July 6th, 2010
At 8:30am we weighed anchor and motored out into the Block Island sound to start our journey home. Wind was very light so we motored until it filled in mid morning.
There wasn't much traffic in the Block Island Sound, but this freighter passed us rather closely on its way out to sea.
I had checked the tides and knew we would be arriving at the Race at just the right time to be sucked in and spit out into Long Island Sound. It was impressive to see the boiling, churning seas near the Race, but nothing I saw looked like it would be dangerous. The only thing I can imagine going wrong would be very slow progress if one timed the tide incorrectly.
Our speed over the ground hit 8kts at one point!
We sailed along the South coast of Fishers Island and arrived at the mouth of the Connecticut River just before dawn. We anchored in Salt Works Bay, just to the west of the river as the wind was blowing from the north.
July 7th, 2010
A typical July morning with no wind, so we started motoring south west towards Long Island. We passed thousands of jelly fish as we went - mostly Portuguese Men-of-War.
Since the wind was light, I took time to mess with the Drifter. I still don't have this sail figured out. It doesn't seem to give us more than our genoa. Finally, the wind filled in (as it seems to do every morning eventually) and we had a perfect sail down to Port Jefferson, NY. We picked up a mooring from the Port Jeff Yacht Club (really the town of Port Jeff) and met my parents and friends for dinner.
We also had our first showers since we left at the club's facility. We have learned that a sun shower is an essential piece of equipment and will be purchased before out next cruise.
After dinner, everyone came on board (7 in total) for a Champagne night cap.
July 8th, 2010
After a quick launch ride to shore for a little grocery shopping, we filled up with fuel and water at Danford's.
The day was uneventful, but we were lucky to have perfect winds for a nice sail all the way to the Throgs Neck Bridge. We anchored in Little Neck Bay, just shy of the bridge for the night.
The bay was surrounded by enormous, but unattractive homes.
July 9th, 2010
Calm seas greeted us for our final, but very interesting, leg home.
Just past the Whitestone Bridge, we come to LaGuardia Airport. It's impressive to see the jets so low over the water.
There are just to many sights to describe as we sailed down the East River, past Manhattan Island and into New York Harbor.
We made it home late afternoon and couldn't have been more thrilled with our first cruise together.
Wonderful experience and nicely described with so very lively pictures.
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