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August 07, 2008
Thimble Islands, CT
This was it. We decided that we would take 9 days and sail. We had only one, then two, conditions to all the sailing variables – weather, weather, and weather. On Day 2, we needed to be in Mystic, Connecticut to celebrate Krista’s birthday. On Day 3, we needed to be in Westport, Massachusetts for a fundraiser for the Westport River Watershed Alliance. This is a lot of easting in a short period of time - when one sails 5-6 miles in an hour.
We left Stamford at 11am and set our eastward course to the Thimble Islands off Branford, Connecticut. As we are quickly discovering, the winds are generally light in the morning, then pick up in the afternoon. We motor-sailed with the mainsail up in very light southeast winds. By about 2pm, the winds picked up considerably and we were hustling along nicely on a beam reach in building seas.
The weather forecast called for thunderstorms, and we kept a watchful eye over our shoulder. Sure enough, storms began to develop over Long Islands and Connecticut, but seemed to avoid out particular path. The VHF radio came to life with one “urgent marine weather” advisory after another.
We dropped our shiny new anchor between High Island and Pot Island just before the storms hit. Chis fell sound asleep while I readied dinner on the barbeque. He slept through a wicked storm – truly a dramatic light show, heavy rain, hail and loud thunder all around us.
He woke in time for dinner, then fell sound asleep again.
The Thimble Islands are a precious secret that our friend Will shared with us. We will definitely return.
Posted by dave at August 7, 2008 04:09 PM