You all have failed the test to find the answer to my mishap underway yesterday. So, I am in good company to confess my fallibility.

Here is what happened: At maximum current, a good two knots, I approached the railroad lift bridge at 36^th Street that connects Roosevelt Island to the eastern shore of the East River. From a distance it just did not look right. All the East River bridges are supposed to clear over a 100 ft. My mast height is 43 feet from the water surface. But I have under estimated the clearance before and passed with many feet to spare. And this had to be another Fata Morgana. But the closer I got the more I saw an accident in the making. And once I was 50 feet away, I threw the transmission in reverse but at full throttle I was not going to avoid a disaster. The current was too strong. A crushing sound at the top of the mast and the boat kept moving through the bridge.

I had checked my charts, read up on the Pilot Chart for the East River and could not figure out what had just happened.

It turns out that it is mentioned in the pilot chart. I was supposed to have taken the West Side of the East River to clear Roosevelt Island. But I never saw the option from where I was following the starboard side of the river. This railroad bridge lifts from 40 feet over the water to 90 feet. But is seldom lifted any longer. The west side channel with the higher 36^th Street bridge is invisible from the starboard side of the river.

So, just to prove again that I have that guardian angel perched on my shoulder, if the water level had been 3 to 6 inches higher, the bridge would have hit the mast and forestay and spun me around or pinned me against/under the bridge.  Now, it broke the lenses of the green/red navigation light and the white anchor light. I checked the lights after dark last night and the tri color (the top part) bulb is still working. The lower anchor light is gone. It is difficult to assess the repair from the deck. I believe that just replacing the lenses for $100 would do the job, but then I need  the sealing rim that does not come with the lenses. So, I ordered the entire tri color unit for $280.

I have it sent to Mystic Seaport where I expect to install when I am there for the Wooden Boat Show. I’ll be able to use the two-color lamp as an anchor light, for the time being and I am not planning to need the masthead navigation lights for night sailing until after I return to the Chesapeake, after August 24.

I had hoped to refill my 12 gallon tank, since my last fill in the Solomons, but the fuel-dock here was not pumping because of the rain. It finally stopped raining after a steady drizzle and occasional pour from 11 am. The fuel dock opens at 9 am.

I attended the 7.30 mass at the church of the Infant Jesus here in Port Jefferson. East Indian-American Reverend Francis Lasrado gave an inspiring sermon on our calling as Christians.