Sandy Hook
15 September 2019 | Atlantic Highlands NJ
Mike
September 16, 2019 Sunday
We dropped the mooring ball around ten in the morning with the plan to catch the slack tide at Hells Gate. We had to fight some current getting there but the advantage of hitting slack tide was the trip down the East River was slower and allowed us to enjoy the views of the city a little more than the last visit when the current had pushed us down the river doing over 10 knots.
We found the trip was a lot less intimidating than when we had done it several years earlier. Some of it was being familiar with what to expect and some was that being on a Sunday there was a little less commercial traffic. But there were still enough fast ferries, barges, palatial yachts, and security patrols to keep on our toes. Plus, we had the added fun of the weekend power boaters and jet skiers flying at full speed off all wakes.
Soon we were waving at the Statue of Liberty and headed down to Sandy Hook and refueling at the marina at Atlantic Highlands and then getting a mooring ball. You can anchor there but there is not much room and we wanted to get an early start for the long day ahead. We also met a friend for dinner in town and getting back to the boat late that evening was much easier in the Yacht Club water shuttle than using our dinghy.