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