We’ve been a bit lax with our posts of late – I guess we’re just slowing down as the summer comes to a close. As noted in our last update, we anchored in Onset, MA on 8/24 after a run down from Boston and thru the Cape Cod Canal. We had stayed in Onset on the way north on a mooring ball, but noted a nice anchorage while we were there. So that’s where we returned and we had a lovely night.
Up early the next day for a long run to Mystic, CT. The weather was perfect and we pulled into Mystic Shipyard West in the afternoon. We had reservations for two nights as the weather for the 25th looked pretty poor. What a great stop! Bob had learned to sail at Mystic Seaport when he was in 7th and 8th grade and really enjoyed the return visit. The town has totally kept its charm and it was fun to walk around and look in all the shops. The marginal weather was just that, so we managed to eat well, drink well, and shop well!
On the 26th we awoke to heavy fog, but the weather report told of clearing skies, so we took on fuel and cautiously poked out of Mystic Harbor with little visibility. Our radar and AIS make running in low visibility safer, but we took it at low speeds (even for ROBES!) until the sun burned its way through an hour or so later. We were then treated to a fantastic summer day on Long Island Sound. An eight hour run later, we grabbed a ball in Port Jefferson, NY on the north shore of Long Island.
Port Jefferson was a little crazy. Huge ferries run continuously between there and Bridgeport, CT. It was a Saturday night in PJ and the crowds poured in. We took a water taxi in to give George a walk and had our mellow memories of quiet Mystic, CT and our lovely calm day on the Sound quickly erased. The town was ready to party and people from every walk of life were there to participate! We retreated back to ROBES and grilled our dinner in a really picturesque harbor – feeling miles away from the town a few hundred yards away.
The next day, Sunday, August 27th, we had a five hour run to Manhasset Bay. We stayed there for two nights on the way north and we really liked it so we were eager to return. Again, it did not disappoint. This time, we took a free town mooring ball and spent a beautiful night in a gorgeous setting and enjoyed grilled pizzas. Definitely one of our favorite stops.
Monday, August 28th saw us up at dawn to run through New York. The weather was cloudy but with little wind. We timed our passage back through Hell Gate a little to well as we arrived there at the exact moment a 70 foot Viking, who was going 25 knots, plowed past us! The six foot wake he tossed us from 30 ft away in a 4 knot current was a real treat, thank you to the captain of St. Somewhere! You meet all types on a trip like this (insert eyeroll).
New York Harbor was its busy Monday morning self as we cruised past the Statue of Liberty again and headed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and back into the Atlantic Ocean. It was a bit of a bumpy wind against current passage for the 15+ miles across to Sandy Hook Bay. We then pulled into Sandy Hook Bay Marina across a 2 knot current coming out of the Shrewsbury River, so we were happy to pull into our slip and tie up. We were in Highlands, NJ and had scheduled a three day stay as Hurricanes Franklin and Idalia were doing their thing and we didn’t want to be running down the coast of NJ as the swell bumped up. Moreover, Julie was beginning to feel a bit under the weather, so the break was a welcome one. And so was Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Sandy Hook! What a cool, eclectic and beautiful spot! The town of Highlands is funky and fun and we had a great late afternoon happy hour dinner at Bahrs (founded 1916) that included some of the best fried clams Bob’s ever tasted – and that is a massive acknowledgement! We did our laundry, rode bikes and explored the incredible beach at Sandy Hook and watched the locals shred some beautiful barrels as Franklin’s swell arrived.
We had scheduled a run down the NJ coast to Manasquan, Atlantic City, Cape May and up the Delaware Bay to Delaware City and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal over the next several days, but the weather was getting weird, Julie was definitely feeling worse, and Labor Day Weekend was in the cards so reservations were sketchy. We had a pow wow and decided that Atlantic Highlands would be our home for Labor Day. That’s how it works when you’re only partly in charge – the weather rules as does ones health. Actually, you’re never really in charge on a boat, you’re just responding to what is, so you listen to who really runs the show – the weather, your boat, your health, etc… It’s what makes a boat trip rewarding, and sometimes challenging.
Speaking of challenging, our marina with great amenities showed its weakness as an actual marina when the wind shifted to the NW and the Blue Moon tide rolled in. The outer ‘wall’ of the marina turned out to be a porous ‘wave gate’ that didn’t actually work and ROBES (and every other boat in the marina) had a long night of rolling and bouncing. We wondered why nobody seemed to be on their boats in this marina – now we know. Our reservation ended the next day, so we happily peeled out of Sandy Hook Bay Marina and took a slip at Atlantic Highlands Marina – a well-respected and protected marina a mile or so to the the west. They only had a slip on the commercial dock that should be stern in. We took it, but Bob’s marginal skill at backing a single screw boat into a slip with a decent cross wind led us to decide to go bow in after a few failed backing attempts. However, we rigged Snap!, our dingy, to ferry us on and off the boat, so it all worked out in the end.
We will be heading down the Jersey coast on Monday, but we’re enjoying our time here for sure. It’s an amazing and unique spot, a hometown feel that is only a short 45 min ferry ride to NYC.
Happy Labor Day to all, we “got our hushpuppies on” and are enjoying the “Labor Day weekend show”… RIP Jimmy Buffet… thanks for the memories 🙂