Lightning North American Championship 2008
Getting There - It seems when the whole family, along with crew and friends, travel to a regatta, it's never simple. When Paul said he was going to the Junior NAs, Gary immediately decided this would be the perfect opportunity to sail Calusa, our Beneteau 323, up to Newport. I immediately booked a room at the Marriot.
Gary, along with good friend Charlie Dzwonkowski (see Charlie at the helm), left the Friday before the regatta for the four day voyage. Paul drove up on Sunday with crew Marisa Bloodgood and the boat. Second crew, sister Brooke, and I drove up Monday as well as Charlie's wife, Ro. Sandy Huntsman and Crissy Van Siclen drove up to join us on Tuesday. These are the times when cell phones are a very good thing. We all managed to get up without incident - well, except for the little snafu Gary and Charlie had on Saturday with the weather.
The first leg for Calusa would be from the Navesink to the Statue of Liberty. The weather was perfect (see some of the photos Gary took from their anchorage). They were awakened a little sooner than expected Saturday morning when the marine police paid a vist at 5am to tell them that their anchor had drifted a bit and were a tad too close to Lady Liberty and it was time to move. Nothing wrong with an early start and they made great time up the East River through the infamous Hell Gate without any problems and out to Long Island Sound. Then, about mid afternoon, I get the 'telephone call'.
"Could you check the radar."
Whoa. There were some nasty storms moving Northeast around Stamford and a line of storms moving through Pennsyvania. Gary and Charlie were just off Northport, Long Island and it looked like there would be enough time to get to Port Jefferson, their next planned stop for the night. Great. Gary would call when they got to Port Jeff.
A short time later, I decided to check the radar again just to see how those storms in Pennsylvania were progressing. Whoa again. Those storms were picking up speed while more storms (the red kind on the radar) popped up just Southwest of Huntington Bay.
"Get to shelter....now!" was the message I left Gary when he didn't pick up.
Gary and Charlie bolted at full speed (okay, so you don't exactly bolt with a 20hp inboard motor) into Huntington Bay and around to Lloyd Harbor where they found a mooring field. The wind was blowing over 30 knots and fortunately, they found an empty mooring and Charlie was able to grab the line on the first try - no easy feat in those kind of conditions. They hunkered down below while I watched the radar expode with storms all over the tri state area. Thankfully, the mooring held and the worst of the weather was a little north of the harbor. It was all over by around 4pm and they made it safely to Port Jeff. After finding a mooring, it was time for some beverages and a barbeque. Note - I never heard of Lloyd Harbor before that day. Ironically, when I got home from Newport the following Thursday, I turned on the news and see a video of a water spout over 'Lloyd Harbor' during the horrendous storms that came through on Thursday. I know how horrendous those storms were because Brooke, Marissa and I got stuck in them while driving back through Connecticut earlier in the evening. More about that adventure later.
They left Port Jeff early Sunday and headed for Block Island....without incident. Managing to get the last mooring, both Gary and Charlie decided that this was an excellent destination. For the first time since leaving New Jersey, they were able to get a launch to the island and enjoyed dinner on shore.
Monday was the short leg to Newport and they actually sailed most of the way. The weather was perfect and they arrived at Newport Harbor and the New York Yacht Club by mid afternoon.
Next up - the regatta.
Doreen
