Manuevering into the East River, it was obvious we would need all eyes keeping watch for the many small boats, ferry boats, and barges. No time for pictures here. Traveling up the East River did not decrease the number of boats and activity. If anything, it became busier. I vaguely remember going by the UN building, but no time to grab the camera. We came to the area reknowned to boaters as "Hell's Gate", where the East River comes into Long Island Sound. Amazing current and rapids. We had no problems, but I could see it could play merry havoc with a boat with a small engine.
Hell's Gate behind us, we entered Long Island Sound and yikes, fog. At first the fog was not bad and we had adequate visibility. However, there was no time for relaxation. Constant vigilence was the key to avoiding boats and lobster pots, which were now popping up all over the place. A boater does not want to hit a crab or lobster pot. The line from the pot can get twisted around the propellor, necessitating a dive down to cut it out. Robert was very busy keeping our course manually on the chart. There were many buoys and markers in the water to make finding our place on the chart a little easier.
When Natalie was in NYC, I explained to her how boaters navigate, matching a numbered buoy in the water to the same numbered buoy on a chart. Natalie, here is an example of a green buoy...this one is number 5.

We had planned to spend only one night in Stamford, but first priorty was fixing the gps. A very nice man from Jersey City drove over the next day and fixed us up. We enjoyed a nice dingy ride in Stamford, a large, industrial place with a lot of barge traffic, but with very scenic shoreline parks
We left Stamford on a beautiful clear day with fabulous visibility and had an easy run to Clinton, CT. We stayed at a fun marina on a lovely river. The marina provided a free shuttle into town. Our shuttle driver did far more than scoot us into town. She gave us the complete tour with commentary.
We chose to eat dinner at APizza, where we enjoyed a yummy pasta meal. A family owned business, we chatted with one of the sons who knew all about Modesto, Ca. He had gone there the year before to arrange for daily shipments of tomotoes. While at APizza, Robert had a celebetory first, a white birch soda. He reported it tasted like a cross between a cream soda and a rootbeer.





Lighthouse at a harbor entrance with the fog behind. We were very tired when we arrived safe and sound in Mystic, CT. We stayed at a very nice marina, Mystic Shipyard. I'd like to comment that the dockhand who helped us tie up was the best in three summers of cruising the East Coast. His name was Kenny and he was a wonder....Mystic Shipyard....time to give Kenny a raise. Kenny was not only endlessly energetic and cheerful, but he knew the procedures to logically tie up to their fixed docks.
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