It's All about choices

It’s all about choices. Do we stay or do we go. The weather was supposed to turn nasty on Saturday for 3 days. We were faced with fog or bad weather. Fog usually means calm water. We chose fog. We left Essex, CT around 7:30 in pea soup fog. We could not see the channel down the Connecticut River. We had to request a lift of the Old Lyme Draw Bridge to get back out into the sound. The fog meant we were using electronic navigation such as our radar and chart plotters. About a quarter mile from the bridge, we called the bridge tender to request the lift. He had three commuter trains that would arrive in the following 10 minutes, so we had to wait. There was an ebb tide trying to flush us out of the river so it was tricky not getting tangled up with the bridge. After 10 minutes, the bridge lifted and let us into the outer channel. We did take a wrong turn and ended up in a nice anchorage, but not out into Long Island Sound. Turning around, we found the main channel and made it out. We set a course on the chart plotter for Stratford, CT and kept an eye out for lobster traps, fishermen and logs that had flushed out of the rivers. The fog finally cleared for our last 2 hours of cruising.

We arrived in Stratford and were greeted by the marina staff at the Safe Harbor marinas where we have membership due to storing our boat at a Safe Harbor marina in Rhode Island. We were also happily greeted by blood thirsty gnats who were looking for fresh meat. (literally). We had planned on only spending the night as we were rushing to get to just outside New York City by the time the bad weather hit.

It was another early departure as we had 40 nautical miles to cover on Saturday. Again, we were greeted by fog. At least it wasn’t as thick as the prior day and we had no draw bridge to get under. Any bridges under 20 feet, we need to request an opening.

It took close to 5.5 hours to arrive at the Safe Harbor Capri, just outside the entrance to the East River. We have 3 nights reserved here and the weather forecast has changed. The weather is supposed to change for the worse on Tuesday. Just in time for our trip down the East River and into Manhattan. The moorage prices are obscene and we are trying for a spot in Jersey City across the river and near Lady Liberty.

We have another choice to make. The Erie Canal is closed for another 5 to 6 weeks for repairs. They took damage in the Spring from excessive rains. Do we find a marina near Albany, where our friends Greg and Robin live, for a month, rent a car, drive to Maine and pick up our Van or do we find other areas to cruise like the New Jersey coast towards the Chesapeake Bay for that month. Right now, we are leaning toward picking up our Van and spending time camping in New England. It's all about choices. What choice would you make?