Saturday, our first day was glorious and we wasted no time. Circumnavigated the harbor by kayak and explored some of the small gems here. Setauket Harbor is just beautiful - a tranquil paradise compared with the comings and goings in Port Jeff harbor. Too bad Anhinga is too deep to anchor in there. Another place that is a real treat is Pirates Cove off Mount Misery Point. This is powerboat raft-up city, but the place is beautiful and the 60-ft. dunes are outstanding. (Our plan was to come back with the Sunday NYTimes, hang out on the beach and climb the dunes. But Sunday’s weather didn’t permit.) Once we finished our kayak, we changed and dinghied into town. The Town Dock wanted to charge us $12 AN HOUR (!!!) to tie up our dinghy! We went to Danford’s Hotel and Marina, and they charged us $10 for the day. Still steep we thought...but better than the megayacht prices at the Town Dock. Port Jeff is cute - sort of Disneylandish - a real touristy town. But, we found the excellent bakery and fresh fish store. So we had swordfish to grill for dinner and almond horns for a dessert treat!
So Sunday comes and the weather stinks. We go get the newspaper and bagels, then back to the boat hoping for sunshine. Finding none, we sit in the cockpit and read. Patti looks up and sees a dinghy with no people on board off in the distance from our boat. John looks and says, “That’s our dinghy!” We leap into action and paddle the kayak over to catch our escaping dinghy. Towing it back home, we re-tie and double tie the dinghy to the boat. Ah the excitement. Well - we needed the exercise anyway. Back to town for dinner at Wave, the restaurant at Danford’s. Really quite good - a great surprise. And, the rain held off so that we could eat dockside.
Monday - a scorcher. We kayak to Pirates Cove, beach the boat and scale the dunes. Gorgeous views of the Sound and the entrance to the harbor. On the beach later we watch the tide come in (now this is the retired life...), enjoy the kids’ sailing lessons (six boats with a very patient instructor), and try not to get too sunburnt. Back to Anhinga for laundry and boat maintenance. Holding our breath that the predicted thunderstorms would pass us by. Not so lucky, but only winds for about 5 minutes, rain for 15.
Tuesday, Uncle Paul picked us up and gave us a quick tour of the Old Field Point area and then back home to East Setauket for Aunt Barbara’s homemade breakfast from their own farm-grown vegetables. Superb! They loaned us a car and we did some more sightseeing in Stony Brook (Avalon Park, the post office with the mechanical eagle flapping its wings), Belle Terre -- the road above our anchorage, and the Setauket library for internet access. Next, importantly, a trip to the Stop ‘n’ Shop and the Wild By Nature supermarkets to re-provision the boat. Aunt Barbara dropped us off at the dock, helping us get the five huge bags of food (including produce from the farm) to the dinghy for the trip back to Anhinga. Great day! Wonderful to see family. Tomorrow, Connecticut.
No comments:
Post a Comment