CSR Northeast Flotilla 2014

Alex, are you going to put up some "greatest hits" here on the site? Love to see them.

Here are a bunch of travel shots....



Knot for Sail approaching the locks (open)

"Life Got Better", "Noahs Ark", "Se Ya Later" at Shinnicock Marina

We had a visitor during the 'feast' - Mr Spider

"Mirage", "Julia Valentine", "Knot for Sail"

Zuzu's Petals II

"Miss Melina" - Ramming Speed!!

"Knot for Sail" - busting out of the lineup

"Julia Valentine" - In Montauk


"Marlena"



Montauk--> Block (a little snotty)

Happy to see Block


"Debtfinder"



"Life Got Better" - Moriches

Great shots Paul, thanks for posting

Auto pilot

No sir. All Mrs PMC

Nice. My auto pilot...

My auto pilot!

rondds said:

Alex, are you going to put up some "greatest hits" here on the site? Love to see them.

Click to expand...

Ron, absolutely! It just takes a while to put everything together and go through thousands of pix.

Here it is:

With over six months planning, the time flew so fast that before you know it, the day of Northeast Flotilla 2014 was here.

Considering that the anchorage in West Neck Harbor is tight, I’ve planned my arrival earlier on Fri. To minimize my travel time to WNH I’ve stayed in Sag Harbor, one of my favorite ports on the NE. The harbor, the views of mega yachts sprinkled all over the anchorage and the sunsets are totally charming.















The ride from Sag to Shelter Island is pure pleasure.







As soon as you see the crossing ferries, you know that West Neck Harbor is just a stone throw away.



The timing was perfect. As I’m pulling off the fuel dock, after filling my water tank at Island Boatyard Marina, we had few boats entering the WNH.

As we pulled into the anchorage, the place was relatively packed. But, there was a nice spot for the raft just off the beach. I checked the winds and the forecast showed winds shifting in all directions, but the Western component was often present with SW very light winds during the night hours during our stay. So, I’ve positioned my bow in to the SW and dropped my anchor. The bottom in WNH is a soft mud. Being in 10’ of water I’ve dropped my usual 125’ of chain as I’m slowly backing up. At this point I’m expecting the hook to set any minute now, but all I see is that I’m getting closer and closer to the boats behind me. 125’…150’….nothing, I’m simply dragging and getting closer to the other boats. Alright, all I could do is start over. Needless to say my hook grabbed well only on the third attempt. But, with both mains in reverse I was 100% sure it grabbed well having over 150’ of chain out. With my bridal deployed this makes it about 1:10 – 1:12 ratio. At this point we were ready to build the raft.

As other boats were approaching, some dropped their hooks on the fly, others rafted first and then we rode their anchors with dinghies, as well as deployed stern anchors, firmly securing the rafts preventing from swinging.








At this point we are confident that we have a great spot for the raft with plenty of room for the rest of the boats, expected to arrive on Saturday.

The minute the lines were tied, kids didn’t waste any time and jumped in the water, full of various water toys.

The transient slips are vacant and the IBM staff is standing by to welcome the rest of the flotilla. As we enjoy beautiful day on water, our fleet is starting to gather in the harbor, one by one.. The marina gets filled and the raft is substantially growing.














There were few boats that were scheduled to go to the marina, but after being with the raft from previous night, decided to stay at the raft. Can you blame them?...LOL

It’s PARTY TIME!!!

The official Northeast Flotilla 2014 “The Feast of the East” is kicking off!























I’m sure that when some folks looked at the “Daily Compass” and saw a soccer game in the schedule, thought it was a joke. It was not! Despite the fact that after big party it takes some time getting everybody back on their feet, next thing you know we’re standing on the field where adults are being challenged.



Kids are about to execute their master plan.



Are we in trouble?.......Let the game begin…..















I don’t know what you guys think, but IMO, this pic belongs to the “Must be framed” category….LOL



More game pix


























All I can say that it was a lot of fun. As you can imagine, kids didn’t want the game to end. But, as the score cards were getting higher, everyone was ready for some beach time and water activities.

It’s time for our floating resort to get busy.
























Of course there’s no boating trip without something to be fixed.



And this is what paddle boarding looks like after few martinis.




Another fun day was complimented by BBQ and cocktails party at the raft. As the night settled, it was so peaceful. Not a ripple in the harbor. The sky was clear and full of stars. All you hear is distant humming of few generators. Few of us just refused to let this day end. We just wanted to enjoy it more and more. We also saw few shooting stars. It doesn’t get much better than this…

It’s now 2:30am. We looked at the wind forecast and confirmed that wind direction should remain light from SW, so in prep for the morning departure we’ve retrieved stern anchors and loaded up our tenders.

At 8:30am I received the word from the pilot that there was some fog in the Western section of LI (where he was flying from), so he was slightly delayed. It worked out just fine as we could use some extra time to get things rolling.

When we were setting up our photo-shooting, I’ve explained the pilot my previous experience with Boatpix and outlined the “missing elements”. So, in order to play it safe, when we met few days earlier, he gave me his handheld VHF tuned to the required frequency. So, besides the fact that we had very successful communication via texting, as the plane got in the VHF range, we had perfectly established communication. This was the key to very successful photo-shooting session. The plane was in the area as we started rolling out of the harbor and forming our caravan.

Considering that few boats were heading to Montauk, I plotted the course Sand Spit and Barcelona Pt heading (having Sag Harbor in the background on our STBD side) toward Gardiners Bay, where flotilla would head to Mystic and others to Montauk.

Here are few shots of the convoy:

The last boat has cleared the harbor and we’re starting to jump on plane.









Oops, a slight interference from a crossing ferry.

























Good bye Shelter Island and hello Mystic!
I’m sure most people know, but for those who don’t, it’s a great port with plenty to see and do. In addition, it’s pretty much a dinghy haven. Even though our marina was not too far from the town, the first thing everyone did was deployed their dinghies and put them on the dinghy dock. It makes it easier to get to number of places, including the Seaport Museum and downtown.

As the weather was slightly messing with our activities, we reworked few things and left indoor activities for cooler, rainy days. But, while it was still nice out, we paid our visit to Seaport Museum. BTW, Charles Morgan just returned from its voyage, so we didn’t miss the opportunity to board the ship.

Caravan of dinghies headed to Seaport and the town.









At the Seaport Museum













After strolling around a bit, kids have stumbled on to this:



Oh well, needless to say we’ve “lost them” for good hour or two.











Meanwhile, we looked at more exhibitions and watched MOB drill.





It was time to see Charles Morgan.













That’s some boarding ladder. Must be a day head to the right of it.



More pix





Who is this crazy woman?



Back to the boats for some grilling on the docks.







Wednesday was the day you wouldn’t want to travel, as we originally planned. Heavy rain in the morning, winds gusting to 30kts, seas were first 6-8’, then reported 8-10’. This was the time to execute plan B. We decided to spend extra day in Mystic and visit Aquarium and Old Mystic Village. Since these attractions are distance from the water, taking dinghies there wasn’t an option. We thought of renting a van or couple cars, possibly get few cabs.

Since Yulia and Ross live in Mystic, they offered to shuttle the group. But, having about 23-25 people could take a while shuttling on regular size vehicle. So, Ross said “just give me few minutes….”

Next thing you know I’m getting a text from Harold “The cab is here, hurry up!”



Yep, you better believe it. What you see is what you get. Apparently, the army truck is Ross’s toy which he uses occasionally and this was one of those occasions he thought would fit the needs. What a cool surprise! Everyone loved the idea and jumped on without hesitation.

Luckily the rain stopped and it was a blast driving around on this thing. Besides the fact that everyone is giving you the right of way, strangers waved throughout the way..

Few more pix on the truck.

It was time to find fine dining. After some quick research we ended up in GoFish with private room for our party.







On behalf of the group, I want to thank Ross and Yulia for going out of their way and accommodating the flotilla folks with transportations needs. Whether it was boat parts store, restaurant, aquarium or supermarket, they were always ready to assist.


It’s a new day, the sun is out, the seas calmed down and Block Island is waiting for our arrival. In a way it worked out for better, since the pilot had a schedule conflict on Wednesday. So, now we had another window of opportunity for additional photo shooting, around Block.

We had some boats headed out a bit earlier, trawling towards Block, while rest of the group catching up. Fisher’s Sound is a great and open area to meat up the group. As we cleared the reefs, just East of Fisher’s Island, the group was back together travelling as a caravan. After communicating with the pilot we were all set for another photo-session. I gave everyone heads up about the plane’s arrival time and Jeremy decided to go for a quick ride and join us for the pictures.









Shots of Champlin’s





Interesting shots of Arrr & Arrr in my wake:





Entering Salt Pond.









After making quick ride near the dinghy, we found a perfect spot for the raft right across from Champlin’s.






The plane has landed, it was time to take a ride to the airport and get DVD with our pix. Having Rich’s truck on the island, we had transportation at our possession. So, Larry and I went for a ride. It was cool to see this small airport filled with tiny planes. Here are few shots of the plane Kevin flies and takes pictures, or shall I say “Kevin’s office”.









On Friday morning we were off to a fishing trip.







After full day of activities, it was time for another feast at Ballard’s.









I’d like to thank everyone for their participation, for their help when it was needed and for making the flotilla fun and adventurous family boating vacation. It was great to see our old friends and we were excited to welcome new crews to the flotilla. We had tons of fun and great memories. I can’t wait for the next one.

Where do we go next?

Cheers,
Alex.

larry was on the phone a lot.

Turtlesboat said:

larry was on the phone a lot.

Click to expand...

That's one of the ways to stay connected...

All pix are uploaded now. So, my post should be complete.

Turtlesboat said:

larry was on the phone a lot.

Click to expand...

Trick photography!:smt021

That's what I'm talking about Alex! Nice job - looks like a blast!

rondds said:

That's what I'm talking about Alex! Nice job - looks like a blast!

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Thanks Ron. It was a blast, indeed. Too bad it goes too fast.

Nice job, Alex. Really great pics.

Dale

MasterFab said:

Nice job, Alex. Really great pics.

Dale

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Thanks Dale.

BTW, I have some nice shots of your boat. My favorite is in Block with CG station in the background. If you need the high resolution files, I'll get them to you.

Here is a video with some shots of you guys thrown in….Thanks again Alex

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikKdEKQl9bU

wetpaint said:

Here is a video with some shots of you guys thrown in….Thanks again Alex

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikKdEKQl9bU

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Great video, John!

I'm glad you could make it and meet the group. I wish you came to other ports with us. We could have always use your media production skills.

wetpaint said:

Here is a video with some shots of you guys thrown in….Thanks again Alex

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikKdEKQl9bU

Click to expand...

John,
Awesome Video. It was nice to meet you at Ballards.

Great shots Alex! I'm going to have to brush up on flying the drone over the winter so that I can bring it with the goPro next year. The first leg of the flotilla looks like it was lots of fun. We really enjoyed the trip and meeting everyone. As newer boaters this was a great learning experience. John great video now we're hooked on your blog!

Dean & Tammie

Hey guys,

I have 3 Flotilla shirts left:

Adult L - 1 shirt
Adult 2XL - 2 shirts

If anyone is interested, please let me know.