June 25 - 26 2009 Cape May NJ to Port Jefferson NY

June 25-26th --  Cape May NJ to Port Jefferson NY

June 25th was the longest run of our entire trip-- 13 hours from Cape May harbor past the entire New Jersey coast, around Sandy Hook and down to anchor behind the breakwater at Atlantic Highlands. I left Cape May just before dawn and was a bit concerned about the weather-- the swells were 4-6 feet as I left the harbor and I was steering from the lower helm and taking water over the bow. However, as I turned up the New Jersey coast the seas settled down and I was able to move to the upper helm, set the autopilot, say the Rosary, and watch the lovely coast pass by. Even though the autopilot steers the boat, the helmsman needs to watch out for small boats, lobster pots, and debris. When both of us are on board we take turns at the helm every couple of hours... but when single-handing one must keep their full attention on the water for the whole day. I have to admit, I was so happy to finally drop anchor... I wolfed down some cold cuts for supper and immediately fell asleep!

Verrazano Narrows Bridge

The next morning I got up early, pulled up the anchor, and set the course to pass under the Verrazano Narrows bridge and into New York harbor. My AIS display was going crazy with hundreds of boats showing on the screen-- I really needed to focus on the fast moving ferries and large container ships moving around the harbor in all directions. How exciting to see the Statue of Liberty once again from the water and the skyline of Manhattan!

After circling close to the Statue of Liberty for 30 minutes and snapping some pictures I turned to head under the Brooklyn Bridge and up the East River towards Long Island Sound.

Strong tide in Hell's Gate

When we were heading south in 2007 we were quite nervous to pass through the infamous Hell's Gate in the East River where the tide rages through a narrow portion of the river. We waited in Long Island Sound to time our passage to slack water.

This time, after experiencing the Whale in the Bahamas, Hell's Gate didn't seem as scary and I didn't bother to wait until slack tide to pass through.

Port Jefferson Harbor

The next step was to enter Long Island Sound heading for the large, protected harbor at Port Jefferson. While there are several good marinas in the harbor, I decided to just pull into the harbor, turn to port, and drop anchor just inside the breakwater.