Flying Up Long Island Sound
08 May 2008 | Essex, CT
Mostly sunny, 23C, wind SE 10, seas calm
Photo: Leaving New York, East looking south
We slipped our mooring in Manhattan at 0615h yesterday, and steamed south around Battery Point, then north up the East River and through Hell Gate. We played the tides and currents right, and as we passed Roosevelt Island the chartplotter's speed readout started going up, and we shot through Hell Gate at 12.4 knots! The turbulence was swerving the boat around a bit, and it was great fun steering through the twists and turns in the channel. On our way out we passed a small sailboat trying to motor against the current, and we figured they'd take five hours to do what we did (going the other way) in forty minutes. Long Island Sound has somewhat of a bad reputation for its bad mix of current, tide and wind, but we were able to hit all three in favourable alignment, and we pulled into a marine at Westbrook, CT before sunset after putting eighty miles behind us, our best daylight only transit of the voyage.
The next day brought light showers, mist, and colder temperatures, with stronger wind and more rain in the forecast. After topping up on diesel in Westbrook, we motor-sailed towards Essex, a short 15-mile passage away, where we figured we'd sit out the bad weather. En route, we encountered the sailboat Isabella at anchor just outside the breakwater that marks the channel entering the Connecticut River. Their engine had failed and they were looking for some help getting into a marina. We took them in tow, and headed up river to Essex, where we both picked up moorings at the Essex Chandlery, which has just been bought by the Brewer marina chain. We then popped over to Isabella and were greeted by Sid, Sue and Kevin, who hail from Thunder Bay. We discussed their engine problem and reckoned it was bad fuel, as they had just bought the boat and it had been sitting in a yard for two years with a quarter tank of old diesel in it. A quick inspection of the filters, which were black and completely clogged, and the fuel tank, which had a considerable amount of grunge, ick and blech in it, confirmed our suspicions. After pumping the old fuel out and selling them one of our jerry cans of filtered diesel, they were able to get the engine flashed up and happily chugging once again.
The Connecticut River is a beautiful piece of water, with many stately homes lining its banks that are gentle slopes on the south side and higher and somewhat cliffy on the north. The spring runoff is carrying out more than its fair share of debris, and we had to dodge several large dead trees as they were being swept out the river and into the Sound.
We read in our cruising guide that Essex was voted one of the best small towns in America, and we hope to have a couple of days to check it out.