by Kenny
After what seemed an eternity in City Island, Bronx, we spent several days at our friends, Lou and Jane, in Nyack, NY in their beautiful house full of Lou’s ceramic sculptures and paintings. The home affords a spectacular view of the Hudson and the Mario Cuomo Bridge (formerly Tappan Zee). We enjoyed a day sail on Lou’s boat, games of Rummy Cube, walks around town and a trip to King Marine–a junk yard for all things nautical. On October 5th, we headed to LaGuardia Airport in Queens to fly to San Diego for my daughter Kai-lee’s nuptials. Amy had the good fortune to run into an old friend, Andrea, at the airport. She was in the Peace Corps in Gabon with Amy’s sister Molly in the early 1980s.
Taking off from LaGuardia we caught a glimpse of the City Island Yacht Club mooring field. We struggled to pick out Nancy J from the air. Arriving in San Diego in the early evening, we settled in our hotel room in Coronado and headed out to dinner at a nearby Mexican joint where Abraham, our 17-year-old grandson, came for a visit. A football and rugby player standing over six feet, Abraham is a gentle giant with a keen mind. (Not to boast of course!)
Kai-lee’s wedding to her fiancé Scott was held in the courtyard of their beautiful Spanish Colonial style home. The vows they wrote were deeply moving and granddaughter Annalei (age 13) and Amy cried throughout the entire ceremony. It was a small, but fabulous affair. The officiant was a family friend. Catering was superb. Guests were very happy. It was wonderful to catch up with family and spend time with Scott and meet his family, a very friendly clan.
We left California a day earlier than planned to take advantage of a weather window that offered little wind but also no rough seas. Nancy J and crew departed City Island on October 11th and had a peaceful trip, arriving 39 hours later in the Bohemia River at the top of Chesapeake Bay. The only slightly stressful part was navigating the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in the dark. Fortunately there was no other marine traffic at that time. The next day we continued on to our friends’ mooring in Tilghman Creek. Hooray! Celebration time, come on!
After visits to various friends and doctors, we planned to sail over to the western shore of the Bay where I was to get hand surgery for my trigger finger. (Interesting fact: The condition is most common in women over the age of 50.) On the day we were going to put our car back in storage at our friend Gordon’s house, a deer rammed the side of the car as I was driving to top off the gas and get a car wash. All I saw were the antlers at the moment of impact. It was as if he dropped out of the sky. The deer galloped off but Sage, our Subaru, was mortally wounded. GEICO declared it a “total loss” and offered us cash and a rental car. We took it. Who needs a car when you live on a boat?
We moved in with friend Gordon and his eccentric dog, Pluto, while dealing with the insurance company and hand surgery. (Amy met Gordon in the early 1990’s on the tall ship Gazela, a wooden Barkentine out of Philadelphia, where they volunteered as crew members.) During this time, on a trip to check on Nancy J, we discovered that our outboard motor, which had just been repaired again, was no longer working! The outboard dealer offered us a full rebate on the failed repair in exchange for the cursed motor. It is a relief to be free of it.
When the stitches were removed from my hand, we moved back aboard Nancy J and sailed away from the Sayres’ mooring hoping no barnacles had grown on our propeller during our month-long stay. We went no farther south but only farther west, still in the Chesapeake Bay, up the West River, just south of Annapolis. We came over to this shore to retrieve some mail related to our car insurance claim. We took the opportunity to take Sister Mary and some friends out for a brisk day sail. Tomorrow we shall continue south to Solomons, MD, where a new outboard motor awaits us! It is becoming increasingly cold and we look forward to arriving in Floridian and Bahamian waters.
We deeply thank all our friends who have helped us maintain this absurd and delightful lifestyle by providing lodging, storage, moorings and love. It takes a village.
Hats off to you guys!