Century Club: mike pitchford

The Log of the AYC 2026 Long Island Sound (LIS) Cruise -
Annapolis – Saturday, July 18: our group of sixteen cruisers, fifteen by boat and one by land, had several discussions of the pending heavy seas off the Jersey shore for the following Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday was to be the initial travel day, but, for those that could, Sunday became the beginning of the cruise up to the Sound.
Sunday, July 19: found nine AYC boats in Cape May, Miss Lynn, Bella Vita, Unleashed, Respect, Sequel, Encore, Winsome Winn, Trekker, and Annie B, with two more boats, Orca and Dragonfly already in LIS.
Monday, July 20: four boats, Pier Pressure, Cygnus, Seclude and No Rules, begin the cruise, and the nine boats already in Cape May area head up the Jersey Shore, eight going outside the Jersey shore, and Annie B doing the ICW to visit friends.
Pier Pressure has an unfortunate beginning and with boat issues has to end the cruise within the first hour. Seclude has better luck (after emergency repairs – replacing a water pump Saturday evening and Sunday), and it makes Atlantic City, with Misty Blue, and Cygnus, doing a later start, making Cape May.
Tuesday, July 21: Bella Vita, ahead of the pack, is well into the Sound at Port Washington. Eight boats are in the Great Kills, Sandy Hook, New York area. Cygnus and Seclude, brave the four foot seas and 20 kt winds making the transit up the Jersey Coast, arriving at the Verrazano Narrows Bridge at noon.
Wednesday and Thursday, July 22 – 23: our group got off to a great official start of the 2026 LIS Cruise. After warming up at an unofficial cruise stop Wednesday at Port Washington we started hitting our stride in Oyster Bay with Port Captain Michael Epstein as our host. It all began with a nice gathering at Sagamore YC for cocktails and dinner on Wednesday. Thursday brought us to the Teddy Roosevelt home and estate, with a tour done by a very knowledgeable National Park Service tour leader.
With a lay day, this was followed by visits to the quaint waterside town of Oyster Bay. Our dinner at the Seawanhaka Corinthian YC was an experience enjoyed by all with new friendships being built and old ones polished! The Oyster Bay Marine Center launch rides to and from SCYC allowed us nice views of the harbor, shore and various crafts in the extensive mooring fields.
Friday, July 24: Port Captain, Bob Lutz, having never been to Port Jefferson, was amazed by the energy in the town and within our cruise group. The exceptional weather provided a perfect backdrop to our short layover, and it was wonderful to see so many of our cruisers enjoy a relaxing happy hour at the Port Jefferson Yacht Club (PJYC) and venture into town for dinner and a little after dinner ice cream.
The team at PJYC was incredibly gracious and helpful in organizing our happy hour and accommodating as many of our boats as possible, especially since Danfords Marina was not fully operative. Next time we visit, we should bring a burgee for PJYC to hang in their bar. They certainly earned it. We could also see Port Jefferson becoming a two-night stay in the future so we can truly take in all the town has to offer.
Given the limited slips in Port Jefferson, a small “advance” contingent of our cruisers opted for Milford overnight. They did the tough work of making sure the restaurants and especially the ice cream at Scoopy Doo’s was good to go for our visit later in the week.
Saturday, July 25: the full group united for the first time headed to Greenport. The bus to the McCall Winery and Farm departed at 4:30 for a wine tasting and dinner. The McCalls (Russ and Nicola) hosted a tour of their restored barn and wine storage rooms. We then had an excellent dinner of Wagu style beef burgers from cattle raised on the farm.
Sunday, July 26: was a lay day that allowed us time to visit a small maritime museum next to the ferry landing and several small art galleries in town as well. Sunday evening we add a few people and subtract a few people at our dinner at the Shelter Island Yacht Club.
Monday and Tuesday, July 27 - 28: the AYC fleet cruised to Mystic Seaport Museum where we planned a two day stay. However, as the cruise leadership had been doing since before the cruise began, looking at future weather forecasts, revealed a poor outlook for the cruise to the following port of Bristol. Forecast had deteriorated further for Wednesday between Mystic and Bristol with 7 ft. waves and 25kt winds with 40kt gusts for Wednesday.
Wednesday and Thursday, July 29 - 30. The cruise and port leadership team, began developing options as we had a major event, a visit to the Herreshoff Marine Museum followed by a New England Lobster Boil (already fully paid for) planned for Bristol. We ended up staying in Mystic at the Museum for four days while we waited out the weather. We did manage to convince the caterer to bring the Lobster Boil to us. It was magical holding it in Mystic Seaport after hours as the sun finally showed up after 36 hours of rain.
Friday, July 31: Changed crews. Friend Hank flew home and college roomates who double as a delivery crew, Dave and Skip, flew up. We left the Museum around 10:40 and the Mystic River around 11:30 after fueling up. We arrived Great Kills at the Richmond County Yacht Club that evening at 6:00.
Saturday, August 1: the delivery crew left Great Kills at 6:00am and arrived in Cape May before noon. Arriving early and watching the weather we decided to fuel up and keep moving up the Delaware, possibly stopping for the night in Chesapeake City. we passed Chesapeake City at 3:30 and decided to head all the way to Annapolis arriving at 6:00pm, a 12 hour, 238 mile day.

had the refrigerator our for repair. turns out it had no detctable leak but did need some freon. Went back by boat to pick it up and make installation easy (since they had to crry it to the boat.

The family will be together three times in a six month window for niece and nephew weddings. As a result the usual summer family reunion in Annapolis shrank in size (just 18 total). Over the long holiday weekend just three of us plus spouses plus kids and grand kids and some USMC friends just returning to the US from six years living overseas joined together for some boat, Bay and pool time.

Almost every watercraft went out, some several times. That included the Key West, Avon and all three kayaks. We even got the Oday daysailer launched and rigged. The weather kept us from taking the big boat out for the fireworks but a good time was had by all!

short creek cruise and dinner at Cantler's