8/20 ● Not So Fast, Buster!

So, our plan was to spend a couple or 3 days in Cape May, enjoy what that time allowed and move on to Annapolis on Monday or Tuesday (8/19). That was not to be. It became apparent to us that the exhaust installation for the new engine was incorrect. Fortunately we were able to find a Cummins marine repair service company in the area. The bad news is the unexpected delay of a week or so. The good news is that Cape May is a delightful place in which to be stuck. Bill and Pam are calmly biding their time but Ted, their cruising mate, has taken to cross dressing. Must be the stress.

8/15 ● Overnight to Cape May

We left Manhattan’s 79th St. Boat Basin at around 10 AM on Thursday morning, 8/14, bound for Cape May, NJ. Some places we passed along the way: one of several newly installed NY City water falls; Ellis Island; the Statue of Liberty. Winds were not favorable so we motor sailed (engine, main and staysail) most of the day, into the evening. Winds picked up but so did thunder storms. We looked behind us and saw an ominous gray ridge rapidly moving towards us -- we knew we were in for it. For the next seven hours we raced south, pushed by slate colored frothing seas with torrential rains, thunder and lightening. We hate to say it, but lightening struck very close to us at one point about 11pm Thursday night. We believe we were saved by the new device (a static charge dissipater) which Bill installed just after Songbird was struck in June. Whew!!!! Thanks be.
We arrived in Cape May at 1:40pm Friday afternoon. What a beautiful sight. Marine life booms in Cape May and there’s a large fishing community. We anchored in the bay, not too far from the Coast Guard station, tucked everything away and took a long nap – life is good. And so went Pam’s initiation into offshore sailing.

Photos: Ellis Island; New York Waterfall; Statue of Liberty; 79th St. Boat Basin

8/13 ● At Last, Underway!!

Songbird’s essential electrical systems have been repaired and/or replaced and on Tuesday, 8/12, we slipped our mooring at Petersen’s Boat Yard (on the Hudson River) in Nyack, NY. After passing the Tappan Zee Bridge, we were given a most hearty send-off by our friends from SAUNDRA MESSINGER and their families, who had come out to see us sail past the Piermont jetty. It was a truly heart-warming gesture.
Fair but faint winds followed us to our first stop, the 79th Street Boat Basin in Manhattan, NY. Here we’ll spend a couple of days in the Big Apple seeing friends and further provisioning Songbird (mainly buying wine).
Some wonderful things occurred during the month we waited to depart. We became well acquainted with our home town surroundings and all the wonderful things it has to offer … and fell in love. Pam found a fellow Shambhala meditation practitioner living in Nyack who she’d lost contact with for years (a very interesting story) and we became closer to friends and acquaintances in our home town. Priceless!
The interesting story: We were sitting in the cockpit one evening, just relaxing, when Bill spotted a person swimming in the river, appearing to have some difficulties swimming back to shore. No matter how strong and hard she swam, she made no headway - the current was against her. We didn’t feel right about just observing because there could have been a presence of real danger. Bill dropped the dinghy and motored to where she was swimming, asked her if she needed any help. She said, “Yes please.” She pulled herself into the dinghy and they motored to shore. When he returned to Songbird, I asked him who she was. “Her name is Joan” he said. “What did she look like?” I asked. He described someone we know and the description fit Joan Whitacre but how likely would that have been? Some days later we were in the Nyack Library, standing in line. The person in front of us was Joan and it was so good to see her again. I asked her if she had, by any chance, been swimming in the river a few days before, when a person plucked her from danger. “Yes” she said, “and his name was Bill”. Wow! What a way to reconnect.

Photos: Songbird sailing by Piermont, NY; View of the Hudson, Petersen's Boat Yard and the Tappan Zee Bridge taken from atop Hook Mountain in Nyack, NY.

8/6 ● Great Beginnings

Life on Songbird started with a big BANG. Lightening struck her mast on Saturday night, 6/14, and fried many of her electrical systems. We were having a drink, celebrating having moved from the condo with no glitches - a very smooth move. We were feeling all warm inside when, KABANG, lightening struck and we heard a deafening boom just above Pam’s head, ringing her ear and sending her drink flying across the main cabin. We are fine - there were no injuries, but Songbird needed electrical repair. We had the boat hauled out of the river to check for structural damage but none was found. What a lucky break!
Damages ranged from auto pilot to VHF radio and antenna – they were totally fried - wind anemometer, solar panel charge controller, and refrigeration. The inverter was crispy and some LCD indicators on the instrument panel were blown. Oddly, the masthead lights were un-phased.The insurance company has been extremely helpful and has assisted in getting us back on electrical course. Everything (except the anemometer) has been repaired or replaced and we should be on our way in about a week.
Until Later,
Flash & Sparky