3rd Leg: Old Saybrooke, CT to Jersey City, NY via Hell gate

Friday, September, 18th:

Nip spent the night on the boat to await Jim Van Ness who was coming to replace the actuators (lifters) on the main hatch. The part arrived after we left Tenants Harbor and Jim was kind enough to incorporate a visit with his daughter to come to us in CT to do the work. I had to work Friday but was able to catch the 5:40PM train up to Old Saybrooke arriving just in time to join Nip, Phips and some of his friends for dinner near the marina. Needless to say, a great time was had by all. Heartfelt goodbyes after dinner, as we were leaving the area, and off to the boat we went to settle in for a nice comfy sleep.

Saturday, September 20th:

We woke up early to a very cool morning, made coffee, had a little hot-tub, (I am telling you this marina had everything) showered and organized ourselves for the trip into Manhattan, or so we thought. It was another gorgeous day. We got up on a plane outside Old Saybrooke Point at 10:15AM. Whatever reservations we had about the weather and the wind vanished as we cruised happily down the middle of Long Island Sound passing many fishing boats, sailboats and light houses along the way.

As you can tell from the pictures, the weather was a "10". Our goal was to make sure that we caught the tides right for cruising into the East River. The East River is actuallly not a river at all but the connection between Long Island Sound and New York Bay. Although the currents are strong on the waterway that runs up the East side of Manhattan (East River) they are equally strong coming and going. Where the waters meet between the East River and the Long Island Sound is a place called Hell Gate. The waters here are very strong. The high tides meet here and the low tides depart from here. The bottom changes depths rapidly causing great troughs of water and almost rapid-like conditions depending on the flow of the tides. You want to hit this area at the changing of the tides. (either high water or low water) In order to calculate this, we had a tide book that not only shows when high tide is at the Battery, but also shows the current at Hell Gate in hour  increments from high tide to low tide. We calculated that two hours after high tide at the Battery would be the ideal time to hit Hell Gate. Unfortunately, high tide was at 9:32 that morning and not until 9:30 or so that night. At 12:30 we decided to make an adventure and find a cozy harbor to spend the night so that we could approach NYC in the morning with the wonderful weather promised by the news. So into Oyster Bay, LI we went. The outer harbor is the entrance to two different inner harbors: Oyster bay and Cold Spring Harbor. We knew the wind was going to swing 180 degrees that night, so we needed shelter from the NW wind as well as the SE wind. It was decided that picking up a mooring at the Sagamore Yacht Club was the answer which we did after puttering around the harbor, passing Plum Point, circling Center Island and nosing into Mill Neck Creek while eating our sandwiches.

After securing our mooring, launching the dinghy and straightening up, it was naptime and then off for some exploring through the town. There is a fabulous pawn shop right in the downtown area that has some wonderful things. Gold coin, bullion, sports memoribilia and other really cool stuff. We shopped for our dinner and happily walked back to the docks, hailed the launch and went back out to our nest. We sat in the stern watching fabulous wooden boats sail out for a race, large sailing vessels come in for the night, and the launch darting around the harbor to pick up and drop off anyone who wanted to explore.After dinner in the stern, we fell into bed excited about our day.

This is the view we enjoyed from our stern over a Maine Mud and a Grey Goose and water...4 olives!

Sunday, September 20th:

We awoke early. It was cold so we put on the heat and huddled making coffee until the sun rose a little more.  The sea smoke was on the water giving the harbor a heavenly feel. Truly, it almost looked as though we were floating on clouds. After coffe and lunch making, we took the boat in to the docks. While Nip hosed down the salt from the isenglass and engines, I went ashore for a shower. We fueled, pumped out and we were ready to rock. High tide was 9:56AM at the Battery so we wanted to make sure that we were at Hell Gate by 11:30-12:00.

Did you ever have one of those days when everything seemed to go right, better than right, just perfect? It almost feels as if you are in a movie where you are the lead character and everyone else is there to either create atmosphere or facilitate your characters journey. It is as if a stage manager (mine is named Needles) is there to cue the world into action solely for your benefit. And once you pass, everyone sits down and waits for your return. This is what Sunday was like for us. There wasn't a cloud in the azure blue sky. The waters were flat calm. We cruised under the Throgs Neck and the Whitestone bridges and rounded the corner to see the Statue of Liberty way in the distance. The sun was glinting off the razor wire on Rikers Island and the fuselages of the planes on LGA's runways, a sight I have never seen from a boat. (I had never seen Riker's Island before boat or car.)We chose to go between North and South Brother Island. (North Brother Island is where they kept lepers in the olden days. It was also the scene of the worst maritime disaster in NY history. A steamship exploded there killing 1,000 people who either succumb to the flames or were drowned.) There is a channel that runs further west of North Brother Island.  I could almost hear Needles say: "CUE THE TUG": A huge tug was rounding the island from that side approaching our stern. "CUE THE SAIL BOATS": There were a line of sail boats all under power making this voyage hoping to catch the tide right. "CUE THE JET SKIS": five jet skis came out from where the Harlem river meets the East River bouncing off of the waves caused by the current. We were now in Hell Gate. "CUE THE WATER": the water churned and we had to watch the bouys to see if it was coming or going. It wasn't too much, but it was strong. "CUE THE TUG AND BARGE": we have now caught up to a tug pushing a large heavily laden barge. We lay back and just follow in his wake while the jet skis race around and play in the wakes. "CUE THE CIRCLE LINE": the tour boat coming up stream decides to cut across our bow to make the entrance to the Harlem River. It circles Mill Rock and comes down stream behind us. There is more wake and the jet skis are loving this. "CUE THE KAYACKS": a flotilla of eight kayacks are trying to work there way north to run with the fading current, but the busy river traffic is keeping them well to the Queens' side. Now the Circle Line is passing us on the left to take the barge on its starboard side while the jets skis are racing down our starboard side to play with the waves now bouncing off the retaining wall by the East River Drive. "CUE THE GUNS": (that's right, GUNS!) Two inflatables with mounted and manned gun turrets on their bows race up to the jet skis and wave them away from the  retaining walls. There was no nonsense to be had. The vessels stared at us. (needless to say, I didn't take a picture of that) We were a little alarmed until we realized we were by the UN. General Assembly in town? no just Nip and Hill! On to the South Street Seaport and as we passed the helipad..."CUE THE HELICOPTER": it flew out at us clearing ouroutriggers by what felt like ten feet. The pilot was wearing aviators and a lovely pink and blue striped shirt. That's how low he was to us. We rounded the Battery "CUE THE HIGHSPEED FERRIES: CUE THE STATEN ISLAND FERRY: CUE THE HELICOPTER: CLEAR THE STATUE OF TOUR BOATS": AND SUDDENLY ALL THE FERRYS AND THE TOUR BOATS WERE GONE AND WE WERE ALONE WITH THAT MAGNIFICENT STATUE.

We headed up the Hudson and as we reached the Chelsea Piers, the fire boat that had been sitting there quietly, exploded with water spraying all their hoses at once. CUE THE FIREBOAT, NIP AND HILL ARE HERE!

We found our way to the Newport Marina, tied up, washed down, tidied up and spent the rest of the day watching the scenery change from bright sunlight glinting off of buildings, to sunset colors reflected in the glass towers of Manhattan, to the night lights of the city. The river calmed, the helicopters stopped, the planes were fewer and the stars did come out. Neither of us wanted to end this spectacular day. It has truly been an excellent adventure and we were sad that so much of it is already behind us.

Monday, September 21st:

Time to return to reality. We were  off to our respective trains. Nip headed home to his office, I headed into the city. Everything came like clockwork for both of us. CUE THE PATH, CUE THE TRAIN, CUE THE SUBWAY....CUE NORA.

We can't wait for the next leg!