Point Judith RI to Port Jefferson, NY

Historic Fireboat John J Harvey - New London, CT

How perfect can it be?  We cruised from Point Judith to Niantic CT on Saturday, passing the CT Schooner Festival, a collaboration by OpSail and Mystic Seaport. Once in Niantic we tied to a friend’s mooring and listened to Paul Broadnax singing “Kiss me a little at a time” on the CD player.  Our mooring hosts, Brian & Jan, stopped by for a visit, we reminisced and then talked about our upcoming trip to the Bahamas where we'll see them again.  Even though it was overcast and the forecast was for rain, this was yet another perfect night.  Without any media distractions, we had a nice dinner and a wonderful evening.  An average day ashore is cluttered up with so many things to distract from what is really important.  As the CD played “The party’s over”, we called it a night.  

A is for Alternator.  That word has occupied our conversations for the last couple of days.  A few days ago, we noticed that the main engine alternator was not charging the batteries.  This is more of a nuisance than a real problem because we still have the auxiliary generator which will charge everything nicely.  It is just the thought of wasting all that charging time when the main engine is running that bothers us.  We arrived in Port Jefferson on Long Island around 2:00 PM.  The 5 hr. crossing from Niantic CT was fairly straight forward although a little rolley for the first couple of hours.  We came here specifically to see our boating friends, George & Jane, who happened to be entertaining Jane’s brother and his wife who had driven down from Ontario for a few days.  They were so generous to include us in their night out at one of their favorite establishments.  What a treat to have a local “guide” who knows all the best places.  And as boaters do for other boaters, George and brother in law Bob spent their morning taking me to a local shop to have the alternator repaired. I know that was not in their plans and it is greatly appreciated.  All went well and the alternator is re-installed and works perfectly.  It was also laundry day at the Sunshine Laundromat.  We completed the day with an ice-cream/gelato and walk around town.

Tomorrow at first light, we are off to begin the trip down the New Jersey coast.