Thursday, September 20, 2007

Back "Home"

Harness Creek, Annapolis, Maryland
38 56.1N 76 30.5W

We arrived back at Harness Creek in Annapolis today where we spent 6 weeks earlier in the year doing repairs, and we will be here for about 4 weeks this time while we get ready to head for the Caribbean, go to the Boat Show, and hopefully have some fun with day trips to Washington DC and up to Philadelphia for Kate Wilson's 40th Birthday.

The trip down the New Jersey coast was fun and uneventful. We experienced our first "cold front" of autumn, the wind went round to the north and then brought with it a great sailing breeze of about 15-20 knots, the only draw back being it smelt of Polar Bears and made us search for the warm clothes we had hidden away 6 months ago! In fact we had planned an overnight trip from Sandy Hook down to Delaware Bay and up to the canal, but as the afternoon wore on and the thermometer started to plunge we decided that a night at sea was not going to be too much fun.

A quick search of the charts and some radio time with the coast guard and we found an inlet we could get into and spent a lovely warm night under the doona at anchor in Barnegat Inlet while the temperature fell to 14 degrees celsius (I know many of you won't think that's cold, but throw in some wind and sit outside all night and tell me deep down you wouldn't be whingeing too!)

The next day we sailed down to Atlantic City, the day after that to the Delaware Bay entrance and then finally up the Delaware Bay and into the Chesapeake on day 3. By the time we were in the C&D canal we had gone from four layers of clothing and wooly hats that morning, to shorts and t-shirts as the effect of the cold front finally ended.
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Thursday, September 13, 2007

Back Through New York City

Sandy Hook, New Jersey
40 25.1N 74 01.4W

We left Port Washington yesterday and had another stunning trip through New York City on the boat. The sun was out, and despite or perhaps because of an autumnal chill in the air the sky was blue and smog free. We had the tide the whole way down the East River and shot all the same photos as last time but from a slightly different angle, although this time we did see a fire boat at the Statue Of Liberty doing the full display for the tourists.

We actually sailed back down the bay under the Verazzano Narrows Bridge with a lovely breeze and are now anchored up at Sandy Hook again waiting for a cold front to pass through which should give us great sailing weather for the trip down the New Jersey coast.
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Sunday, September 9, 2007

Exploring New York City Again

Port Washington, New York
40 49.6N 73 42.9W


We had a great sail back down Long Island Sound from Newport, lots of sunshine and some breeze so we were able to sail not motor. We are now anchored in Port Washington again and doing day trips on the train into NYC for more sightseeing.

The highlight of this trip to NYC was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge on a glorious sunny day, with great views of Manhattan and the Statue Of Liberty as well as a close up look at how they built this huge bridge 130 odd years ago. We also visited Ground Zero and the displays in the church next door showing the rescuers at work and rest during the days after the attack. As the 6th anniversary approaches it is still a staggering thing to see and the big hole in the ground would be a constant reminder for millions who walk past there each day.

We finish each day in NYC exhausted with sore feet, and just about make it back to the boat before falling asleep, it seems impossible to manage two consecutive days there which as we are fitter than normal seems ridiculous.
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