Sue and I just returned from delivering a Hunter 280 from Deltaville, VA, on the Chesapeake, to Rye, NY, on Long Island Sound. The trip had a little of everything with some motoring, some nice sailing, some bad weather and a great sunrise as we entered New York harbor.
We motored up the Chesapeake, through the C&D canal and down the Delaware Bay in very light winds. That was a 38hr leg, leaving Deltaville just before noon on the 14th and arriving at Cape May at 0200 on the 16th.
We then spent a full day + anchored at Cape May awaiting the passage of a frontal storm. After a full day of rain, the front finally passed through, of course, at 2300 that night, bringing a 180degree wind change which required us to reposition our anchor in the middle of the night in 20-30kt winds. But once the anchor was reset we (I?) were finally able to relax and get some sleep. The next morning the winds were dying and by 0900 we and the 10-12 other sailboats in the anchorage were ready to get underway to continue the voyage.
We had some great sailing conditions for most of the day with 10-15kts of SW winds pushing us northward. By late afternoon the wind was down to under 10kts, but was forecast to freshen from the west after dark. We reefed the sails down to 2 reefs and motorsailed along. About 2300 (seems the time things always happen) a couple short squalls went through with gusts to 30kts. Good thing we had those reefs in as we were heeled pretty good even with that short of sail. The wind then went back to 10kts or so, which was OK as we didn't need to arrive at NYC until the tide changed at 0600.
We arrived at Sandy Hook, NJ, the entrance to NY outer harbor at exactly 0600 as the sun rose from the east and the winds rose from the west to 20kts. It was a blustery and bumpy ride across the outer harbor close hauled into the westerly winds which were opposing the incoming tidal current. Its good we had the 2kt current on our side as our speed through the water was down to 3.5kts.
Once we finally bashed our way to the Narrows, the NJ shore sheltered us from the worst of the wind and waves and it was good sailing again up the inner harbor. It was early Sunday morning but we still had a bit of traffic with tugs on one side, a cruise ship coming up the other side, the Staten Island ferry zipping across the channel and several pleasure boats out.
We cruised up along Liberty Island and Ellis Island, then crossed over to the North Cove marina on Manhattan to pick up the boat's owner who would ride with us up the East River to the Long Island Sound and Rye, NY.
We then motored the final 5 hour transit to Rye in very light winds and eventually some light showers as we arrived at Toujour Pret's new home in Rye, NY. Overall, a very successful delivery with no untoward incidents enroute. The best kind.
Here are some good photos of the trip. Photos
