M/V MASCOT: November 2017

The commute to Westbrook, CT from Ipswich was about 2.75 hours and we tried to plan the trip outside of heavy traffic, so not bad at all. Prepping the boat in April for launch in May was interesting, as well as a test. We stayed on the boat while it was on the hard so that meant no water and no head. We did have lots of blankets but we also had a heater that came in handy. The test was in the middle of the night if one of us had to go to the head. It was not only a long walk to the marina facilities, but also navigating the ladder to get on and off the boat. Mascot was launched mid May and we were cruising Long Island Sound by May 28th. We rented a slip at Brewer Pilots Point for the season and since we were also there for the winter, we were Gold card holders which entitled us to discounts on fuel and at Brewer marinas.

We finally made a trip to Block Island in June as part of a rendezvous with other Brewer customers. On the way we stopped to anchor at Fisher Island and then had a great cruise to Block. Early June is the time to go, it was not crowded at all. We anchored one night then went into Payne's Docks for the next 2 nights. The docking system at Payne's is quite unique, they jam as many boats as possible into each fairway and raft boats together as well as to docks. It's quite entertaining to watch their process, you just do what they say and everything works out fine. We celebrated Scott's birthday dinner at Dead Eye Dick's with 3 other couples and had a delicious meal. We had a great bus tour of the island, walked around the town and enjoyed meeting new boating friends. The second Brewer rendezvous was to Greenport, NY. We left a couple days earlier to anchor at Three Mile Harbor and Sag Harbor, circumnavigating Shelter Island on our way to Greenport. The town of Greenport has lots of shops, restaurants and a great maritime museum with a fire boat. We had a private boat tour to Bug Light where we heard about the history and ghosts of the lighthouse. The third rendezvous was to Mystic, CT. On our way we went to Watch Hill, RI to anchor at Napatree Beach for a couple of days. What a beautiful spot. The best was gathering fresh sea clams for stuffed clams - delicious! Everyone kept telling us how exciting it was to be inside Mystic Seaport after hours. We basically had the run of the place, outside that is, none of the buildings were open. We had a private tour of the newest building, the Thompson Exhibition Building, which was just amazing in design and exhibits. Brewer did a fantastic job of hosting all three rendezvous.

Our last cruise of the season on Long Island was to Essex and the CT River. We met up with friends, Brian and Jan, on Moxie for this cruise. Essex is always fun and The Gris never disappoints for entertainment. One night at Essex Isl Marina and one night at Hamburg Cove where we took a mooring for the night and had Moxie raft to us. Perfect way to end our summer on Long Island Sound. Would we go back? You betcha!