8/28/04 Boothbay Harbor to Gloucester, MA 117nm 11 ½ hr
The forecast was still calm winds and seas; so off we went. It didn’t
take long to figure out that NOAA was wrong yet again. The winds were
in the twenties, and the head seas were 4-6' and close together. Roller
coaster time! After a few hours it calmed down, and we rolled into
Gloucester, MA. We secured at Brown’s Yacht Yard ($1.75/ft) and walked
to town. We didn’t pass any tee shirt shops! Gloucester is a fishing
town with commercial wharves, various size fishing vessels and the
Gordon fish business. For tourists there are whale watching boats and a
casino boat.

8/29/04 Gloucester to Menemsha, Martha’s Vineyard 87.6nm 11 hrs
Sharon was determined to see a whale on this run and hoped the fog
wouldn’t interfere. The fog burned off, but the whales didn’t show.
The current and wind in Menemsha Basin made docking amusing. After a
few tries we managed to maneuver and get Playpen pulled into one of our
favorite docks in the world. We were glad to see that nothing has
changed, and Menemsha is still a quiet, quaint tiny village with a
beautiful sunset view and interesting people to talk to. Fred chatted
with a local man who, along with 3 others, bought an ocean view cottage
for $50,000 twenty-five years ago. They sold it in 2000 for $3.5
million. The new owner tore it down and rebuilt it exactly as it had
been. We took an album full of Menemsha pictures.

8/30/04 Menemsha to Block Island, RI 42.5nm 5 ½ hr
Tropical storms Hermine and Gaston were converging and approaching
Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. We decided to head for a safe tie-up
in Block Island ($3/ft!) and wait it out. We secured with all our lines
and fenders and awaited the forecast midnight winds. Nothing happened.
We had a little rain but no wind as the storms passed just east of us.

8/31/04 Layday Block Is
The VHF said the seas were running 9+ft. so we decided to wait a day.
We chatted with other “waiters” and walked over to the beach (where the
waves were 1-2') We really wanted to get home before Hurricane Frances
hit the U.S.; so we plotted courses and times to quickly get us to our
Hurricane protection at home on the Wye.

9/1/04 Block Island to Port Jefferson 70nm 9 hrs
We opted for cruising Long Island Sound instead of an overnight run to
Cape May. We didn’t want to be crossing NY shipping lanes in the dark
The cruise down Long Island Sound was beautiful! Sharon enjoyed passing
Plum Island and noting that it looked exactly the way Nelson DeMille
described it in his thriller. The current was with us for the whole
ride, and we surfed through Plum Gut at 11.9kts. The anchorage in Port
Jefferson was scenic and quiet, and the forecast sounded benign for the
next few days.

9/2/04 -9/3/05Port Jefferson to Kent Narrows, MD 175nm 36hrs
How can forecasts change so quickly? We went to bed last night with no
wind and a calm forecast. We awoke to 16kn winds, a choppy Long Island
Sound and VHF telling us we would be experiencing mounting seas from
Frances from now until who knows when. We planned and securing for a
rolly overnight run to Cape May. We were diverted around Roosevelt
Island in the East River for Republican Convention security. In Ambrose
Channel, leaving NY, we encountered really rough confused high seas and
had second thoughts about being in the Atlantic all night. Fortunately
it calmed down to 3-6' swells, and we had a rolly overnight run, just as
planned. We slowed en route to time our arrival at Cape May for dawn,
but the current pushed us; and we arrived at the Cape May sea buoy at
0500. The stubborn sun didn’t come up until 0615; so we rolled some
more sitting outside Cape May in 8' seas. We had a wonderful run down
the Chesapeake with sunny skies and calm water. We secured at Piney
Narrows exactly 36 hours after leaving Long Island Sound. Some friends
picked us up for dinner, and we caught up on local news and gossip. It
was good to be home.

9/4/04 Kent Narrows to Wye River 14nm 2 hrs.
We went through the 0730 Kent Narrows bridge opening and were greeted
with a cannon blast. The Kent Island Outriggers were hosting a race
around the island. We hung around to see them take off. They need a
lot of endurance, strength, and enthusiasm to complete that paddle of
about 30 miles. We arrived home, unpacked a few things (laundry!) and
were greeted by our daughter, son-in-law, and 2 adorable grandkids. It
was good to be home, and we found we have lots of stories to tell.

Statistics for the Down East Circle Route from the Wye River, Chesapeake
and back:

# of days= 64 including 2 overnight runs
# of miles= 2755
# of hours underway= 390 ½
Ave speed= 7.06kn (including zipping with currents, slogging against
currents, docking & undocking)


Highlights
New York City from the water
Entrance to Lake Champlain (beautiful & serene)
Chambly Canal (narrow and challenging)
Quebec City ( a whole different world.)
Beluga and Blue whales and basking shark
Cam & Dorothy’s Maine hideaway
Menemsha (quiet, quaint)

Over All Impressions
It was interesting, but not as interesting as the Great Circle Loop.
Our favorite places for Playpen so far are: Pacific Northwest
North
Channel, Ontario
Menemsha, MA