Duck Island to Stonington

We departed Duck Island at 1030 after we moved the outboard motor from the dinghy to the motor mount inside the cockpit. The weather forecast was for winds in the teens and waves up to 4 feet. We didn't want the outboard on the dinghy in seas above 4 feet for an extended period of time because it places too much stress on the davits. Also, we will only be anchoring out once more before we start taking moorings for the rest of our trip to Portland and back. From Stonington onward we will be in the Atlantic rather than the protected waters of Long Island Sound. We will be able to use the harbor water taxi to get to shore from the moorings. So, we won't need the outboard mounted on the dinghy.


The winds were in the 10 - 15 range with 2 foot waves when we left Duck Island. The sky was overcast and visibility was good but half of what it would have been on a clear, sunny day. We caught a favorable current and moved along under power at nothing less than 6 knots. We weren't able to sail since the wind was directly on our bow the entire run of 30 miles. The winds were increasing in speed and waves growing as we entered Stonington Harbor at about 1500. No other boats were in the designated anchorage when we arrived which made it easy to settle in for the night. The anchor quickly grabbed and we laid out 150 of chain since the winds were forecast to continue to blow in the teens through the night. The anchorage was very rolly and remained that way the entire night. I'd hate to be here in a real storm. We'll probably anchor somewhere else on our return trip if the same conditions exist.

North Dumpling Light

It was good be finally be on our way north even though we weren't able to sail. We have become fairly familiar with this end of the Sound having stayed 10 nights at Mystic and explored the local waters. Seeing North Dumpling Light and Fisher Island made us feel as if we were in "our old neighborhood". However, this time instead of turning into the Mystic River, we kept going on to Stonington. This was our first visit to Stonington which looks like a very interesting town to visit. It was also recommended to us by friends as a good place to buy fresh seafood and The Dog Watch Cafe is the place to go for good eats.

We had grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for dinner on the boat. We decided not to go into town since it was so rolly and windy in the anchorage. After dinner we played dominoes and watched a movie. Carla likes it when we run the generator to charge up the batteries since we also get a chance to watch TV. Unfortunately, we didn't get any interesting programs over the air. So, we watched a movie instead - Rumor Has It. A fun night even if we didn't make popcorn.

Latimer Reef Light