July 17 - Port Jefferson to Clinton

It's always hard to leave Port Jefferson. I can't think of a nicer place to anchor out; it's a frequent stopover for us on our way east.

I had some great pictures of a visit by a trio of swans, but thanks to an experiment in managing the files on my smartmedia card, this mornings photos are gone into the bit bucket. We pulled up the anchor just about 8:00, and left to meet the ferry in the channel. Due to a little bit more mud on the anchor than expected, and a little more trouble than expected with our newest attempt at anchor chain cleaning, we missed the ferry by a couple of minutes and had a clear and calm departure.

A breeze from the NE kicked up, about 10 knots or so. It made sailing (and motorsailing) speedy enough, but with the tide, it kicked up the sound into a state where every 10th wave or so was just large enough to cause the bow to pound down and raise spray over the bow, covering the rest of the boat, our books and reading glasses with mist. No real problem for salts like us, but it did get old after about 4 hours. As usual the wind and seas calmed for our entry into Clinton harbor.

Good news! They did some dredging of the main entrance channel. It has moved just a small bit to the west, and is now straight and deep. I'm told that the depth at mean low water is now 8 feet. We had no trouble entering. The folks at Cedar Island Marina are their usual friendly and helpful selves, and we found a slip for the night even in the midst of their preparations for a boat show.

We're expecting Marion's niece Kirsten for dinner tonight, and are spending some time washing salt off the boat and out of our hair. We're also off to mail a pile of bills which are due; if only these could truly be left behind.

OK, what's all the noise about. We have been invaded by one of the noisiest gang of ducks I've heard in a while. No audio, so the picture will have to do. I wonder if the swans called ahead?