Did you know that the board game Monopoly was invented in Atlantic City? We didn’t believe it ourselves until we saw the original gameboard in a museum. An out of work salesman invented it to amuse his children during the depression. It’s true! And we now have a board with the original names on to prove it! (Boardwalk and Park Avenue etc., instead of Mayfair and Park Lane!)

Our trip down the Delaware before reaching Atlantic City was only inspired by our stop in Greenwich, New Jersey when Steve, a local from Greenwich (pronounced Green Witch), kindly took us shopping. He helped a snapping turtle across the road.

We saw a Walmart for the first time. All those cheap goods. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we can’t fit too much on the boat, but Susan did buy an electrical travel plug!

The weather seems to be dreadful in the summer in the eastern states. Not only did it rain all day whilst we were shopping, but it was very foggy rounding Cape May at the bottom of the Delaware estuary. There are sand banks and shoals as well, which we managed to miss. The radar was very useful in keeping us out of the way of the ferries, which cross from Cape May to the southern shore.

Atlantic City is like Blackpool, only probably not quite as nice. The boardwalk is where Laurel and Hardy have paraded, as has Marilyn Munroe. Sammy Davis and Frank Sinatra walked up and down the 20 metre wide decking. So have we now, although we probably won’t make it into their Hall of Fame!

The two day sail to New York was uneventful when we eventually escaped from the fog. The stop over at Barnegat Inlet reminded us of the sand dunes and lighthouse you see in the Jaws film. We didn’t see any great white sharks though, only hundreds of small power boats making use of the Independence Day weekend to go out fishing.

We powered and bounced into a head wind most of the way to New York, but the wind freed at Sandy Hook and we reached into New York with mizzen and genoa.

It felt strange to be sailing the same waters as the legendary American Cup Challengers, Endeavour and Shamrock. By all accounts, the water during the races was much chopped up by small boats and fortunes were won and lost on the outcome with the betting on who would win.

We anchored right by the Statue of Liberty at Liberty Park. Unfortunately, the holding was not good and so we braved the tugs, ferries, barges, water taxis, yachts (sailing and power), and kayaks to take the boat up to a mooring off 79th Street. This proved to be a good base to see some of New York from, since it only cost $30 a night.

You will remember Kevin who came across the Atlantic with us. He and Lynn (from Glasgow) live in New Jersey, not very far from New York. They came to see us and took us out for a whirl wind tour of the City and then out to dinner. The City is big!! It is also remarkably similar to London in some ways. Times Square was like Piccadilly Circus with its large TV screens on the buildings, and Central Park was quite similar to Hyde Park etc. The buildings of course were much taller. We had a moment’s reflection where the World Trade Centre had once stood. The act of destruction seemed so callous and futile, in as much as it will not change the western world’s philosophy. It may only harden the line on some of the excesses, which can only be a sad thing.

We went to dinner at the Jekyll and Hyde Club where young actors and actresses try to scare the wits out of you at the same time as serving good American food. The décor is much the same as some of the stuffier London clubs, only with the odd coffin lying about! Some of the occupants were stuffed as well! Independence Day was spent motoring up the Hudson River and back down around Manhattan to the United Nations building. Just above the City, the Hudson’s banks are composed of tree covered cliffs which tower over the river. Quite a contrast to the buildings towering over the river further down. Kevin and Lynn joined us for the day. Kevin has dual nationality. It must feel funny celebrating independence from oneself!!

The fireworks that evening were probably spectacular but regrettably we weren’t in a good position to see them. We understood they probably aren’t as good as the Edinburgh fireworks. They certainly weren’t as high or we would have got a better view! Having paraded on the waters surrounding New York with our blue ensign flying, we expected some remarks from the numerous boats on the river. They seemed pleased to see us, however, and gave us a cheery Independence Day wave.

The next day, we sailed past the Queen Mary 2 at its quay and around the rivers of New York, under the bridges one sees on all the films and past the United Nations building once more.

This time we knew to keep 200 yards from the shore past the fading red buoy in mid channel. We were thus spared the police launches blue lights and sirens which they use to warn boats that they are violating the security zone. As we passed the Bronx, we noted a few dilapidated industrial buildings but most of the area was in excellent condition with many trees as well as viaducts and airports. It was almost countrified and only three miles from Manhattan. It was indeed countrified where we anchored at City Island which believe it or not, is still in the Bronx, New York.

The great yacht builder, Herreshoff had once had a yard here and the young designer Olin Stephens also worked here, once upon a time. Mind you, we don’t believe everything we read in the books, or on notice boards. One suburban town close by New York claimed on its notices hanging grandly from lamp posts that it was the home of golf, pretending that golf had begun there. Everyone should know that golf was played in Scotland over a hundred years before the United States was even invented! We regret that the Americans sometimes claim a little too much for themselves. They have no need, it is a great country (and they did invent Monopoly!).

We anchored off John Barron’s Shipyard which is much smaller than Rhu Marina, and were feted by Stewart Dalcimer and his family who drove us around the area for essential messages. He had just completed a voyage to the Caribbean with his daughter. Some people had wondered at their relationship before he was able to explain! Heaven knows what they think about Will and his two daughters! (It has been said!)

From City Island, we took the bus and train through the suburbs to the City Centre to be astounded by Frank Lloyds Wright’s fabulous Guggenheim museum.

It is an art gallery dedicated to non objective art and includes Picasso’s and Pisarro’s and more Van Gogh’s, (a painter largely popular after his death). Despite disliking the works of Damien Hurst and his kin, it is good that nowadays artists are recognised in their own lifetime! Even some architects are recognised in their own lifetime.

We sailed down Long Island sound through a thunderstorm that poured buckets down on us and threw up a squall of forty knots of wind. Only minutes before we had been gently sailing along with full sail on a broad reach. The black clouds were obvious on the horizon to our north east but it appeared that they were travelling east. All of a sudden they seemed to change direction and pounce on us. Margaret and Susan had managed to take down the sails only minutes before the storm struck. This time there was not quite as much lightning and our remaining instruments survived. The storm passed over and we motored gently into Oyster Bay off Long Island Sound. At one point we had been sailing at five knots under bare poles!

Oyster Bay is the home of the Sewanaka Corinthian Yacht Club. A very old club who are visiting the Royal Northern Yacht Club at the end of July for their biannual team race. It is also the home of Timmy and David Larr who were to be our very generous hosts for the remainder of our time in New York.

We were welcomed by the Union Jack flying on the same staff as the stars and strips and an excellent dinner. We anchored off their lovely house on the shores of the bay, and set back in the trees of the old Tiffany Estate. Timmy has lived in Oyster Bay since a girl and obviously loves the place. We can see why, with its houses on the waters edge and amongst trees and shrubs. We saw a chipmunk in the garden, although so did the night heron who came to roost on one of the trees. This time he didn’t snatch it for his supper. The little bunny rabbit hopping around the flower beds seems to be a survivor as well.

We were driven by David to the Long Island railway, which is rather 1980ish in comparison to the SPT and Scotrail trains. It was on time though and sped us into New York once more where we queued for ages to take the high speed lifts up the Empire State building. The view from the top of course was spectacular, although the Chrysler building was probably the most notable building around for its emblazoned crescents, one over the other. It was the tallest building in the world for a very short time before the Empire State was completed. We actually walked down the Empire State building (well over 5 floors anyway!).

Over our two days of commuting to the City, we saw the U.S.S. Intrepid and its air museum of carrier borne aircraft. A second world war aircraft carrier, it seemed as it if could go to sea again tomorrow, except it is tied up on a pier next to one of the last concordes and the only nuclear submarine in the world open to the public. The submarine can launch missiles, which fortunately were never used.

We were honoured to be allowed into the model room of the New York Yacht Club with all its models of the American cup defenders and contenders from the mid nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. It was also amazing to see how many of the huge motor yachts built for the mega rich at the beginning of the twentieth century were constructed on the Clyde. Well done Scotland.

To sail in Long Island Sound is a pleasure and we sadly left Timmy and David to sail over to the Connecticut shore and up the Connecticut river to Hamburg Cove, past the towns of Old Seabrook, Old Lyme and Essex. The cove is a tree lined pond with a beautiful stillness in the evening, perhaps the first time the boat has been completely at rest at its anchor overnight. This was just as well since the lochan was full of moorings and yachts. We motored down the river to fill up with diesel at the Old Lyme Dockyard which must fly the biggest stars and stripes in existence. It also has life size models of a pair of Clydesdale horses. The originals used to pull the Budweiser dray in New York. The models were so realistic we wondered why they weren’t moving! A very nice gentleman started to talk to Susan and Margaret whilst we were bunkering. He turned out to be an ex mayor (of Greenwich) and ex governor (of Connecticut) and ex senator (of the USA!). Since Susan had always wanted to meet a mayor, Margaret had always wanted to meet a senator and Will had always wanted to meet a governor, we were privileged indeed to find all in the one man!

He was charming and had been an independent candidate in his senatorial days. Will thinks all politicians should be independent, so this suited well. His name was Lowell Weicker and he had been the pushy one on the senate committee that had impeached Nixon (quite rightly too in Will’s opinion). His wife, Claudia, was even more charming and invited us to drinks at their house that evening. A beautiful old timber house in the centre of the town of Essex. The garden had apparently been over run by the British in the war of 1812.

We sailed on from there to Martha’s Vineyard, a small and pretty island about the size of Arran, only flat. It is very much a holiday island with a lot of sailing boats, both racing and pottering.

The island has the Chappaquitic Bridge over a creek at one point, the tragic scene of a Kennedy car falling off it many years ago. We were hosted there by Dennis and Julie, who we had met in the Caribbean. Dennis had not only built his own boat but his own house as well and Julie is an interior designer. A very talented couple who have already sailed around the world in a wooden 29 foot boat and on which their children were born! Our day sail hopping seems to pale into insignificance by comparison, although we call ourselves travellers who sail, rather than sailors who travel!

Fog surrounded our trip back to Newport Rhode Island through Woods Hole where the famous undersea exploration centre is. The trip through was with the tide at a gentle five knots (it can run up to seven!). From what we saw, it was a little like the Kyle’s of Bute with fewer mountains. At Newport we were nearly run over by a ferry, following the harbour masters launch to our anchorage. The ferry blew on the horn, turned to port and passed at what seemed to be ten knots within twenty yards of the shore. He was the Block Island Ferry and was obviously used to fog! The anchorage at Newport Rhode Island was filled with beautiful yachts and a yachting museum! (our kind of place). Regrettably, we didn’t have time to go ashore since we were booked to visit the highlight of our travels so far, Mystic Seaport. When we had negotiated more fog to leave Newport, we sailed between crowded marinas with lobster selling restaurants and past more beautiful yachts to just catch the opening for the road and rail bridges at Mystic. They kindly waited for us. Heaven knows how long the queue of traffic was, although we are sure they didn’t mind when they saw Atlantia sail through. We are certain that all the car horns were just to welcome us to the town (probably!).

Have you ever been part of a museum exhibit? We were, at Mystic Seaport.

We were tied alongside a pier and were passed by a sailing cat boat as well as a steam driven pleasure boat about 60 feet long. We, in turn, had passed some old sailing oyster smacks, a Newfoundland banks schooner, a sail training square rigger, the last sailing whaler in existence in the world and the sailing replica of a 120 foot schooner that had carrying slaves in Cuba in the mid nineteenth century, well after the emancipation of slaves in the southern Caribbean in 1834.

Not only were we surrounded by historic ships but all the houses dated from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well. Mostly ship lap boarded but with some brick buildings. There was a ropewalk still there with the potential for making rope as well as shipwrights building dinghies. The Block Island Lifeboat Station had been moved to the site and it really looked like a set out of Peer Gynt. Very Norwegian, both massive timbers and gingerbread. You could just image Herman Melville riding on the original timber built whaling boat with its coiled line of hemp and its iron spear. The huge tattooed harpooner almost jumped off the whaling ship at you, but fortunately no Moby Dick was in sight! Instead there were some very knowledgeable people to help with the history of both the ships and the buildings. An exciting and interesting stay.

The whole nights stay there was topped by two events that tipped it into the realms of ‘best stay’ of our voyage. Firstly, it was free!! Because we had sailed the Atlantic, and it was our first night there, we were guests. How many places in Britain can claim to be so generous? It would have cost us over £100 for the next night had we stayed, so it was probably as well we only had time for one day. Secondly, we met, by prior arrangement, Seth Dillingham and his wife Corinne. We know he will be reading this letter as well, since he is the man that invented and set up FREECONVERSANT, on which this web page floats the ether. Without him we couldn’t write to you (at least not so inexpensively!) Seth is a friend of one of Susan’s lecturers at Strathclyde University. It’s a small world. He joined us for our last day’s voyage of this stage before our returning to Scotland for a month. We sailed to the Connecticut River. As we post this letter, Atlantia should be riding on her mooring between a tree lined bluff and a marshy island, and protected by two bridges and many sand banks!

We enclose Susan’s last snaps of her trip. We hope you like them. Next time will show Will and Margaret’s inexpertise with the camera.

Love to all.

ATLANTIA