Tuesday, August 6. Day 32.

Happy Anniversary to us. It’s been 8 years.

We woke and got on the road as targeted, which means we tried to leave at 8am and left at 9am as Chet predicted, to go first to Defender Store, which is a discount marine store. They have thousand of items available and is the only physical store available. Then we were going to Mystic Seaport museum. Phil had been in Mystic, CT after a delivery with Cptn Dave, but had never seen the museum yet.

After more than an hour drive, we came to Defender Marine Store which is a huge warehouse type. Idling. There were enough employees to assist you without too much waiting time. First we bought a new gas tank for the dinghy. Then we got a couple cup holders we plan to put on the shelf Phil made for the binnacle, a new spring dock line, boat shoes, a new block for the base of the mast and lubricant for the snaps and zippers rounded out our purchases. Our friends bought a few item too and somehow we fit them all in the car.

Next we went to Mystic Seaport

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They have many ships, boats and fun activities and adults and children. The whaler, Charles W. Morgan is in the process of being restored and earlier this July, was launched and now is under further restoration in the water.

Carol and Chet were present at the launching ceremony and were disappointed that the boat wasn’t available for boarding today until late in the day due to restoration work going on. Please visit the Mystic Seaport website as they have a great picture of the Morgan out of the water on the lift.

A cut out view of the Morgan

We started our our visit with lunch at The Galley and went to The Preservation Shipyard. The men at work

We decided to split up as couples so we could each see what we wanted as Carol is a member so they’ve been here before. There are 17 acres of boats and exhibits and demonstrations to see. They even have a building for the 7 and under crowd. Phil and I got to see most of the live demonstration of using a breeches buoy that the U.S. Life-Saving Service used to rescued sailors from a damaged ship. Here it is explained:

“When a ship wrecked close to shore and the seas were too rough for boats, then the Service could use another method to reach the stranded mariners by stringing a strong hawser (line) from the shore to the ship. To propel the line to the ship, a cannon-like gun, called the Lyle gun, was used. This shot a projectile up to 600 yards. The projectile carried a small messenger line by which the shipwrecked sailors were able to pull out the heavier hawser. A breeches buoy resembles a life preserver ring with canvas pants attached. It could be pulled out to the ship by pulleys, enabling the endangered sailor to step into the life ring and pants and then be pulled to safety much more easily than the heavier life car. A beach apparatus cart carried all the equipment needed to rig the breeches buoy and could be pulled by the crew or horses to the wreck site.”

The U.S. Life-Saving Service was the precursor to the Coast Guard and if you click on the blue words above, it will take you to a web site that tells their history. I found it to be an interesting read.

One of the boats we went aboard was the Joseph Conrad which has been a training boat and currently is for 10-15 year olds.

I found it interesting how that have their wind scoop to bring fresh air down below decks. They have 2 of these on the boat. Now a days you can buy 4-sided winds scoops, but this is 3-sided.

There are many more exhibits to see, and it’s well worth the trip. You can dock your boat there, which includes museum admission. Check out their Boating Guide for information.

By 4pm, Phil and I were museum out and we planned to go directly to the boats at Brewers Marina. We needed to insert our new battens and take are of other boats chores. NEW battens!? Yes. When we took down the mainsail for entering Erie Canal, we forgot them on the concrete deck. I know, how could we forget them? We did call Buffalo Yacht Club to see if someone had put them in lost and found, but to no avail, so we ordered new ones. We had a potluck dinner on S/V Miracleau, Carol and Chet’s boat. This would be our last evening with them. Our plan is to do errands in the morning and then leave at slack tide between 11-12 noon to anchor at Duck Island Roads within the breakwall and leave for Essex Thursday morning. Carol and Chet also plan to anchor out in their boat and maybe go for a sail but have decided not to follow us this trip. We had a wonderful time visiting them and thank them for their warm hospitality!