I'd tried to write a day by day description, below, of Anthony Bailey's route in The Coast of Summer, as a useful guide to one day replicate the route in my M15. I'd only gotten as far as day 11. If anyone cares to finish it, feel free to jump in! Fair winds, Brad - PS - Disclaimer - any opinions below are my own and not Mr. Bailey's. It is all my interpretation and opinion only, and for the actual words and thoughts of Mr. Bailey, it's of course best to consult the book directly. NOAA Chart # 13214 Day One 1. Depart Stonington CT. Head SW 2. Mystic Harbor on the right, Mason Island, Noank, Groton 3. Anchorage: West Harbor, Fishers Island He has two anchors aboard. A Danforth, and an old fashioned Fisherman, which he says that although more of a nuisance on deck, is more reliable in seabeds of "rocks and eel grass". When all's snug he rows ashore in his dinghy to "the yacht club dock". It lies along the western coast of the West Harbor inlet. He says the harbor's snug unless the wind veers out of the north, northeast. From West Harbor, he can see Groton Long Point, 2 miles across the sound. He consults Eldridge, for the current to be, along the Race, which lies between Race Point at the wester tip of Fishers Island, and Little Gull, the smallest and farthest east of the islands that extend from the North Fork of Long Island. This distance between the two points is about 5 miles of open water. Race Point is less than 100 yards east of Elizabeth Field Airport at the western edge of Fishers Island. Runway 12/30 is 2328' long. Long Island just out like a 2 pronged fork. The top fork prong is the Plum Island/Little Gull/Marion/Greenpoint prong. The lower prong, which goes out into the Atlantic much farther, and is on the way to Block Island, is the Montauk prong. Day Two 1. He sets out early in the morning from West Harbor, Fishers Island, and heads straight SW along the Race. He is sailing, with a north wind, and passes the halfway point to Little Gull Island, at the Bell, at Valiant Rock. 2. But the flood tide begins, in The Race, and so he is reluctantly pulled eastward, above Little Gull Island, and Plum Island to its SW, into Long Island Sound, which is the body of water between the Connecticut coastline in the north, and the north side of Long Island in the south. This is not his chosen route, so he starts the engine, and maneuvers southward, between Little Gull, and Plum, Islands, into Gardiners Bay. 3. Notably, he says he would've had to drop the anchor, which might not have worked at all, given the depth of the Sound, in order to stop from being pulled into it, and were it not for the engine, he would not have managed to escape the pull of the flooding tide of the Race current. 4. Between Little Gull, and Plum, the waterway is called "The Sluiceway." In it, is an obstacle called "Old Silas Rock" - a "substantial boulder poking well above the surface at the early stage of the flood tide. He's heading towards Plum Gut, using the current, which is the waterway between the SW edge of Plum Island, and Orient Point, the very most eastward edge of the northern fork of Long Island. Chart 12358 5. Going through Plum Gut, there's the old iron light tower on the reef that extends from Orient Point. Avoiding getting in the way of the Long Island Ferry from Orient Point (only 28 bucks round trip!) he meanders into Gardiners Bay. He heads northwest, up to Greenport, in the Peconic River. 6. There's a breakwater at Young's Point. He keeps it to starboard, and heads into Sterling Basin. He anchors and rows ashore. Day 3 1. He sails SE across Greenpoint Harbor and anchors in Dering Harbor, for greater protection, he says, from a NW wind, but to me, that is exactly not a reason to anchor there, but so be it. He spends the night there under calm winds, clear skies. Day 4 - He decides to circumnavigate Shelter Island, counterclockwise. But once through Great Hog Neck, he bears off to the right, to Hog Neck Bay, down th Little Peconic Bay, and up into Cutchhogue Harbor, north of Robin Island. He then enters the Great Peconic Bay, no small body of water, a diameter of some 5 miles or more, both directions. He anchors for the night in Coecles Harbor, mainly empty, and this is July, and drops anchor. Bugs, but overall, rustic and scenic. Day 5 - short day; it's raining, but it stops at 11, though wind's calm and he motors out of Coeckles across SE, aware of the ebb tide, and is able to dip under Cedar Point (not over), and beaches his boat? or anchors in a feet of shallow water, and walks on the beach and swims. He then motors farther into Sag Harbor, and calling on Channel 16, gets a discrete frequency to have the harbor master guide him to a Mooring Buoy. ($20 in 1994). He then rows his dinghy to meet his friend Yaacov. Map 13209 - Block Island Sound and Gardiners Bay Day 6 - After Sag Harbor next day he heads out N, NE, up Northwest Harbor, astride Cedar Point to starboard, turns east northeast into Gardiners Bay, avoiding "Dangerous Rock", then heads towards Sammys Beach, and into the inlet to Three Mile Harbor. He has anchored in its northwest corner, and walked across the spit to swim at Sammys Beach. Day 7 - He heads out of Three mile Harbor, around eastward about Hog Creek Point up across to Cherry Harbor. That's almost 5 miles. He anchors off of Cherry Harbor. Day 8 - He heads south, towards Cartwright Island. He bypasses Napeauge Harbor, though he's anchored there before, and follows the north shore of the "South Fork" of L.I., towards Culloden Point. (page 82-83). And he motors into Montauk Harbor. He calls it "Sportfishingville", the craft at marinas being almost all powerboats. He anchors in the harbor's southernmost regions, to escape the wrath of the powerboats as best he can. He says it is poor holding ground, and so tosses out 2 anchors. He tries to see powercraft as not stinkpots, or gas guzzling noisemakers, but as potential nice guys who someday may pull him off a shoal or tow him into harbor when his mast falls down. Day 9 (or 10) - Destination: East Harbor, Fishers Island. He sails on the eastern side of Fishers Island, straight to Stonington, to pick up his wife, Margot. Then heads right back to East Harbor, Fishers Island, which is on the northern side, and to the east of center. There's a sand beach affronting the golf course to the south and they row over to it and swim some. Fisher Island does have an airport on the SW tip of the island. Elisabeth Field. Day 11 - pg. 100 - Destination: Wakefield - they sail eastward, along the conn. and R.I. coast, and head into Port Judith Pond, the inlet to port, just after passing Matunuck, R.I. On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 2:01 PM < montgomery_boats-request@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:

Send montgomery_boats mailing list submissions to montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit

https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to montgomery_boats-request@mailman.xmission.com

You can reach the person managing the list at montgomery_boats-owner@mailman.xmission.com

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of montgomery_boats digest..."

Today's Topics:

1. Re: Sailing safety (Gerry Lempicki) 2. Re: Sailing safety (Gerry Lempicki)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1 Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 19:01:17 -0400 From: Gerry Lempicki <ka1stz@yahoo.com> To: swwheatley@comcast.net Cc: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: M_Boats: Sailing safety Message-ID: <B450A818-ABBB-463E-B479-EEE5D50576D3@yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Thanks very much for recommending this book! I got it from the library and have been addicted to reading it with Navionics chart viewer running alongside, tracking his path. Sure makes one want to get out and do it! -Gerry

...

On Sep 6, 2019, at 8:37 AM, <swwheatley@comcast.net> < swwheatley@comcast.net> wrote:

For winter reading I recommend The Coast of Summer by Anthony Bailey. Harbors have become a little more crowded since he wrote the book but it does a good job capturing the essence of coastal cruising in southern New England.

-----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats <montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com> On Behalf Of Gerry Lempicki via montgomery_boats Sent: Friday, September 6, 2019 7:53 AM

------------------------------

Message: 2 Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 19:01:17 -0400 From: Gerry Lempicki <ka1stz@yahoo.com> To: swwheatley@comcast.net Cc: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: M_Boats: Sailing safety Message-ID: <B450A818-ABBB-463E-B479-EEE5D50576D3@yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Thanks very much for recommending this book! I got it from the library and have been addicted to reading it with Navionics chart viewer running alongside, tracking his path. Sure makes one want to get out and do it! -Gerry

...

On Sep 6, 2019, at 8:37 AM, <swwheatley@comcast.net> < swwheatley@comcast.net> wrote:

For winter reading I recommend The Coast of Summer by Anthony Bailey. Harbors have become a little more crowded since he wrote the book but it does a good job capturing the essence of coastal cruising in southern New England.

-----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats <montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com> On Behalf Of Gerry Lempicki via montgomery_boats Sent: Friday, September 6, 2019 7:53 AM

------------------------------

Subject: Digest Footer

_______________________________________________ montgomery_boats mailing list montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!

------------------------------

End of montgomery_boats Digest, Vol 199, Issue 13 *************************************************