes through the mooring field before
anchoring out. Love that there are people up here with time, money and
 inclination to keep some of these beautiful old wooden boats alive

Just a bit roll-y as we make way past Point Judith Lighthouse

Open water forecast this morning is showing 2-3' swells from the SW with 1-2' waves on top from the NE. Not a good combination for us as we're heading west which simply means we're riding up the swells and then getting pushed around by the waves at our stern.  Expectation is for calmer conditions late morning. Our ride through Buzzards Bay and then the Rhode Island Sound is mainly open water.  Not too many people out but we run across a large fishing trawler coming at us straight to port surrounded by a huge flock of seagulls. He's not dragging nets so normally I would just slow down and pass behind him.  With all those birds around him we opt to gun it and cross just in front of him.  There's a small white section on our journey track showing where this occurred.  

Checking behind us after passing the trawler.  

While our ride is not overly uncomfortable it is frustrating.   We're trying to run a long straight line, but these waves are making the boat wallow almost uncontrollably.  Try using Otto and it's surprising to watch the indicator swing 25 to 30 degrees off track before eventually coming back to center. Only to have the next set of waves set us off course again.   Try my hand at manually steering which seems a little better.  Feeling the movement of the boat and reacting a bit faster but it is exhausting work.  Give up and just succumb to let Otto do the work.  By the time we're approaching Fisher Island we opt to take the inside passage anticipating things would calm down.  Then hug the shoreline to the Connecticut River. Good decision as the moderating winds and protection from swells makes the last few hours of the trip enjoyable. A bit more activity through here.   Check out Taylor Swift's place as we pass by Watch Hill Point.   Several lighthouses along the way and even have two ferries out of New London pass in front of us. 

Perfect little starter home for Taylor and Travis

The 1855 Watch Hill Lighthouse replaced the 1807 lighthouse
which had replaced the original 1745 beacon

The 1884 Latimer Reef Lighthouse  - another "spark plug" light

The 1849 North Dumpling Island and Light are privately owned by
Dean Kamen - inventor of the Segway

Another beautifully maintained wooden boat

Inbound and outbound ferries pass us at the entrance channel into New London

Made it to and through the eastern entrance of the Connecticut River and start heading up.  We have a short wait at the Old Lyme RR bridge until the Amtrack train passes. The bascule bridge does a quick lift and we're on our way.   Then under the I-95 bridge and up to Essex. Takes a few minutes to get a lay of the mooring field and find the one marked BDM-30.  Made a little more difficult as the strong current is pulling half the mooring ball onto its side and under the water.  But Martha inches us up perfectly as I grab the pendent and get us secured.   Long day, light dinner, decent sunset, watch Clemson football team get manhandled by Miami.  Call it a day.

Sunset from our mooring in Essex

Sunday afternoon we were able to catch the launch to town.  Rich and Lynn are our neighbors in Richmond Hill.  They're finishing up their stay at their summer cottage here in Connecticut.  Perfect timing for us to be able to get together as they're heading back south Monday!  Picked us up and we headed to the Rusty Rail for a beverage and a bite. Got to hear about their recent trip to Spain and Portugal.  Sounded amazing.  We're looking forward to a return to our land-based house for the winter and getting back into some neighborhood projects and playing pickleball with them.  

John, Rich, Lynn and Martha. 

Journey for Oct. 3, 2026

Sept. 30, 2026 After the Nor'easter, Made it out of Maine

So, have you ever wondered about the difference between a nor'easter and a hurricane?  Well, they're both counterclockwise storms. The name nor'easter refers to the direction of the winds along the coast. They're generally non-tropical coastal storms powered by contrasts between warm and cold air and often develop near the East Coast and move northeastward. Hurricanes are tropical storms powered primarily by warm ocean water. Nor'easters occur most frequently and strongest from September through April, whereas the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30.  Nor'easters can cause heavy snow or rain, strong winds, coastal flooding, rough seas and beach erosion but rarely carry the minimum 74mph winds required to be a hurricane.

Wednesday Sept. 30, 2026    Portland to Gloucester   85 miles and 8.5 hours

Two long travel days ahead but after being in Portland for a week waiting out this nor'easter to pass it was time to get going again.   Light winds.  Seas continue to settle, but still running 3' or better.  Nice thing was they have a long 8-9 second period...so really just large swells.  Lifts the boat up, lowers it back down.  Not uncomfortable but when you stop you always have a case of the wobbles - feeling the motion even though you're in calm waters. Out Portland harbor, pass yet another cruise ship in port.  The weather certainly didn't stop any of them from visiting, but can't imagine it was much fun for the passengers traveling from port to port. Then along the Portland shoreline passing the three lighthouses we visited by land, and eventually turning to starboard and making a direct long straight passage towards Cape Ann.

Surprising how close the Portland lighthouses are to each other.  Here's the
Bug Light closest to Portland.  In the distance on the left is
 Spring Point Ledge Light

From Spring Point Ledge Light you can see the Portland Head light
in the distance to the right

And the Portland Head Light on a calmer day as we head out into the open Atlantic

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It looks deceptively calm but there are actually 3' swells.  Aegis was stuck in
the marina with us, but wound up next to us in Gloucester and Hadley Harbor. 

Somewhere off our starboard but unseen as they were too far away, we passed Kennebunkport left Maine and passed Portsmouth and New Hampshire and entered Massachusetts.  Around the Cape and into Gloucester where we picked up a mooring ball for the night. Stayed in the same mooring field as when we were going north. Rather than fighting the extra time to retrieve and clean the anchor and chain in the morning, it's easier and quicker to simply drop the mooring line and go.  Same issues with this being a commercial seaport - lobster boats leaving at 4 AM don't mind making a wake and rolling you out of bed. 

Dog Bar Lighthouse at the end of the breakwater entering Gloucester Harbor

Evening cruises on a windjammer in the harbor

Overcast all day but got a little color at sunset.  Aegis on a mooring behind us. 

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Journey for Sept. 30, 2026

Thursday Oct. 1, 2026  Gloucester to Hadley Harbor  85 miles and 8.9 hours

Another long day, but making good progress.   More open water to start.  Running 10+ miles offshore as we pass Boston.  Swells have died away but replaced with 2' shorter period choppy waves.  Along with glare off the water, it's more difficult to spot the scattering of lobster pots that we still come across. Amazing to me they drop these traps in up to 200' of water.  That's a lot of line to retrieve.  We're crossing areas of 250-300' depths which allows Otto to take over for a few hours.  Winds continue to pick up as we pass Plymouth and enter Cape Cod Bay.  

Picture of our mooring ball.  You grab the attached line and secure it to
your bow cleat. The ball is permanently anchored to the seafloor.

We first met the 75'  Lone Wolf  back in Southwest Harbor. 
Then in Portland during the nor'easter but a different marina

Morning cruise offshore.  Not much to look at but water.

We timed the transit of the Cape Cod canal about perfect.  Fight a slight outgoing current as we enter the canal, but it reverses to an outgoing current at the half-way point and we get a push out into Buzzards Bay. Still have several more hours to get to our planned destination of Hadley Harbor.   A great small harbor not too far from Woods Hole. The owners of a nearby island have placed numerous free mooring balls for cruisers to use. To get there we are heading almost straight into the increasing wind and spray is starting to fly with each wave we hit.  Boat is pretty salty by the time we arrive.

 

Jetty at the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal. 
That smokestack was a landmark for us from 15 miles out!!

Giving the right of way to commercial traffic on the canal

The Patriot State ship looks identical to the State of Maine we saw in Castine. 
Makes sense as we are passing the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Wings Neck Lighthouse as we begin heading out into Buzzards Bay

Upon entering the inner harbor we see it filled with sailboats at every mooring.  Strings of pennant flags flapping from most.  Part of a rendezvous from a yacht club out of Martha's Vineyard.   No room for us, so we head back to the outer harbor where we drop anchor which grabs strong. Bull Island offers us good protection from the SW winds which will continue to build overnight and through Friday.  After two long cruising days, we'll stay put until Saturday when winds and waves will again settle. 

Entrance into inner Hadley Harbor is not for the faint of heart. 

Inching our way in slowly paying close attention to charts and depth finder  

The reward is a cove with free mooring balls.  If only one was available.

Journey for Oct.1, 2026

Friday morning we notice several sailboats heading out from the inner harbor.  Surprising as I figured the yacht club rendezvous was staying there all weekend.  Since winds will be switching 180 degrees to the north overnight, we decided to up anchor and hope that a few of the moorings were available.  Chain comes up clean, but anchor had dug deep into a sticky muddy clay bottom requiring a bit of washing.  Worked out perfectly as we had a choice of several open moorings.   This will make our early morning departure super easy.  Nice sunny day.  Warm in the upper 60's.  Thought about dropping the kayak to paddle around a bit.  Haven't used them this trip.  Wondering now why we brought them!  

Sept. 22-29, 2026 Waiting out the Nor'easter in Portland

 Tuesday - Tuesday,  Sept. 22 - 29, 2026   Docked in Portland 

Knowing we were here for an extended stay, Martha made reservations for a rental car starting on Wednesday. Of course, a reservation means nothing.  Got a call from Enterprise before we left for pick-up. "We don't have any cars available". Thursday still nothing available.  Finally had something at a different location for us on Friday.  Wasn't a complete waste as I needed to do an oil change on the engines so utilized Thursday to get samples for analysis, drain 8 gallons of old oil, remove and replace 4 filters and refill.  Sounds so easy but still takes me half a day hunched over in the engine room.  Martha did some sewing repairing the flybridge instrument canvas cover and also baked a perfect batch of granola. 

Glad to finally have a car Friday.  Wound up with a slight upgrade to a small SUV - Hyundai Kona.  Road trip south to Ogunquit.   They have one of the few long sandy beaches in Maine, so it's a tourist town. South of the beach is a preserved rugged shoreline with a trail called "the Marginal Way".  Very scenic and an easy walk as it's paved. Good vantage point to see the building surf. Hardest part is finding somewhere to park to access the trail.  "No parking - strictly enforced" signs posted everywhere in the neighborhoods leading to the trail.  Serious about that enforcement.  Sheriff stationed and writing tickets at will. We got lucky and found a neighborhood parking spot just outside the "no parking" zone.

The long sandy beach at Ogunquit in the background

Nice little overlook to catch the building seas

The town built this lighthouse in 1947 to help keep boats off the ledge

Surf's Up!

Back in the car and headed north to Kennebunkport.   Another busy tourist town.  Ready for late lunch, early dinner.  Again, parking almost impossible.  Finally just gave in and let the valet worry about it at The Boathouse Restaurant. Split some clam chowder then a fish sandwich for Martha and shrimp tacos for John.  Nice view over the very small harbor.   We had passed Wallingford Farm stand on the way down, so stopped there on way back. Nice 1800's home and Feed Store building.   Got there just as they were closing, but Martha was still able to grab a small pumpkin out of the patch for the boat.  Then back to the boat for the night. 

Part of the pumpkin patch at Wallingford Farm

Saturday decided on a trip north.  Destination was Wiscasset. Had to pass through Yarmouth, Freeport, Brunswick, and Bath to get there. Beautiful ride up with fall colors evident in the maple trees along the roadside. We had been wanting a really good lobster roll before we left Maine and the one at Red's Eats gets mentioned consistently in Top 10 lists. It's also the self-proclaimed "Prettiest village in Maine". Once a major 18th century shipping and customs port, Wiscasset retains numerous old Federal and Victorian homes that attest to the town's earlier wealth.  Great self-guided tour and audio app. 

Downtown Wiscasset

Lots of beautifully maintained 18th and 19th century homes

Crazy steep roofline on this old house next to "The Ancient Cemetery"

The thing about Red's Eats...it's a shack down on a corner where a bridge carries Route 1 across the Sheepscot River.  There is always a line.  We were lucky with only an hour's wait.  During the height of the summer season, it can be much longer.  The lobster roll is huge. We really should have gotten one and split it.  Each roll contains tail, claws and knuckles for a whole lobster.  It easily had double the meat of any other roll we've had up here.  Toasted bun.  Meat is naked but your choice of butter or mayo on the side (butter for us).  Made our way back to Portland stopping for a nightcap at Belleflower Brewery.  Portland is a craft brewery meca.  Too many to choose from so only hitting a few.  Belleflower is known for their IPA's and their "Light Bearer" Triple NE IPA did not disappoint.  Super hazy, juicy, almost creamy.  10% ABV but so smooth you'd never know it. 

Waiting in line to place our order

Red's Eats lobster rolls. Yes, there's a bun somewhere under there.

Sunday started the brunt of the nor'easter here.  Winds 25-35 all day.  Rain off and on.  Hard to get going but finally managed to find our way to Q Street Diner for a late breakfast. Another wait in line as apparently the locals all had the same idea. Then visited the three local lighthouses to check out surf conditions.  Went to the Portland Head Lighthouse first.  It's a bit further out of town and more exposed than the two other lighthouses at the harbor entrance.  Surprising number of people out checking the conditions. Wind was howling so opted for a quick look from a distance.  

Waves crashing at Portland Head Light. 
 That's Ram Island Ledge lighthouse just visible in the distance

Then on to Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse.  We've taken pictures of it before while entering Portland.  Called a "sparkplug" light due to its unique shape.  Originally sat out in open water until a 900 foot breakwater was constructed using 50,000 tons of granite in 1951.  You can walk out to it if so inclined.  A bit too unlevel for us on this foul day.

Long walk to the lighthouse on rough stones

Superyacht riding out the storm anchored behind Little Diamond Island

Last stop was at the Portland Breakwater Light. Nicknamed "The Bug Lighthouse " cause it's "cute as a bug".  Inspired by the fourth-century Choragic Monument built near the Acropolis in Athens. The unique style sets it apart from any other lighthouse in the world.  The structure is cast steel including the Corinthian columns and capitals.  Originally built in 1875 at the end of a 2000-foot breakwater.  The land encompassing the breakwater was filled in and used as a shipyard for building Liberty ships during WWII.  Monument honors those ships on the land which is now a city park. 

The Bug Lighthouse

Ornate Corinthian detailing makes this a very unique lighthouse

Liberty ship monument.  At its peak they employed 30,000 and could
built 13 ships simultaneously. Eventually made 236 Liberty ships
 and 30 British "Ocean" cargo ships.

Rest of the day back at the boat.  Heaters on.  Pot roast in the Insta-Pot. Caught the Jaguars game (another win!!) and then watched a recording of the F1 race from Azerbaijan.  Very glad we have that 100' Nordhavn next to us.  While we're still getting tossed about a little, it is working well as a wind break and wave attenuator. 

Monday and we're still working through the weather today.  Rain forecast all day.  Winds dropping down a bit staying in the 25mph range.  Just a gloomy day.  Looks like we'll make out better than some other areas along the east coast.  Just need to wait it out and let the seas subside. Martha's back has been a little tight and we've been searching for the heating pad that we're pretty sure we brought back on board. Looked in all the usual cubbyholes with no luck.  Now at that stage of "where else could it be? what about ....".  Finally found it buried under "stuff" in the back corner of the lower bunk in the 3rd stateroom.  Had given that area a cursory look several times but this was a deep dive.  Just glad we found it and it's giving Martha some relief. Now rested and relaxed, time for some chores.  Big one today was doing laundry.  Marina has 2 washers and dryers but every time we checked at least one was busy.  Decided to just collect up everything and head for the local laundromat where it's easier to get multiple machines and get it all done at once. With this colder weather we're layered up and wearing heavier clothes, so it seems to pile up faster.  Filled two large duffle bags and off we went. While Martha was occupied with the laundry, John took the rental car to check out Micucci's Italian Market. Grabbed two slabs of their famous sicilian pizza to go, some of their home-made sauce and a bag of pasta.  Dinner plans completed.  Then off to Standard Bakery for a few pastries for in the morning and a nice rosemary and salt Focaccia bread. Also snuck in a stop back to Belleflower Brewery for a 4-pack of that IPA.

We needed to return the rental car Tuesday and had a couple more chores in the morning.  Over to Costco for some cheese and of course, other things managed to jump into the cart. As usual, $150 poorer and we left. Then another grocery run to Hannaford's for normal provisions.  Figure we'll be anchoring or mooring a bit more so need to keep our supplies up. Topped off the water tank.  Review all the weather apps and navigation tools in preparation for our planned Wednesday departure.  Feels weird being in the same place for a solid week. Ready to get moving.

The 100' Nordhavn that was protecting us against the storm
left early afternoon on the high tide. They are headed south as well,
we may cross paths again.

By 6pm Tuesday, winds and waves were completely gone. 

Night view across the harbor to Portland.