Day 54 & 55 Long Island Sound Begins
Second Star is riding at anchor in an open bay at Montauk, New York. On shore is park land offering trails through the forest and meadows. The forest is oak and maple with laurels and spice bush, reminding us of the woodlands at home in coastal Virginia.
The park shoreline includes raw eroding cliffs that look like every nor'easter storm that rolls through nibbles a little more of the land away. A rail track runs through the park, and about every hour another commuter train rolls through, delivering people to the Hamptons.
This anchorage is a new one for us, and a great find. The park land runs for miles here providing us with the more feral environment which we prefer but which is increasingly rare in this region.
Long Island with the Montauk and the Hamptons separates us from the Atlantic Ocean. We could easily slip around the tip of Long Island and traverse the Atlantic, retracing the route we used going north. However we are going inside Long Island Sound to New York City instead. We don't expect to stop in NYC, but only pass through it. This will be in a few days time.
We are choosing the Long Island Sound route primarily because the ocean weather forecast for a few days from now is something between sporty and "run and hide" conditions. By using Long Island Sound we will be out of the harshest weather, and get to explore a few more places.
On board Second Star it is a lazy morning at anchor. We will get underway shortly but there is no sense of urgency in the morning. Light rain has been falling since last night giving a taste of fall weather.
We got here to Montauk from Jamestown Rhode Island were we revisited Conanicut Marina, with the adjoining shops and neat village vibe.
Aug 23
After Montauck we decided to stop at Old Saybrook CT. Here's the quaint old lighthouse at the entrance to the harbor; i like its character!
We picked up one of the 3 free moorings at the town dock. They are perfect for us, because it's maybe a 50 ft dinghy ride to the dock to walk for Shelby. When we stopped here last year we had some great pizza at a diner on Main Street, so we were hoping to find another really good meal. Penny Lane Cafe had outside seating and a nice menu, so they got the nod. We had reubens made with in-house cured corned beef and sauerkraut. So good! It came with fries....I realized it had been weeks since I had a french fry! Mmmmm.
Back at the boat it was an early night, because.......
Aug 24
The alarm went off at 4:30AM to start our day. (Can't remember the last time I woke up to an alarm, but I think it may gave been my last day at work at DuPont 3 1/2 yrs ago.) We have a loooong day planned- Old Saybrook CT to the western edge of Long Island Sound. We need to be in place to go through NYC & Manhattan via the East River by Sunday morning to take advantage of the tide going the same way we are, otherwise it's a slow & arduous trip.
We dropped our mooring around 5:15AM just as a beautiful pink & orange dawn was breaking in front of us. We turned west & hoisted sails since the 10-15 kt wind was actually blowing a good direction for our journey. We had a great sail and covered a lot of miles! The wind finally calmed in the early afternoon, but that was okay. We were aiming for Port Jefferson, but passed it around noon, and decided to go to a different place 15 miles farther on. When that place was behind us, too, it still wasn't very far into the afternoon, so we revised the plan yet again for Port Washington at the very very western edge of LI Sound. It's a popular place to wait for those favorable tides in the East River. That means tomorrow morning is (drum roll)
!
The park shoreline includes raw eroding cliffs that look like every nor'easter storm that rolls through nibbles a little more of the land away. A rail track runs through the park, and about every hour another commuter train rolls through, delivering people to the Hamptons.
This anchorage is a new one for us, and a great find. The park land runs for miles here providing us with the more feral environment which we prefer but which is increasingly rare in this region.
Long Island with the Montauk and the Hamptons separates us from the Atlantic Ocean. We could easily slip around the tip of Long Island and traverse the Atlantic, retracing the route we used going north. However we are going inside Long Island Sound to New York City instead. We don't expect to stop in NYC, but only pass through it. This will be in a few days time.
We are choosing the Long Island Sound route primarily because the ocean weather forecast for a few days from now is something between sporty and "run and hide" conditions. By using Long Island Sound we will be out of the harshest weather, and get to explore a few more places.
On board Second Star it is a lazy morning at anchor. We will get underway shortly but there is no sense of urgency in the morning. Light rain has been falling since last night giving a taste of fall weather.
We got here to Montauk from Jamestown Rhode Island were we revisited Conanicut Marina, with the adjoining shops and neat village vibe.
Aug 23
After Montauck we decided to stop at Old Saybrook CT. Here's the quaint old lighthouse at the entrance to the harbor; i like its character!
Back at the boat it was an early night, because.......
Aug 24
The alarm went off at 4:30AM to start our day. (Can't remember the last time I woke up to an alarm, but I think it may gave been my last day at work at DuPont 3 1/2 yrs ago.) We have a loooong day planned- Old Saybrook CT to the western edge of Long Island Sound. We need to be in place to go through NYC & Manhattan via the East River by Sunday morning to take advantage of the tide going the same way we are, otherwise it's a slow & arduous trip.
We dropped our mooring around 5:15AM just as a beautiful pink & orange dawn was breaking in front of us. We turned west & hoisted sails since the 10-15 kt wind was actually blowing a good direction for our journey. We had a great sail and covered a lot of miles! The wind finally calmed in the early afternoon, but that was okay. We were aiming for Port Jefferson, but passed it around noon, and decided to go to a different place 15 miles farther on. When that place was behind us, too, it still wasn't very far into the afternoon, so we revised the plan yet again for Port Washington at the very very western edge of LI Sound. It's a popular place to wait for those favorable tides in the East River. That means tomorrow morning is (drum roll)
!
So it will be another super early morning. We'll watch the neon red & orange sunset, then hit the hay.
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