Moving on through Long Island Sound

New York Harbor is certainly busy! We departed Liberty Landing Sunday morning, and so much noise! Helicopters, ferries, powerboats, sailboats, jetskis, tugs with tows, lots of boat waves...and car traffic, train traffic, very hectic all the way up the East River! We had been a bit worried about transiting Hell Gate, but we timed it perfectly and went through at slack tide. No worries, mate! On to Greenwich, CT, where we had to call for a bridge opening. The man on the phone said, "You mean now?" We are accustomed to calling for an opening when we approach a bridge, from our travels in the south. Apparently for this bridge, a union electrician, a union carpenter, and who know how many others, have to be present. It took an hour and a half to get an opening! It was a noisy spot, betweeen the rr bridge and I-95. Probably not a spot to return to! Monday was the nicest day we have had since this trip begain. Cooler temperatures, clear sky and moderate winds! We sailed for a couple of hours, enjoying the quiet! Then we fired up the "iron genny" as we needed to make some miles. On to Milford, CT, where we stayed at the Milford Landing Marina. A lovely spot, but unfortunately we got a deep scratch on our newly painted hull here. A combination of factors...tides coming in fast, needing to navigate around a rather large trawler to get to our slip, and inexperienced deck hands. We'll fix it when we get home...! The next morning we started out, but conditions were not good. Waves about 3 feet, a close together, and wind directly on the nose. After an hour and a half, we turned around and went back to Milford. This time we had a great landing at our slip! We spent the day doing boat jobs, Dick re-regged the first reef, we took naps, also out to dinner for the first time since leaving Lake Champlain. This morning, what difference! We put up sail a couple of times, but not enough wind. And we needed to make distance. So it was another tillerpilot day. What a useful tool it is! It takes a lot of the fatigue away from a long day of powering. Tonight we are 3 miles up the Connecticut RIver, at Old Lyme Dock Co. What a peaceful spot! Jonah got to go swimming for the first time since Haverstraw...happy dog! He has adapted very well to this life..he sleeps all day, and then springs to life when we reach our destination for the day! Tomorrow it is on to Stonington, CT where we will meet the first boat of the TONE group. We hope to also see Ed and Linda Thorne on Seasmoke. They are friends we met for thefors time a couple of years ago when we were cruising.