The actual route
Only the points matching each recording day are used, which removes the repeated Garmin tail data that had inflated earlier totals.
Lady Liberty, there and back
The northbound run included a deliberate Statue of Liberty sightseeing stop. The return brought Grey Expectations past her again before the final run to Island Heights.
Eleven days, on water and ashore
Pick a day to explore its route, photographs and recorded phone activity. Times are Eastern daylight time.
The voyage log
Each card combines the corrected itinerary with Garmin-derived leg statistics. Distances are the unique day-scoped GPX tracks rather than repeated Garmin tail data.
Island Heights → Stamford
The trip opened with the longest northbound jump: Island Heights to Stamford. New York Harbor was part of the day rather than something to rush through; Grey Expectations deliberately stopped for the Statue of Liberty before continuing into Long Island Sound.
- GPX distance
- 86.7 nm
- Top speed
- 30.58 kt
- Moving time*
- 4.8 hr
- Water temp
- 62.8–74.0°F
Stamford → Stonington
Kirsten joined in Stamford. The next stop was Stonington, Connecticut. The actual trip did not stop in Mystic.
- GPX distance
- 80.0 nm
- Top speed
- 30.16 kt
- Moving time*
- 3.8 hr
- Water temp
- 62.3–72.9°F
Stonington → Nantucket
The key tactical day. A worsening forecast pushed the Nantucket run two days earlier than planned. Patchy morning fog and afternoon thunderstorms were expected. Two dense fog encounters forced major speed reductions, but the boat reached Nantucket before the afternoon weather.
- GPX distance
- 91.4 nm
- Top speed
- 32.49 kt
- Moving time*
- 5.3 hr
- Water temp
- 61.5–72.0°F
Nantucket → Newport
After the Nantucket stay, Kirsten had left on Saturday. John, Tim and Charlie departed Sunday for Newport, beginning the four-day return.
- GPX distance
- 69.7 nm
- Top speed
- 35.23 kt
- Moving time*
- 3.5 hr
- Water temp
- 66.1–75.8°F
Newport → Branford
Newport to Branford. The photographs from the bow include the Newport mansions. Garmin data also shows the deepest sustained water of the trip on this leg.
- GPX distance
- 78.2 nm
- Top speed
- 31.42 kt
- Moving time*
- 3.8 hr
- Water temp
- 63.2–72.1°F
Branford → Jersey City
Branford to Jersey City: west through Long Island Sound and back into New York Harbor, setting up a short final day home.
- GPX distance
- 71.4 nm
- Top speed
- 31.39 kt
- Moving time*
- 3.2 hr
- Water temp
- 63.9–70.9°F
Jersey City → Island Heights
Jersey City to Island Heights. New York Harbor became the visual bookend to the northbound Statue of Liberty stop before Grey Expectations completed the trip home.
- GPX distance
- 52.8 nm
- Top speed
- 30.53 kt
- Moving time*
- 2.9 hr
- Water temp
- 66.3–80.4°F
Stonington → Nantucket, two days early
Tuesday morning in Stonington, the planned progression changed. With worsening weather expected, Grey Expectations went straight to Nantucket. The forecast called for patchy morning fog and afternoon thunderstorms. Two dense fog banks still developed en route, but the boat reached Nantucket before the afternoon weather. Conditions worsened after arrival, validating the decision to use the available window.
What the boat recorded
Speed is calculated from consecutive GPS points. Depth and water temperature come from Garmin track-point extensions.
Voyage profile by distance
Click or tap the graph to locate the nearest recorded sample on the map.
Recorded July 5 on the Nantucket → Newport leg.
On the Newport → Branford leg.
The recurring underway band across the trip.
| Date | Leg | GPX nm | Top kt | Moving hrs* |
|---|
*Moving hours are a derived estimate using points at or above 1.5 kt; Garmin recording time includes idle and powered-on periods.
Calculated from the day-scoped Garmin track geometry. Repeated historical track tails in later files are excluded.
Derived from consecutive GPS positions and timestamps. The recorded trip maximum is 35.23 kt.
A derived estimate using track points at or above 1.5 kt so powered-on dock and idle periods do not dominate.
Read from Garmin track-point extensions where available. Very low individual values can occur near docks or during sensor transitions.
Read from Garmin extensions. Short-window analysis showed little consistent speed-driven bias, so large changes are more likely geographic.
Used as supporting evidence for shore movement and timing. Raw private location history is not included in the publishable website.
Nantucket was the center of gravity
The marine GPX mostly stops telling the story once Grey Expectations is on the mooring. The shore timeline and photos fill in the rest.
Island Heights → New York Harbor → Stamford
Kirsten joins in Stamford; Stonington → Nantucket
Nantucket → Newport → Branford → Jersey City → home
Croquet in whites
The house became the base after the first night aboard. Tim’s birthday weekend unfolded ashore while Grey Expectations waited on the mooring.
Firecracker 5K
The early Timeline movement aligns with race morning. Kirsten left Nantucket on Saturday.
Beach + dunes dinner
The evening Timeline movement aligns with the beach dinner seen in the trip photographs.
The ride home begins
John returned to the boat Sunday with Tim and Charlie. The next morning’s departure from Newport brought the mansions into view from the bow.
Scenes from the trip
Tap any image to open it. The full collection below includes camera dates where available. “Illustrated mode” stylizes the photos without changing their geometry or inventing a different boat.
The full trip collection
Date the undated photosAll trip photographs have dates
Which day was this?
Use the photo numbers below when sending dates in chat. For example: U01 — July 8, 2026. You can send a few at a time, group photos with the same date, or say “skip” for an image that doesn’t belong in the trip collection.
Tap a thumbnail to enlarge it. The same number appears in the enlarged caption. Existing dates come from camera timestamps; these images did not have a usable trip date.
The website can tell the Nantucket story without publishing the raw Google Timeline export or a precise private-house coordinate. The trip explorer uses date-limited summaries; the full location-history export and private-house coordinates are excluded.