August 7-14
NYC, Port Washington, Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson, Fisher's Island, Newport, Wickford
Larry Hawks, Brent Fusion, Nora, Howard & Carmen Gutin

This years cruise resumed after a layover in New York City.  Nora and I returned to Kansas City and Matt stayed aboard and tended the boat and managed to get in a good deal of sightseeing, making the grand tour of Manhattan and part of Long Island.

Larry Hawks and Brent Fusion, former business associates joined us for a "stag" leg which began at NYC and ended at Newport.

The week started off with a very aggravating foul up on the part of Orbitz. Ticket vouchers for The Producers which I purchased and paid for through Orbitz were not honored when we got to the theater and we were not able to see the show.  While we received a full refund this did not make for a happy experience and put a big dent in my previously good experience with Orbitz.  The fault here was with their 3d party ticket supplier.

We did have an excellent meal at Liberty House after a rather long train ride and and even longer walk through Liberty State Park (Site also of Liberty Landing Marina where we stayed the previous year).  Liberty House has one of the finest views of Manhattan available from a restaurant and they also have very good food.  Unfortunately on the night we were there they were having a wedding at a tent next to the restaurant and a band concert on the patio, so the ambiance was somewhat impaired. we opted for a taxi for the return trip then had after dinner drinks on the bridge and took in the view of Manhattan while reminiscing about days at the old biz.

We departed NY at 2 PM on the 8th, up the East River under the Brooklyn Bridge and past the UN, LaGuardia, Rikers Island, etc.  We arrived at Hell Gate near slack, by design. The day was hazy and humid.  We had a short run to Port Washington where we had reserved a mooring at the Manhasset Bay YC. Not a mooring I would want to be on in a breeze as they only had 800 # deadweight anchors. Th YC had good launch service and we went to town for dinner an a look around.  The town was small and somewhat quaint, a mix of tourism and local color, with several eastern restaurants. Dinner at Ayhars Fish Kabob was very good.  The food was better than the name implies. Destination rating 5.

The next day was another short run to Oyster Bay where we were again on a mooring, essentially the only option at this location for larger boats.  The mooring was on the outside and it was about 1/2 mile from the dock.  We launched the tender and went to town for some exploring.  They had what appeared to be a good restaurant at the dock, but we opted for Wild Honey downtown, in a historic building that was once the summer white house for Teddy Roosevelt. The food was good.  We strolled through a classic car and hot rod show following dinner. Destination rating 6.

We arrived at Port Jefferson at 2 PM the following day after a short 3 hour cruise up the sound.  Port Jefferson is a very tourism oriented town, with frequent ferries from the mainland in addition to pleasure boats.  It has a lot of shops and restaurants which are an easy walk from Danford's Inn and Marina where we stayed. We had both lunch and dinner at Danford's Inn, lunch on the deck and dinner in the dining room. The Inn is an interesting historic site, with an abundance of wood paneling and "old inn" charm and the food was very good.  Tides at this location ran 7 1/2 feet and there is strong current at the inlet, but minimal at the dock which is located at the very end of the bay.  This is a good port for a return visit, easy access and good amenities.  Rating 7.

Larry departed the next morning by car to LaGuardia as he had to return to Kansas City for a meeting the following day. We departed for a long run to Fisher's Island at 9:30 AM for a run that took till mid afternoon. I had not visited Fisher's Island before.  It has a very small yacht club with space for a couple of larger boats.  Not much in the way of facilities near the yacht club.  They do have a couple that will cook and deliver lobsters to the boat and we ordered some for dinner on board that night. There was a 98' Burger at the dock next to us and we met the owners who invited us aboard for a drink and tour on which we reciprocated. The owner founded and owns a business which makes truck mounted lifts for service companies.  The stay was enjoyable, but probably not worth a return visit.  Rating 4.

On to Newport http://www.gonewport.com/ the next morning in breezy conditions which piled on several layers of salt in route. As always boating activity in this part of the sound and on Narragansett Bay was heavy. We stayed at the West Wind Marina on the south end of the town.  This was our third visit to this marina, however I have decided to seek other accommodations in the future. The marina is very loud with two bands going on weekends which makes it very noisy into the wee hours.  The dock where they like to put us is also a very tight squeeze. Brent and I took a trolley tour of the town and stopped and toured the Vanderbilt Mansion (The Breakers). Nora arrived by plane to join us that evening for dinner.  Rating 7. Brent left the next morning.

Nora's sister Carmen and her husband Howard arrived on the afternoon of the 12th.  We walked to lunch at the Red Parrot.  Nora took a spill on the uneven sidewalk on the way back to the boat and was not feeling well enough to go to dinner that evening at Bouchard's, which is an excellent French restaurant a couple of blocks from the marina. 

The next day Nora was feeling worse, complaining of severe stomach pain and nausea.  We took the boat to Wickford (Rating 7, however the marina did not have adequate power) as planned, but her condition worsened and we wound up calling an ambulance to take her to the hospital.  She was diagnosed with acute Pancreatitis.  This began a hospital stay that spanned 25 days,  8 days at Kent County Hospital in Warwick, RI and the remainder of the time at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Thus ended the summer cruise season. Nora was released from the hospital on September 8th and we returned to Kansas City on the 13th.

I elected to leave the boat at the Hinckley yard in Portsmouth, RI for the winter rather than returning it to Florida. We plan to cruise the sound and the New England coast to Maine next summer.