September 16, 2000
There really are some days that I wonder just why it is that we're out here. This was one of them. Have you ever seen the movie "Ground Hog's Day?"
We left Essex at 7:00am-ish. Yes, we finally made it through the bridge and when we did, Bob said, We're finally going to make Port Jefferson." I cringed. I begged the gods to let that ones pass and go unheard, but it was not to be. Down the Connecticut River we go and we're off and running. It's a cool but beautiful, sunny day. Bob's at the helm and I am down trying to check in to the "net" on SSB radio. There's a lot of interference and I can't hear net control so I pop my head back out, just in time to see a lobster pot and yell, "neutral, neutral!" Bob turns off the autopilot and throws it in neutral in about 2 seconds flat. I yell that there's another one on the right and he leaves it in neutral as we watch the first one pop out from under the boat. I wanted to tell Bob to put in back in forward and to the left but it all happened so fast that the words couldn't come out fast enough. He watched for that second one to pop out the back, but it didn't. We heard it thump on the keel and then catch on the propeller. 
underneath. Bob put it into forward and the engine immediately shut down cold. We tried again and the same thing. The propeller was bound up.
This is when Bob decided to be brave and try to fix the situation himself. I didn't much like the idea but kept my mouth zipped. He got into his wetsuit and we got him situated in the dinghy with a line tied to the boat and tied around him and a knife. Before he jumped over, he looked up at me through his mask and said, "I really don't like this." My heart broke, knowing how he doesn't like cold water or any kind of a current. Well, over he jumped and immediately the current started taking him away. Now, the dinghy was in the water but the oars weren't in it nor was the motor on it. I knew if he got in trouble, I couldn't help. I started planning in my mind. There were a few fishing boats not too far away and I would call them on the radio or just yell. So, the line wrapped around Bob's chest got wrapped around his leg so he let it go. He did manage one peek under the water before he had the good common sense to hold onto that dinghy and pull himself up into it for all he was worth. The current was raging and we really couldn't tell until he was in the water. He made it safely back aboard where we toweled him off and got him into some dry clothes. He then called for help to TowBoat U.S. and they were out within the hour. They towed us back up the Connecticut River and there we were AGAIN. He placed us at a dock where a professional diver was there waiting for us. We sent the tow boat driver off to his next job with peanut butter crackers and an apple since he wouldn't have time for lunch. The diver said he wouldn't even dive in the river with the current running this hard and was Bob nuts?
He said, NEVER dive in waters with this kind of current. Well, we felt reprimanded but also, I was really proud of Bob for trying. Since we just happened to be at a fuel dock, we did the natural thing and filled up with diesel and water. By that time, we had slack tide and the diver was ready. Once again, Mutual Fun has drawn a crowd and people have gathered to watch. The diver pulls up two huge lobster crates and a bunch of other misc. line. He spends a little time down there cutting off hunks of line and then surfaces and gets hauled out. People are taking pictures of the lobster pots and I say, why not, and do the same.
Finally, we are ready to take off and notice the drawbridge is down. Oh no, we say, does it need repairs again? Can you see why this is Ground Hogs Day? But no, it's just down for a train and will reopen in 10 minutes. They invite us to stay and have lunch but we know if we don't get out of the Connecticut River soon, it will suck us up and never spit us out. By now, the winds have shifted out of the west and are in the 20's. Which way do you guess we're going? West, of course. So now we have the wind whipping at us, the seas smashing into us and there's no way we're going to make any destination more than 10 miles away because our top speed is 3.5 knots. We change our destination 3 times and this takes considerable work, what, with the charts, the cruising guides and changing all the waypoints for the GPS. PLUS, we are so gun shy about the lobster pots that I am sitting up on the bow and Bob is at the helm and we have walkie-talkies. Wouldn't you know, we didn't see one pot. After an hour of me being up on the bow seat, I'm having a good ride up there and everything but I'm cold. I ask Bob if I can please come back now and I do. Still, we are both on constant watch for those stupid things and neither of us gets to read or get warm or have fun. At last we see that we will never make our 2nd destination by dark and choose the 3rd, which is Sachem Head. The anchorage looks OK and the depth looks OK and the markers getting there look OK. Wrong, wrong and wrong. The anchorage is the size of a postage stamp and we're in 6 ½ feet of water before we know it and there are no markers. Not to mention that there are a bunch of tiny little mooring balls and tiny little boats except for one big yacht that we almost smash into as the current is carrying us faster and faster into shallow water. I happened to be on the bow and Bob at the helm when he made an immediate decision to anchor and so I said, no problem. Except there was. The anchor chain was all tied up in the anchor locker and I couldn't get it out. Quick switch and I'm at the helm and Bob on the bow and I'm supposed to keep the boat where it is without turning to the right or to the left where there are boats moored with the current running and the wind blowing 22 knots. Well, I can't do it and pretty soon I'm backing into another boat, running over a mooring buoy and our boat doesn't back well either one way or the other and I'm not sure which. Bob comes back and takes the helm and maneuvers us with style and grace and then he gives me the helm and goes below to untangle the anchor line. By this time we have drifted from one side of the postage stamp to the other. Finally, we get our spot, drop the anchor and pray. It doesn't hold and we have to pick up and do it again. The sun has dropped out of the sky (a beautiful sunset I might add) and it's getting dark very rapidly. The second time, it holds. We go through our backing up on the anchor rituals and Bob pronounces "we be here" and he comes back to the cockpit. Where I just stare at him and say, "you are planning to put out the other anchor aren't you?" He gives me a look that says so may things at one time that it would have been hilarious if we weren't so whipped. In that look I saw, "I hate your guts" and "that really makes good sense" and "you better make me a good dinner" and "can't you just once keep your mouth shut?" But he did it and not only did he do it, he thanked me after for making him do it.
After the anchors were set and the engine turned off (and the crowds watching us ashore dispersed), I sat on the helm seat and fought back tears. I was physically and emotionally exhausted. We got all of our stuff below and hugged and patted each other on the back and congratulated each other on what a fine job we did. We had a nasty dinner of hot dogs and baked beans and thought it was manna from heaven. Right now, Bob has fallen asleep and I am beat. Tomorrow, the situation will look more interesting. The next day, funny. By the time we meet with "Elysia" in New York, it'll be downright hilarious! Mutual Fun has another assorted disaster!
Here we are still fogged in at Newport Harbour. We've been having a good time, though so we don't much care. The fog is so thick here that in the early morning and late evening, you can't even see the boat right next door. Last night we heard fireworks and they sounded very close. Unfortunately, the fog blocked them all out and nobody could see them. What a waste of money. The weather is making itself known in a major shift, starting this afternoon. Right now it's completely overcast, foggy, with no wind at all. This afternoon the wind is going to shift out of the northeast and blow 15-20 knots. By this evening, the wind will pipe up to 25-30 knots and the seas are going to churn up to 10 feet! Yikes, stripes. Glad we'll be staying put for the night. The fog will disappear and the temperatures are going to make a significant dip, as low as 43 degrees tomorrow night. Double yikes stripes! Where are my space booties? Actually, I know right where they are because I cleaned out my closet yesterday. See, we do normal things out here same as you do there. We clean closets and scrub floors same as you. Only difference is, the cleaning girl just won't fly out here twice a month.
Happy Birthday to me. I live in a tree…..What a nice birthday I am having. First, Bob woke me with a smile and a big "happy birthday." He remembered! Not that I didn't mention it the night before but still. Then, all of my friends got on one frequency and talked and sang me happy birthday. Here we are rafted up next to "Linus" in Hadley Harbour, Mass. This is a small island owned by the Forbes family. It's a private island and we can't go ashore but can go shelling for mussels and clams, if we desired. Last night for dinner, Eliane made pizza with clams on top and I made a pot roast. We had a great dinner and nice reunion aboard Mutual Fun.
coming again but we have only 8 miles to go to Martha's Vineyard. We'll see what the captain wants to do.
We had a great day yesterday on our mopeds. The big question was: do we want to move our boat to the other side of the island, to Edgartown Harbour, to see what's over there? The solution was: let's rent mopeds and go see! We rented the bikes about 10:00am and rode all over, enjoying lunch in Oak Bluffs and shoreline drives to Edgartown. There we saw a bustling harbour and busy little tourist town. We "did" the shops and rode down to the beach where I plopped myself in the sand for a ½ hour or so. Bob wrote some e-mail while I just enjoyed the feel of the sand and the sun. You know, for all of the time we spend on water, we aren't really in contact with the beach that much. In the Bahamas we were but here, hardly ever. There were people swimming but the water is a little frigid for my tastes.
Today is sunny and will be hot. No big plans but tomorrow we start our trek back to Annapolis via a whole bunch of stops along the way. "Elysia" and "Vagabond Tiger" are in Long Island and we will meet up with them soon.