It’s September 11th and today is the best weather day for sailing this week. With forecast winds from the North/North West, we should be able to make some distance toward New York. I can’t decide quite what I feel about leaving on our trip on this particular day but off we go as the winds are to shift to the south west soon which will not be so great for making the westing we need to get to New York.
Our departure today is the result of years of planning and at least a few months of frantic running around getting all the details going, not counting the sale of our home in NJ and moving here to CT.
The next two weeks will take us through New York and down the New Jersey coast into the Delaware Bay and on to Annapolis for the SSCA gam and Annapolis Boat show. After that we will bolt for Newport News and mile one of the Intra Coastal Waterway.
Yesterday was a particularly busy day that included suspending cable, picking up last minute supplies and putting the remaining gear aboard Pandora. Actually, some gear went on and then was removed as there was just too much to cram aboard. I am particularly glad that I raised the waterline a few inches two years ago as she is now riding lower than ever. Here on the CT River, with the lighter fresh water, I would expect to see her ride lower on her lines but seeing so little bottom paint showing was alarming, for sure. Hopefully, this will improve when we hit the heavier salt water of the Sound later today. I am not too hopeful as we plan on taking on a tank full of water and diesel which will add another 1,000+ lbs to her weight.
Another interesting fact is that Pandora now has a slight starboard list, as opposed to a list to port. The niggly port list has bugged me for years and it seems that I have overcompensated somewhat in my packing. I guess that we will have to just drink more wine from port stores and straighten things up as best we can. You just gotta do what you gotta do.
It’s been particularly nice that so many of our friends have been calling and dropping by to wish us well on our voyage which is very nice. Living on the “runway from the Cape”, just off of 95 has made us a natural stopping point for those returning from vacation with stops to say HI lasting from 30 min to 4 days and this has made for a busy but fun last few weeks. Brenda is a bit sad to be headed away from friends and family for so long but I am hopeful that the adventure will capture her imagination soon so that she enjoys the trip.
Well, it’s really very early, actually the middle of the night as I write this, and I should probably try to stop thinking about the trip and get back to bed.
On that note, our son Rob sent this photo of our grand dog last evening. It seems that even Bosun is wishing us well. It’s nice to know that we are on everyone’s minds. Well, I am not completely convinced that Bosun was thinking about us when this photo was taken. Hmm… 
However, he’s surely looking very patriotic, isn’t he?