We headed out of Point Judith with Stonington CT as our destination.  It was a great sail.  The winds were good and the seas were relatively calm.  Were able to just be under sail all day today.  Having been to Stonington before, we were familiar with the area along the harbor.  The Dog Watch at Dodson’s was a great restaurant and this evening we were going to meet Phil’s daughter and husband for dinner.  This restaurant has great sunsets and nice ambiance. This was really our first time off the boat since we left Scituate and this sailor was glad to move out on land, even though my balance had me still feeling like I was rocking on a boat. Sunset was glorious.  As Alicia would say, you got to appreciate the free things in life and sunsets are definitely one of them.  Frank and I anchored right behind the breakwater.  It was good holding ground. 

There was some discussion about where we were going to go the next day between Hun Bun III and Persamus.  We had a great tide in Long Island Sound from about 7 AM until 1 PM.  The wind was down in the morning and we all decided to power sail and try to get some miles behind us and catch up to Billy and Linda.  Oh, did we mention they went rogue.  Sometimes Billy gets a thought in his head and this time it was can I get to Defender Industries from his boat.  (Defender is a boater’s candy store).  He did manage to get there and find it but he didn’t realize until it was too late that when it’s low tide, you get stuck there as there’s not enough water to move the dinghy.  Not sure where they stayed the night we were in Stonington.

When we left Stonington the next morning, we pulled anchor at 7:00 AM and headed out into Long Island Sound.  Over by Fishers Island there’s this really cool house with a huge amphibious vehicle parked there and old stone pillars of some sort.  The real estate we have passed has been amazing and not just the newer homes.  The old old houses from 200 years ago and the old lighthouses all hold their own stories.  Our goal was to try to get to Branford CT before 1:30 (made it by 2).  There were small craft advisories for after 1 PM for a cold front passing.  Goal was to be on anchor before it passed and we could see it coming towards us in the distance.  We didn’t quite make it.  We were just outside of Branford and the skies opened up.  It poured huge stinging pellets of rain and I was instantly cold and drenched as I was at the helm at the time.  The rain stopped as quickly as it started and I went down for a hot, hot shower and Frank took over.  One of the surprising things today was the amount of wood/debris in the water - you always had to be on watch.  Large logs with birds looking like they were on their own sailing ships, floated past.  Branford really is just an anchorage/stopping point.  Not much of any town or anything for that matter on the harbor front that was easily accessible.  A few yacht/boat clubs.

The wind howled that night in Branford think over 30 knots pretty steady with some stronger gusts.  We were anchored in a very small, tight, shallow area where all the folks from the little cottage park came out to watch and wave at us.  We had good holding, but it didn’t stop me from going out with a flashlight in the middle of the night when I woke up to ensure we weren’t dragging anchor.  Fortunately the seas calmed down by the time we left in the morning.