Course: Stanford to Port Washington
Travel Days: 7
Cruising days 15
Wind : SSW 10-15 knots
Weather: clear and sunny
Seas: < 2 feet
Time at sea 3.6 hours
Tidal lift: 1 mile
This was a n easy day withthe only event a call to the Coast Guard to report a dinghy adrift. When PM spotted it my first though t was of Phoebe abd Erik and John and Bobbee finding a drifting life raft in the Bay of Biscay off Spain. They were not sure if any bodies were in it. Phoebe was the only one able to brave looking into the raft. Fortunately, no one was aboard. I never heard the outcome of this but a passing freighter did acquire an expensive life raft. In our case, the Coast Guard acquired a slightly used 8 foot fiberglass dinghy
Course: Port Washington, Long Island, New York to Jersey City, New Jersey
Travel Days: 8
Cruising Days: 17
Wind: light, SSW
Weather: Sun and fair weather clouds
Seas: < 1 foot
Tidal current: up to 7 knots in the East River, assisting our passage.. We gained almost three miles of assistance from the tide today
Time at sea: 3.6 hours (we have logged 269 miles (N) and 75 hours of smooth running engine time since departure from our home port in South Portland, Maine)
At times over the last month, I had imagined the angst would be greatly diminished if we were to turn the corner up the Hudson River at "The City". And this happened this morning as we passed the Battery at the tip of Manhattan. We had weathered the winds and seas of the New England coast, had transited the Cape Cod Canal. although the Annisquam was much more of an event, endured the frustration of almost a week's delay at Kingman Yacht Center in Pocasset Harbor awaiting parts for the upper steering station and found our way through pea soup fog (between 50 and 100 foot visibility) into Stamford Harbor. Our passage down the East River through the dreaded "Hell Gate" turn at Roosevelt Island and the Harlem River was anticlimactic at least, while this was PM's worst prospective concern (she shared this after we had done the deed). I noted only a half dozen boats coming in the river as we gained almost a 5 knot advantage with the tide assist along this narrow stretch of water. Traffic in New York Harbor was a constant worry until we got here and found only three fast ferries to avoid and a flotilla of Sunday sailors. At seven knots, VELOMER does not have much jumping power to get out of everyone's way. Two tows near Brooklyn Navy Yard were also a bit unnerving as they were turning across our course and I needed to judge their future positio at the time we were to be along side theiir positions, but worth PM's able assistance, no problems arose. Now we are at Liberty Landing Marina, and the stories are true, they have the best bath rooms of any we have seen. Ali, the dock boy, was as good as I've seen handle lines and fend off a crosswise craft as we had current and wind to maneuver with into a tight turn to the dock. All ended well with only a small smudge along the starboard side from the corner fender on the pier to remedy with a quick polish.
Tomorrow we turn north, 27 miles to Croton-On-Hudson and a great meal at Mel Rinzivillo's mom's. She has commited to cook us a spaghetti and meat ball feast. We will provide the garlic bread and lots of Chianti. This promises to be a party to tell of in the next post.
The news about The Erie Canal is not good. At latest report, the canal locks between Waterford (on the Hudson River just north of Albany) to Lock 22 near Utica will be closed for 3-4 weeks to allow water to recede and repairs to be made to the locks. No worries, we can change our course, go north through Lake Champlain and west to Montreal then up the Ottawa River and enter the Rideau Canal at Ottawa. If the Erie Canal is not open by the end of July, we than can go back down the Saint Laurence to Sorel and return south through Lake Champlain again. Cruising is sometimes a daily plan.
PM's Perspective -- Welcome to the Trailer Park on the Water
When traveling via water vessel, one has four options upon nightfall. One is to continue underway which Bob and I decided we would not do. Another option is to anchor meaning that one finds a relatively safe location to drop anchor and spend the night. The few times we have anchored since owning Velomer, Bob never got a good night's sleep as he was always getting up to check that the anchor hasn't dragged. In preparation for this trip, we decided anchoring wasn't something we wanted to do. This leaves the third option of mooring and the fourth of docking at a slip in a marina. Our preference is to moor for several reasons. First, it is less expensive and I am cheap as you already know. Second, it is more private in that moorings are placed at a boat's swinging distance from the next boat. The host marina of the mooring usually has a launch service into the docks and marina services, so there is minimal inconvenience. And lastly, moorings are fairly easy to pick up with minimal effort on the captain's or mate's part.
Docking at a slip is the most convenient in that the boat is tied to the dock at a slip with electric hook-up and occasionally cable TV. We can walk along the dock to access marina services such as the restrooms, laundry, ship's store, restaurants and the like. It is also very easy to get groceries to the boat. I see two downsides to docking at a slip. If there is any current or wind, approaching the dock can get very tricky. Fortunately, most dock hands are accustomed to helping boaters dock their vessel. The second is that your boat is literally just feet away from the next boat. So marinas really are trailer parks on the water. You can often hear conversations on the next boat as well as see into the boat adjacent to yours. I guess that is why boats are equipped with so many curtains and shades on the windows.
The last two nights we spent at Port Washington at Brewer's Capri West Marina. As the name belies, it was a high class joint. The main docks were teak and at least 12-feet wide. Our 36 foot trawler was one of the smaller and older boats at the facility. There were some real big honking boats with fancy ass names to match that were two and three times our size. This marina didn't have cable TV hook-ups because most of the boats had self-contained satellite TV. If we were docked close to one of these mega-yachts, our flybridge would be well below the level of the first deck, so we wouldn't be able to see in. In addition, the windows of these large boats are typically tinted so you can't see it.
Tonight we are docked at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City. This marina has received glowing reviews on the Internet, all well deserved. The facilities are spotless, the staff knowledgeable and friendly. But the best part of the marina is the view of the New York skyline dominated by Freedom Tower now completing construction.
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