June 23 - 27 One Day Sail and The First Three Days of the First Cruise of Summer '2020

The day sail was aboard Hidden Hand with David, Jon, Lene and Pretty Bird (I got a better picture of her than last time and she is only 10 months old). A lovely three hours circumnavigating Hart Island with good speed and good company.

Next day I picked up Grandniece Sammie and we spent a couple of hours in our neighborhood and apartment giving her a taste of what little is available of urban life these days; Thai with gelato for desert. With Lene, they are under the Empire State Building viewed through the Washington Square Arch.

Returning to the boat, getting Sammie comfortable in the aft cabin and dinner at the Club -- the first such, outdoors, this  season -- at respectably distant tables.

Next day we sailed to Sheepshead Bay, circling the western end of Long Island counterclockwise, and took a mooring at the Miramar YC there. We had planned for Mendy to sail with us -- picking him up by car at Miramar after he dropped his car there -- but a sofa delivery with his father who is recovering from from surgery put an end to that. The delivery service picked the wrong day with only one day's notice, and refused to provide any service other than putting the sofa off the truck onto the sidewalk. Mendy is strong enough to lift the sofa up the stairs -- and did so -- but he had to be there which killed his sail with his cousin, Sammie. 

The day was overcast and blustery and we motorsailed with the mainsail up and the apparent wind on our bow, caused by our speed through the water and the current. It not the most pleasant. I called a tug we were overtaking who was pushing three barges west toward Hellsgate; he said he didn't care which side I passed him on. But the issue became moot when he looped north of North Brother Island, the wider passage, and by our going between the two Brothers, we ended up ahead of him. I was struck by how little activity there was on the water other than moored barges and ferries.

We made the 30 miles in about 5.5 hours with the favorable tide. We were warned of and were careful passing an eight foot spot of the eastern end of Coney Island,

and met up at the Miramar with Mendy and his dad. The Club provides gas barbecue grills and we used one for chicken, steak, corn on the cob, grilled veggies and cookies for desert. Chef Roger was pleased with himself and surprised that it ALL got eaten up.

Next day the plan was to cross New York Harbor and anchor at the Coast Guard station behind Sandy Hook NJ, but that plan had not been written in stone and we sailors do not like to have our plans dashed. So, we arranged for Mendy to sail with his cousin afterall. He drove to the Miramar by 7 a.m. and we sailed with him back to the Harlem. One less day south of NYC and one more day north of it. 

Verrazzano Bridge:

We passed the stone embankment alongside the Belt Parkway onto which we almost lost ILENE when the motor died during our last return from Sheepshead Bay a few years ago. It still causes shivers down my spine! The return passage was about the same duration and exactly the same distance as the day before but under much more pleasant sunny skies. We were passed 

by a clean looking Chinese labeled Monrovian registered container ship which turned to port around Staten Island to discharge cargo, and by the Ferry.

Both ways we passed Governors Island on its west side  to give our young crew/passengers a closer look of the Statue of Liberty.

The weather was much better on the return trip and we got to use both sails and even turn off the engine for an hour.

Prior two pictures are (1) the mouth of the Hudson with Jersey City to the left and Manhattan to the right, and (2) the Battery. 

A game of cards, lunch at the Club, a walking tour of City Island, a brief shop at the IGA and showers before a long hard round trip road passage to the Miramar for frozen yogurt and to drop Mendy at his car. A long fun filled day.

Our next passage was only 19 miles, from City Island to Oyster Bay. about 3.5 hours. We motored slowly,  only at both ends, and sailed east and then south to the harbor with full main and genoa in decent winds but hardly any waves, making seven knots on average. The best passage so far. We kept an eye out for the threatened thunderstorms but while we had some sprinkles and a brief moderate steady rain -- no thunderstorms. We passed a few sailboats along the way and after taking a mooring in the mooring field of the Oyster Bay Yachting Center we lowered the dink. We made a garbage run during which Sammie learned the safe operation of the dink. Then she took off on a solo voyage of exploration.

"Knickerbocker", a huge elegant slop owned by the owner of the NY Knicks was at its customary place at the dock. Our mooring cost $1.50 per foot with launch service, high but not ridiculous and we learned that they do not allow dingys, even from boats on their moorings, to tie up at a dinghy dock -- "Use our launch!" -- but they cheerfully made an exception for our garbage run. Dinner ashore was clouded, literally, by the threat of thunderstorms with huge grey clouds, but emerging from the restaurant, Al Dente (new to us and pretty good but we should have shared the entree) the clouds had parted and we we were graced with a serene sunset.