On July 23rd 2004 We took Net Escape down to Long Island.
We departed at 'butt crack of dawn' along with 4 other boats. (Myst Approach, Joy's Joy, Magg 7, Marianne). Two other boats, Aqueous and Julie Christina, headed down later in the day. Traveling south out of Boston Harbor we headed for the Cape Cod Canal at about 15-16 knots. (See the white line on the map). The tide was close to slack so the currents through the canal weren't to bad. Weather wasn't bright sunshine but it didn't rain on us either. Exiting the southern end of the canal we stopped in Onset for fuel and then continued down and across buzzards bay arriving at CuttyHunk about 1pm. Cutty Hunk was a pretty place but small. Being on the end of the Elizabeth Islands I can't imagine being here in the winter. It would of been a great place to take the dingy out to some beautiful beaches but the sun wasn't out so we walked around the island. There's an old fort at the top of a hill that gave us some great views all around the island.

The next morning we left at 'butt crack of dawn' to head to Montauk (Long Island NY). Two boats, Marianne and Julie Christina, stayed behind. We had a southerly wind with 1-3 ft waves. The ride was a little rocky, from the angle of the waves, but basically smooth. Tricia fell asleep for a bit and woke up pretty queasy. As we rounded the bouy north of Block Island Joy's Joy lost an engine. We stopped while Joe ran down to see if he could see what the issue was. If you are prone to sea sickness stopping and bobbing around is probably the worse thing for you and it certainly wasn't helping Tricia. Our location was also bad because the bouy at Block Island is where most boaters set waypoints. There was a ton of boat traffic going by and we were getting rocked pretty bad. Tricia grabbed a bucket and I tried to keep some forward motion going. Joe couldn't find anything wrong and we all decided we'd just cut back the speed and he'd run on one engine. We were plugging along at about 8 knots when another large boat past us about 50ft off our port. The 6 foot wake took seconds to get us and we all held on as it hit us broad side. We sent a few hand signals but this wasn't helping Tricia feel any better. Minutes later Joy's Joy calls us on the radio "Hey, Net Escape! You're loosing your dingy!" I turn around and the dingy is totally off the boat and upside down behind the boat. Apparently that huge wake had ripped it right off. We throttled back, Tricia grabbed the wheel, and Jeff and I ran down to get the dingy. Here's where Tricia proves she's a trooper. As I'm standing on the swim platform with Jeff I look up to see how Tricia is doing. She has her arm across the steering wheel, forehead on her arm, mic in her hand, and she's throwing up in a bucket she's holding in her other hand. Jeff and I eventually got the dingy up onto the bow and secured it there. We're still 15 miles out of Montauk and Myst Approach (Andy) gets on the radio to say Renee on his boat is sea sick and he's going to pick up the speed to get her into Montauk. I immediately come back and say Tricia is sick. Magg 7 offers to stay the slow pace with Joy's Joy and we run back up to 16 knots to get there quicker with Myst Approach.
Montauk was a very pretty place and the marina was first rate. We docked (Tricia got off and immediately felt better) then we arranged for an end slip for Joe to dock at and helped him in about 30 minutes later. Joe's problem was quickly found. Somehow the fill cap had come off one of the transmissions and all the fluid had blown out. They have shut downs on them if the fluid gets low. A simple addition of fluid, tighten the cap, and he was ready to go again. We didn't do much in Montauk. We went to an outdoor bar that Anne and Bob found and watched a great band with lots of local talent. They had a nice pool but the weather still wasn't that great.

Because our next leg to Sag Harbor was only a couple of hours we didn't have to leave at 'butt crack of dawn' and we departed Montauk about 11am (see the blue line on the map). The trip over to Sag Harbor was pretty calm, although Ed's wake was killing us for a while till he motored off. We didn't have any issues heading over and once there we found ourselves docked with about 40 100ft plus mega yachts. There was plenty to look at here. The marina itself was pretty sparse but it was a 2 minute walk to downtowm which we did on a number of occasions. On our second day there we all climbed aboard Myst Approach and Andy drove us over to Greenport (see green circle on map) where we walked around town and had dinner. It was one of the highlights of the trip as the seas were dead calm and the sun had finally come out.

After two days we departed Sag Harbor for Mystic Seaport (orange line on the map). The seas were pretty calm and the crossing was uneventful except we saw a nuclear Sub coming out of New London and the cost guard helicopter buzzed up and down both side of us. We contacted them on the radio to find out how far away we had to stay. "1000 yards" was the answer. We were probably 3 times that. It was pretty cool to see. Heading into the Mystic river we knew we had to go through two bridge openings. We had checked the charts and the bridges opened every hour on the 15. Our plan worked as we arrived there about 10 past the hour only to find out they had changed it to on the 40. Which meant we had to float around while we waited. Fortunately it was dead clam and we took to opportunity to make and eat some lunch. 30 minutes later we were through and docking at Mystic Seaport. What a fantastic place. It's a recreation of a New England shipping town complete with all trades. They also had restored a number of differently sailing vessels from fishing to whaling. We were originally scheduled to be here two days but we extended it a day as there was just to much to see and do in two days. The seaport closed at 5pm and we basically had the entire town to ourselves. If you've never been here I strongly suggest you go someday.

On Friday we headed out of Mystic early in the am to catch the bridge openings. (see the yellow line). One out of the river we were met with dense fog. It was somewhat eerie to see this giant wall coming at you. Once we were in it you could barely make out the back of the boat in front of you and sometimes not even that. Fortunately we always turn on our radar and are pretty comfortable with it. We did have to change course a couple of times and once another boat changed direction while passing us in the other direction and we ended up having to take evasive action in a hurry.
About 2 hours into the trip Magg 7 started showing an increase in smoke out the exhaust. We slowed to about 6 knots while Jimmy ran down to check on the problem. One of his Air filters was plugged and was collapsed. We elected to take advantage of our current position and headed into Newport RI for repairs. As we headed in Tricia got on the phone trying to find us slips for a few hours while we repaired Magg 7. Unfortunately none could be found. She eventually found one slip and we radioed Magg 7 and told them where it was. The rest of us wandered through the mooring fields and just grabbed any available mooring while we waited. I should point out that while cruising up the coats in the fog didn't bother me at all, coming into Newport Harbor was a different story. The radar looked like Swiss cheese and there was no way you could track the number of targets showing up on the radar. We basically crawled in at headway speed with all hands on deck peering out into the abyss. 3 hours later (filters are hard to find if ya can imagine that) we were heading back out towards Onset. (see aqua line)
As we neared the cape cod canal Magg7 again started to smoke. Oddly enough so did we. I think it must of been sympathy smoke because I couldn't find anything wrong. Luckily we were only a couple of miles out of Onset. Onset marina put us on the fuel docks because by now it was 6:30pm and they were closing. Back down in Magg 7's engine room and it's covered with soot. Exhaust is somehow being dumped into the engine room. A search finds a broken clamp on the exhaust side of one of the turbo charges. It'll have to wait till the morning to try and get parts (and new filters again). After getting settled in we walked into town for dinner and hit the sheets fairly early. The next morning the dock master lent us his truck, parts were retrieved, and Magg 7 was back in operation about 11am.

The ride back home from Onset to OHYC wasn't bad but it was a work out. We ended up hitting the canal wrong and had to fight against a 5.5 knot current through the entire canal. Once out of the canal SW winds made the boat wander as we headed north. Fortunately no one had any issues and we safely arrived at OHYC at around 4pm to 20knot winds and our hardest docking the entire week.

It was a great trip and although Tricia and Renee got queasy, Jerry, Jimmy, Joe, and Helen were stressed because of their boat issues, and we didn't have perfect weather, we managed to see some fantastic places and enjoy the friendship of a great group of people. The issues and resolution of those issues are the adventures in boating. We'll be planning next years trip in February. This year is far from over. We have a couple of more trips planned and we'll undoubtedly do a couple of spontaneous trips.