I woke up the next morning to calm waters and fog just south of the Verrazano Bridge in NYC. My plan was to catch the currents up the East River so I could make Port Washington by early afternoon, pick up a mooring ball for the night, then leave early the next morning for a final long day to Groton and Shennecossett Yacht Club.
I finished my prep work for departure, raised the anchor, and headed out to make my way up to NYC. I made it about a quarter mile and noticed that two big container ships were headed in the same direction as I was and our paths would cross right at the bridge (also known as “The Narrows”) so I figured it would be wise of me to let them go by first!! I circled around for about 15 minutes and then jumped in behind them to make my way into the harbor.
I’m so glad I had set up a tablet with AquaMaps at the helm to back up my primary chartplotter cos you can get lost real quick in NY Harbor and that’s definitely something you don’t want to have happen!! I made my way past the big ship anchorages as water taxis, ferries, and traffic big and small zipped around me. It was hard enough trying to figure out where to enter the East River without everything else going on so my head was on a swivel for the next couple of hours.
Going through the East River is a matter of timing your direction properly to coincide with the currents. If you do it wrong, you’ll most likely be at a standstill even with your engine full throttle (at least on a sailboat) at certain points of the river. I studied the Eldridge book, looked at stuff online, and referenced my AquaMaps current tables to make sure I got it right so I was very surprised when I was supposedly catching a fair current into the harbor but my speed over ground wasn’t showing it. I’m not 100% sure but I think I was fighting the Hudson River flow cos once I got to the East River entrance, I started to pick up speed rather quickly!!
I was pretty happy to see my speed going up and that the traffic dropped off to almost nothing once I was in the river but I wasn’t too happy to see that the winds were increasing to the point of creating standing waves in the river. Some places were flat but others were not so flat and I knew that the further up the river I went, the worse it would get cos the river turns more to the east as it dumps into Long Island Sound and the winds were coming from the ENE at about 15 knots true.
At this point, I couldn’t worry too much about what was up the river due to the fact that I was approaching Hell Gate and needed to concentrate on getting through it. My speed over ground was holding steady between 9-10 knots and the water was full of boils and whirlpools that would turn the boat without even turning the wheel. Was I concerned?? Hell no!! I was actually having a blast working the boat and passing thru NYC faster than the road traffic just feet away from me. The fastest speed I saw was 11 knots so that made me smile too!!
Once I got past Hell Gate, things calmed down boatwise but not windwise. I came around the corner past Rikers Island and ran headfirst into the waves generated from wind against current. This wiped the smile from my face in about a nanosecond…🤬. I forged ahead as I knew I couldn’t turn around and go back. At least I was still making decent speed with the current.
I could see the Throggs Neck bridge in the distance and I knew that was the end of the East River and the beginning of Long Island Sound. The land where the bridge is was blocking some of the wind so the water settled down quite a bit but I knew it wouldn’t last as once I went past the bridge, I would be exposed to the full force of the wind and the full fetch of the sound so the waves were going to be…ummmmm…bigger. I passed under the bridge and BOOM, right into the teeth of the wind and waves!! I know I said I’d been in bad stuff before but this was, in my humble opinion, the worst of the entire trip. Coming into NY Harbor the day before was bad but that was mainly the confused seas. This was straight on the nose, 2 second apart, 4-5′ waves, and apparent winds in the mid-twenties that were rocking the boat and causing rivers to flow down the side decks. I watched another sailboat off my starboard fighting thru the seas and wondered aloud if Infinity looked as bad as they did with all the spray and pitching going on!! I checked my chartplotter and smiled as I saw that Port Washington was less than 5 miles away so I knew this would be over soon. I held on for dear life, apologized again to Infinity for putting her through this, and set a course to the outer marker of the PW entrance.
I finally turned into Port Washington and immediately the winds were blocked by land and the water went flat as a mill pond. I assessed Infinity and myself for damage and found us both in shipshape. I wanted to pick up fuel so I would have enough to make the 85 mile journey the next day so I called the Safe Harbor Capri marina in PW on the VHF and told them I was coming in for fuel. The last time I had fueled up was in Worton Creek and that cost was $3.45/gal so I was floored when I saw a price of $5.60/gal at the marina. Luckily I was only taking on about 15 gallons but I felt really sorry for the powerboat in front of me that took on 300 gallons. Welcome back to New England…😖.
I finished filling up then motored over to the PW Water Taxi mooring balls for the night. This is such a wonderful company to do business with and the people running it are fabulous!! The first night on the ball is free too!! The area has plenty of places to provision plus you definitely have to make the trek up the hill to Carlos Pizza to get a slice or 3 of true NY-style pizza. I ordered an entire pizza and took it back to the boat with me. I was happy…😁.
I settled in for the night with a full belly, a bourbon sundowner, and the knowledge that tomorrow would, most likely, be my last day of the trip. I was so close to going full circle on the adventure I had started almost 9 months earlier and the realization was just starting to sink in. I fell asleep looking forward to my 4 am departure time!!
The alarm went off at 3 am and I was out of bed in a flash. No snoozes or complaining about getting up early this morning!! I was about to start my last day of the trip and I was anxious to get started!! The forecast for LIS was light winds and flat water for most of the day. The winds were supposed to build on the east end of the Sound later in the day but nothing major was expected. YAY!!
I finished my breakfast, cleaned up the boat and captain, then did my departure prep for the last time. The early morning was still dark but the lights from NYC lit up the area pretty good. I could see a long ways so dodging lobster pots (gone was the land of crab pots but they’re all the same…just different names) wouldn’t be an issue and traffic on the Sound would be non-existent so I was confident I’d have no issues. I dropped the line for the mooring ball right at 4 am, drifted for a few minutes just to soak in the moment, and then quietly slipped out of the mooring area. It was so still that the only ripples on the water were from Infinity as we ghosted along in the dark.
As I made my way out towards the Sound, I noticed an AIS signal on my chartplotter. I checked it out and saw that a tug was pushing a barge towards NYC and that our paths would intersect right at the mouth of Port Washington harbor. So much for no traffic when the only other boat in the entire area was going to require me to change my speed so we didn’t hit each other…🤣🤣🤣🤷. I called the captain of the tug, let him know my intentions, agreed on our course of action, and then passed like, well, two ships in the night. See how I worked in that popular phrase? Pretty slick, huh?
After the tug had passed, I set a proper course that would run for about 10 miles to a waypoint that would then allow me to set another waypoint about 75 miles away just outside of Groton. It was going to be a long day of motoring but I figured I would get there around 5 pm or so. There was very little traffic on the water for most of the morning. A few small fishing boats and the occasional ship or barge so no worries. I still kept a close eye on my radar and chartplotter though cos you never know what’s coming and the Coast Guard requires it…😁👍. It was a really good thing that I was doing that as I noticed a fast mover coming up behind me from about 10 miles away. I wasn’t sure if it was a recreational boat or the CG as it was making good time thru the water. As it got closer, I saw it on the horizon right behind me and the big tuna tower sticking out of the top let me know it wasn’t a CG boat. The one thing I did notice that made me a bit nervous was the CPA ( closest point of approach) distance was in feet and not in miles. The CPA is an estimate of how close the two boats will be when they “pass” each other. Usually this should be a minimum of a quarter mile (my requirement) if not more but sometimes (like on the ICW) you only get feet but you’re going slow and are extra vigilant about the pass. I watched the boat intently as it got closer and it’s bearing never changed from directly behind me so I decided to put some distance between us before it got to me. I tapped in a few degrees of starboard turn into the autopilot and closely watched the CPA start to change. The boat coming up on me is considered the “overtaking” boat during a pass from behind and is required to adjust course to allow for a safe pass. This is a CG rule of the road to avoid collisions. I, as the boat being “overtaken”, am required to maintain course and speed…UNLESS a collision is eminent and then you take action to avoid said collision. I took the action to avoid as it appeared the boat behind me wasn’t. Good thing that I did too. As the very large sportfishing boat passed me about 300 feet to my port, I looked at the helm of the boat and saw the “captain” with his head buried into his cell phone. I would guess the guy was maybe in his late twenties as that’s how close he was to me as he flew by. Thing is….he never saw me as he went by. The wake from his boat was huge and even though I came off autopilot and turned into his wake, I still had stuff being thrown around below on Infinity. I saw the boat name as it went by so I did an absolute no-no and called out the guy on the VHF channel 16, called him a f’n ahole, and told him to put his phone down. I was hoping the CG would hear me but they never said a word. The thing that pissed me off the most was there was about 10 miles of open water on each side of me that he could have adjusted his course to go around me in but his lack of attention required me to adjust my course to allow him to make a safe pass. I’m not saying this as a sailboater cos we’re slow and get waked all the time but as a responsible captain that believes things like this kill people and should be mentioned. If you’re at the helm, pay attention please. Ok, back down of my soapbox again…😋.
I was really soaking up this last day of travel and the miles ticked off pretty steadily. Soon enough I had passed my bail out harbor of Mattituck NY on Long Island. This is a snug little harbor about 35 miles west of Groton that Denise and I had visited in a prior season so I knew it pretty well. I kept going as the day was into the middle of the afternoon and I was still holding pretty good to my planned arrival time. I also knew that the currents I had been enjoying were starting to turn back against me so my speed over ground was going down. I was outside of Old Saybrook when they really started to get strong and my speed dropped down to about 4.5 knots over ground. The boat was still running about 6 knots through the water so there really wasn’t much I could do except press on.
The winds were also forecasted to pick up in the afternoon to about 14-18 knots from the SE and I was hoping to use them to my advantage. I had raised the main sail earlier in the day so I unfurled the jib as the breeze picked up. It helped a bit but the SE winds were more like ESE so the jib was getting pinched and luffing more than I cared for. I rolled the jib back up, sighed that I wasn’t going to be able to sail into Shenny unless I tacked my way there, and settled in for another round of waves over the bow. Poseidon smiled as he entertained me for one final time in the trip. I didn’t care though so I went below, grabbed a bottle of bourbon, then went back up topside to share a splash of bourbon with him. I thanked him for being considerate during my journey as I poured a good helping for him over the side of Infinity. The winds dropped…go figure!!
Running against the current had slowed me so my arrival time at Shennecossett was pushed out by an hour or more from my original time. I was on the phone with Denise to let her know of my delay and she said it was fine as she was sitting in her Jeep reading her book. I went over my approach plan for the slip with her so she’d be ready for the lines. By now, I was definitely back in familiar waters. As I was approaching the Thames River, one more present came motoring out in the form of an Orient Point ferry and of course, our paths were going to cross. I called the ferry on the VHF and we discussed intentions, came to a safe solution, and went on our merry ways. I was actually motorsailing on the main so as I approached Shennecossett so I prepared to drop the main before heading in. One more time I clipped onto the jacklines and went forward to set the jiffy jacks. I went back to the cockpit, set the autopilot so I was directly into the wind, and lowered the main. I then went back forward, flaked the sail properly, and took a moment to look around. I was back in the old stomping grounds and it was just surreal.
After the mainsail was all set, I made my way back to the cockpit, disengaged the autopilot, and turned Infinity towards Shenny. I knew Denise was waiting on the dock so I motored in at a quick pace. The winds had dropped to a very manageable amount but I was still nervous about getting into the slip. As I came around the jetty just outside SYC, I couldn’t believe what I saw at the end of the dock. Instead of just Denise standing there to welcome me home was a large gathering of my friends and family!! They were holding “Welcome Home” signs and cheering as I made my way towards the dock. Being the smartass that I am, I quickly grabbed the remote mic for the VHF, switched it to the PA setting to power up the speaker on the mast, then yelled out my most famous words in history…”Hey bitches, I’m back”!! A huge cheer rang out from the dock with that one…🤣🤣🤣. I turned down the fairway leading to Infinity’s slip and got ready to back in as usual. I had some lines set up and there were plenty of hands now to take them so it didn’t take long to get Infinity secure in her slip. All that was left was to shut her down one final time so with a pull of the fuel shutoff handle, she rumbled to a quiet stop. I gave her a gentle tap on the steering wheel and thanked her for bringing me back home safely after 9 long months.
I stepped off the starboard side of Infinity onto the finger dock like I had done a thousand times before over the last ten years but this time was extra special. I was greeted by Denise with a huge hug and tears from both of us. I was still in all my gear and I’m sure I was pretty smelly but she didn’t care. I was then surrounded by everyone else, shaking hands, getting hugs and slaps on the back, and congrats on being home. My gaze turned back to Infinity as she gently rocked in her slip. I was so proud of her and I was also happy that she was going to get the rest that she deserved.
We all gathered up at the clubhouse for dinner, drinks, and lots of talk about the trip. I was tired but was really enjoying the company of everyone that was there. After a while, people started to head home so Denise and I went back to Infinity so I could get some clothes and stuff as we were spending the night in a hotel room. I was definitely looking forward to a nice hot shower and a king size bed!! As we started back up the dock, I turned to Infinity and said good night, sleep well, and thanked her again for keeping me safe. It was with those last words that the trip that I had started on September 5th of 2023 came to an end.
So I guess that this is when the credits start to scroll across the screen and everyone gets up to leave the theater. I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey as it has unfolded, have had a laugh or two, and maybe learned something along the way. I’m planning to write one more post to share my reflections on the trip overall so it’ll probably be a couple of weeks from this post.
I do want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone that supported me throughout this journey. The phone calls and texts full of well wishes, having visitors to Infinity along the way, the cruising community support, and everyone reading my blog made it a lot easier for me to move forward every day!!
I do have three special people to thank though….
First, two very special thanks to Kimberly and Jeff (aka the Pegu crew) for taking me under their wings to share their expertise of cruising, for keeping me safe, for all the great times we had along the way, and for being such awesome friends!! We sure had some adventures, didn’t we?
And last, but definitely not least, is my soulmate Denise.
❤️❤️❤️You. Are. Amazing!!❤️❤️❤️
There is absolutely no way I would have been able to do this trip without your support. You were always there to cheer me on, to be a shoulder to cry on, and to keep me from jumping off the ledge when things really got rough. It was you that gave me the strength to complete this journey and for that I will be forever grateful. I love you babe…❤️❤️❤️
Sailing Infinity 