| WINTER/SPRING March-April-May 2010 Page 8 |
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MAY 21 Port Washington, Long Island, Brewers Capri Marina
Our ride from Staten Island through New York City was delightful. The
harbor was calm with lots of freighters. We avoided the water taxis and
ferries by taking the Buttermilk Channel alongside Brooklyn, but then
rejoined the harbor just southeast of the Battery. It gets a little choppy
in there where the currents and tides all meet from the ocean, harbor, and
East River. Jim planned our trip so we had the current pushing us along.
Hell Gate was a little squirmy with lots of current. We arrived at Port
Washington early afternoon. My friend, Marie and her husband, Bo, stopped
by and it was so good to see them after 3 years.
Our ride from Staten Island through New York City was delightful. The
harbor was calm with lots of freighters. We avoided the water taxis and
ferries by taking the Buttermilk Channel alongside Brooklyn, but then
rejoined the harbor just southeast of the Battery. It gets a little choppy
in there where the currents and tides all meet from the ocean, harbor, and
East River. Jim planned our trip so we had the current pushing us along.
Hell Gate was a little squirmy with lots of current. We arrived at Port
Washington early afternoon. My friend, Marie and her husband, Bo, stopped
by and it was so good to see them after 3 years.
| Our trip around New York City from the Lower Bay lighthouses to Hell Gate and the Triboro Bridge |
MAY 22 Westbrook, CT Pilot's Point Marina and HOME
We checked the forecast again today at 4:30 AM...wind SE 5-10, seas around 1 foot, sunny. Well, if I
had made this mistake as a teacher, I would have been called in "on the carpet". As soon as we left the
marina and got into Long Island Sound, the wind was already at 15 MPH. The seas were 1-2 which I would
consider "around 1 foot". However, the wind gradually worked up to 17, then 18, then 20. By the time we
were off Milford, we were now at 25 MPH, seas reaching 3-4 feet, wind right out the EAST...not good!
At least we were taking the waves off our bow, and our tug has been build to handle this kind of stuff and
basically plows through anything and goes over sets of 3 footers that are close together, and cuts through
a lot of the water. Still, it was not a pleasant ride, and we constantly took spray over our bow. Lily
hunkered down in the corner with her head on the floor, a brave little girl. I felt like we were on the
Bering Sea in one of those crab fishing boat, only on a smaller scale, with water pounding onto our windows!
This was another day I was glad I was in our Nordic. It was happy for the challenge ( not us, but we knew
we were safe and dry!). After the day when we left from Solomon's with 4-5 footers on our beam, this
day was not bad. If we knew the real conditions, we never would have left. We only passed a few
traveling boats like us and not a day to be out there for fun. We were greeted by everyone on our dock
and it was good to tied up on F dock in a nice quiet calm slip. No pictures today: we were covered with salt
on the windows and not steady enough to handle a camera! Sunday will be our day of rest after long travel
days the past week.
We checked the forecast again today at 4:30 AM...wind SE 5-10, seas around 1 foot, sunny. Well, if I
had made this mistake as a teacher, I would have been called in "on the carpet". As soon as we left the
marina and got into Long Island Sound, the wind was already at 15 MPH. The seas were 1-2 which I would
consider "around 1 foot". However, the wind gradually worked up to 17, then 18, then 20. By the time we
were off Milford, we were now at 25 MPH, seas reaching 3-4 feet, wind right out the EAST...not good!
At least we were taking the waves off our bow, and our tug has been build to handle this kind of stuff and
basically plows through anything and goes over sets of 3 footers that are close together, and cuts through
a lot of the water. Still, it was not a pleasant ride, and we constantly took spray over our bow. Lily
hunkered down in the corner with her head on the floor, a brave little girl. I felt like we were on the
Bering Sea in one of those crab fishing boat, only on a smaller scale, with water pounding onto our windows!
This was another day I was glad I was in our Nordic. It was happy for the challenge ( not us, but we knew
we were safe and dry!). After the day when we left from Solomon's with 4-5 footers on our beam, this
day was not bad. If we knew the real conditions, we never would have left. We only passed a few
traveling boats like us and not a day to be out there for fun. We were greeted by everyone on our dock
and it was good to tied up on F dock in a nice quiet calm slip. No pictures today: we were covered with salt
on the windows and not steady enough to handle a camera! Sunday will be our day of rest after long travel
days the past week.
MAY 27
Last evening a huge thundercloud loomed in the sky towards the east. By the time it got dark, there was
a white hazy cloud north of us, and it moved slowly south right overhead. The wind picked up while we
slept, and this morning there were pine needles and leaves all over the boat from the one tree across
from our dock. It's a good thing we put extra lines on the boat!
Last evening a huge thundercloud loomed in the sky towards the east. By the time it got dark, there was
a white hazy cloud north of us, and it moved slowly south right overhead. The wind picked up while we
slept, and this morning there were pine needles and leaves all over the boat from the one tree across
from our dock. It's a good thing we put extra lines on the boat!
MAY 31
We had a relaxing week and weekend which we really needed after so many days of rising at 4:30 AM to
get underway by 5:30. We started cleaning and organizing projects, a little at time and enjoyed a week
"vacation". Jim mowed the lawn back at the house, we dropped the dinghy after a long time of not using
it. The engine started right away! I'm glad we bought the new Honda 5 horsepower engine. I marched in
the Memorial Day parade in Clinton with the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Jim took the train from Old Saybrook
on June 1 to Ft. Edward, NY to pick up our van after his brother had driven it to his house when he
visited us in Daytona. We're getting somewhat back to a "land" life, although staying on the boat and
going back and forth to the house. No use bringing a lot home since we plan to leave in 3 weeks for a
summer trip to Lake Champlain.
We had a relaxing week and weekend which we really needed after so many days of rising at 4:30 AM to
get underway by 5:30. We started cleaning and organizing projects, a little at time and enjoyed a week
"vacation". Jim mowed the lawn back at the house, we dropped the dinghy after a long time of not using
it. The engine started right away! I'm glad we bought the new Honda 5 horsepower engine. I marched in
the Memorial Day parade in Clinton with the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Jim took the train from Old Saybrook
on June 1 to Ft. Edward, NY to pick up our van after his brother had driven it to his house when he
visited us in Daytona. We're getting somewhat back to a "land" life, although staying on the boat and
going back and forth to the house. No use bringing a lot home since we plan to leave in 3 weeks for a
summer trip to Lake Champlain.