Eclipse's Odyssey: Day Three: 5.29.2018: Port Judith, RI to Fisher's Island

Tuesday May 29

Another gray morning. In our little cove winds are very calm, but once we motor out to the ocean, we have a brisk wind from the southwest. Our planned route? West-south west. Almost directly into the wind. But the wind is very steady and waves are long swells, making for pleasant sailing. On our first forays in Eclipse, about a year ago, she behaved with strong weather-helm, which means that when the wind blows hard, she'll turn her nose toward the wind. A little bit of weather-helm is good, but we were constantly fighting to keep her straight. Since then we've added a pair of skegs, a first reef point on the mainsail (she came with the second reef already), and a reef in the jibsail. We've also learned to use all those reefing points. So now Eclipse will sail herself, without any attention to the tiller. Very pleasant indeed.

Tacking west, we often come close to the Rhode Island shore, and marvel at the huge homes just behind the beach. Many of which by the time you finished vacuuming, it's time to start over. Pleasure boats are scarce on this workday, so instead we share the waters with a fleet of trawlers.

Near Watch Hill, the wind can only be found near shore. Beyond and there is no wind, plus a strong current. We have to use the motor.

Our destination is East Harbor on Fishers Island. It should give us protection from SW winds of today, and E winds for tomorrow. As we motor in, we raise the rudder and centerboard in case we encounter shallow water. But for some reason the centerboard only comes up part way. Baffled, we try to dislodge whatever might be there by motoring backwards and forward, but to no avail. So we anchor, and probe around with an underwater camera. Nothing seems amiss. Plan C, and I don my swim suit, jump in, and grope around in the centerboard well for anything. There is nothing but very cold water. Reviewing the video later, we find that the cable for uphauling the centerboard has come undone.

Just to add to the excitement, while we are troubleshooting the centerboard, the bladder tank for our sink faucet bursts and a waterfall of water pours out from its home inside the cabinet and dumps water all over the carpet in the salon. The shelf breaks off as well in the mayhem of the moment. More things to fix.

Our anchorage is quiet, and surrounded by multimillion dollar homes and a golf course. But we have a better view than they do, and we don't pay their taxes.