Crew Log for October 8th – October 10th, 2022
Trip Summary:
Port Jefferson, NY to Port Washington, NY
Trip Distance of 39.9 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 1,126.1 NM
Departed at 0900 hours and arrived at 1600 hours
It was overcast and cool and very gusty as we readied to leave Port Jefferson. Our initial plan was to head for Oyster Bay, which I knew nothing about other than Billy Joel had a motorcycle / coffee shop there. Sadly, it wasn’t open. Given there was no other good reason to stop in Oyster Bay, our new plan was to take advantage of the wind and head straight to Port Washington, which would be our rally point to head through NYC.
This was one of our more frustrating and disconcerting sails to date. While you are always at the mercy of the wind, the conditions today were particularly challenging given the currents, extremely gusty conditions, changeable weather and natural obstacles that we would have to navigate around. In addition to those challenges, it also seemed to be a popular day for sailboat races. These weren’t the typical 6 – 8 boat races at BHYC either. At one point Judy counted over 50 boats in one race off of the coast of Connecticut.
To add to the confusion, a sailor radioed the coast guard to say he lost the use of his engine. It was obvious from the ensuing conversation that he had very little experience or knowledge about the boat or its systems. The conversation with the Coast Guard went on for over an hour. In the middle of that, a boat in one of the races inadvertently sent out an electronic distress call. For the next several hours, we listened to a broadcast message from the Coast Guard that was replayed every 15 minutes, trying to identify the boat. Needless to say, it was a bit of a relief to arrive at Port Washington and secure ourselves to a mooring ball and shut the VHF off.
Like everywhere around here, there are a lot of boats in Port Washington. There are several marinas and Yacht Clubs. Port Washington also has a number of transient moorings given it is a favorite place amongst cruisers to ready themselves and their boats for the trip down the East River, through Hell’s Gate and into New York City harbor. The moorings used to be free, but they are still affordable at US$35 per night, which includes unlimited use of the launch service. There is a very nice grocery store and small West Marine close by, in addition to a number of interesting restaurants.
Shortly after tying up, I heard a boat horn. I looked over and there was mv NoMastE, who we met the day we were leaving Old Saybrook. Jay told us to turn the VHF on. Jay and Lesli were planning to head out for Indian Food and wanted to know if we would like to join them. We explained that we were 2 dirty old sailors, but they assured us, it wasn’t a problem. We are so glad we accepted the invite. The meal was OK, albeit it was only experience with Indian Food, but the company was great. We really had a nice evening.
The following morning we headed into the town of Port Washington. It certainly didn’t feel like a place that was within eyesight of New York City. On the contrary, it had a very small town feel to it for the most part. We headed to the West Marine and the grocery store, which seem to be the limits of our shopping experiences these days. While the grocery store was massive and had pretty much anything we needed (and didn’t need), the selection at the West Marine was significantly more limited. I was looking for a specific pump for a boat project (I will spare you the details). There was one in Huntington and another Long Beach, but none in Port Washington. We could have it shipped to the Port Washington store, but it could take a week or more.
I looked at all the options and nothing seemed to make sense. Then, the store employee in Huntington suggested I use Uber to deliver it. I have to say, I have become a huge fan of Uber on this trip and once again, it worked out perfectly. We went to lunch, came back to the store 1 hour later, and my new best friend from Jamaica (the country, not the town on Long Island) met me with the part.
They say that cruising is doing boat projects in exotic locations. I won’t actually call Port Washington, exotic, but we did spend the rest of the afternoon doing boat projects.
It was Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada, and we would normally have a house full of people for supper. We miss our family and friends most days, but it is particularly hard on occasions like Thanksgiving. We celebrated by getting our Covid boosters in the morning and video chatting with all our kids and grandkids and our Truro family including my Mom, who we haven’t seen since we left. What a treat that was. Thank you Tracy, for making that happen! Judy made a wonderful Thanksgiving meal for the 2 of us, which was a perfect end to the day.
We were also joined by sv Magali who we have mentioned a couple of times in these blogs. You’ll hear a lot more about them in future blogs, but they were planning to head through New York in the morning as well.
But, more about that, next time.
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