Escape From New York

At Sea
39 34.80 N 074 10.48 W

Well, we made it out to sea again.  We are en route, about 20 miles north of Atlantic City.  But it is not the fast passage I hoped for.  The winds are very light and we manage only 4.2 knots.  Still, we are southbound and will soon find warmer weather we hope.

The passage down the Hudson was really something.  We departed Kingston at 0700, just in time ti pick up an ebb tide.   That tide carried us all the way until mid afternoon.   But then as we passed Stony Point, a NW wind picked up.  Boy it sure did pick up.  A cold front passed, and for about 30 minutes it blew 25-30.  That cleared the river of other small boats pretty quickly.

The best was yet to come,  as we passed under the George Washington Bridge around 1900, the air was warm and very clear.  Manhattan on our left and Hoboken on our right sparkled in the dark.  We were rushing to ride the next ebb tide.  With tide and wind and motor all pushing us the same way we flew.  Passing Harlem we were doing 9.5 knots, and at one point 10.2 knots.  Unbelievable.  It took some fancy maneuvering to avoid all the river traffic and anchored ships, but we were still making 7.5 knots passing through the Verrazano Narrows.  The ebb tide was slackng but we rounded Sandy Hook NJ around 2200 still doing 5.8 knots.   Past there we were frre of the tidal tug.  I shut down the engine, and we sailed along quietly at 4.5 knots.

We can vouch for one thing.  The new One World Trade Center Building is a very prominent landmark.  Even from 20 miles away, it and The Empire State Building seem to anchor each end of the island.

No SSB Internet.  I'm able to post this because we're close to shore and I have a cell signal.  Maybe no blog tomorrow.