June 2017

In which we continue up the U.S. East Coast, arriving in New York.

We started June 2017 at anchor off the City Marina in Charleston, South Carolina, waiting for a wind to take us up to north of Cape Hatteras. We should have been up here by now, as our insurance did not cover us for damage caused by named storms south of 35N after the end of May. The weather, however, was not co-operating with 6 hours of sailable wind being followed by 18 of light airs. The usual option of day sails was not available as this coast is entirely made up of barrier islands. The gaps between them are, for tens of miles, unusable by anything but small craft and, when there is a usable gap, the channel into good anchorages is anything from 8 – 15 miles. This meant that we had the choice of a 200 mile passage to Beaufort, North Carolina; motoring up the Intra-Coastal Waterway (otherwise known as the ditch) or staying put. As we were comfortable with access to a pleasant city with good provisioning we elected for this latter course, with a close watch on the big weather picture to make sure that we were not taken by surprise by an early season hurricane. For several days ahead, Sunday 4^th June looked like a good departure date, with 48 hours of usable wind and this held up to departure time.

Our planning tool told us that we could make it up to the Beaufort area in about 30 hours. The tidal currents for the Charleston channel gave a best departure time of 0900 so we picked up anchor at 0830 and went to the marina to top up on fuel. Of course, this took twice as long as planned but we were underway by 0930 and looking forward to making some serious progress. We cleared the channel at 1100 and headed East as better winds and currents were expected further offshore. At first we had, as expected, a light ESE’ly and had to supplement full sail with engine power but, by 1300 it had increased to a steady F3 and we progressed under sail alone. By 1700 it was F4, so we put a reef in the main and continued for the next 22 hours with this and variable amounts of genoa. By the morning of the 5^th, it was apparent that we would not make our destination in daylight but there was a near full moon and an anchorage close by that seemed to have a straight forward entrance, all round protection and good write-ups for wildlife and scenic value. Our forecast showed that, although the offshore wind would be increasing by the evening, close to the coast it would decrease and I suspected that we would have to motor the last 10 – 20 miles. In fact, it continued to increase to a F6 SSW’ly. We dropped the main in daylight and continued under genoa alone towards the lee shore, starting the engine early just to be on the safe side. The moon was a blessing, as it showed where the shore break was and we entered Barden Inlet at 22:45 and motored to the souther end to anchor. Unusually, the anchor did not bite first or even second time but the 3^rd attempt set it well and we were tidied up well before midnight. A check on the weather confirmed that we could not expect to sail round the coast to Norfolk, Virginia, for at least a week and resigned ourselves to an inshore passage though the ICW.

We thought that we deserved a rest day and took this on the 6^th, setting an alarm to rise at 07:00 on the 7^th. The wind, which we had expected to be light, was blowing NE’ly 5, accompanied by heavy rain. A look at the forecast showed that we could expect much of the same, or worse, for the next 48 hours. As our planned passage would mean one of us standing at the wheel for 10 hours a day, this was not a happy prospect and we decided to hunker down and sit it out, just moving to the north end of the bay to reduce the fetch and make life more comfortable.

We had a good look at the weather on the 9^th - no strong winds were forecast. We had the option of going up ‘inside’ on the Intra-Coastal Waterway or outside, past Cape Hatteras., Similar distances but different strategies. If we went inside, we would probably have to motor almost all the way, contend with bridges and locks, have long stretches of close monitoring in narrow channels and would only be able to travel in daylight, meaning a passage time of 3 – 4 days. Upsides would be seeing some of the country and being able to stop every night. Going up the outside would reduce the passage time to 36 – 40 hours and, hopefully, enable us to sail most of the way. We elected for the outside route and calculated our best departure time for favourable currents on arrival. Anchor weighed at 1600 and we proceeded out. Unfortunately, we had to track south for about 15 miles to get round a reef. Naturally, this was into wind but, after being sat doing nothing for a few days, we enjoyed the challenge of the beat. The wind died around midnight and the rest of the voyage was spent either motoring or motor-sailing, arriving in Chesapeake bay mid-morning on the 11^th. Having been, unplanned, over a week without shopping, a provisioning trip seemed a priority and we decided to go into a marina, choosing Wormley Creek near Yorktown. This was affordable, at $40 for the night and very scenic with possibly the most tranquil setting we have ever paid for. Going up the narrow channel, we were amazed by an osprey sitting on a nest watching us pass 10 feet away without stirring. We tied up at 1300 and allowed the afternoon to cool a little before walking the 3 miles to a supermarket and doing a good shop. Taxied back.

Victory monument, Yorktown

Out again on the 12^th, and motored just across the York river to Sarah creek, where Whatsapp friends were anchored on their yacht Follyfin. This anchorage was again very scenic, with beautiful homes on the banks, Osprey nests on every post and even a raccoon paying evening visits to the mudflats at low water. Unfortunately, it was a fair way into town, but we managed to coax a Uber driver across the bridge the following morning and had a day of visiting the local tourist things. Yorktown is the location of the decisive battle in the War of Independence so we visited the battlefield and a very good museum. We had failed to buy milk earlier in the week and had entertainment trying to find anywhere that sold any. There was a convenience store only 5 minutes drive away but, like in any American town, nothing in the centre. Eventually, we bought a large drink of milk from a Ben and Jerry’s, decanting it into a water bottle for the taxi trip back. We had left the dinghy at the Yacht Haven marina, paying $10 for the privilege. This seemed a little on the steep side but the following day we were allowed to use their laundrette, at $2 for wash and dry, their pool and even borrow a courtesy car for a little supplementary shop. That afternoon, I had a look at our AIS GPS aerial, as we have not been transmitting our position for some while. I was unable to fix it and we arranged to go across to the marina the following morning for a professional to look at this and a couple of other issues. The other issues did get sorted, but not the AIS, despite best efforts and, by the time we had given up on this, it was too late on Friday to move so we just topped up with water and headed back to our anchorage.

We headed back out onto the York river at 1100 on Saturday, expecting to have a gentle sail up to the next inlet, Mobjack bay. 40 minutes later, a huge thunderstorm approached. We hastily dropped sail, fired up the radar and continued by motor in alternate gale force winds and flat calm. The sky cleared a couple of hours later and we were eventually able to sail for a few hours to the East River and a few miles up it until the wind died again, passing some very nice houses on the way, eventually anchoring clear of the channel at Woodas Creek. This was a peaceful spot with, again, nice back gardens and private docks to look at. We decided to have a lazy day on Sunday, watching a golden eagle ridge soar a line of trees on the bank before catching a thermal and climbing away. A change of scene on Monday: Up anchor at 07:35 and, after a motor down East River, a 45 mile sail across the bay and back up the Rappahonnick river to Urbanna, broad reaching most of the way in a F3 (slow) then beam reaching in F3 -6 as showers passed us going up the river (exciting). We dropped anchor just before 18:00 in a small anchorage opposite the town. The bottom is described as ‘soupy mud’ and it took a second attempt to get the anchor properly set. We were glad that we had made the effort an hour later when a huge thunderstorm rolled in. As it approached, a pair of golden eagles got very excited, soaring round the harbour and surrounding trees. Ashore in the morning to see the town. Very picturesque, with lots of history but obviously totally dependent on tourism – most of the shops only open Thursday to Sunday but we did find an old fashioned drug store, serving milk shakes and soda ice-cream floats. Also a supermarket within walking distance of the dinghy. That afternoon, we were hailed by a local, paddling his small sailboat back to its mooring and accepted an invitation for a drink that evening. He turned out to be quite a character: a politically active liberal living in an area festooned with signs reading ‘guns save lives’ and having as his summer live-aboard yacht a 17 ft motor cruiser, which he trails down to Florida.

Soda fountain, Urbana

On Wednesday 21^st, we returned to the drug store for breakfast, sampling the local ‘biscuits’ then provisioned up for our next leg before weighing anchor and sailing back down the Rapohannock and round to Jacksons creek to anchor. This was chosen for its access to West Marine, who had a new radio handset and kedge anchor for us. Unfortunately, the handset proved incompatible but the anchor, a Fortress, was just the job. Made of aluminium, it is larger and stronger than our existing kedge but much lighter.

Once again, we had been watching the weather forecast and believed that we had a good window to sail up to New York. We might have to motor down to the mouth of the Bay but then should be able to sail most of the way up the coast. The reality was that we managed to sail down to the bridge but then had to motor for 8 of the following 24 hours. We had possible boltholes at Ocean City and Delaware bay but made the decision at Mid-day on the 23^rd to continue up to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. A good following wind took us up the coast and then, at 0800 on the 24^th, a very active cold front passed giving 40 knot gusts and a wind shift of 90 degrees, so we were now close reaching with 2 reefs in main and genoa. At 1300, we closed Sandy Hook and dropped the sails to motor round to Atlantic Highlands on the New Jersey shore, anchoring in the lee of the breakwater. The plan was to spend one night and then proceed up the Hudson River to a marina at 79th street, which has visitors moorings.  We phoned to book one only to discover that they were out of action for the next 2 months.  Once again, I had not slept well on the passage and decided to have a complete rest day on the Sunday only to realise, too late, that we should have at least done a little provisioning trip. This was because our next little trip depended on tidal flows and to make it on Monday would have required us to be away before 0900. And so we slipped a day which had knock on effects through the next week. We did shop on Monday and also caught up on some maintenance tasks, including fitting a new fog horn to replace one lost over a year before.

Lower Manhattan.

Statue of Liberty

On Tuesday, we heaved up at 10:00 and headed up towards New York City. The wind was light and variable, so we didn’t even consider sailing - this was a sight-seeing trip. We motored through the Verrazano Narrows and up to Governers Island at the foot of Manhattan. Here we bore left, to continue up the Hudson River getting the best views available of this amazing city. We continued up as far as the 79^th Street marina. Mooring balls appeared to be in place and we considered anchoring but internet tales of anchored yachts being struck by passing tugs dissuaded us. Back down the river for a closer look at Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty before finding a snug anchorage behind the latter. Here we had a fine view, not only of the close attractions, but also of Lower Manhattan which was a fine sight as the sun set. Later that evening, someone put on a good fireworks display to welcome us to the Big Apple. Wednesday, we started to pick up the anchor at 10:00, to make the best of the currents up the East River, only to find that our chain had made a complete loop around an old cable. We couldn’t quite work out how this had happened and were starting some advanced seamanship to extricate ourselves when an end appeared and we were able to work ourselves free. Presumably that’s how we got caught in the first place. We certainly caught the current: most of the way up the east side of Manhattan we had 3 knots behind us. This increased to over 5 knots as we passed Hell Gate at the junction of East and Harlem Rivers. As we negotiated this, there was a tug pushing alongside a huge barge coming the other way, making about 1 knot over the ground. Fortunately he was well in control and we had no difficulty keeping clear. After the spectacular sights of the city, the landscape now changed to grim industrial, and then rural as we motored along the north of Long Island, past La Guardia airport and Flushing Meadows to our destination at Manhasset Bay. Here we found an easy anchorage just outside the mooring field where we intended to leave Ruby while we flew back to the U.K. for a few days.

On Thursday, we dinghied in and caught the train to Penn Station and the subway to the Museum of Modern Art for one of our occasional days of culture. Certainly worth the entry fee with some really great works. We spent most of the day on the 5^th floor which contains a vast collection of art from the late 19^th – mid 20^th Century. Stuff we can mostly understand, unlike some more modern work. Then back in the rush hour, declining the first subway train and then finding Penn station in chaos as a fault had closed 12 lines. We were lucky to squeeze onto a home-bound train which combined 3 services. Even luckier to be standing just where a door opened so we got seats. On return to the dinghy, we found that the wind had sprung up and, as we had failed to take waterproofs, we got soaked. Even though it was well past beer O’Clock, the first drink was a hot one to revive us. Friday, we braved to rail service again, this time walking to our first stop. The Empire State Building. This was one of Elsie’s must-do’s and we took the full package, visiting the 86^th and 102^nd levels, spending well over an hour looking over New York. From here, we walked up to Byant’s Park, pleased to find table and chairs in the shade to eat a pick nick before our next appointment, a walking tour of Central Manhattan. This covered Grand Central Staion, the Chrysler Building, the City Library, Times Square and the Rockefeller Centre. The guide, after his strange opening remark along the lines of ‘I don’t know why you are here, I wouldn’t come into Central Manhattan if I didn’t have to’, turned out to be very knowledgable. With only 3 guests, it was very good and personal. Again, we avoided the subway system on the way back to Penn Station and got a return train without delay. Just the 1 mile walk back to the dinghy and a (well waterproofed) trip back and we were done for the day. Which was welcome news as our legs were about giving out.

Chrysler Building

Monthly distance: 850 miles.