Sheepshead Bay to Port Washington - 32 nautical miles sailed, 2 miles in dinghy, 7 kilometres walked
After four nights on a mooring at Sheepshead Bay, it was time to move on, but instead of heading up the Hudson River towards our ultimate destination, we decided on a little side trip to Port Washington, in Long Island Sound.
By 6:30 am we were on the water and carefully snaked through the shallow channel using the GPS track we had saved from our tumultous, but ultimately successful passage into Sheepshead Bay. I put Dad on the helm and we sailed west and north around Brooklyn, winding around large anchored freighters, until we reached the south end of Manhattan and its imposing skyline. Here, we turned north east and traveled up the East River, passing the towers of Manhattan to our left, Brooklyn to our right, numerous massive bridges directly above, and raging but favourable tidal currents below. The ride was exciting as we were passed by high speed ferries, commercial vessels, a few private boats, and a small airplane on floats that we watched rip down the river and take flight just in time to soar over the Williamsburg bridge.
As we proceeded north and into the narrower passages of the East River, the current velocity increased and we hit a maximum speed of 13 knots as we blasted across bubbly, swirling water and watched the shoreline passing by at a speed never before experienced on SeaLight.
After putting up the headsail to take advantage of the building winds (and to go even faster), we passed through the treacherous Hell Gate, where East River splits off into the Harlem River which runs north and loops around the top of Manhattan. This geographical configurion makes a right old mess of the tidal currents, but SeaLight motored through the chaos admirably.
Soon afterwards we passed Rikers Island, notorious for the massive prison with its 10,000 inmates and reputation as one of the worst correction facilities in the USA. We did not stop for a tour.
We soon reached the end of the river and the start of Long Island Sound, which runs for 80 miles between the mainland and Long Island. It was only a few miles to Manhasset Bay where we picked up a mooring near the Port of Washington town site. Dad had his first experience with balancing at the bow of the boat with a flimsy boat hook trying to snag a mooring line and we nailed it on the second attempt.
Fun fact: Dalton, Georgia is known as the Carpet Capital of the World and is home to over 150 carpet plants which produce 90% of the world's carpets. Their carpet production uses up one-third of the Conasauga River's summer water flow and the river itself and city water supply is contaminated with carpet chemicals.
We took the dinghy into shore and went exploring, finding a cute town with an unusual abundance of Asian restaurants and barber shops. After walking the entire length of Main Street and accidentally stopping for coffee at a daycare center (and looking like a couple of creeps, especially after we asked to play in the Ikea-like ball room), we found the incredible town library and settled into comfy chairs with a stack of magazines and books. It was heavenly and we stayed for a long time, but Dad probably had no idea how long we were there as he faded in and out of consciousness, in the clutches of the nap-friendly chair.
After a stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things (but not the seven-dollar hot dog buns) we returned to SeaLight and fired up happy hour and had so much fun and had so many great ideas that we forgot to eat dinner until 10 pm, under the night beauty of the anchorage, ringed in by 360 degrees of sparkling lights from the houses, boats, and marinas. Dad pointed out the magnificence of our current situation in life. I hadn't noticed. I explained to him this was just a regular night for me in a long sequence of magical evenings in beautiful places.
When one's regular is incredible, you know you're doing something right.
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