Yeah, we found that out last time. But the issue there was that the centerpiece of that trip & the whole reason for driving all the way back east in the first place was an invitation to spend a week for free at a summer rental beach house in Weekapaug, RI which was owned by a friend in our local sailing club out here in Phoenix & we were locked in to being there from June 7 through 16, 2015. After that & the run down to Blades, DE to launch on the Nanticoke with a stop visit & spend some time with relatives in Barnegat, NJ on the way that put us on the Chesapeake from June 22nd to July 8th, spending 4th of July holiday in Cambridge & St. Michaels.Finally, DA--don't cruise the Chesapeake in July--October is the ticket. Nights cool enough to sleep, water warm enough to swim, no sea nettles!
Hopefully if we get to do the Big Cruise this summer we are likely to be starting from Tonawanda around mid August depending on when our friends arrive from their passage through the Great Lakes from the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior & crossing Huron & Erie. If we averaged 30 miles per day every day it could take us a solid month minimum to get down the Chesapeake to Blades, plus any delays for weather or mechanical issues along the way. So that puts our arrival at mid to late September or early October which would be perfect. But August-September is the height of hurricane season, so that's another thing to watch out for. So we'll see.
This is the Rhode Island beach house we got to spend a week for free, except we did chip in with maintenance chores. It had to be either at the beginning or end of rental season because that's how they paid property taxes & insurance on the property. We got to go there again around Labor Day in 2017 but that time we took our travel trailer instead & went up into Ontario to visit AOG member "sunsetrider" and got a short ride on his A25 around the Thousand Islands archipelago on the St. Lawrence River.
This is the front of the house, two blocks from a private beach on Block Island Sound. Slept up to 12 in bedrooms on 1st & 2nd floor & 3rd floor finished attic with gable windows. This is the back yard with La Dolce Vita parked alongside. This was a lobster dinner cookout for 12 we had. The white haired lady seated at left is Amanda and the gentleman standing next to her is Greg & they were the folks who met up with us in Desolation Sound in their Alden 44 sailboat three years later & partied with us & Willie C. The guy holding the tray full of lobsters and the lady in blue shirt in the shadows at far right are the folks we've cruised the Pacific NW several times & are the same folks planning to sail their "new" sailboat across the great lakes & down to the Chesapeake later this summer. The lady in the lower left corner of the photo and her husband brought their own boat up to Blaine, WA in 2019 & we all met for dinner at the Hummingbird Pub on Galiano Island, BC. This was Greg & Amanda anchoring with stern tie in Tenedos Bay in Desolation sound with me rowing our dinghy to bring the stern tie line to shore. Rick, aka Willie C, had gone ashore & climbed up the rocks to help tie off Greg's stern tie line. We all anchored separately that time & didn't raft up. As always, click on the photo for zoomed in view. Amanda is the cutest Cuban born lady & lots of fun to be around. She's also a trouper when it comes to sailing. She handles anchoring duties up on the bow operating the electric windlass while communicating with the skipper via walkie talkie radio headset. WillieC can be seen here up in the rocks ready to take the stern tie line. That there is some rugged wilderness. Now those were some exciting & fun times!