In the Big Apple

Written by Jack van Ommen on August 6th, 2021

 

It is Thursday morning.

I had a good night sleep at the anchorage and since the wind was not due to change from yesterday’s North-Easterly until noon, I rowed to shore to make a run to get my much-needed supplies. It was a good 4-mile upwind bike ride to the ACME super market. On the way back I had a (also much needed) haircut.

But when I got back to the boat, the seas had become nasty, the boat was doing a rodeo hobby horse ride and I did not see much of a chance to get my groceries and backpack back to the boat and mount this wild steed.

But, with my usual luck, rescue was at hand. A couple watched me fold the bike and started a conversation. They were on a bike ride from Ocean City, they are sailors Mark and Judy Slichter, they saw my predicament and offered to take me to an inexpensive motel in Somerspoint. They drove by the boat in the evening and reported, with a photograph, that “Fleetwood” was still hanging in there. So, I had a good night’s sleep.

They will come and get me at 9 am to bring me back to the boat.

Thursday 2 pm. This is sailing at its very best. About 10 knots of wind just between hard to the wind and a tight reach to the course I want to follow. Smooth seas, just the usual swell, speed just under 4 knots.

The classic FM station is playing. I had my liverwurst s/w lunch, with my favorite beverage. I am passing Atlantic City. “Happy Place” a catamaran just passed me going south at 8 k under power. He could be sailing downwind at at least that speed and save a few bucks on fuel. But that is just too much work to hoist sails. Most of the Chesapeake and inshore catamarans have sails that have cobwebs on them.

But getting back to 9 am this morning, Mark and his son in law came to fetch me at the motel; they helped me shove off in the dinghy, with my backpack, groceries and folding bike. That turned into a hairy exercise. The ebb was getting ever stronger, the closer I got to the boat; it felt like I was unable to row those last few strokes to grab the boat. But finally, I did. Thank God for Todd Dhabolt’s modification to the original design, he added the sugar scoop which is low enough to get my knee on it and twist through the windvane frame to get aboard over the transom.

Back to enjoying the ride, the gentle slapping of the waves on the half inch thick mahogany plywood hull try to rock me to sleep.

Thursday evening. The wind strengthened in the late afternoon. I was hitting sixes and an occasional seven knots. Reef early. I put a reef in the main and by morning I was down to two reefs and my hand towel size storm jib. I managed to lay down with the alarm set but never slept. I intend to make up for it tonight. I had planned to sail through the night to the north end of Long Island. But after checking the time and distance, I realized that I would end up there in the middle of Friday night. Instead, I chose to go through New York, East River and the West shore of Long Island. The wind evaporated, I motored the last 30 miles, from the left turn until my anchorage behind the Statute of Liberty. The Ferries, commercial and pleasure boat traffic had turned the surface of the bay into a witches’ brew. But now the traffic has gone home. I have a magnificent view of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, Bronx and over my shoulder Hoboken and Staten Island.

Going through the Verrazano Bridge

The north flowing current in the East River starts at 03.47 tomorrow and I can ride it to the end before it turns there at 9 am.

 

 

New York is a true melting pot. I am listening to Latin and a Greek station. I only know small parts of NY. In January 2015 I had the privilege of having my friend Christine give me a private tour of the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she had worked for many years. New York was my very first foot on American soil in January 1957. In 1967 my wife and three-year-old Lisa sailed from Le Havre to NY on the trans-Atlantic cruise vessel lighthouse for the Statue of Liberty: “Look, dad, there is America!”. Five days later, we got to see the statue for the first time.

Manhattan Skyline

The back side of Liberty

 

1 Comments so far ↓

  1. Russ says:

    No mention of NY as New Amsterdam ?

    When the Dutch ruled and it’s Navy gave the English a real challenge!

    It’s fun tracking your travels !