We keep doing this, planning at 6 knots then doing much better.

Consequently, after two days of "champagne sailing" at 7 and 8+ knots, noon yesterday we were well ahead of schedule. Not that keen on a night entry to New York, when the rope holding the genoa block at the pole end broke, we were goose winged, we just rolled away the genoa to slow down and burn some time.

But in vain. We just kept bashing on doing a respectable 6+ knots even under single reefed main. At midnight, 3 miles from the channel entry, discretion was the better part etc... and we hove to and drifted back the way we'd come for an hour.

Now, its not that I'm impatient but when the hpalf moon climbed in the eastern sky we decided there was enough light to make a prudent entry and maybe "valour" should have its moment.

Following the well lit channel we buoy hopped, counting the seconds between flashes, one elephant, two elephant, three ele... (alternate buoys were 2 1/2 second intervals), and cautiously made our way into the outer part of New York harbour with the first, early rays of dawn lighting up Manhattan off to our starboard.

Back in the Caribbean we'd met Noel and Tracey, on holiday on a chartered Island Packet. I don't remember if they invited us or we invited ourselves but we arrived off their yacht club at Raritan, New Jersey, about twelve miles west and south of the Statue of Liberty just before 7am. A quick exchange of texts had (possibly) Tracey out her bed at an ungodly hour and the Raritan Yacht Club launch leading us to a Guest Mooring.

Pretty tired having been up most the night we collapsed into bed shortly after 8am.

Come 9, we were woken by "the New York Symphony".....what I can only think of as being automatic rifle fire, coming from woods maybe half a mile off our starboard bow. An hour or so later its still going. It might be something else but having been woken and then sat in the cockpit listening to sporadic "fire" I cant think what else it could possibly be. Maybe I've been reading too many Winston's War tomes.

(Wishing I had my camouflage clothes on but I can't find them anywhere!*)

Augmenting the gunfire, there's the odd police siren (but they're not finding Rambo), the haunting wail and rumble of the double decker trains and the background noise of the poor commuters heading up the freeway to work and perhaps the pointless search for a parking space in NYC.

Anyway, once the sleeping beauty wakes (who else could sleep through this racket) we will call the launch and head ashore for some exploration and hopefully bacon, pancakes, maple syrup, eggs easy over and of course......strawberries. What else would you have with your bacon and egg!

Stuart & Anne
Raritan, New Jersey

* Thanks to Eric for another hilarious if well worn joke.