June 26th our 1st nine day cruise. We loaded up the boat and provisioned her for our trip. We would visit areas of Long Island that we were familiar with. First stop was Three Mile Harbor. The following day we would head for Sag Harbor with our friends Dick and Mary Ann of “Harmony” taking pictures of us as we cruised. After enjoying Sag we were off to West Neck Harbor on Shelter Island for a couple of days. Then back through Sag Harbor and off to Coecles Harbor another beautiful area great for swimming. From here we left for Dering Harbor where we visited with friends from our Marina, Maria and Roberto of “Grand Tango”. The great thing we love about Dering is dingying over to Green Port for shopping.  But I must say what Mark loves the most is putting me airborne in the dingy as we hit the wakes of the other boaters on the way over. After staying there a day the wind picked up and came right into the harbor, so off we went around the corner by Bug Light. It ended up being very calm there, and it was a new place for us to anchor. We soaked up the views and enjoyed the bon fires on the beach that night as we sipped our wine sitting in the lazarette. Day nine we had a beautiful sail back to the marina to again face reality (work on Monday).

The month of June

The month of June was full of must to do activities that kept us busy on board. The rainy weekends didn’t seem to matter as decorating and outfitting cabinets and discovering where to put things took up all of our time. Our youngest daughter Heather was of great help as she wrote the lists of what we needed as we dug out from all that we had. Mark dealt with “put this here” and “can that go there”? Gosh he has a lot of patience… But the rain finally stopped and we actually got to scrub the boat from top to bottom as the salt coated Catatude from her voyage over. One would have thought all that rain would have helped.

Margaret is doing her nesting thing and Catatude is looking real nice inside now

The to-do list is long, but a lot is getting checked off everyday we are on the boat.
We had a practice docking this past weekend with all the new dock preparations in place all went very well. Had a wonder sail to West Cove and back and were very please at how Catatude really move out even in light air. These big roached sails are really powerful.
Getting ready to take a trip to Shelter Island next week. Pretty much all is in place for the shake down trip. Have a new generator along with a dingy and outboard that we have to fire up for the first time.

Catatude is Finally home in Mystic Connecticut

The long awaited day had finally come. We traveled to Newport with friends (Dick and Mary Ann) on Wednesday 6/3 to finally see Catatude for the first time since she arrived in the states. We were certainly in augh. It seemed forever since we ordered her and we were overwhelmed at the first sight of her. Captain Damian and First Mate Morgan had taken such care of everything in the boat. We would now take possession of Catatude and sleep over night for the first time and take off in the morning for home Noank, CT (Mystic). But not before spending some quality time going over the boat and having a wonderful dinner with Damian and Morgan. They are truly one of the most delightful and amazing couples we have ever met. Thursday morning came fast and we were eager to get underway. Winds were southeast at a comfortable 10 knots and we sailed home in less than 5 hours. We were greeted at Spicer's by wonderful friends taking photos (Barbara, Bob, Mary Ann, Dick, Gail and Steve). There was no wind behind the seawall which was just perfect when docking the boat for the first time. Mark did a great job and got her into her slip safely. On deck came everyone with wine to toast the new arrival. It is a day we will never forget. Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to take this journey with us. The rest of the weekend was full of cleaning, decorating and just enjoying our new prize possession.

Catatude arrived in Newport RI. at 7:30 am on 6-2-09

We have arrived in Newport, as of an hour ago (7:30am). Currently we are waiting for customs - I am not sure when they will arrive, so we have to sit and wait. Regards Damian

An hour later Customs Cleared Catatude into the US.

Here are the Stats:
Covered 6,744 miles in 54 days from LaRochelle France
1st leg from France to the Canarie Islands took 18 days and covered 1,637 miles
2nd leg from Canarie Islands to St. Martin took 23 days and covered 3,039 miles
3rd leg from St. Martin to Newport RI. USA took 13 days and covered 1,794 miles

Should arrive in the early hours of Tuesday morning 6-2-09

The last position I think. All is good - if a little tired....After bad weather North wind 22-33 knots last night we were unable to make land fall today, spent the night holding station, with little progress. We should arrive in Newport RI in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Current position is 40d 04N071d 36W . The winds have settled back into the SW and are light. I will text to say we have arrived, though the sat phone may not work in harbour.