Heading South

Pictures: Manhattan, looking at the new WTC with the cranes on top in the middle of the picture; Ken on the flying bridge of RISING TIDE, East River, NYC; children with waders getting net ready at Sandy Hook; sunset off of Norwalk, CT, in the Norwalk Islands

We felt fortunate to have such warm weather for leaving Cape Cod Bay and starting our trip south. And it was perfect for 4 days. It just wasn’t perfect long enough! For the next 4 days we have been stuck in a windy weather pattern that is making it hard to make progress.

On the good side, we had two friends, Ralph and John, help Ken move RISING TIDE from Cohasset to Duxbury. Then before casting off for the Cape Cod Canal and Buzzards Bay we had dinner out with our sons Pete and Justin. Beautiful summer weather helped us to make great mileage to Cuttyhunk, then Fisher’s Island, then the Norwalk Islands in Long Island Sound. Flat seas each day and calm nights were an added bonus. We only got ashore at Fisher’s Island, but we took a nice walk there and found a place to watch part of the Patriots-Jets game (Fisher’s Island is off the Connecticut coast but is part of New York State so locals were mostly Jets fans).

We also had a great trip through the East River in New York City, past La Guardia Airport, Riker Island, Brother Island (where Typhoid Mary was held), Manhattan and out into NYC Harbor with Coney Island, Ellis Island and Staten Island. It was hot in the river and there were only a few other boats.

We decided to stop at Sandy Hook in New Jersey, still within sight of the NYC skyline. It seemed too rough to continue and maybe too late in the day since we would need to go 25-30 miles to the next stop, either the inlet at Snake River or Manasquan. However, the forecast for the next few days wasn’t promising. At our anchorage off the beach in Sandy Hook we could see a row of matching 3-story houses and a lighthouse. It turned out that we were in the Gateway National Recreational Area, which includes Fort Hancock, a closed Army base, and several small museums demonstrating what the 1940s Army life was like. Also there are biking trails and hiking trails with information stops about the Revolutionary War to Cold War history of the area.

Even though the next few days featured drizzle and high winds, we were in the lee and enjoyed watching locals fishing from the shore, school kids on a field trip to catch sea life in nets, lots of bikers and joggers, and a prisoner beach-cleaning- crew. Twice we took the trail to the ocean beach side of this narrow isthmus. We moved mid-day on our third day at Sandy Hook to a town mooring field a mile from our anchorage. The town, Atlantic Highlands, has a nice downtown area near the dock. We have been able to re-provision and also to connect up with friends from TAMURE, a Connecticut boat we knew from our first trip on the Intracoastal Waterway.

Last night Kitty and Scott from TAMURE gave a slide show at the local yacht club and we tagged along. It was very well done, and featured their family on an earlier four-year sailing trip with their two boys (9 and 11 at the time). We also had dinner with the yacht club officials and the featured speakers. So even though we are “stuck” in northern New Jersey, it is not a lost cause! Not sure of the upcoming weather. Stay tuned!