Cape May to New York Harbour

My cousin, Dave,  arrived in Cape May as planned. I gave him an orientation of the safety equipment, basic living environment (refrig, galley, pantry, berths, etc.), and the running rigging (sailing lines). After getting settled in a little, we went to Lucky Bones for dinner, which was conveniently located on the corner across the street from the marina.

The following morning, Tuesday, July 12th, we departed Cape May. Our destination is Liberty Landing Marina, Jersey City, NJ. The estimated time enroute is 30 hours. Most of this time, we would be sailing on the Atlantic Ocean. Although there are several places to stop, we planned to sail through the night.

It was a beautiful, sunny day. The sky was a patchwork of small cumulous clouds. The winds were light and behind us. We were able to sail at an acceptable speed. The windvane did the steering.

Around 0800, we were gently sailing past Wildwood, NJ. The only sound we could hear was that of the waves lapping against the hull.

Before Linda passed away, one of her last requests was to see the ocean one more time. We took her to Wildwood, NJ. We would wheel her along the boardwalk to all the small shops and eateries each day. Her favorite was the Beach Wheel chair we rented. With it, we would take her down to the waters edge. We would walk on the beach, heading south for a while. Then we would turn and walk north until we approached the roller coaster and then back south again. We would even take Linda into the water until the big wheels started to float. Seeing this sight, brought back those memories.

Wildwood, NJ

By noon we had reached Avalon. The winds has dropped to under 10 knots. We started the engine and began motor sailing. Motor sailing is when you use the engine to help keep the boat moving. The engine is run at a low rpm to add assistance to the sails. In doing this, the windvane can still steer the boat. If we were to use the engine at it's regular power setting the wind from the boats forward motion would be greater than the actual wind. The windvane could not be used for steering, we would have to steer; we probably wouldn't go any faster; the sails would have to come down (the boat would roll a lot more); and we'd burn a lot more fuel.

U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter

A short time after passing Avalon, we were witness to what we think was a Coast Guard practice session. Being a fixed wing pilot, I was just in awe of how steady and motionless the pilot held that helicopter for as long as we had them in sight.

The wind continued to drop and veered to be even more behind us. We had to take down the staysail (the small sail between the jib and mast). It was blocking the wind from the bigger jib.

Atlantic City, NJ

We approached Atlantic City around 1500. The winds shifted agin, but this time they increased to 11-12 knots. The engine was turned off. We had the peaceful silence of sailing once again; just over 5 knots.

Around 2000 (8pm), we passed a dredge.

Dredging operation

Dave took first watch at 2100. I was going down below to take a nap. However, the winds backed and we were suddenly in18-23 knot winds. It was near dark. Typically, I set a reef in the mainsail well before dark, but the winds had been so calm all day with a forecast of the same for tomorrow, I didn't set a reef. Now, in the darkness, I had to go up on deck to set a reef in the mainsail. First we furled the jib. That is, we rolled it up so it wasn't being used. Then we started the motor. Dave steered the boat directly into the wind. I set the reef. I was once again thankful for the high-intensity LED lights I had installed on the spreaders. They are so bright, it makes working on the deck seem like it's daytime.

After this was done, Dave turned the boat back to our heading. The winds were now, directly behind us. I don't have sails for going directly downwind. So, we turned off so the wind was coming from the side and behind us. Now we were not going directly towards our destination. We would have to jibe (turn the boat so the wind crosses the back of the boat to the other side). If we waited every three hours, the length of our watch, we would be adding a lot of miles to our trip. So, we tried to jibe every hour.

This didn't last long. the winds died out almost completely. We started the engine. We furled the jib, but left the mainsail up with its reef, just to help stop the boat from rolling side-to-side too much. Much of the night was steering, not for the wind direction, but for the wave direction to give a reasonably comfortable ride.

We played this balancing act all night. Neither of us got much sleep. When the sun rose, Long Island, Manhattan and Atlantic Highlands were in sight on the horizon.

Upon entering NY Harbour, I avoided the shipping lanes as best I could; crossing through the middle. The shipping lanes run along the perimeter because there are shoals in the middle. The shoals are well marked, just too shallow for large ships.

Romer Shoal Light

It took another hour and-a-half to reach the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. As we approached the bridge, we were getting closer to the shipping channels... and close to the ships that traverse those channels.

Ship Exiting: Verrazano Bridge on left, Manhattan on right

Once we passed under the Verrazano Bridge...

Verrazano Narrows Bridge

We had out first clear glimpse of Lower Manhattan...

Lower Manhattan

After passing the Statute of Liberty, were quickly found the entrance to the Liberty Landing Marina, which is clearly marked by the Colgate Clock.

Statue of Liberty

29 hours 30 minutes after we started, Dave and I reached our destination. We had light winds most of the way. The winds were directly behind us. This makes steering an exhausting activity.

We motor sailed a good portion of the trip. The engine ran for 23.3 hours. The good news... we burned less than 8 gallons of fuel.

We met the planned time for this leg of the trip. Without Dave's help, I would have had to hove-to and take a nap. I later calculated this would have been a 40 hour solo passage. My only regret, was Mother Nature didn't provide us with a better wind angle. Something where we were more actively sailing to make the trip more enjoyable for Dave.