Finally! After months of hard work on a previously less-than-perfect boat, we left Branford today to begin the Trip. With a brief, expensive ride to the fuel dock, we left Branford harbor at around 11 o'clock this morning. We decided to start our trip with a visit to Port Jeff for a few reasons. First, my mother has family in Long Island, who we wanted to visit and say goodbye to. Second, it is technically on an island, the idea of which appealed to us immensely. Third, tomorrow is October and we were desperate to leave before October. With our reasons for doing so, we left Branford and were treated with a glassy, calm sea; a perfect first trip for our cat, Serena, who gets seasick easily. A seasick kitty is never a good thing. A dog will throw up in the middle of a room loudly and publicly, and you immediately know about it. A cat, however, will run into a corner or niche to throw up, which leads to some incidents being overlooked for quite some time. In any case, the Sound was flat calm and the trip to Port Jeff was mostly uneventful. I took some great photos during the trip and after we anchored, though. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we should be sailing all the way to New York harbor. The plan is to anchor right near the Statue of Liberty, which I'm really looking forward to. There, I might have some more interesting things to talk about. Until then, have fun and go where the wind takes you.
-Paul
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| The carrot cake that we had the night before we left. |
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| Me on the bow. Underway at last! |
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| A beautiful shot that captures the perfect conditions. |
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| Julia and I on the bow again. |
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| Sitting on the bow. |
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| Shout-out to Mike and Sarah for chasing us miles out into the Sound to say goodbye. |
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| A toast with Uncle Walter, Aunt Diane, and Aunt Joann after arriving. |
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| Another group shot, this time with Mom in the picture. |
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| Serena exploring on deck. |
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| Sunlight reflecting off the waves. |
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| A gorgeous sunset to end a great first day. |
I noticed some people taking pictures of the boat as we left or at other times. If you email them to paul.howardflanders@gmail.com, I may include them in a post.
