Day 3 -- July 25 -- To Hamburg Cove off the Connecticut River -- 46 nm

Each day so far we have covered greater distances. With 46 miles today  we left early, at eight a.m. and enjoyed an almost perfect tidal situation except for about two of the seven hours. We motored down the Housatonic at eight knots with tide at the beginning  and up the 8.5 miles of the Connecticut River, also at eight knots, due to favorable tide. It was pretty quiet out in the Sound early Monday morning except for a few family commercial fishing boat, a fuel barge on anchor with tug awaiting tide, Faulkner Island with its light,  a couple of sailboats going the other way, and then the two lighthouses at the mouth of the Connecticut River, the railroad bridge and the I-95 bridge. But the wind did not come up until 9:30  when we put up sails, and it was not until 10:30 that we cut the noisemaker and enjoyed a starboard broad reach at 5.6 knots. Our speed dropped after the tide began to flood at 11. Going up the river I passed so many familiar landmarks: the lighthouses, The Essex YC, and the Cove itself. I have been in the Cove on each of my three boats with many different people including my daughters and the world's best dog, Jesse. I waited out a hurricane there and Jesse attacked a peacock. Lots of memories, a real nostalgia trip.

We lowered the dink, drove in to the tiny town of  Lyme and tied up at the local YC dinghy dock; no need to lock it in this small town. Ilene sought juice, brown rice and produce. The small general store which features doll houses had none of these items. But I did score a postcard and a dove bar.  The same older lady who ran the place 20 years ago was still in charge. It rained during the evening and night, requiring the closing of hatches, making for a hot sticky night. I did fix the electric fan which stopped after Alfie chewed through the wires, but it was still sticky.

Hurricane holes are great places to stay during storms because the high surrounding hills and crooked entranceways cut out the wind and waves. But they diminish wifi and internet too, so we missed some of the Democratic Convention.