September 5-20 Essex and Saybrook, Connecticut
After days of pleasant cool weather, we were
subjected to a heat wave, an unusual occurrence for the East Coast in
September. Heat and humidity limited our
excursions away from the boat. We were increasingly concerned about the
tropical storm/soon to be hurricane off the coast of Florida. It was on a northward path and veering
eastward toward Maine. Our planned trip to Essex and Saybrook was now
questionable.
After a day of delays and uncertainties, Dave and Samantha finally arrived in Providence at 5:00 PM on September 11. We celebrated with dinner at Blu on the Water. It had been five years since they had been on The Bottom Line.
Dave recently completed transporting a boat from
Seattle to Los Angeles and was excited about continuing his boat captain career. He is writing an on-line course for training transporting
boat captains. Safety of the crew and
the vessel are his main objectives and he is explicit in his instructions. We
were impressed with his knowledge and common sense methods for assuring a
successful voyage.
Our seven-hour journey to Essex was delightful. The
day was sunny with little wind. As a
professional with considerable experience (plus four years in the navy), Dave always
takes the helm and becomes captain and navigator. Samantha, who has joined Dave on many trips, becomes
first mate and manages the lines. I oversee
the galley and David happily retires to the sofa with Pretzel for a long nap.
Exiting Long Island Sound into the wide expanse of
the Connecticut River, we passed Saybrook, waited for the bascule railroad
bridge to lift for sufficient clearance and then continued past large,
beautiful homes lining the shores to Essex.
We docked at Essex Yacht Club, a lovely pristine facility only a few
blocks from Main Street.
The following morning, we hired Uber to give us a
brief tour of Essex neighborhoods. The
area is lush with aged trees, magnificent shrubbery and historical homes set in
beautifully maintained landscapes. The
town, once a thriving shipbuilding center, retains a significant nautical presence
with several large marinas. We enjoyed
shopping in the charming stores, mostly housed in historical buildings of white
clapboard sidings. Essex is the
quintessential New England village.
Main Street is dominated by the Griswold Inn, built
in 1776 and still functioning as a hotel, restaurant, and lively bar scene. We enjoyed
a great dinner in their lovely dining room, filled with old nautical prints and
memorabilia.
Hurricane forecasts indicated we needed to cancel our plans to return to Wickford on Friday. Our reservations at Saybrook Marina, at the mouth of the Connecticut River, were extended until Sunday. After an hour journey down river from Essex we were assigned a favorable dockage, protected from wind and easily accessible to shore and the lovely facilities of the marina.
Dinner at the marina restaurant was excellent and
the staff was very helpful. We enjoyed
the marina shuttle to town and made several trips to explore this small but
very viable community. Dave and Samantha were constantly occupied in cleaning, organizing
or repairing items on the boat. David
and I happily watched them work!
The hurricane passed us by without any significant wind and Sunday was a perfect day to return to Wickford. Dave and Samantha spent most of the journey on the bridge to have a splendid view of the shore and the many boats in the Sound. Arriving early, we rested before the farewell dinner for our guests at La Masseria in East Greenwich. Their visit had been a wonderful opportunity to have long conversations and enjoy new experiences together.
