Motoring SW along the northern coast of Long Island, New York, we discovered another great anchorage in Manhasset Harbour which is relatively close to the tidal gate called Hells Gate. As we are now at the end of the season, there was ample room to anchor with protection from all directions except perhaps a strong NW although I doubt this direction would be a problem. The towns of Kings Point, Great Neck, Port Washington, Manhasset and Manorhaven surround the bay. After another brilliant sunset, we departed the following day ready to negotiate the East River. We waited for the tide at Hell Gate to slacken a little then continued on through New York City. The sights, smells and sounds of New York with helicopters overhead, sirens wailing along the shore-side freeways, Staten Island ferries, sightseeing tours, barges being pushed and towed by tugs and a myriad of other distractions is always a sensory overload. However, it is such a vibrant fantastic city, we always feels honoured to be allowed to pass through it whenever we're there. It's certainly much easier to go to New York by boat instead of by car.

On the East River we passed a blue and white ship with no windows anchored near the Rikers Island jail complex and thought this looked really strange but it turns out that this 625 foot long ship is the world's largest floating prison. It was brought to New York in 1992 to reduce overcrowding on Rikers Island and holds 800 prisoners. The inmates have a full-sized gym with a basketball court on the top deck and we could easily see the prisoners exercising as we passed by. It is known by inmates and guards as "The Boat" but its true name is the Vernon C. Bain Center. Funny as it may seem, for 10 years three maritime crew were maintained on The Ship under Coast Guard regulations but after years of monitoring the prison barge, it was finally accepted that it was in fact a jail, not a boat and no longer needed coast guard supervision.

It is always an exciting event seeing the Statue of Liberty and the city but after an hour and a half, we were through it all and ready for some quiet time at sea. We headed down the New Jersey coast in flat seas with 7 knots of easterly breezes and a 400 mile trip ahead of us. This was the best window we'd seen for quite a while. Many others were also taking advantage of the conditions. The strong NW winds we experienced a few days earlier had completely flattened the seas and took us all the way to Cape Hatteras in these same conditions. But the upcoming forecast will take some thought and careful planning.

(See Photo Gallery for more photos.)