Let alone two weeks! This year, as we begin our fourth as rat race drop-outs, we can proudly boast of departing a month earlier. This was accomplished by hustling our busy selves and tossing off those mooring pennants on Sept 30 vs Oct 1 our scheduled day… and that was two weeks earlier than last year.

September’s delightful weather defied the odds and continued for days on end; could we really be so lucky? We split our usual two-day trek to Sandy Hook into two and a-half days to catch some favorable current in LIS. At least I think it was LIS; it didn’t look or behave like the LIS we have experienced in our prior six trips through it.

LIS in her good witch disguise

A few hours of unexpected motor-sailing on Monday in less than one foot seas and the wind not exceeding 10kts was a treat. Our Captain-selected anchorage for the first night was Morris Cove, New Haven on the east shore of New Haven’s rather uninteresting harbor. Selected mostly for sentimental reasons.

Russ and his dad work on the Omar K in the yard at Morris Cove Marina

Tuesday, LIS’s good twin remained in town, but so as we didn’t become too giddy she made us motor into the wind, albeit light wind. Port Washington is closer to the western end of LIS than we’ve stopped at before. Protected, moorings, and plenty of anchoring room; this was a delightful stop. Icing was a free mooring; two nights free, then you are charged.

Figuring the favorable weather wouldn’t last much longer and wanting west or north-west winds- light mind you- I bravely suggested we just continue past Sandy Hook on Wednesday to the Delaware and get that overnight done with! What could go wrong?