Cruising north and east, to New York and New England
by SV Crystal Blues 22 Jul 2018 11:30 UTC
Crystal Blues rests in her beautiful Reedville Berth © SV Crystal Blues
Early last week we said farewell to our friends in beautiful Reedville, and started our journey northward. Once again it was hard to leave, however the Chesapeake can be fiercely humid in July and August, and we wanted to spend some time with friends on (slightly) cooler Long Island Sound.
So we day hopped our way north, up the Chesapeake, pausing at Solomon's Island, Oxford, St.Michaels and then Annapolis. All cutesy, aged, restored and very prosperous places. In St. Michaels we partnered with the crew of the Freedom 45 sloop Jade Moon, Richard and Kathy Reavis. Richard is an accomplished guitarist and singer, so we added some rhythm to his guitar and some harmonies to the songs - sang our hearts out in fact, over two nights at anchor.
St. Michaels is a fantastic boating destination, where sailing skills are both taught and celebrated. A cute town dating back to the struggle for independance, and a proud place that hosts the impressive Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Of course our own sailing skills had almost been forgotten on this trip, as the wind was either dead on the nose (fortunately light) or non existent. So Mrs. Cummins had plenty of exercise and drank quite a lot of diesel, while the sails stayed firmly furled.
After St. Michaels we had two days in Annapolis, accommodated graciously by new friend Ben Fulton at his condo dock. We waited a day for weather to clear then moved through the C&D Canal yesterday morning, spent last night off the New Jersey shore (actually sailing with actual real wind) and arrived in New York City this morning. On the way up the East River we passed the magnificent Queen Mary II, berthed opposite Governors Island. What a proper ship she is - nothing like the wedding cake styled cruise liners most common on the world's oceans. Timing the tide correctly on the East River we rocketed through Hell's Gate at 11 knots (!) and were spat out onto Long Island Sound in the early afternoon. Crystal Blues arrived in Port Washington, NY, this afternoon and will spend the next six weeks cruising on Long Island Sound.
This article has been provided by the courtesy of SV Crystal Blues.