Sailing Encore

We so enjoyed our time with my son and his family in up-state New York but headed back to the boat in Glen Cove, NY last week. As a guest you should always leave before you are kicked out and three weeks of parents on site is probably enough.

Driving back to the boat we saw the first signs of fall leaves peeking out and realize we need to get south before the nor’easters start.

Those are the fall storms in the Northeast and not pleasant. But since hurricane Jose continued to cause poor sea conditions this far north,  we stay put for now and explore.

We rented a car and drove out to the east end of Long Island. Taking in the quaint small towns and beautiful countryside.  We stopped along the ‘Long Island Wine Trail’ to taste some local vintage. The vines were tall, about 6 feet, and ready to be harvested soon

But the tastings were less than impressive (being the California wine snobs that we are:)) so we did not buy any bottles and poured a Napa chardonnay for lunch at the beach along the Sound. Fall has arrived and the farmers market stands were numerous. Each quainter and busier than the last with roasted corn on the cob and fresh pies for sale and plenty of fall mum pots everyone puts on their doorstep. They had large quantities of fresh fruit and veggies, and you could even go pick bags of apples yourself.

And of courses plenty of pumpkins!After lunch we stopped at the Magic Fountain, a well known handmade ice cream stand that has some unusual flavors like fig and honey, lavender, and goat cheese.

I tasted lavender 😦 and had rocky road. It was good!

We stopped at Target and got lots of supplies for the boat. And shopped at the tiny local ‘North Shore Market’ that would put Whole Foods, Mother’s and Gelson’s to shame. Local produce and fresh caught seafood and a long deli counter with homemade everything. Fresh pasta and breads made on site. 3 isles of fresh cut block cheese. And over 16 varieties of fresh olives you could sample! Which we did.

We have been walking 4-5 miles everyday around the cove to get off the boat and try to keep in shape. We grabbed some fresh bread, cheese and grapes and picnicked at the park.

And Vernon helped me securely hang my tiered wire basket for fruit and fresh bread and scones from the market. We are waiting for a window in the weather that will permit us to travel south. Hurricane Jose churned in the Atlantic and continued to cause up to 15 foot swells along the coastline. Now Maria continues north and the conditions remain with wind and high swells we would have to sail right into. We need to head south before the fall nor’easters start. But we have to wait for better wave and wind conditions than what is presenting off the Atlantic coast right now.

This is frustrating but remember that movie The Perfect Storm? It was based on the 1991 storm system that happened here in the Northeast.

Late October that year, hurricane Grace formed in Bermuda and moved north off the Atlantic coast where it encountered a massive low pressure system moving south from Canada. The clash of systems over the Atlantic Ocean caused 40-to-100-foot waves on October 30.

Below is a You Tube video of actual footage of a large ship in those conditions. I watch this and decide that hanging out here is definitely a good idea.

Click “Watch this video on YouTube” and don’t throw up.

Anyway, we promise to play it safe for our trip south. And actually have not decided on the final chapter of this trip yet or just how far south we will go. Will keep you posted.

T