Foiled again by the weather, we broke into Long Island Sound one day later than planned. It was pouring with rain at the time set for weighing anchor on Saturday morning. All togged up in our wet gear at 07:00, Skipper got as far as half-way up with the anchor when common sense prevailed. Why get thoroughly soaked and cold when we don’t have to? Instead we stayed inside and went up the Hudson to Liberty Island on the afternoon tide and anchored overnight there. Traversing the 14nm East River between the Hudson River and Long Island Sound requires careful planning since currents run at up to 5kn through Hell Gate - aptly named - at the centre point. Lucky for us first-timers, there was very slight wind, very few other boats as it was Sunday afternoon and, most important we timed it right! Maximum speed over the ground was 8.4kn with engine running at 1800rpm.
Sailing under the Brooklyn Bridge and 7 other fixed bridges on the way, we passed downtown Manhattan and spotted a few well known land marks, e.g. the Empire State Building and Freedom Tower (though its top was lost in cloud). Having sailed up the Thames into central London back in 2012, and the Loire into Nantes in 2014, the East River should have held no worries for us but there’s no escaping the anxiety that busy waterways in big cities engender. Glad to have got that behind us now!
By 19:00 we had picked up a mooring in Port Washington just outside the east end of the river and spent a very calm and quiet night. So all good for now.
For the next week or so we will be working our way east up the Sound towards Cape Cod, hoping the weather warms up a bit. Summer seems to be a long time coming in these parts.
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