My First Trip With Phoenix

Hi There!

Thank you all for coming to read! This post is a detailed log of my sailing trip from Burlington VT to Baltimore MD. I tried to include a lot of the facts of what happened along the way, along with a lot of the emotions that I felt. This was my first experience outside of Lake Champlain with my boat Phoenix, so that was really exciting but also really scary for me. The trip included a lot of firsts for me. My first time going through locks, my first time in New York Harbor (busy!!), my first ocean passage as captain. Because it was a three week trip, the story is already quite long with just the day to day happenings. Many of my posts in the next few weeks will dive deeper into certain emotions that I felt or things that I learned, so stay tuned!

Many times when I would tell people that I was moving to Baltimore their response was “What? Why Baltimore?”. Ever since splashing Phoenix for the first time in the spring of 2020 I knew I couldn’t just keep her on the lake. She deserves more than that, she deserves salt water. So I knew I wanted to take her somewhere, I just didn’t know where. 

In order to get an idea of what I wanted, I started asking sailing friends of mine for ideas on where to go. From their suggestions, I could gauge my reaction to diffferent places to help me make a decision. Someone said “Bahamas! Go to the Bahamas!” I like winter though, and that seems like too big of a first step I thought.“Definitely check out Charleston!” Meh, not hitting right. “Florida!” No, thank you. Finally, in a conversation with my boss Diddy about the subject, she mentioned Maryland. “Baltimore could be cool?” Huh. So that afternoon I began googling and calling marinas in Baltimore. One marina manager broke down the pricing for me, which was really reasonable for a marina in a city. I told him I had never been to Baltimore. He said “Oh! When you hang up – look up Fells Point on the internet – you’ll love it here!”. And that was that, I’d made up my mind. 

In the months leading up to the trip I had a lot of planning to do. There was the (never ending) list of projects to get done on Phoenix. Also I had to figure out crew members and plan my route. I knew the general route was – go to the bottom of the lake, through the locks, down the Hudson, down the coast of New Jersey, up the Delaware, through the C&D Canal, and down the Chesapeake. But where was I going to stay along the way? How much was it going to cost? Where to get the mast unstepped and resteped? Where was my crew going to get on/off? What/how much food did I need? How long was all of this going to take? Where does current start to come into effect? So many questions. And so much that couldn’t be answered with the internet. So much that I’d just have to wait to find out. 

I left on a Monday. Saying goodbye to people was hard. But saying goodbye to Burlington Bay and Lake Champlain was harder. My friends I would see around Thanksgiving. I wouldn’t sail on the lake for over half a year. Saying goodbye to the lake at the end of every season is hard, but it makes her that much more beautiful come May. 

At 0900 I picked up Diddy from the docks in Burlington. We went to fill up with fuel and water at Burlington Harbor Marina. At the marina were my friends/coworkers Tomcat, Tricia and Elizabeth, there to wish us well and send us off. It  warmed my heart so much that they took time out of their morning for us. Tomcat gave us Lemoncello popsicles to fend off the scurvy, and then we were off. There was just a breath of wind, which turned out to be the most wind I saw for the entire first half of the trip. We set the sails and slowly sailed away from Burlington. 

Part one: Diddy – Burlington, VT to Chipman Point, VT

When we pulled into Kingsland Bay that afternoon it was flat calm. The sky was clouded over and the still water was reflecting it. Everything was so tranquil it looked like a painting. We picked up a mooring and turned off the engine. Silence. 

We decided to go ashore to explore the park. Our friend Emily’s boat is moored there so we took a spin around to check her out before beaching the dinghy and marching into the trails. We romped around the park a little bit. Diddy climbed some boulders, made a tiny bouquet of flowers and collected soggy wood for a fire we didn’t end up having. I took in the sights, and tried to calm my nerves and appreciate that after so much planning, this journey had finally begun. That night we had a cheese board for dinner, paired with a bottle of red wine (the only alcohol we had on the boat…sailors?). We rowed the dinghy back to Phoenix stand-up paddleboard style, cracking up when we’d lose our balance and almost go for an accidental nighttime swim. 

The next morning we got up, checked the oil, and were on our way. It was a relatively uneventful motor south. We went under the Champlain Bridge with Phoenix which was pretty exciting even though there’s plenty of height there. The second night we anchored near Fort Ticonderoga. After we had the anchor set and the engine off I noticed the tour boat “Carillon” passing by us. “Diddy! We have paparazzi! All of these people are taking pictures of us!” I called down to the cabin. I then turned around and realized that we were not that special, we were simply anchored right directly below the fort! How eerie. Unfortunately there is nowhere to land your dinghy and go ashore, so the visit to the fort will have to wait until another time. We contemplated whether the fort was haunted or not, and listened for noises in the night. 

After one last paddle around in the dinghy, we hauled it up on deck and scraped zebra mussels off the bottom, scrubbing it clean. The next morning we started up the engine and headed south for Chipman Point Marina.

Part two: Gen and Mather – Chipman Point, VT to Catskill, NY

On the third day of the trip Phoenix’s mast came down. Unstepping a mast is stressful, but relatively easy. The folks at the marina do most of the work, operating the crane and figuring out the balance point. I helped with tying all of the rigging to the mast and then I secured it to the boat on my own. 

In the middle of the whole process my friends Gen and Mather arrived. Diddy unfortunately had to go drive Friend Ship, so she took their car back to Burlington. Once I was done securing the mast we had just one more really important job to get done that day – celebrate Gen’s 25th birthday! She popped some champagne and we all took a little dip in the lake. Gen took a couple of dives off of phoenix in true mermaid fashion. At night we FaceTimed with the rest of our friend group and had cake.

The next day we said goodbye to Chipman Point Marina. It is a really lovely place. The office and facilities are in an old stone building with very cute and thoughtful decorations. 

After motoring 20 miles south we went to Lock 12 – our first lock! Gen and Mather are both sailors which made it all go really smoothly. We called the lock operator on the VHF, he gave us the green light, and we drove in and pulled up alongside the wall. The lock filled with water while we fended off, then the doors opened and we were off. The first one was a bit nerve wracking, but ended up being much easier than I had anticipated. That night we stayed on the free wall in Whitehall, New York (birthplace of the US navy). 

The next day we went through four more locks. Each one seemed to get easier, because we had figured out our own rhythm. Mather was typically on the bowline, I was on the sternline/driving, and Gen was in the middle fending and passing the boathook back and forth. That night we stayed in Fort Edward, where we went out to get some dinner at the Anvil Inn and then had some beers at Slickfin Brewery. The following day we did six more locks and docked in Waterford NY where we didn’t do any exploring, but played a game of monopoly which Gen won by a landslide.

Day seven we went through our last lock (woohoo!), and motored south with the current in the Hudson. We had read in two places online that there was a free town wall in Coxsackie (a name we had lots of fun trying to pronounce/botch). When we arrived, there was no dock. Fortunately, it was only around 1500. We ended up motoring farther south (upcurrent now) before finding a marked anchorage that we stayed in for the night. We were able to use headlamps and Luci lights as an improvised anchor light since the mast was still down. It felt good to be at anchor again instead of on a dock/wall. It was beautiful and peaceful. We all stayed outside in the cockpit later in the night than we had the entire trip. 

Day eight was my last day with Gen and Mather. We motored the rest of the way south to Riverview Marine Services to get the mast restepped. I took a bit of time to prep, and then the guys at the marina used the crane to haul the mast back into place. We secured it and tightened all of the shrouds. Then I put the boom and staysail boom back on. My next crew member Tricia arrived in Gens car just as we were starting to put the mainsail on. It was time for Gen and Mather to drive back to Boston, but they offered to drive us into town and back again for some lunch. So the four of us drove down Main Street in Catskill and had the most delicious lunch at the Mermaid Cafe. 

Part three: Tricia – Catskill, NY to New York, NY

After Gen and Mather dropped us back off at the marina and we said our goodbyes, Tricia and I got back to work putting the sails on. We got the mainsail in place and then did the staysail. Work like that always takes longer than you expect (especially when you end up redoing the lazy jacks three times!). By the end of the day I was exhausted. I took my first real shower in a week and went to sleep early. 

The next morning Tricia and I started our motor south. The morning started out beautiful and sunny, but we started seeing some hazy fog after about an hour. It’s so extraordinary how quickly fog can change. Suddenly we were completely socked in. I felt very lucky to have both my Garmin and Navionics running, because at times we couldn’t see the next channel marker. The fog lasted a couple of hours, thinning out then thickening back up. Finally just after noon it cleared up completely and we were able to pick up some speed. This section of the Hudson had lots of floating debris, with lots of big logs that would really not be fun to run into. So it was constant vigilance from us making sure we were keeping a lookout. 

We arrived at our destination for the night just as the tide was starting to get strong against us. Docking in such a strong tide was interesting, especially coming from Lake Champlain where we have no current. The man who ran the marina and was on the dock to catch our lines immediately rubbed me the wrong way. He had a gaudy personality and was clearly surprised that I was captain, after looking around for a third person on board. Amongst other things, he moved my fenders without asking me and he called my crew member Tricia “babe”. Thankfully the marina was super cheap and we only had to deal with him for ten minutes. After he left we laughed about how little I tried to hide my dislike for him, and how nice it felt to not put a fake smile on my face. We enjoyed a drink and wrote in our journals before making dinner and turning in for the night. 

Day 10  we woke up to a nearby college crew team practicing at 0630. The coaches were instructing from a powerboat through a megaphone. It was pretty cool to watch them glide by on the flat water. We left the marina around 0800, which was when I typically liked to get going. The goal was Haverstraw NY, where there was a big marina. Around noon I called and asked if they had a transient slip. Up until that point every marina (even the really small ones) always had plenty of room for transients. But this one said they were full. All of the other marinas in the area (with depths enough for Phoenix) were unable to accommodate transients but said that the big marina should be able to take us since their docks were half empty…weird.

After that it was somewhat of a scramble to find a spot to anchor. The Hudson is known for having very few good anchorages. Tricia had been texting with some of her sailor friends who told her about a spot on the south end of Haverstraw. I was a bit hesitant because of the depth at the entrance, but if we could clear it then we’d find ourselves in a completely protected and deep cove. After reading a bunch of reviews on the anchorage on Navionics and looking at all of the charts we had access to we decided to go in slowly and try it. We were at mid tide and the depth sounder didn’t go under 9 ft the whole time. That night some friends we’d made at Riverview Marina joined us in the anchorage and came over for a beer. It was really nice to have some cruiser friends going in the same direction as us and it was fun to chat with people who shared the same goal. 

The following day would bring us into New York City!!! I woke up around 0630, really excited. I wanted to be out of the anchorage before sunrise, and I wanted to get into NYC early because I was nervous about securing a mooring at 79th St Boat Basin. We hauled anchor up and were out of the cove by 0700. It was so nice to see a sunrise on the water. And we were even able to pop the genoa out for a little bit before the wind shut off completely. 

Both of us were really excited. It was so fun to see the skyline from so far out and then keep looking at the map to see where we were passing. After being in really small towns along the canal and the Hudson for so long it felt very surreal to be taking Phoenix into a place so, so busy. 

We made it to 79th St Boat Basin and got a mooring which was a major relief. The moorings there are by far the least expensive spot to keep your boat in that section of the Hudson, and based on the wind forecast we were going to be there for a couple of days. 

Tricia and I hauled the dinghy off the deck and put it in the water and went ashore. We got some food and walked around the area before returning to the boat to relax a bit before sundown. It was beautiful to watch the sunset in the city like that. 

The next day was the day Caleb came! Me and Tricia spent the day in Manhattan. We went to the Van Gogh Immersive Experience which was extremely interesting. Tricias son Chad lives in Manhattan so he met us for lunch and then we all went back to Phoenix to collect Tricias bags. We took the subway to Chads apartment, where Caleb met us. The four of us had a really lovely dinner together, and then Tricia and I said our goodbyes and Caleb and I got on the subway and went home to Phoenix. 

Part four: Caleb – New York, NY to Baltimore, MD

Caleb and I ended up spending 5 more nights in the city. Both of us were able to do some fun things during our time there. I went to a bunch of art museums, Caleb biked around Central Park. It was definitely an exciting place to be “stuck” waiting for a weather window, but at the same time it was stressful. Caleb was supposed to be in Baltimore by the following Saturday in order to catch his ride back up to Vermont. It looked like the wind wasn’t going to let up until Wednesday, which didn’t leave us too much time. Plus, the anticipation of my first ocean passage as captain was starting to weigh on me. 

One of my sailing mentors, and Phoenix’s previous owner, has a beautiful way of talking about fear. Fear is always going to be right next to you, and you have to listen to her because she’s giving you good information and trying to keep you in check. However, never turn and look directly at fear – for that is how she will paralyze you. Spending 5 days trying to enjoy New York City with medusa looming at my shoulder was starting to wear me out. So when the winds finally let up a bit on WednesdayI was very excited to be leaving. 

We dropped the mooring ball at 0705. Unfortunately, the current was against us at that point so it took us a while to get out of the harbor. Also, New York Harbor is stressful as fuck. There are so many ferries and tugs and barges and tankers and cargo carriers and on and on, and it’s very hard to figure out the traffic lanes. But that kept it exciting. We passed the Statue of Liberty which felt like an iconic moment. As we were approaching the Verrazano narrows we popped out part of the jib. The wind was pretty strong behind us which was perfect. After going under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge we were in the lee of shore a bit so we put up the main as well. It was double reefed and we just had part of the jib out for a while. Eventually we turned off the engine and put out the whole genoa. The wind started to taper off like it was predicted to, so we took the reef out and put up the staysail. She was sailing so nicely. It felt so good to be in salt water with her for the first time and have all her laundry out with no motor. Throughout the rest of the day we went back and forth between sailing and motor-sailing. 

Caleb and I did a two hours on two hours off watch schedule. That system worked really well for us. Even though it was a light sleep most of the time, it was enough to revive us for our next two hour shift. We turned off the motor for sunset and let Phoenix sail over the swell as the sun dipped behind New Jersey. I thought about Ferene with All Heart Inspirations. She always talks about sunset wishes. You make a wish on the sun as she goes down, and over night she takes that wish and helps to manifest it. I made a wish on the sunset that night. 

I had the first night watch. Slowly, after the sun was gone, the light faded until it was completely dark. The moonrise was phenomenal, and soon the sea was lit up with the white glow from the full moon. Caleb really enjoyed night sailing, he said it was peaceful. At some point in the night the wind started to come up a bit so I had to wake him up to help me furl the genoa. He was a really good sport about it, and had no grumbles about me taking 10 minutes of his precious two hours off. 

Looking for traffic was the most important part of the night shifts, as well as tracking our progress and knowing where we were. But other than that we could just sit and enjoy it. It was a beautiful time to just think. Sailing has a special way of forcing you to be in the present. 

Around 3am the wind started to go in front of us. I had known that it was coming, but wasn’t fully mentally prepared for how much it would slow us down. On starboard tack we were slamming straight into the swell. We were making some progress south, but since the southern New Jersey coast cuts to the west we were just going farther from shore. On port tack we had a much calmer ride, but that was taking us west, and it felt like we weren’t making any progress. The next 12 hours consisted of a slow painful beat. 

Around 0800 I began to realize that we were going to make it to Cape May much later than I had originally hoped. It felt like we were inching our way forward. Looking back, it was an interesting mental challenge. It’s hard to describe the feeling. Fear was there telling me the wind was supposed to come up that night. Impatience was there, sick of the endless row of New Jersey water towers. Sadness was there, thinking I’d have to drop off Caleb in northern Maryland and finish the trip (and celebrate) alone.

Mostly, I just DIDN’T want to be sailing up wind anymore. The only way to really describe it is that it really really sucked. The only saving grace during this upwind slog was that we saw dolphins. As we were watching their dorsal fins gliding up through the waves Caleb said “This is awesome! This makes up for all the shittiness of this part of the sail!” We both agreed later that while the dolphins were amazing to see, they didn’t quite make up for how bad we both felt during those last couple hours before Cape May. 

Finally, around 1630 we made it into the Cape May Canal. Once in the protected water, it felt like immediate relief. Relief from the swells and the wind. From the eastern coast of New Jersey. It felt so good. Looking at the wind forecast I saw that the next day the winds were supposed to turn to the north, which meant that if we anchored in Cape May for the night and continued up the Delaware the following morning we’d likely have another not fun upwind beat in front of us. So with Calebs input I decided we would continue up the Delaware that night. I had my eye on an anchorage that I thought we may end up at, though I also had it in my mind that we might just not stop. 

Getting through the canal was quick. We went under two bridges that didn’t have much clearance above the top of Phoenix’s mast, so that was pretty scary. Mathias had told me “you’ll have a minor heart attack, but you’ll be fine” which is exactly what happened. 

After leaving the canal, right at the start of our sail up the Delaware, I had the biggest oops of the trip. Basically, we cut too close to an area of shoaling. Though the charts read between 10-16ft  of water, those sandbars are always changing. I ran aground for the first time. I put Caleb on a course and had just gone to lay down when he called me back up because he saw the depth sounder reading less water than he liked. Just as I started to turn us around we hit bottom. I put her in reverse and upped the throttle just as a wave came to lift us off the sand. We made some progress but then that wave was gone and it left us back on the bottom. A couple more waves bounced us up and down before we were fully off of the shoal and motoring back in deep water. 

We were both definitely really shaken up. I considered going back into Cape May and dropping anchor, but then I thought about the wind shifting to the north again and decided to continue up the Delaware. We motored south a bit to ensure we were in deep water. After rounding the green can marking the channel we put up our double reefed main and part of the genoa and we flew. The wind had increased and was coming at 20-25 knots from the south-southwest, so it was right on our quarter. It felt so nice to be going so fast away from the wind after the conditions before Cape May. The GPS speed almost never went below 6 knots that night, and regularly was above 7, which for Phoenix is pretty speedy. 

Our bodies were really starting to get used to the two hours on two hours off routine. When we were about halfway up the Delaware I asked Caleb how he felt about not stopping. He was game, so once I got us to the C&D canal I continued into it. Getting up the Delaware only took us 8 hours. 

Even with the engine on, the C&D Canal felt so peaceful. To finally be in flat water for a stretch felt really good. It was the deepest two hour sleep I had the entire trip. The sun rose as we were nearing the end, finally entering the Chesapeake. The wind picked up from the north like it was supposed to, so we motor-sailed easily down the bay to Baltimore Harbor. We just had to keep our eyes out for crab pots. Getting all the way into Baltimore Harbor took us a while, but it was nice to be seeing other sailboats and so many marinas. 

We pulled into Henderson’s Wharf around 1530, making it a 56 and a half hour trip from NYC. We were so excited when we finally got to the dock. We cracked a celebratory beer, and about 30 minutes later the wave of exhaustion hit us. We both showered and then went down the street for a burger. After so much planning and stressing and excitement and anticipation it all felt so good to have made it and to release those feelings. We got back to the boat and fell asleep around 1900, and slept for over 12 hours. It was so nice.