Here's our vacation:
- Saturday stayed at Norwalk Cove Marina, took an uber into town and ate at Donovans, an Irish pub. I loved my steak, wife had fish and chips, girls had pasta dishes, all were happy. They had a nice coffee shop for the morning and we had a quick drink with friends before shoving off to Greenport
- Sunday,Monday,Tuesday we docked at Brewers Stirling, Townsend was full! Our first time in Greenport and now I see why people prefer Townsend, much closer to town. We did walk and uber into town a few times, it was good. The restaurant on site is very good and very expensive but at least the food was good. I preferred to walk over to Billy's By the Bay for a few, that's more my speed. Ate at Emilios in town, that was awesome and Claudios under the tent. I texted with Andy but he was busy running errands so we missed eachother....but I did check out his new ride, very sweet.
- Tuesday we took a short run to Essex Island Marina, a favorite for my wife and girls. Found Abby's which was great for breakfast. Also ate at the Black Seal and Griswald Inn. I love the pool at Essex, one of the best. A little shuffle board with the family, nice and relaxing. We took an uber to Old Saybrook and ate somewhere over that way on Friday. Pushed off Saturday at 6am to avoid high winds.
- Saturday we broke down!! About three miles off of CT, two miles west of Goose Island. My low oil alarm sounded, shut down the engines and I guess after running ~17hrs, I burned 4quarts each engine. With no spare oil, we called Seatow. I'm one of the guys with progressive insurance with towing. While all worked out well, iut was frustrating being on the phone for 20 minutes as the boat is rolling/drifting. I am going with straight Seatow next season, one call and they are on the way. It took 2hours for Seatow Bob to reach us and another 1.5 hours to be towed into Branford, Bruce and Johnsons. The guys at B&J were amazing. They let us use the service dock as I topped off the oil and went over all of the systems. Fortunately, no damage!! With small craft warnings and frazzled crew, we decided to stay so we moved to a regular slip and stayed the night. I have been there before delivering a boat but as HOGAN said, the place is REAL NICE. Great showers, awesome concrete floating docks, good restaurant and friendly staff. Not a bad place to unwind after the horrible morning.
- Sunday we filled up in Branford, cruised ~5hrs to Englewood for more fuel then ~1.5hrs more to Croton. Boat ran great!! Hells gate was a real pain, super crowded and boats overtaking eachother! One guy in a boat called "Harvest Moon" needs a smack! He plowed through all of the guys fishing the rocks by the throggs neck bridge and was extra obnoxious. After transitioning Hells Gate at least a dozen times, Sunday was the worst! But it was smooth after that and we were happy to make it home without any major issues.
- Monday I took the day off to unwind, run errands, etc. Something new I am adding to long boat trips...getting home Sunday and working Monday is way too much!
Next Year: I loved Greenport, I'm thinking of a loop around Long Island, through Peconic bays, Sag Harbor, Shinnecock Canal, Hamptons, Moriches, Patchoque, Fire Island, etc....but we have all winter to plan that one.
