New England – Week: 07 (Fresh Cruising Grounds!)

July 12th to 19th, 2026

Day 41 – Monday, July 13th, 2026 – To: Atlantic City, NJ
Kammerman’s Atlantic City Marina

Originally, we had planned to go from Cape May to Manasquam Inlet and give that a try. We mentioned it to several people, who warned us away. Apparently, the inlet can get pretty rough, and the better marinas to stay at are quite a way up a creek. So, we decided to give it a miss this time and go to Atlantic City, our regular stop. (maybe we can win enough to pay for our fuel bill 🤣🤣🤣) Then, from Atlantic City, we will go to Great Kills, NJ, on Staten Island before heading up the East River and into Long Island Sound.

We left Cape May just before 9:00 and headed out to sea. The waves in the inlets are always bigger than once you get out, and today was no different. We had 3-4’s rolling down between the break walls. Once we got outside the break walls into 40 ft of water, the waves calmed to 2-3 ft. The wind was from the east, so as we turned north, the waves were on our side, making it a bit rolly. We adjusted course so that we were taking them on the front quarter, which made it a bit more tolerable. To get it over with, we ran at 16 mph all the way to Atlantic City. It was a nice sunny day, but the waves made it just a bit uncomfortable. Again, the boat handled the waves well at the bow. It’s just the rolling from side-on waves. With the shallow draft, it feels the effects of a wave on the side a bit more than the old Frog did. It’s just something we need to get used to.

We made great time. Aside from a few fishing boats and the Coast Guard practicing with their helicopter in the distance, there wasn’t much to see. We think we may have spotted a whale spout and surface in front of the boat, but we’re not positive.

Just before noon, we pulled into Atlantic City. We are staying at Kammerman’s, across from the big casino marina. It’s a nice place and much less chaotic. We stopped first at the fuel dock to top off because tomorrow is a 100-mile offshore day, and I want a full tank for the trip. We took on 65 gallons, since we just filled up yesterday. That means we burned 65 gallons going the 45 miles from Cape May to Atlantic City, so about 0.7 miles per gallon running at about 75% engine load. Each of our engines is 480 hp, so all in all, about what we expected.

Once we fueled up, we backed into our slip for the evening. The boat was covered in salt spray from bashing through the waves, so we rinsed it down. For dinner, we walked about a mile around the Gardner’s Basin fishing harbor to a little dive bar/restaurant called Back Bay Ale House. The food was surprisingly good, and the place was very busy! The neighborhood between the marina and the Back Bay Ale House is not that good, so we took an Uber back to the boat.

For the rest of the evening, we sat on the back of the boat and watched the fishing boats coming back in from a day out Marlin Fishing. There is another fishing tournament underway, and lots of boats (most of them moved up from Cape May) are coming in. They had fuel trucks lined up on the banks to refuel all the boats. Most of the big sport fishing boats take over 1,500 gallons to fill the tanks, and they go through a tank during a day of fishing.

With all the boats coming past us, it got a bit rocky, so Brenda went up to the deck at the marina to sit on something that wasn’t moving.

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Day 42 – Tuesday, July 14th, 2026 – To: Great Kills (Staten Island), NY
Atlantis Yacht Club

We had about 100 miles to go to Great Kills. Overnight, the wind shifted from the east to the southwest, so the waves were expected to be much better in the morning. By 1:00 pm, the winds were predicted to pick up to 20-25 mph, so we decided to make our run up the coast early. At 7:15, we pulled away from the dock and went back out into the Atlantic. The first few miles were a bit rolly, as we were in shallow water (15-20 ft), so the swells were building as it got shallower. Once we got about 3 miles offshore, we were in 40-50 feet of water, and the swells were much smaller. There were some wind-driven waves, but the wind was from behind us, so we hardly felt them.

The boat performed great, and we just relaxed. I did some performance analysis for our mechanic, Michael, at A&M Marine, so that he can order us a spare set of propellers. We also did some route planning and called around at a few marinas to make reservations for the next week of our travels.

When cruising offshore, the biggest issue in relatively calm conditions is boredom! Finding things to fill the time. I played with my electronics a bit, checked email, and watched all of the big ships out on the horizon. Brenda watched sheep videos and took a nap. 😴

Around 12:00, we rounded Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and headed across Lower Bay to Great Kills, NY, on Staten Island. Great Kills Harbor was created when the area was used as a landfill in the 1940’s. It was closed in 1948, and they opened the Fresh Kills Landfill a mile or so away and opened a park on the old site. In 2005, they closed the park after they discovered Radium-226 in the soil. Fresh Kills landfill: the replacement was closed in 2001 and is now a public park. With all that waste leaching into the local bay, “Don’t Eat The Fish!”

We pulled into our slip at 12:45 and, once settled, went up to the office to check in and visited the Yacht Club tiki bar for a docking beverage.

For dinner, we went to Cole’s Dockside, an Italian seafood restaurant a short walk from the marina. It was a bit like walking into a scene from The Godfather. Lots of old fat Italian guys holding court at the table, and Sylvester Stallone wannabes. Everyone knew everyone else, except us! We sat at the bar like we normally do. The bartender, who was also the owner, was very friendly. We had a great dinner. I had a pork chop with sliced red peppers, spicy, but not overly so. Brenda had baked stuffed shrimp, which were delicious as well.

As we were finishing up, a couple next to us asked where we were from, and we talked about boating for a bit. The bartender mentioned that many Loopers had come through and that he liked to perform magic tricks for them. He asked if we would like to see a magic trick. We said sure. He pulled out a deck of cards and had Brenda pick a card, then mark it. Put it back in the deck, then he flipped it out. Pretty cool. He proceeded to do a few more, each more impressive than the last. Two of the couples at the bar had seen them all several times, and still didn’t know how they were done.

For his grand finale, he took a $100 bill from me (I figured I’d never see it again), had me write something on it to identify it, then folded and rolled it up. He then placed it into a napkin and had me hold it. Then he pulled four lemons from a bag and put two in each hand. He had one of the couples pick a hand. He took those two lemons, put one in each hand, and then had me pick a lemon. He then had me throw the napkin with the bill in it toward the lemon. When the napkin was opened, the bill was gone. He then cut the lemon open, and inside the lemon was my $100 bill! Amazing! We asked his name, and he pointed to an old poster on the wall showing a much younger version of himself as Magic Mike! Our first dinner in New York, and we had dinner and a show! Great!

All afternoon, the wind had been increasing. When we got back to the boat around 6:30, it was rocking and rolling! Great Kills Harbor is very protected, except if the wind is coming from the south, which it was. We were getting steady winds of 15 mph, with gusts over 25 mph. Fortunately, once the sun set, the winds died down, and the rocking subsided enough for us to sleep. We need our rest, because tomorrow we take on Hell Gate in the East River through New York City!

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Day 43 – Wednesday, July 15th, 2026 – To: Glen Cove, NY
Safe Harbor Glen Cove

We delayed our departure from Great Kills until just before 9:00 to let all of the commuter ferry traffic in New York Harbor die down. Even on a perfectly calm day, the ferry boats and water taxis can make the Hudson and East Rivers feel like a washing machine, with some producing 4- to 5-foot wakes. Add in the commercial barge traffic, and it’s just chaos!

We passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, the Gateway to New York and Manhattan. Lady Liberty was standing tall through the haze. As with prior trips up the Hudson River, the smoke from Canadian wildfires was heavy. Visibility was about 2 miles at best. After the bridge, we took a right into the East River. This is totally new territory for us! We went up the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, passing under many famous bridges. The Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, OVER the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, under the Queensboro Bridge, Roosevelt Island Bridge, through the infamous Hell Gate intersection, under the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, Hell Gate Bridge, past LaGuardia Airport, and Rikers Island prison. Finally, we passed under the Whitestone and Throgs Neck Bridges and into Long Island Sound! Fortunately, all of the bridges were more than tall enough for us to pass under, so there were no delays.

We were also fortunate to be traveling with the tide in the East River and got a 3-4-knot push (an extra 4.5 mph). The river is tidal, so it switches direction four times a day. We made a note to check the tides and time our passage to coincide with the tide when we come back through in the fall!

Once we cleared the Throgs Neck Bridge, we were into Long Island Sound. We couldn’t see much because the smoke haze was very thick. As we approached Glen Cove, our marina for the night, visibility was less than a mile.

We pulled into Glen Cove, a HUGE marina complex on Long Island, and into our slip just after noon. We didn’t quite know what to expect going through the East River, so we picked a marina just into Long Island Sound in case we were delayed going through. It turns out it was pretty straightforward.

We didn’t rinse the boat yesterday. With the spray from all the waves and ferry wakes over the last two days, we had a 1/8-inch salt crust on the railings and front deck. So we pulled out the Salt-Away and gave the boat a good rinse-down.

With the smoke haze and a south wind, the temperature here was 95° with a feels-like of 102°! After rinsing down the boat, we hung out in the air-conditioned inside to keep cool. I updated the blog while Brenda napped. At 2:30, we took an Uber into town to Garvies Point Brewery that the Dock Master, Tom, had recommended.

The Brewery was very good. A nice selection of IPAs and great appetizers! I had an IPA sampler, and Brenda and I shared a German Sausage platter. Very tasty. We hung out and watched the England vs. Venezuela soccer match. After a while, we tried their cauliflower sesame appetizer. It’s one of the best and most unique appetizers we’ve had. Steamed Cauliflower in a sesame sauce with sesame seeds and chopped green onions. It’s served in a Chinese takeout box, with chopsticks!

We stayed for dinner to watch the end of the match and were sad that England lost. We took an Uber back to the boat for the evening and were greeted by a pair of swans across from it.

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Day 44 – Thursday, July 16th, 2026 – To: Old Saybrook, CT
Harbor One Marina

When we woke up on Thursday, it was still very smoky. The weather said it was also overcast, and it was very gloomy. We had to wait an hour for enough water to get out of the canal. When we came in, we were at high tide, and we still had one or two places that indicated 1 foot below the boat. Now it was low tide, and there was 5 feet less water! We could see sand bars sticking out into the channel.

Once we exited the Glen Cove channel and were back into Long Island Sound, there was plenty of water. We had 80 miles to travel, so we cruised at a mid speed of 12 knots. Still getting reasonable fuel economy, but we wouldn’t get into the marina too late. We went across the sound and crossed into Connecticut, our 10th state! We were following the Connecticut shoreline past towns that I used to work in when I was with Great American Software and Oxford Health Plans. Norwalk, Bridgeport, Fairfield, and New Haven. Boy, did that bring back memories! Unfortunately, with the smoke and haze, we really couldn’t see much. We did catch a glimpse of a few of the many lighthouses that dot the shoreline on Long Island Sound, but they were all pretty hazy. Hopefully, when we come back through on our way home, the weather will be better.

Aside from watching a few other boats, we just checked email, and watched for the occasional crab pot. We did hear some commotion on the radio when two boats collided. Fortunately, it sounded like everyone was okay, and one of the boats involved passed us later in the day, going in the other direction (we made sure to stay out of its way). There were a few big ships at anchor waiting to go into New Haven harbor. We had one other cruiser pass us, then start billowing black smoke. We thought he might be on fire or have blown an engine, so we radioed, but got no response. He kept going, and we could see the plume of black smoke coming from the boat for over 5 miles. Someone is going to have to spend some boat bucks!

At 2:00, we pulled into Old Saybrook, Connecticut, passing the two lighthouses that grace the entrance to the Connecticut River. The Connecticut River starts in northern New Hampshire at the Connecticut Lakes, and travels along the New Hampshire-Vermont border, through Massachusetts and Connecticut, and empties into Long Island Sound here in Saybrook. It was neat to be at the end. When I was a kid, we used to visit my Uncle Fred’s camp up on the 1st Connecticut Lake! My sister used to live just a mile or so from the river near Whitefield, New Hampshire. Now I’ve been at both ends.

We pulled up to the fuel dock and topped off our tanks. Diesel in Connecticut is about the same price as at Wacca Wache, CHEAP, only $4.58 a gallon! The highest we’ve paid on the trip so far was $6.10.

After fueling, we just had to go around the corner to pull into our slip for the night. The Dockmaster Tom suggested going into the town of Old Saybrook and visiting The Monkey Farm, a 200-year-old tavern, still in operation. He said that the food was not great, but it was worth “experiencing”. He recommended Penny Lane Pub for dinner, which was just down the street.

We took a Lyft into town. We ended up waiting almost 30 minutes for a car. I tried Uber, but there were no drivers available. When our driver arrived, we learned that he had recently arrived from Pakistan. He was a very careful driver. We waited three light cycles for him to make a left turn across a busy intersection. I finally had to goad him into starting his turn before the light changed so we could get across!

We arrived at The Monkey Farm, and it was all that it was purported to be. Beautiful old hand-hewn beam rafters, wooden plank floors that look like they were last washed when the Tavern was opened! An old oak bar. All in all, very cool. Cash Only! We had a drink and a snack so that we could hang out and take a few photos. Talking to the bartender, the place gets pretty rowdy after around 9:00 and on the weekends.

After The Monkey Farm, we walked down Old Saybrook’s Main Street to Penny Lane Pub for dinner. Old Saybrook is the quintessential New England town. Very well-preserved 1800’s homes and storefronts, and, being on the Connecticut coast, very affluent and well-manicured. Penny Lane was an upscale gastropub, and the food was very good.

After dinner, we had to wait another 20 minutes for an Uber to get us back to the marina.

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Day 45 – Friday, July 17th, 2026 – To: Mystic, CT
Mystic Downtown Marina

The historic Mystic Seaport in Connecticut is one of our must-visit stops on the trip. It has lots of history! Brenda and I visited by car when we lived in New Hampshire, and it was cool to return by water! We only had 25 miles to cruise from Old Saybrook to Mystic. Being a tourist town and a busy port, we couldn’t arrive before 1:00. We had made our reservations over a week in advance and still had to go on a waiting list for a slip at a marina. And book a second marina for our last day, Sunday.

The cruise to Mystic was an easy one. Aside from lots of traffic, 10 sailboats, and at least as many powerboats. As we approached the entrance to the Mystic River, we had to zig and zag around large exposed rocks. We were careful to stay in the channel! Mystic is 3 miles up the river from Long Island Sound. The path winds its way past several large marinas and through a number of mooring fields. We went past 1,000s of boats! As you approach downtown Mystic, the channel passes under the main railroad line from Boston to New York City. The bridge was closed as we approached, and when we called in, they told us there were two trains coming and that it would be about 15 minutes. We engaged our DockMate DPS (Dynamic Positioning System), which held the boat in position against the wind and current while we waited for the bridge to open. The first train, a high-speed Accella heading south, passed just after we started holding. About 10 minutes later, the bridge tender radioed and said that the second train was almost there. A minute later, a northbound Accella zipped across the bridge, and two minutes later, the bridge started to swing open. By this time, there were three boats in front of us and four behind. Our marina was just after the bridge, and we had to swing around in the channel, so we let the boats behind us pass once we cleared the bridge. The dockmaster was waiting for us at the end of the dock, and we spun around and backed into our slip. Easy!

Once we were tied up and settled in, I rinsed down the boat, and Brenda vacuumed and dusted inside. We have guests from our neighborhood at home who summer here in Connecticut and missed our boat christening party, so they are coming tomorrow to see the boat. While we were cleaning, there was a constant stream of large yachts and sailing schooners coming past. Our marina is between two bridges, the railroad bridge that we came through, and the Mystic Highway Bridge, about a 1/2 mile up the river. This bridge is the main street through downtown Mystic. Boats have to wait for the two bridges, so there’s a lot of jockeying around while they wait. Both sides of the river here are lined with docks and piers. It’s quite a show. Our only concern is that we are sticking out about 10 feet from the dock into the channel. It shouldn’t be a problem, but I’m going to put a light on the end of our anchor pulpit tonight, just in case!

Once the boat was shipshape, we walked down the street to town to check it out. Our first stop was at the Friar Tuck Tavern for a docking beer and a snack. I tried a local IPA called Dog & Boat. Delicious! After our snack, we walked into downtown, checked out the shops along Main Street, crossed the lift bridge, and went to Mystic Knot Works. I ordered a handmade rope art basket from them for Brenda at Christmas, and we wanted to see where it was made. It was very interesting; several ladies were working there, making rope art. Monkey fists, bracelets, keychains, sailor knot wreaths, door mats, and many other marlinspike works. We picked up a few souvenirs. We walked back down the other side of Main Street toward the boat, checking out the shops on the opposite side. We passed a beer and wine shop, and they had several varieties of beer from “Beer’d” brewery, including the Dog & Boat, so we picked some up for our guests tomorrow.

We got back to the boat, put our purchases away, and relaxed until dinner time. For dinner, we walked next door to the Captain Daniel Packer Inne (yes, with an “e”) and had dinner in the downstairs Pub. They have a “fancy” restaurant upstairs, but we decided to stick to the pub food. After dinner, we sat on the back of the boat watching the trains go past on the railroad bridge and the boats cruise by on the river. Very relaxing!

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Day 46 – Saturday, July 18th, 2026 – In: Mystic Seaport, CT

Saturday was the first full rainy day of our trip. Our neighbors from home who summer here in Connecticut were coming to visit and check out the boat. Kathy, Rudy, Angela & Gary stopped by for a visit, then we went across the river to the Red 36 restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we went back to the boat and visited until around 3:30. It was great to catch up with them! Kathy and Rudy just bought a new boat. When we were in Old Saybrook earlier in the week, they passed us on their way home. We hope to stop there again on our way back south to visit.

The Downtown Mystic Marina, where we are staying, has a monthly get-together for all of the renters. They do hot dogs and a potluck of side dishes. Because we were staying in the marina, Brian the Dockmaster invited us to join in, so we went over and met a bunch of the other boaters.

At 6:00, there was a break in the rain, and we went back to Friar Tuck’s Tavern to watch the France vs. England soccer match. Even though it was for the third-place trophy, there was lots of excitement! Based on the cheering, I would say that there were more France fans than England fans. However, when England won, I estimate that half of the French fans suddenly became England fans!

While we were there, it started to rain quite heavily, but fortunately, we got a break long enough to make it back to the boat. Overnight, we got almost 1.63 inches of rain, with a couple of flashes of lightning and claps of thunder.

Day 47 – Sunday, July 19th, 2026 – In: Mystic Seaport, CT

Sunday morning, it was clear but windy. We had winds of 15 mph with higher gusts. When we made our reservation, we were only able to get a two-day stay, so we booked a smaller marina next door for Sunday and had planned to move. When we arrived on Friday, Brian, the dock master, let us know that the boat coming in today had canceled, so we were able to stay an extra day without having to move. It turns out it was a good thing, because moving in the wind would have been a pain.

Our plan for the day was to visit the Mystic Seaport Museum and Shipyard. When we headed out to walk through town to the museum, it was only 69°! We’re from Florida! That’s long-pants-and-down-jacket weather, especially with the wind! 🥶 Actually, once we got into the shelter of the buildings and in the sun, it was very nice. A refreshing change from the 100° weather we have been having.

Most of Mystic doesn’t open until 10:00, with the exception of Sift, the bakery just up the street from the boat. When we walked past at 9:00, the line was half a block long just to get to the door! We said that we’d stop by and pick something up on our way back (if there was anything left).

We got to the museum at 9:45, so we grabbed a coffee at the snack bar next door and waited until it opened at 10:00. Brenda and I have been here once before, at least 20 years ago, so it all felt pretty new. The museum is very interesting! It has two main sections. The restoration shipyard where they restore old sailing ships and build replicas (the Mayflower II was built here), and the historic museum, where they have displays showing aspects of boat building, life in Mystic during the heyday of ship building and whaling in the mid-1800’s, and more modern displays showing how shipping and fishing have changed since then. They also have a display of Lego constructions of historic sailing ships. It’s amazing how much detail can be achieved with Legos!

We spent about four hours walking around looking at the exhibits. It was neat to be able to visit by boat. We also found that the Museum rents out its docks to transient boaters when the docks are not in use by display ships. Next time we come through, we may try to stay in the museum for the night.

We walked back to town, checking out a few of the shops along the way. Yesterday, Mystic was scheduled to hold “Paddlefest,” where they close the main port area, set up a stage on shore, and 100s of kayakers, paddleboarders, rowboats, inner tubes (basically anything without a motor) hang out in the harbor and listen to music. Because of yesterday’s rain and thunderstorms, they rescheduled it for today. As we walked over the lift bridge, we stopped to listen to the music and watch the couple of hundred paddle craft taking part. It was quite a crowd, and they had a much better day for it today!

As we passed the Sift Bakery, the line outside was only about 10 people long, so we joined the queue. It only took about 10 minutes to get inside, and it was worth the wait. There was still a large selection of croissants, some sweet, others savory, as well as many other baked delicacies and macarons.

Brenda chose an Ebbieoche, a knotted sugar-and-cinnamon roll. I picked the pistachio croissant, and we also got some strawberry rhubarb danish. That should take care of breakfast for a day or two!

We got back to the boat around 3:00, and I worked on the blog for a while. At 4:30, we heard a commotion outside the boat. The Floatfest had ended, and lots of the participants were paddling past the boat on the way back to their boats in the large marinas and mooring fields on the other side of the railroad bridge.

For dinner, we were going to go back to Friar Tuck’s Tavern. It seems that we find one place in each port that we sort of gravitate to. It must be the food, I certainly wouldn’t pick a place based on the beer selection! 🤣 When we got there, people were hanging out of the doors and windows watching the FIFA Final! They were just starting the second overtime half, so we decided to go back to Captain Daniel Packer Inne (with the e). Great dinner. They have a wood-fired grill, and the smoky flavor is special!

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Weekly Recap

We traveled quite a way this week, 291 miles! We made it through Hell Gate on the East River in Manhattan and entered Long Island Sound. We reached our 10th state, Connecticut, which is also the first NEW state for us on the trip! From now on, it’s all new territory for us. We spent the weekend at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, which was one of the “must-stay” sites on our trip list, and had friends from our neighborhood at home visit us.

Next week, we travel just 40 miles to Newport, Rhode Island. The famous playground of the Rich and Famous, where the designer of our Outback Yacht, Andrew, spends his summers living on HIS Outback Yacht! We are looking forward to seeing Andrew again and experiencing Newport. Even though we grew up only a couple of hours’ drive from Newport, it’s not a place that either Brenda or I have visited, so it should be fun to explore.