Another Bite of the Big Apple

This past week found us back in New York City, moored once again at the 79th Street Boat Basin. We arrived here after a 36 hour sail directly from the C&D canal, with an early morning departure to sail down the Delaware River and skip over New Jersey.

The weather reports were clear when we left, but in the early evening, off Atlantic City, clouds began to gather until a thunderstorm system descended like a black hand over our boat. We’ve had bad weather before, but this was pretty frightening as night fell and a severe lightening storm raged overhead. I grew even more concerned after we heard a boat a few miles ahead of us, the Monica, make a series of panicked calls to the Coast Guard seeking to report their position in case they capsized. Luckily, Dave had the first night watch, and tethered in, while I tried to get a little sleep down below. After being thrown out of bed twice by the waves, things calmed down a lot, and by morning we had dry weather as we breezed into New York Harbor.

After recovering from our overnight, we had a chance to take advantage of all that NYC has to offer, getting together with friends for dinners and drinks, exploring museums with Amelia, taking walks in Central Park, running along the Hudson River and taking in an Amelia-approved Broadway show (Mary Poppins). It really was the perfect NYC long weekend, made even more fun by our location right in the heart of the Upper West Side.

Anxious to make miles towards home, we left early Tuesday morning and sailed down the Hudson, around the Battery and up the East River to Long Island Sound. We had a fantastic sailing day with strong winds and favorable currents, averaging over 7 knots, until the engine failed in the middle of Long Island Sound. After a little diagnosis, Dave determined that the boat was heeled over so far that, despite having a quarter tank of diesel, the engine intake was getting insufficient fuel. We refueled in Stamford, CT, and stayed overnight there, before continuing to Fishers Island today. And that is where we are, in a peaceful anchorage, ready for a quiet night before continuing north.