Our goal for today was to reach Mystic Seaport to meet up with Helen. This was a straight hop across the sound with a turn around Fisher Island to Mystic River. Not forgetting my errors with the currents of the previous day I double checked the plan for today. In the end we had terrific wind conditions which meant the current across our path of travel mattered little. We left our slip at 6:05am. On leaving the harbor we raised the sails and shot over the sound. We rounded Fisher Island nearly 2 hours before prediction which meant we could sail around the body of water between Connecticut and Fisher Island for a bit.
We eventually pulled down the sails and motored up the Mystic River. A week earlier, we had managed to arrange a slip in the Mystic Seaport itself, the old waterfront museum. This meant we had to get past a couple of draw bridges. The railway bridge was kept normally open which was passed pretty easily. The road bridge only opened at 40 minute past each hour. We had arrived over half an hour early so we took a temporary slip just in front of the bridge and stretched our legs.
When the bridge opened it was just a short trip to the seaport where we docked with the help of shore side staff. Bob and I had 30 minutes to clean up before Helen arrived where we did the best we could. Earlier I had showered down the toilet and had already given Bob instructions that if he used the head he had to clean it all again.
Neither Bob or I had shaved until this point. I told Bob that Helen would make me shave as almost the first thing she said.
I was quite pleased to see Helen. She remarked on my tan and then told me to shave.
That afternoon we explored the museum. I was fascinated by the old wooden ships. The museum itself tells the story of the Mystic of old which was a major center for shipbuilding and commerce. This has all gone now. The museum is a collection of old ships and buildings which have been moved to the one location.
The benefits of berthing in the museum is that you get automatic tickets to the museum both for when it is open and at night. It’s quite cool to have the old seaport to yourself in the evening.
We walked into Mystic town for dinner that evening. On the way back we went to a supermarket where we bought water, soft drinks and ice for the boat. We had to walk nearly a mile with all this stuff which was a pain.Stats for today : distance traveled, 25nm in 6 hours.
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