s/v Nine of Cups New England Summer 2007 Charleston, SC - Bristol, RI

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We left Charleston, South Carolina on 21 May 2007 and headed north to Bristol, Rhode Island. We opted for a stop at Cape Lookout, NC, an anchorage we had found to be beautiful and calm previously. We weren't disappointed. It was just as lovely as we remembered it.  Lookout Lighthouse is very distinctive with its diamond black/white design. Wild horses on the shore came at dawn and dusk and the sunsets were stupendous.

But we didn't want to dawdle for too long, we were excited to get back to New England where a mooring and Marcie's sister, Lin, and family were anxiously awaiting our arrival so after two days we were off again.

The passage was a short one with reasonable winds and the Gulf Stream to give us a push. We arrived early on 28 May (Memorial Day) and sailed up the well-lit Narragansett Bay, arriving in Bristol at 0200. We anchored in the spacious Bristol Harbor, caught a few hours of well-deserved rest and then found our designated mooring at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Marina. The museum is small, but interesting. The marina wasn't anything to write home about. Limited amenities were available for cruisers and the place was definitely not geared for liveaboards. The surroundings were picturesque, but the mooring field was lumpy with fetch from the expanse of bay.

While underway, we have e-mail via radio relay through SailMail and Winlink. We check emails daily and send in position reports. Jelly oversees the procedure and insures that David follows proper radio etiquette.

A Trip to Block Island

In early June, our oldest grandson, Taylor, flew out from Colorado and joined us on the boat. It was Taylor's first time at the ocean (that he remembered anyhow) and certainly his first time aboard "Nine of Cups". He was an old salt from the start. He got his sea legs immediately with nary a bit of seasickness. He took to the helm with a few pointers from Grandpa.

Block Island is only 27 miles from Bristol, but is a world in itself. Entrance to the anchorage above.

We enjoyed walking along the shore. Taylor collected shells and enough crab parts to reconstruct a rather large crab!

A graceful swam visited the boat while we were anchored and we were happy to feed him from crackers while he posed for photos..

Time at Lin & Kerry's

When not on the boat, we spent time with Marcie's sister, Lin and her family in East Walpole, MA...about 1-1/2 hours drive from Bristol. Taylor and cousin, Nicholas, spent lots of time together playing games, sleeping out in Nick's treehouse, hanging out in the park and cavorting around the neighborhood. Father's Day was spent at Lucy's (Lin's mother-in-law) where croquet was the game of the day.

A hungry seagull hauls lunch ashore.

Lin & Kerry...our gracious hosts for a whole summer. Thanks for the room, the bed, the closets, Lin's clothes, Kerry's tools and workshop, the car(s), the Beast, the wine, the shuttles back and forth to the airport and the marina, the morning walks in the park, lots of game playing  and so much more ...hmm...thanks for everything!

Lin, David, Taylor & Nicholas determine who will start the game.

Nicks and Taylor ham it up at Mystic Seaport.

Mystic Seaport is an absolutely wonderful re-creation of an 18-19th century whaling port brought to life with interesting exhibits, actual ships and vintage buildings to roam around in. We've visited several times and it's a pleasure each time.

More Mystic "hamming".

It seemed like Taylor arrived and it was time for him to leave already. David flew back with him to Colorado for a couple of weeks to visit with kids and handle some business. Marcie spent one-on-one time with Lin... morning walks in the nearby park, wine-drinking, laughing, thrift-shopping, wine-drinking, yard sales, and oh yes, lots of wine drinking.

Yup, there really is a Mystic Pizza!!

The Busiest of Summers for the Crew

It was an unbelievably busy summer. David returned to Colorado with Taylor at the end of June and spent a couple of weeks with kids, grandkids and completed some remodeling on our rental properties. Marcie remained in East Walpole doing wedding preparations, looking for appropriate wedding dresses and generally just enjoyed being with her sister. Long morning walks in the park, sipping wine (lots of wine) in the evenings, cooking together, playing an infinite number of games and lots of thrifting and yard sales...the stuff dreams are made of! We spent 4th of July aboard "Cups" with family to watch fireworks and have choice seats for Bristol's spectacular 4th of July Parade. Though we never left the mooring, all of our visitors experienced varying degrees of seasickness. In late July, we managed a road trip to Hunt Valley, Maryland to "meet the parents". We'd never met Hannah's (our daughter-in-law to be) parents and it was a good opportunity just prior to Brennan and Hannah's wedding to get to know everyone. Then, of course, there was the actual wedding itself on 11 August 2007.     Click here to see wedding photos. David's Mom (Becky) came for the wedding and stayed for two weeks while we took a road trip through the Pennsylvania. Marcie's Mom decided to move from Florida, her home of 30 years, back to New England to be closer to family. David & Marcie flew to Florida for a week, helped her pack up and flew back with her to Boston at the end of August where everyone participated in the unpacking and settling in. Jelly decided to "jump ship" and went to live with Grandma Bea. In early September, we both went back to Colorado to visit friends and family. It was a good "grandkid" fix and we also fit in time to visit with our niece, Gentry and her family in Laramie, Wyoming. Back to New England to try to finish up some boat work. It was getting late in the season and time for us to think about moving south. Becky was celebrating her 90th birthday and we couldn't miss the party, so we flew to Las Vegas for a long weekend to participate in the grand celebration. We prepared to leave as soon as we returned. Finally, on 24 October 2007, after many hugs and kisses goodbye, we cast off the mooring lines and began our trip south. A wonderfully, wonderful summer...thanks to the generosity of Lin, Kerry and Nicks for making their home, our home...their cars, our cars...their wine, our wine...it goes on and on. We were sad to leave, but happy to be on our way and at sea once again.

A Road Trip With         Becky Despite all the traveling Becky has done, she never made it to Gettysburg. While there, we managed a few other sights like Amish country and picturesque covered bridges.

We took the auto-tour at Gettysburg, a CD and guide book which was excellent. In the American Civil War, aka The War Between the States or if you're a Southerner, the War of Northern Aggression, more men were lost than the total lost in all other wars combined  in which the US has participated. "Battle Cry of Freedom" by James McPherson provides an objective overview of the war, its causes and its ramifications. Though interesting, it was a haunting experience to view the fields where so many thousands of men fought and lost their lives. Locals say soldiers still walk the fields in the haze of the early dawn.

The Pennsylvania Monument was one of many monuments dedicated to the men who fought.

Becky's family was originally from Pennsylvania and we spent an hour or more searching for the names of the "McCullough" men who fought in the Pennsylvania brigades.

It wasn't all history, we found time to check out the Teddy Bear Factory, lots of country stores and shops. We ended up on a sweet note at Hershey and toured the Hershey Chocolate World. Needless to say, a significant amount of chocolate was consumed in the car that day, following the hot fudge sundaes that is.

We celebrated Becky's 90th birthday in Las Vegas with her and lots of family members. Her "older" (yup, older!!!) sister, Edna (103) flew in from Sacramento to celebrate with us.

End of summer in New England, time to head south. Happy to be moving on, but sad to be leaving Lin, our family and Jelly.

Click here to join us as we head south with stops in the Chesapeake, the eastern Florida coast and then to Florida's west coast before heading to Panama once again.

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