Port Washington to Ellis Island - 21 nautical miles sailed, 3 miles in dinghy
Dad and I sat in the cockpit, the only sailboat in the anchorage, watching the kaleidoscope artwork in progress as the sun dipped down into the horizon, painting and re-painting the Manhattan skyscrapers with shiny hues of gold, silver, burgundy, jaune, chesnut, and emerald. It was a dazzling display and the glittering array of fanciful Lego towers changed by the second as day gave way to night and the reflected light was replaced with radiated light, of all colours, as the city changed again, putting on her evening clothes.
Our morning was one of leisure as we floated in Manhasset Bay. I spent several hours writing while Dad lounged, read a book, and slurped coffee in the growing warmth of the cockpit. Shortly after 11 we threw off the mooring and motored carefully into the town dock where we tied up and used the self-service pump-out machine to clear the holding tank then filled up the water tanks, all for free.
What was difficult, though, was getting off the dock as the strong winds had weakened but were still blowing hard enough on our beam to velcro SeaLight firmly in place. Dad and were not able to get her pushed off the dock. Fortunately there was a bored city worker there who had been leaning on a rail, watching us the entire time, and when I asked him to help he agreed. I first had him and Dad pushing on the boat, which was beginning to work, then the guy's cell phone rang and he abandoned the job to take the call from his wife, keeping his priorities straight. After he had assembled the list of grocery items required for home (loaf of bread, quart of milk, stick of butter, extra-absorbent pads), he rejoined the efforts and all three of us pushed to get her moving then Dad and the guy continued after I hopped aboard. We finally got the bow far enough off the dock for me to hit the gas and Dad managed to snag a shroud and yank himself up and onto the boat as we creeped out, skimming the dock posts by just a few inches, waving goodbye to our helper.
I gave Dad the helm and he piloted us south, following the same track as yesterday, and he did a great job navigating the tricky currents, now flowing southward, once again giving us a nice boost to over 12 knots. The thrill of sailing the length of Manhattan was just as intense as yesterday. I made us a little special lunch along the way to reward Dad for his excellent performance.
Liberty Island and Ellis Island are located just west from the lower end of Manhattan, across the Hudson River. We chose to anchor north of Ellis, giving us the best seat in the house for admiring the big city. Unfortunately, the wakes generated by the many passing boats, mixed with the tidal current, provided a rocky roll as SeaLight swang from side to side and we stabilized ourselves by grabbing her ample appendages without shame.
After dinner we went for a dinghy ride. As we rounded Ellis Island the Statue of Liberty came into view, brilliantly illuminated, with the torch flame a burning red. I thought about the power and cultural influence of American media as I was transfixed by the sight of her - an image I've seen a thousand times in movies, tv, magazines, adverts, eveything. The symbol of America. Justice. Liberty. Freedom. And here we were floating right in front of her, the real thing, in our ten foot dinghy. We remained for a long while, looking at her and taking photos, then powered up the dinghy to plane and circumnavigated the islands, ripping across the flat water, enjoying the thrill of speeding over unknown waters in a known place.
With that, our time in NYC was finished. Tomorrow we will begin the journey north on the Hudson River, riding the flooding tide from 9 am, headed for the town of Haverstraw.
And my dream of experiencing NYC by sailboat, our own sailboat, is now complete.
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