Ben
08/06/2009, Atlantic Highlands NJ

Our trip through NY was pretty uneventful. It is quite a site to sail right past the Statute of Liberty and Ellis Island. We were able to time our trip so that the currents were with us through Hell Gate and down the East River.... So we made good time, 6-7 knots almost all day.

Our trip through NY seemed rather calm compared to what happened after anchoring in Atlantic Highlands. We pulled in behind a French boat with a name I can't even pronounce and dropped anchor with plenty of space in between. The anchor chain tightened up nicely and I was preparing to put the snubber on the chain when the French boat appeared to be nearer than I remembered. I like to have a good amount of space between our boat and the other boats anchored near us so there is no danger of bumper boats in a thunderstorm. I thought maybe I was going crazy because I was sure I had more than adequate space when the anchor was dropped. So I delayed putting the snubber on and was trying to figure out what kind of optical illusion had caused this boat to seem closer, when I glanced back at the French boat and realized that the boat was dragging anchor directly for us.

I called the rest of the crew and started passing out boat fenders waiting for the imminent collision. Unfortunately, the captain of the French boat had just gone to shore and his wife was alone on the boat. She came on deck just as she started to drag and got her boat fenders out as well. We tried to communicate but it wasn't going well as her English was poor and my French was much worse. She was in a Beneteau Oceanis 390 and, of course, was headed right for us, and not for the 300 feet of open water on either side of us. The boat drifted down on us semi broadside, but we were able to shove her off. Unfortunately, her anchor chain began to drag across ours which could pull our anchor up as well.

Instead of shoving to the side and watching her merrily drifting downwind of us to who knows where, we decided to raft her alongside. Partly because she was alone and this would keep her anchor from pulling ours out. So we did our part to keep good foreign relationships with France and had a little raft up party with the French. It was a bit of a struggle to get her rafted up as it was a spur of the moment plan, but we had her secure alongside in short order thanks to the help of my fast acting crew.

At this point, we tried to remember more French words from high school and she worked on her English as we waited for her husband to return. It was a little bit awkward. Kind of like pulling a stranger off of the street and into your house and trying to talk to them only they speak a different language. She was a very sweet lady and her husband was quite surprised when he returned from town to now find his boat tied up to another boat. He came on board and was very apologetic and told us he would move as quick as he could. We told him no problem and to take his time. We talked for a few a minutes and Kim took a picture. He pulled up his anchor, we cast off his lines, and with an au revoir, they were gone and reanchored once again, only downwind of us this time. Well that is one way to meet other cruisers and make friends.

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Kim
08/04/2009, Port Washington NY

After a couple of days in Oyster Bay we headed north to Manhasset Bay (ie Port Washington). It's a great anchorage for cruising because there is a free dinghy dock, huge grocery store, West Marine, and various other shops all within walking distance.

At Port Washington, we also added 3 new crew members. The boys now have hermit crabs. They are having a great time racing them, watching them climb, and fighting each other. They can even play Yatzee. Who knew? They have been a welcome addition to our crew and are still alive after 2 days. That's longer than "Jack Sparrow" (last trips hermit crab) lived on our last trip. He apparently wasn't destined to be a crab of the sea.

We decided to stay in Port Washington and sand the rest of our teak decks. It was a hot, all day project but they turned out really nice. What a mess though. We are both glad to be done with that.

Tomorrow is the day we head back through NY City. It is always an interesting trip. J

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Kim
07/31/2009, Oyster Bay, NY

Oyster Bay


Yesterday, we sailed to Oyster Bay. It was only about a 20 mile sail, however, it took us all day. The wind direction forced us to tack back and forth and we could barely make 5 knots. It was calm, relaxing sail though.

We dropped the anchor and had a yummy fish dinner (thanks to the boys). After we got all cleaned up, we decided to head into shore and see if we could locate a library and Laundromat. The met the dockmaster who informed us that they were showing a movie at the park 200 yards away. When we went to investigate, we found they were going to show ET at 8:30pm. After doing a little exploring we decided to find a soft patch of grass and watch the movie. We really couldn't have planned this.

The boys were out rowing the dingy around this morning already. They spotted a school of fish feeding and wanted to check it out. The fish were really stirring up the water, jumping out all over the place. When the rain started, they headed back for breakfast.

Guess I should get going. The rain stopped and we need to head out to get some laundry done before the rain starts again.

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Kim
07/29/2009, Port Jefferson NY

Continuing south, fun along the way

West Neck Harbor turned out to be a great stop for us. We were anchored about 200 yards from a peninsula with beaches on both sides . We collected shells and the boys snorkeled. They found several crabs which we brought to the boat in sand buckets. We ended up keeping the crabs for a couple of days and releasing them. Nathan's crab was beating up the other 2 crabs... sounds sort of familiar. J This made for hours of entertainment.

We left West Neck Harbor bound for Port Jefferson. They were only forecasting 5-10 knots of wind. There was a glob of storms far away and moving slowly. About half way to Port Jefferson the skies darkened and we donned our foul weather gear.... The storm was coming our direction and faster than predicted. With no where to hole up to wait it out, we decided to bring in the main sail. We were already sailing at 8knots... so with storms coming, more wind was coming. As it turned out, the storm headed northest and missed us entirely. Whew.

The highlight of this passage was the numerous Bluefish we caught. We only kept 2, but it seemed like every time the boys dropped the line in, they got a fish on the line. It doesn't seem to matter how many fish are caught, they never seem to tire of it. The biggest fish we caught was 27 inches...

We were thankful for the winds and made it to port about 6pm. Shortly after we finished dinner, the thunder and lightening began. Man are we ever glad to be in safe harbor tonight.

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Kim
07/27/2009, Coecles Harbor, Shelter Island

Coecles Harbor, Shelter Island

We got off the dock at Mystic Seaport around noon on Friday. About 10 miles out, the current was against us and the wind completely died. We had planned to sail all the way to Shelter Island, however, at 2-3 knots, it would be midnight before we would arrive. We decided to drop the anchor near Fisher Island and wait for the wind the following day. We had pretty good thunderstorms during the night, there was even a strike right on shore. The storm seemed to pass pretty quickly.

Nathan, Seth, and I pulled up the anchor around 9am and we made it to Coecles Harbor on Shelter Island around 2pm. It was a pretty warm day and within 15 minutes of dropping the anchor, the boys were swimming around the boat. There was some jellyfish in the area but they were the non-stinging type. J The boys had a good time trying to net them.

This morning we went to shore and did some swimming in the marina pool. The boys enjoyed getting to use their goggles and snorkels. Aaron is starting to really pick up on the swimming. We will be heading out shortly as there is a 48 hour anchor limit in this harbor. We will head to the other side of the island to anchor in West Neck Harbor.

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