09/10/2007, Manhasett New York
John and I have been spent a couple of very long days of motor sailing since the last post from "The Race" in Long Island Sound. We had about a 16 hour day yesterday after leaving Point Judith. We pulled into Port Jefferson on LI north shore just as the sun was setting. I am bummed to report that Christa is in the throes of some kind of charging or battery problem. Either the alternator is not putting our juice or the batteries refuse to except the charge. The only way to fire up the engine is to have "big red" which is my portable Honda generator running and driving the installed battery charger. But I digress......
Today.....John awoke at 4 am with some kind of notion that someone or something had climbed aboard and that he "had heard voices." Well since we were 45 minutes from our scheduled waking time and since I wasn't sleeping well anyway due to alternator worries..... we made coffee. We weighted anchor and were underway by 530 am. It was foggy and drizzling, but much to our surprise we had a very nice 10 to 15 knot easterly breeze to push us down the sound. We also timed the tide to give us a fair current. We moved along a 6 knots plus the entire distance.
We moored along the fuel dock at Manhasett Bay Marina around noon time. We filled up Christa's fuel tanks which is the first time I've ever filled up at a gas dock. I usually jerry can in all my fuel. One thing to note is the vacuum gauge on the Racor fuel filter is showing some movement which means the filter is starting to clog up. This is also a first for me, but then again I've never drained the tanks as low as I did today. Anyway, John and I got a slip at the marina for the evening. I've been working on trouble shooting the battery situation and haven't solved the situation, but believe maybe the batteries need to be replaced. But I'm still trying to figure it out.
Tomorrow we plan on being at Hell Gate which is the confluence of the East River, Harlem River and the Long Sound. The current can be brutal. We hope to go through the gate at slack tide about 10:15 am and proceed down the east side of Manhatten. We will anchor up somewhere near Sandy Hook New Jersey. Looks like the winds are favorable for an early morning departure Weds to make the transit down the New Jersey coast. More later!
Capt Chris
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Comments [3]
09/09/2007, The Race
Yesterday my buddy John and moved Christa from the top of Point Judith Pond to the Harbor of Refuge which basically juts out from PJ and is protected on all sides. We delayed leaving for Long Island Sound by a day due to adverse winds. Right on the nose, 15 to 20kts with higher gusts. So we had al day to assimilate, stow for sea and generally rest.
This morning we arose at 0330 with a favorable forecast and as importantly a favorable tide. On this leg down the LI Sound most everything is timed based on currents in certain bottle necks. The first one, "The Race" is a no joke choke point. In fact about an hour ago Christa was squirted through The Race at nearly 8 kts! Although we are on the iron jenny, we are making tracks toward Port Jefferson on Long Island's north shore. We hope to arrive around 8 or 9pm this evening. Yes a long day, but were trying to make up for a day lost. If all goes well, we will leave Port Jefferson tomorrow bound for Manahasset which will be our staging point to ride through Hell Gate and down the east side of Manhatten.
Capt Chris with Agent Gamble aboard
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Good Luck!
Debbi
09/07/2007, Williamstown ma
I've been watching the weather very carefully this entire week as it oscillates back and forth. This is the tricky thing with sailing during the changing of the seasons.
I'm still on a mooring at the top of Point Judith Pond RI and will have gathered up my shipmate John who's going to lend a hand down the sound. So the low pressure system is still sitting off the SE coast of the US doing....well no body really has a good idea of its future. But hear is what a forecaster has to say about the bugger today.
"An area of disturbed weather (99L) that formed along an old frontal boundary has grown much better organized over the past six hours, thanks to an decrease in wind shear. Strong upper level winds from the southwest are still creating about 15-20 knots of wind shear over 99L, but satellite loops of 99L show that a more organized circulation has formed, with heavy thunderstorm activity starting to build north of the center. The GFS-based SHIPS model is predicting wind shear will fall to 5 knots on Saturday over 99L, and this should allow the storm to organize into a tropical storm by Saturday. The storm may have time to intensify into a Category 1 hurricane before it makes landfall Sunday night in South Carolina or North Carolina, as predicted by the latest run of the GFDL model. However, the SHIPS intensity model and the HWRF models are calling for a tropical storm and tropical depression, respectively, at landfall. My best guess is that this will be a 60-65 mph tropical storm at landfall, but there is a very high amount of uncertainty with this forecast. The storm is then expected to track northward and then northeastward along the coast, bringing heavy rains and high winds to the mid-Atlantic and New England areas on Monday and Tuesday. The Hurricane Hunters are scheduled to investigate 99L at 5pm EDT today. NHC issued this special advisory at 8:45am today"
With this in mind John and I hope to depart Point Judith tomorrow and head toward Fishers Island. Although the winds are not ideal, the forcast is SW 10 to 15 with gusts to 20kts, however the wind will be close to on the nose. The wind will back off nicely on Sunday, but a delay in leaving would put us closer to the potential tropical storm. At this point I think it may be better to suck it up and bash into a little weather. The leg to Fishers Island is only 16 nm or so. More to follow!
Capt Chris
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09/04/2007, Point Judith Pond RI
A low pressure system developed yesterday afternoon to the east of northern Florida. It is not a named tropical storm so the weather folks designate it "Invest99" for tracking purposes. It is slightly worrisome as the computer models are not in agreement and much uncertainty exists. It could develope and strike the east coast from the Carolina's anywhere north. Could impact my planned departure date.
The good news is that if a storm does threaten my current position, I am well protected and may be hauled out at Silver Springs marina. But since I am Joe Positive I think to myself "it will all work out." More later......later.
Capt Chris
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09/04/2007, Point Judith Pond RI
This morning I awoke prior to sunrise for work. What a drag...work is. But I was delighted to set off in the dingy on such a beautiful morning. I took a picture.
Capt Chris
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