Shake-down Cruise July 2007

In May of '07, Lou brought Ripple Effect from the boat yard in Huntington to City Island where he met up with Steve Perell and Tony Orwin to bring it to its home in Nyack outside of our home.

Our first trip on her was a two week shake-down cruise in July with Lou's former boat partner, Tony Betler. It was a challenging trip, but varied and adventurous; it was a sign of things to come! What follows is a log of our adventures on Ripple Effect thanks to Justine, my daughter, and Bob Fine who both provided technical support for this log.

Sights around Manhattan as we headed out to the Long Island Soound: Lots of water traffic including water taxis, ferries, barges and cruisers like us; Jersey City and the Colgate clock (next to the skyscraper); The NY skyline.

We went around the Battery and up the East River. Do you recognize this view? (snoitaN detinU eht) Read the backwards answer.

We're out of the East River and in Eastchester Bay leading out to Long Island Sound. This is Stepping Stones lighthouse which Tony says gets its name from the rocks which extend to the shore. Supposedly you could walk between both in low tide. After motoring the entire way down the Hudson, around Manhattan and out to the Sound, we had a magnificent sail all the way up the Connecticut shore. Lou wisely predicted that this might be the best sail of our trip. We anchored off of Sheffield Island on the coast of Connecticut. While the guys worked on the boat, I rowed ashore to the island and took a walk. It was a glorious day and a gorgeous spot to feel free and unencumbered. Our battery was discharging rapidly, so we had to take a slip at a marina to charge the battery overnight. While there, we worked on endless projects. That's why Lou says the expression 'pleasure cruising' is an oxymoron.

• Tony purged the water tanks to make the water drinkable.
• I took off the old registration numbers and replaced them with new.
• Lou punched our sun and rain shades (dodger and biminy) with grommets to attach them to the boat.
• Tony worked in the cockpit locker looking for the wiring for the auto helm which wasn't working.

• At another time, the anchor line became wrappped around the wing of the keel making it impossible to pull up the anchor. Once again, Tony came to the rescue.

• When the jib (small sail) retaining clip fell into the water, we hitched a ride in the back of a pickup truck to find a replacement and then back again. We felt like kids again!

At the Norwalk Cove Marina, as we grilled sausage and vegetables on the BBQ overlooking the waterfront. The most spectacular sunset brought a colorful ending to our day.

The next day, we inadvertantly entered a storm traveling from Black Rock, Connecticut to Port Jefferson in Long Island. I was huddled against the cabin trying to keep dry and warm, but more importantly keeping my stomach calm while the boat rocked on the 3 to 5 foot waves. Despite all this, the storm was quite beautiful. The rain resembled snow and when it hit the waves, turned to vapor due to the temperature change. Wish I had had a waterproof camera bag. We returned to Nyack after two weeks and started the preparations to travel south. We had two months to research, purchase, install, design, build, and fit out the boat. Sounds like a long time...