We’re beginning cruising year #12 (#13 if you include our RV year)!

Well … first another drive up to Vermont for Benj’s birthday!

As if we don’t see enough boats & ships as it is, we had to check out the Steamboat Ticonderoga, restored, but now 2 miles inland at the Shelburne Museum.

A selfie with the birthday boy on the grand staircase of the Ticonderoga.

Now we’re off! Down the Connecticut River. We usually don’t need this Amtrak bridge to open for us, but it was high tide & recent rain caused some river rise.

Hey! Stop tailing us you pesty sub! (This photo was actually from 2 weeks ago on our way back from Block Island, but is he still following us??

We are often anchored near NYC on 9/11 – very sobering. Beams of light from various points in NYC & in this case, NJ.

This cute Kingfisher visited us a few times. Unfortunately, these Spotted Lanternflies (named as they have a bright orange body visible when they fly) swarmed us on our last day in NJ. Dozens landing & hundreds floating! on the water all around us! They are highly invasive, having come over on ships from China into NY & NJ a few years ago. They have quickly spread to neighboring states causing great concern from the USDA. While they devastate many trees & plants, they are especially destructive to various fruits & grapes. Unfortunately in the U.S. (unlike Asia), they have no natural predators to slow them down.

We will soon arrive in Cape May, NJ, after a sometimes challenging 116 mile offshore run.  We’ve had nearly perfect cruising conditions so far!