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Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in sending out our update, once we hit New York City we took a little time to rest from our ocean passage... and then we got busy again! He Said:
So let's see... when last we wrote we left you with dreams of a perfectly calm day as we leisurely strolled across the Gulf Stream as the sun set beautifully on the horizon. On the other side of the boat a full moon was rising and just hung there illuminating everything around us in a soft purple glow. I remember sitting in the cockpit thinking of all the celebrating that would be going on back in the BVI's where a full moon was always reason for a party!
Mid-Atlantic Full Moon
As it turned out, we should have called our last email "the calm before the storm", lol... One minute we're all wrapped up in how beautifully calm everything is, and by the next morning we're right back to being double reefed and pounding our way over huge rollers trying to make headway against the current of an Eddie off the North edge of the Gulf Stream... the weather never fails to disappoint and this trip delivered a bit of everything!
There was a major front line that had been heading our way that spanned all the way from the Great Lakes across Florida and Cuba... it was HUGE! It was a warm front so didn't have any major line squalls at the leading edge, but did bring lots of wind, waves, rain and cooler temperatures... and did I mention lots of wind!
Looking like a scene from the Perfect Storm as the front passes over us The
weather left a little to be desired, but it was great to turn off the engine for
a while and be able to sail again. One thing they always say about sailing...
you always have either too much wind, or not enough wind, and this trip was
certainly holding tight to that philosophy! We went directly from less than 5
knots to 30-35 knots sustained, with gusts routinely in the high 40's and low
50's!
Picture of our Knot meter showing winds over 50 Knots!
Our crewmember Dwight was growing increasingly comfortable with the dramatic weather changes and would sit at the wheel rhyming off the wind speed as it topped 50 like it was commonplace, lol. Our new crewmember Gary is used to sailing on a J29 race boat that is quite a bit more tender in much less wind than we were experiencing and he was quite surprised that 'Sophisticated Lady' took it so well... we had her sails reefed right down and were consistently doing 9-10 knots through the storm!
The next thing that happened was just plain weird... we had settled into our 'storm rhythm' nicely and were just getting ready to sit down to dinner at the cockpit table... Terri was at the wheel, Dwight and Gary were setting the table, and I was down below working at the nav station when a gust hit the boat that was quite a bit stronger than usual. Terri called down to me saying I'd better come up as the wind had topped 60Knots on the meter and the rigging was howling something fierce! I turned on the radar and sure enough, there was a squall descending on us. It wasn't a large one, only about 12 miles long, but had a very strong leading edge and driving rain hitting the boat almost horizontally! It only lasted about 10 minutes and then it was like somebody turned off a switch... we went from driving rain and huge wind to... nothing! The squall had entirely blown out our wind as if it were a candle! We kept looking around thinking how weird this was, and just waiting to get hit by whatever was behind it, but the radar showed nothing and the sky started to clear.
We continued on our way, and all sat down to dinner not realizing that we had a new problem... the little bit of wind we were left with had us sailing very slowly in a direction that exposed the transom of the boat to huge following waves. We were all happily eating our dinner when with one big 'whoooosh', all our feet were wet! I remember looking down at Ashley who was in her usual place under the table waiting for any yummy scraps to fall her way, as she was looking up at me with wet feet and that look in her eyes that says "was that really necessary?" lol. It was so funny, we all burst out laughing... what else could you do?! After one or two more of those it was time to start the engine again and get the waves to stay outside the boat where they belong! We had a great dinner and then reaped the rewards of our hard day of sailing with another spectacular sunset as the sky had cleared up almost perfectly.
Sun setting over the waves left behind the storm
The next day was perfectly calm again, the ocean was like a millpond and we had to motor pretty much the whole day. We were within 100 miles of shore now so this was clearly going to be our last day before making landfall. Since it was so calm and the sun had been shining all day, Dwight, Gary and I went up on the bow to enjoy our last day on the ocean, sharing a toast while paying homage to the Sea. It was so beautiful and calm up there we were all just in awe of the mighty forces lying still beneath us that seemed to finally give in and allow us safe passage. I know, I know... famous last words... wouldn't you know it, it wasn't letting us out yet! Another front went over us that brought some good wind to sail with, but also brought something we really didn't need... fog! We were fogged in so thick that visibility dropped off very sharply. We hadn't seen any ships yet, even though we were getting close to the New York shipping channels, but almost as if on cue, 2 ships showed up on radar within a half hour of the fog rolling in, and they were both less than 2 miles away! We couldn't see anything, all we could do was track them on radar and listen to their fog horns to know they were still there!
We had the fog right up until landfall on New York City the next morning... fog, rain, wind, and damp, chilling cold! It got so cold we were all in full foul weather gear with multiple layers on underneath! I went back and checked my charts and I'm pretty sure that we took a wrong turn at Bermuda! lol We arrived at New York's outer harbour marker at around 3am and immediately starting playing chicken with ships in the channel... we weren't winning so we opted to pull outside the channel and ride in on our own path! By 7am we were dropping anchor behind the Statue of Liberty and all crew were on deck with cameras in hand happily snapping pictures of the great Lady as the fog cleared.
Rick & Terri & Ashley (dressed very warmly!) in front of Lady Liberty
We arrived in New York with about 2 hours to spare... the guys both had flights booked and needed to get to the airport. We motored over to Liberty Landing Marina on the New Jersey side where we topped up fuel and water and gave the boat a little fresh water rinse, then the guys treated us to a great breakfast at the hotel restaurant before loading all their bags and piling into a cab to go home. It was a great trip, we had a little of everything, but what really makes or breaks a passage is crew... we were lucky, we had great crew for all portions of our trip and we'd have any of them aboard again without hesitation! Thanks Dwight, John and Gary, you really made the passage enjoyable!
Rick, Terri, Dwight and Gary on deck in New York City (John absent)
After saying goodbye's, Terri and I did a little tour of New York for a couple days before heading up the Hudson on the next leg of our journey. New York City is Terri's favorite little town, so I'll let her elaborate more on that part. We were waiting for our friend Frank on his boat 'Dauphin' who was still out on the ocean. He and his crewmember Alan had left the day after us and had fallen into much more calm weather than any of us would like and had exhausted his diesel fuel. That left them bobbing around for a couple days waiting on wind so they could maintain their reserve fuel for landfall. We kept in contact with Frank twice daily on our long-range radios to check his progress and make sure everything was alright. He finally made it in safe so we headed up the Hudson to Haverstraw Bay with plans made for 'Dauphin' to join us later that evening.
Haverstraw Bay was a beautifully picturesque park like setting with a quiet anchorage and still water, just off the side of the Hudson River. It was such stark contrast to the city only 20 miles away with it's looming buildings everywhere and constant drone of traffic. We immediately packed a picnic lunch and some chairs into the dinghy and headed ashore where we hung out for the entire afternoon while we waited for Frank.
'Dauphin' arriving safely in Haverstraw Bay
With 'Dauphin' safely rafted up to us in Haverstraw Bay, we immediately welcomed Frank and Alan aboard 'Sophisticated Lady' for the first time since Bermuda and shared a toast to celebrate our successful journeys across a very big piece of ocean! We enjoyed a great stir-fry that was made in anticipation of their arrival, and told many tales of our adventures on the ocean over a couple great bottles of wine!
As we write this, we are already traversing the Erie Canal system with its 35 locks, having already made our way up the Hudson River and de-stepped our mast in Castleton Boat Club. The trip has gone very well so far, Terri and I have gotten into our 'Lock rhythm' having already guided 'Sophisticated Lady' through 25 of the locks. Our elevation is currently about 400 feet above sea level and we'll keep climbing for the next couple hundred miles as we follow along on our way to Lake Erie. We should be in Lake Erie by Friday, hopefully in time to find a place to step our masts so we can continue on around the Great Lakes under sail. That should put us back in Georgian Bay in the first week of June right on schedule. We'll keep you posted, and look forward to seeing many of you again real soon! Take care till then!
Cheers,
Rick
She Said:
Seeing New York City rising out of the fog ahead of us was a surreal and very welcome sight! As I had predicted our journey had lots of wind, waves and a new feature: dense fog. It was so great to see land and to know we had made it and we were safe and sound in the harbour. The day before as the sun was rising on one side of us, the moon was setting on the other. It was an incredible sight to see but I couldn't get the camera to focus on the moon so I had to settle for this spectacular sunrise photo!
Last sunrise on the Ocean as we head into New York Harbour
As we pulled up along side Lady Liberty we were all out on deck smiling and taking pictures. We had made it! We were all excited to be anchored under her watchful eye and to be in New York. It was a long journey with lots of adventure that led us to the Big Apple at last! I felt like shouting out loud to anyone who could hear, "we made it , we made it , we are almost home!!" We anchored for a few hours so the guys could grab a couple of hours sleep before they had to catch their flights. Ashley and I had slept through most of the last half of the fog, so we stared out at the city and day dreamed of long walks to come.
Sailing in front of Lower Manhattan
As we made our way to the Marina on the New Jersey side to get fuel for the boat and ourselves a dozen small sail boats out racing whizzed around us. Manhattan loomed ahead with fog still blanketing and softening the edges of the down town buildings. As we piled on layers of clothes we quickly realized we were no longer in the warm Caribbean waters! But it was spring and everything was blooming and green and we were heading for shore!
The guys filled the boat with water and fuel while Ashley and I took a much needed and thoroughly enjoyable hour long walk all along the board walk. Everyone was out walking, jogging and enjoying the spring air and we enjoyed fabulous views of Manhattan as we walked. Ashley was so excited I think she could have walked for hours. Dwight and Gary treated us to a huge and scrumptious brunch at the waterfront restaurant and we all left very satisfied and stuffed! We said a sad goodbye and thanks to Dwight and Gary as they hopped in a cab to catch their flights home. It was so wonderful to meet them and they will be missed. We always seem to get the most amazing people to crew for us and it makes the journey better then we could ever have imagined.
Huge Aircraft carrier docked in the harbour
Looking across at New Jersey from our anchorage
We pulled into the anchorage to grab a mooring ball at the bottom of 79th Street. Of course it was pouring rain, windy and cold! Grabbing the ball was a little tricky with the current pushing us off as fast as we could stay close, but we did it and got settled in for the night. This cool little Marina is right at the foot of 79th Street with a huge park and boardwalk running along the shoreline and a huge old octagonal outdoor restaurant called The Rotunda looking down on it. The cafe looks and feels like the foyer of an old stone castle with huge archways, stone walls and green ivy everywhere. If we walked up the street we were on Broadway within minutes and could walk anywhere easily. It was great to be in the bustle of the city with endless cafes, shops and sights to see.
View down the Hudson from the 79th St Marina in Manhattan
Ashley and I so enjoyed our walks all along the boardwalk and in the park. Everything was bursting with life and the greens were incredible. It smelled like fresh earth and new grass as we walked amongst the happy New Yorkers basking in the springtime. It seemed like everyone was out walking, jogging, reading and playing in the warm air and sunshine. It usually rained all morning and cleared up in the late afternoon. We spent one rainy day touring the new space exhibit at the Museum of Natural History and that was very cool!
We went to dinner one night to a tiny Italian bistro that was packed and quaint. As we stepped in out of the rain, the warmth, sounds of happy conversation and mouth watering smells was overpowering. They had an open air pizza oven that both heated the dining room and filled it was delicious aromas. Our homemade bread and lasagna was fantastic and the coziness and bustle around us was wonderful.
'Sophisticated Lady' anchored in the park at Haverstraw Bay
The quiet and calmness of Haverstraw Bay is surprising considering how close New York city is. We enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing and lazy day on a blanket in the park with our books and a picnic. Ashley ran and sniffed to her hearts content and the sun was warm and made us sleepy. It was a lovely day and the surrounding rolling hills and town was very picturesque. The sounds of the spring birds was so familiar and the willow trees and grass made me feel so at home. I was surprised by how much I missed these familiar North American sounds and sights. Even the smells were so home. I didn't realize I had missed this until I saw and smelled them.
Beautiful castle on its own island in the Hudson River
The scenery along the Hudson is wonderful to see and very diverse. It is a great time of year to be on the river as everything is bursting with new life and so alive. It's hard to believe that so many different shades of green can exist in this world.
Our trip down the Erie Canal is beautiful to look at but has been very cold , very rainy and we all wished we never had to leave the cockpit. We are all wearing about 5 layers of clothes with hats and mitts to top it off. Where is summer???? It seems to pour with rain even harder every time we pull up to a lock and we all stand out in the cold and rain clutching the freezing cold ropes and staring at the slimy walls of the lock. Will this ever end?! We get up every morning at about 6:30 am ( what torture for me, I am not a morning person!) and it is so hard to pull yourself out of a warm bed to all that cold and rain. Our days are long but we have a system that gets us through each lock with no mishaps. It is wonderful to stop at night and eat and be dry and warm. It is good to be traveling with Dauphin and to share in the joys of the locks! Today is actually sunny in the late evening and we hear it is expected to get warm the next two days - yahoo!
Cheers,
Terri |
