JULY 6, 2016
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| LEAVING CAPE MAY |
We left Cape May on Saturday July 2, about 9am. It is time for us to move north before we run out of time. As we pulled up the anchor we saw we were not going to be the only ones using the
Cape May Inlet out into the Atlantic. We were soon part of a mass of boats leaving the bay. Just as we turned into the inlet we were joined by a whole flock of fishing vessels. Some small but most quite large. One thing we have learned coming north is there are very few power boaters with any manners when it comes to passing another boat. When a large power boat passes a sailboat at high speed he puts out a wake that can knock a sailboat on its side. If there is room and time we turn into these wakes to minimize the damage. It was a brutal but short passage out as boat after boat powered past us as we fought to keep It's Perfect out of harms way. Finally we were out in the Atlantic and everything improved.
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| PASSING ATLANTIC CITY |
The day was beautiful, our destination New York. We had light winds all day and saw few other boats. Dolphin were also in short supply, we only came across one large pod that was so busy with their dinner they had no time to play. As it grew dark we could see
Atlantic City in the distance and watched their fireworks going off for miles. We stayed about 6 miles offshore most of the night. Keeping watches on the first night is hard, neither one of us has had time to get into the rhythm of an overnight passage. Rod sleeps little and catches a short nap here and there.
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| SUNSET ON THE ATLANTIC |
As the sun rose we were coming into the shipping lanes of
New York Harbor, we were still more than 3 miles off shore. The huge bulk carriers and container ships were lining up. The East River is notorious for wild currents and rough water and we are 2 hours early for being at slack tide when we reach Hell Gate. With all the ships around we decided to turn and motor back the way we came for 1 hour and then turn around and fall in line to enter the harbor along with all the commercial ships. This sounds easy enough so I send Rod down for a nap and take us out for an hour and then turn back on course and head for the shipping lanes.
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| VERRAZANO BRIDGE |
Just as we hit the shipping lanes Rod returned to the helm. We let 2 of the closest ships go ahead of us and fell in line. We were soon under the Verrazano Bridge and could see Manhattan in the distance. We turned out of the shipping lanes heading for the Statue of Liberty.
The bay is a very busy place to be. The large number of watercraft is daunting. There were ferry boats, fishing boats, tour boats, ski boats, swarms of kayakers led by small power boats, police boats patrolling and Coast Guard with a machine guns on deck. There was even some event going on with swimmers crossing the bay. It was crazy that all this could be happening at the same time. As we neared the Statue of Liberty you could see all the tourists lined up around the base waiting their turn to have a look inside. It was here we turned into the East River.
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| STATUE OF LIBERTY FROM THE DECK OF IT'S PERFECT |
The warnings about
Transiting the East River doesn't prepare you. As we are looking up at sky scrapers a seaplane glides out of a very small cut in the buildings. It then turns and proceeds to come up the river toward us and takes off over our heads. The river channel through the city is wide enough but maneuvering with all the other boats in heavy current is tedious and exhausting.
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| BROOKLYN BRIDGE |
While fighting the current in the river and watching traffic both large and small, we are passed by large power boats that don't seem to know there is another boat on the water. We are hit time and again by huge wakes that knock us around. When possible we turn into the wake, but with the amount of traffic and width of the river that is not always possible.
The East River runs through the city for about 6 miles before it makes a sharp turns into
Hell Gate which takes you into Long Island Sound. Rod's timing couldn't be better. When we arrive there is little current. Before we make our turn we are once again knocked around by a large power boat speeding past and as we finished our turn our engine overheated. We shut off the engine and quickly rolled out the jib so we could steer. This turn in the river leaves very little room to maneuver. OMG, coming toward us under the bridge is a tug pulling a large barge. After hailing the pilot on the radio to let him know our problem, we steered to one side to allow the barge to pass without incident. While I stayed at the helm steering to keep us off the rocks, Rod headed for the engine room. The doors came off and it was soon evident that we had lost the prime on the seawater pump. This has happened before when dealing with the huge wakes of power boats. It didn't take Rod long before he was in the companionway telling me to start the engine. The engine started and the temperature began to drop. Rod took the helm and we then motored out of Hell Gate and into Long Island Sound.
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We were less than 10 miles from Manhasset Bay making 7 1/2 knots going with the current. After our brush with disaster we took a couple of deep breaths. I went below and made us two excellent margarita's. We then sat back to enjoy what was left of our passage. The sound is wide, fringed by tree lined shores and filled with sailboats enjoying the water. This turned out to be a very good day.
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