We had a very nice morning sail west on Long Island Sound towards NYC. Once in the river, we motored, I'm not comfortable sailing with the current in a high traffic area. The first stretch was very quiet. Laguardia airport was launching planes away from us and Rykers finest are all inside behaving themselves. As we closed in on Hell Gate the current really started to pick up our speed. There is a blind turn in the river at the Tri-borough bridge and out pops a good size ship. Downbound vessels (us) are supposed to have right of way. We were on the right side of the channel but he wanted the whole thing. He gave us 5 blasts, the danger signal, and I had to turn 90 degrees toward the river bank to get out of his way. Pushy New Yorkers!
Further downstream we had several encounters with ferry boats. But both times I hailed them, they were polite and offered to go around me. New Yorkers are so nice!
It was chilly this morning. First time Chris has worn long pants since November. Fear not, it's supposed to reach 90 tomorrow. But the sea breeze will keep that manageable.
We've been in touch with friends Donna & Dave who are on summer vacation aboard their sailboat. Dave knows Barnegat inlet in NJ and agreed to show us the way in there. We also met some new cruisers Elaine & Lawrence on the Northport town dock on Monday. They were spending the summer in Northport before heading south. And good friend Craig lives in Northport. So we put them all together for cocktails and dinner at a local pub. Great times will be had when sailors gather! We'd also been out sailing the evening prior with Craig & his significant other Jenn. Craig gave me some good pointers on sailing and Jenn is always fun. Lots of good times in Northport!
We made plans for all three boats to cruise together at least to Barnegat. Before leaving, a grocery run in necessary to stock up. The store is up a pretty steep hill and I mentioned I was going to bike up there. Elaine quickly offered the keys to their car! We were able to make 3 stops to stock up well for the next week or two. Thank you Elaine.
So us three boats made it through NYC and south to Atlantic Highlands to anchor for the night, ready for the open ocean trip to the infamous Barnegat inlet. We temporarily rafted together for cocktails, appetisers and some last minute planning.
Underway at 0600 tomorrow morn.
