BOAT CAMP!!!!

For two years we have made a boat trip to Milford, taken a dock, and had Caleb and Ceci sleep over on the boat – Milford Mania in 2022 and 2nd Annual Trip to Milford in 2023. At the end of last year’s visit, Caleb, very thoughtfully, said that they stayed over one night and then two nights, so shouldn’t they sleep over THREE nights the next time? And can Addie come, too?

With that prompt, we decided to host BOAT CAMP during Summer 2024. When we heard that Don and Cindy would have their granddaughter, Charlotte, who is 12 years old, onboard for two weeks, we decided that we should host our boat camp during that time. With everyone’s schedules involved, there was only one window of time where this could happen – June, after Father’s Day. We would have the three of our granchildren for 4 days and 3 nights. 

I put a LOT of planning into this event. Truth be told, I overplanned. That’s ok. It is much better to have too much planned than not enough. We chose the week, the location, the activities, and then crossed our fingers for good weather.

June 17th arrived! We felt prepared for these three darlings – Caleb, now 10, Ceci 7½, and Addie soon to be 8 years old. We dared not depart Shennecossett without feeding the fish, a must for any child, and adults, too. The kids had another blast feeding these big guys. This never gets old.

I decided to make individual log books for our crew and for Charlotte. I had searched on Amazon and found nothing suitable, IMHO. So why not design my own?  This was a good winter/spring project for me. I had Staples do the binding.

We chose Napatree and Watch Hill for our boat camp location. The 1½-2 hour travel time was a perfect amount of time. Long enough to enjoy the ride but not so long that the crew becomes restless. Napatree is a great anchorage – the beach is a short walk over the barrier, lots of room for water play, and Watch Hill for a bit of land fun.

The clamor for dinghy driving lessons began as soon as that anchor dug in.

Next on the child-driven agenda was a quick trip to the beach. Napatree is a great beach – good sand and waves.

We headed back to the anchorage to greet Limerick and help them raft to us.

After dinner we gathered on Limerick for dessert and a game of kid charades in the aft cockpit.

Al made conch horns for each “boat camper.” We still have quite a collection of conch horns from our Bahamas trips. Time for sunset horns!

The second day of boat camp began with a shaky start. For Nana. The kids were awake at 4:30 AM. Yes, 4:30 AM. I sternly told them that it was not light yet, it was not morning yet, and it was not time to get up! Haha. The “quiet” lasted until 5:30 AM whereupon, I gave up and got up.

The morning was spent doing assorted this and that, all boating activities.

BEACH TIME!

For years, I have wanted to bring my grandchildren to Watch Hill to ride the Watch Hill Merry-Go-Round.  The merry-go-round is thought to have been built around 1876 by the Charles W. Dare Company of New York and was part of a traveling carnival until 1879, when the carnival was forced to abandon it in Watch Hill. The New England Hurricane of 1938 severely damaged the carrousel. Considering the devastation wrought everywhere by that hurricane, it is truly amazing that all but three of the horses were recovered from the sand dunes and the carousel was restored to operation. 

The bodies of the horses were carved from single blocks of wood, with the legs carved separately and attached. The horses still have their original agate eyes; although other decorations and parts have been replaced, including manes and reins. The horses are suspended by chains under the canopy. As the merry-go-round rotates, centrifugal force pushes the horses outward, hence, the name “flying horses.”

The merry-go-round was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Side note: Is it the term carousel or merry-go-round? I foolishly looked that question up and tumbled down a rabbit hole…….

That evening we settled our crew down with a movie to watch, followed by a stern lecture from Nana about waking up in the morning. Never, ever again, can they get lip at 4:30 in the morning!

Wednesday morning was kayaking day.

Then Papa had an idea – tow the kayaks with the dinghy, fast. This was better captured in video so here are two short clips.

After lunch, we returned to the beach.

After beach body clean-up (so much sand….) we boarded Limerick for Cindy’s craft project. I have been teaching the kids about nautical signal flags. Cindy took that idea and ran with it, bringing the supplies so that each could make their own named signal flag pillows.

Thursday was our last day of boat camp. The crew slept in until a decent time again (I think we’ve got this worked out!)

It was four days of fun and play with our grandchildren, making memories for all of us. Limerick’s participation in boat camp was a bonus. Don, Cindy, and Charlotte are like family. Yes, it was exhausting at times and the Kadey Krogen 39 is not really designed for five people, but every moment of this adventure was special and filled our hearts with love and joy.