August 16, 2010
Block Island, RI
Sunrise on the Atlantic
After waiting for Mark the Mechanic to show up and make “repairs” to the engine, we lounged around getting ready to go last Saturday. Around noon, we noticed that all the new arrivals were local power boating Guidos and our pace to depart became more rapid. The more that showed up, the faster we worked to get out of there. By the time the marina was full with weekenders drinking beer as fast as they could, we were pushing off the dock.
Under the Verrazano Bridge
We left around 1:20 pm and headed out the Absecon Inlet, back into the Atlantic. The waves were still big, but the wave period was much longer than the other night – not the nasty chop we had experienced. Plus, the winds were more than favorable. We set sail and had an amazing sail most of the way north along the Jersey shore.
Pat came on to relieve my watch around 4:00 am, just off shore of Manasquan. Not long after I was asleep, the winds had died and he fired up the old iron sail and motor sailed us the rest of the way up the coast. When I came back on watch at 6:00 am, we were at Sandy Hook, NJ, getting ready to enter New York Harbor. We continued on.
The Battery – NYC
We motor sailed all the way up under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, on up to Governor’s Island and into the East River, past everything East Manhattan, including the United Nations. The tides were with us the whole way. When we entered Hell Gate, I was amazed at the rapids created by the current we rode. We were rafting through those tidal waves at 10.4 knots!
Twenty-three hours later, we rounded Throg’s Neck and Long Island Sound opened up in front of us a little after noon. We set sail and headed east. The sailing on the sound was magnificent with the winds out of the south. We decided to push onward, across the sound, towards Block Island, Rhode Island.
Brooklyn Bridge & the East River
We pushed onward and continued to enjoy the non-stop, unbelievable sailing. We arrived at Block Island around 8:00 am Monday morning. We picked up and mooring in the Harbor and sat back to breath in the unbelievable turn of events that gave us the best gift of fair winds and terrific sailing! Almost two days straight of the best sailing you can imagine.
– Steve