Leaving Newport on a drier but still blustery day, we headed for Fishers Island at the entrance to Long Island Sound. There were uncomfortable swells but there was enough wind at a reasonable angle to motor sail, giving us some stability. We caught favorable current at the start of the race (I hadn’t realized how narrow the entrance to Long Island Sound is) and were in East Harbor at Fishers Island by lunchtime. Time to dry everything out! It’s a pretty spot and we enjoyed a nice sunset.

Next morning we left at first light for a long motor down Long Island Sound. There wasn’t much wind so once again we were motoring – we ended up topping up our fuel tank from some of the jugs of diesel stored on the rail. We reached Oyster Bay in late afternoon and took a mooring at Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club. It’s a lovely spot, and quite peaceful given how close to the city it is. The dock staff were very friendly and helpful, but unfortunately we were unable to go in to the bar due to a regatta event. So we were unable to try the local cocktail: Race Committee Southside, as recommended by Jemima from team race events she’s attended there!

September 28 was a big adventure! We left just before noon, to time the current through Hell Gate into New York Harbor. We saw exciting racing from the American Yacht Club Fall Series as we went past. As we went down the coast, towns got bigger, high rises in Mid-Town became more visible, and we started to pick out the stream of boats ahead of us making the same passage. The passage looked complicated on the chart but was actually fairly straightforward. We went past LaGuardia and Rikers Island, with planes landing overhead, under a few bridges, through a narrow gap and suddenly we were in the East River, racing past Manhattan with three knots of current with us! A couple more bridges, and then a hard left after Brooklyn Bridge and we reached our marina, with stunning views of Downtown Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

We stayed in the marina for several days due to adverse conditions for going south. We were able to have dinner with Jamie a couple of times (sorry Jamie, I realize that I didn’t get a photo of you!), and explore the Brooklyn area a bit. Poor Jeremy had to fix a badly blocked holding tank pipe, which took the best part of two days and two trips to Home Depot. No photos of that either! Word to the wise: they can suffer from calcification! On one day we walked across Brooklyn Bridge and into the financial district where we saw the 9/11 memorial pools. I used to visit an office nearby and had seen the construction going on but had never seen the memorial since it was completed – I thought it was incredibly moving.

By October 2, the forecast had improved, and were stocked up and ready to head south.