July 30th, 2015

We are still in Newport and take a dingy tour of the harbour, we take it easy and
decide not to go and see another mansion. We spend all morning catching up on email and the blog. I needed to print some documents off and the Seafarers mission was there to help with whatever we needed including the WIFI access.

The port is beautiful and we go for a long walk around the town and then head to the yacht club for a cocktail and back to the boat early. We are heading to Sag Harbour tomorrow.

July 31,2015

We motor sail all day in big rollers.

We arrive in Sag Harbour the weather is still great. Contact the Yacht club on the VHF; I hear $2.00 per foot and we pull in. We have not been at a dock in ages. Well when we get there all the mega yachts are lined up and I ask the dock steward to confirm the price. No, must be a mistake because it is $6.50 a foot. The mooring balls are $2.00 per foot; we head to the mooring balls so we still have access to showers etc. When we get to the dock we find that the place we rented the ball from is the Harbour-master’s office and they are now closed so no shower key. We plead with another two dock employees from a private mooring company and they give us a key that has to be returned as soon as we are finished. So that works out. The showers are public and not that clean and they smell, but they worked.

We ask the dock workers where to eat as it is 8 PM and we want something fast and good. He suggests a pub on the corner. It is very crowded and noisy but the burgers are great.

We have noticed being 7 miles from the Hamptons that there are some very expensive cars and bars near the water. We pass on going into them because people are dressed in their finest pick-up gear. Stilettos on the dock???
Not our style. People are not overly friendly.

We walk down a sidewalk to return to the dingy and can’t get by on the sidewalk because this large SUV is sitting with their passenger doors open and texting and using their cell phones. My very patient and gentle husband has lost it and slams their doors shut so we can get by them on the narrow sidewalk. There was no confrontation but they got the message.
We are still following the Cruising Guide for the New England Coast but it was last updated in 1999. It described Sag Harbour as friendly and quaint it reminded us of Wasaga Beach on a Saturday night.

Early to bed so we can leave first thing in the morning.

July 31st, 2015

Let’s go we are off the mooring ball at 6am. It is lumpy and the winds pick up along Long Island Sound. There are 3-4 feet swells. We look up a number of options to pull into for the night but both agree that a dock would be great.

We contact Mount Sinai Yacht club, which is 2 ½ miles east of Port Jefferson. There is a dredged channel that is very narrow and the current runs at 2 knots. The club is a self-help club and they accept our club membership and give is reciprocal privileges for $2.00 per foot. This is great.

The membership and staff are really friendly and there is a bar and restaurant.

We are welcomed by a guy from Ralph’s Fishing Station and Marina he is the son of the owner and was visiting friends and invites us over for live entertainment in the afternoon. We go and the band is fantastic. We stayed for two sets then back to the yacht club for Karaoke and dinner.

August 01,2015 to August 02, 2015

Shop, laundry, supplies etc. Very restful and laid back. Planned our next steps.

August 03,2015

Depart Mt. Sinai early as we have to hit the tides at the right time. We are on our way to the East River that we reached at 1 PM. We decided to keep going passing Port Washington and heading for Hell Gate. We pass the mouth of the Harlem River and Riker’s Prison . There are jets flying overhead into the airport about every 5 minutes or less. It is imperative that we pick the current right. The westward (ebb) current is 4 ½ knots with 5-foot standing waves in places. It’s a conveyor belt slay ride flying past Manhattan at 10 + knots. We are within 50 yards from shore waving to joggers and feeling the vibe and congestion of the Big Apple. Ahead we can see the Statue of Liberty and we turn north into the Hudson River.

The ferry service is high speed and there can be at least five of these very large boats flying past you and causing huge wakes. You would think that they are racing and headed in all different directions. It is a very busy Harbour. We decide not to stay near New York as we visited there last March. Also Moira’s Mom is not good health and it’s time to hustle home.

We anchor just past the George Washington Bridge . It is a wake up call because we won’t be doing any more ocean sailing and we both agree that we will miss it.
We have had no major storms and the weather has been good making the summer all the more enjoyable.

August 04,2015

It’s 3 am and the lightning and thunderstorm wakes us up. We are not sure of the anchor holding due to the strong current and hard bottom so John checks it to ensure that we haven’t moved. We didn’t get much sleep so we get up and get ready to head out around 6am and the anchor chain has wrapped and tied itself around the anchor . Took a while to get it untangled. John is successful in getting it unwrapped . Lesson to be learned we didn’t back down on the chain and should have to straighten it out. We should know better by now.

The sun is now up and it is another beautiful day.