Sailing the Jersey coast

A rainy day going through the locks. We were on our own now that Trevor and Lynn had jumped ship at lock 14.

 

Once we cleared the Erie canal we made our way down the Hudson River to the Castleton Yacht Club where we rented their mast crane to put our stick back up. Kim was relieved to be able to put the mast back up without professional help this time.  There were two other boats stepping their masts so we all helped each other. One boat was a fellow lock 14 prisoner on a Pearson 26. Kim quickly realized the skipper had very little boating and sailing experience and did not know any proper names for parts of the boat and had never done this before.  He also noticed a hole in the bow that would allow water to get inside the boat when they hit large waves. This same boat had actually hit a tour boat and damaged their wind indicator when we were all leaving lock 14. There are all kinds of people out here and it is fascinating meeting them all. We haven’t heard or seen anything of the couple on this Pearson 26 since then and we’re hoping they are OK.

The "Palisades" on the Hudson

Along the way down the Hudson we began catching on to tides and currents and how much they can change the water level (5 feet on the river) and their potentially large impact on your speed over ground.  We were relieved to see that just about every dock we tied to was floating so no adjustments were needed on dock lines.  We also realized that we can increase our speed considerably if our departure is timed with the right tide – that part we like, not so keen when we are fighting the current!  The Hudson was beautiful, but perhaps the unseasonably warm weather prevented the leaves from developing their brightest colours.  Some of the homes along the river were stunningly beautiful. We were unable to get a good view of the Vanderbilt and FDR mansions from the water so we were glad we’d had a good look by car a week earlier.  The cliffs in the West Point area (yes, the Military Academy) are just beautiful. Our pictures did not capture it all unfortunately.

Lots of nice "little" cottages along the Hudson

Just north of New York City in Ossining we found a Yanmar dealer who could look at the engine. While still in the Erie canal, and after discussions with our mechanic back in Toronto, Kim had removed the lift pump, disassembled it, inspected, cleaned, and reinstalled it.  Everything appeared good and after changing the oil again the engine seemed to be normal.  However the problem returned after about five days. How frustrating !  The mechanic at Ossining also removed the lift pump and after pressure testing it he determined that indeed the pump was faulty.  A new pump was ordered and installed and we were on our way.  What a relief to have that problem fixed.

While waiting for the engine to be repaired we took advantage of our situation. Ossining is famous for housing the Sing Sing Penitentiary … just down the street from the Marina!  After a visit to the local museum we now realise the reference of  ‘going up the river’ – no one wanted to be sentenced to Sing Sing, because the facility was built in the 1870s and is still used even today.  The conditions are not 21^st century. Ossining is a town built on a very steep hill, and we had to walk a mile straight up to find downtown.  A large Latino population ensured delicious Mexican/ Spanish food but no grocery stores unless you had a car.  This is often what we find in the smaller places but sometimes a kind local person will show up at the boat and offer to drive us to the store which is much appreciated.

Up the river at Sing Sing.  We locked up each night !

While staying in Ossining we had a commuter train that ran to Grand Central Station several times an hour, so we had an affordable and convenient method for enjoying the Big Apple.  We went in for two days, checked in on the construction of the new World Trade Tower and monument and enjoyed Chinatown and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  On our second day we met cruising friends for a hot sunny stroll on the Hy Line.  This is a decommissioned over head subway line that has been landscaped. Lots of really interesting shops and restaurants on the streets below.  We even managed to pick up groceries at the Union Square Farmers market in the middle of Manhattan. Then we carried them all the way back to Ossining!

The new World Trade tower

China town

We enjoyed a ‘July’ day while anchored in Havershaw Bay just across from Ossining and had a visit from the local sheriff's marine unit. When we received our US cruising permit we had not been advised to call in to customs each day, and so had not been doing so. We were informed by the sheriff that we were in violation and now have a black mark next the Quiescence name.  In the worst case you can be fined $5000 and have your boat confiscated for not properly reporting your location. The officer was very kind and twice mentioned how much he liked the boat and that had been watching us since West Point – that would be for 15 miles. When sailing by West point we had joked that Homeland probably took a picture of every boat entering the narrow section of the river, it would seem that may be true (Big Brother IS watching you).  We called in each day while in New York State. After leaving New York the officers now ask us to only call in when we enter their state, so it is no big deal – kind of like a welcome call.

West Point is very dramatic. Smile !

The weather out of New York and down the New Jersey coast was not favourable for going south so most of the cruising boats up were held up for five days. After our wait north of the city we eventually motored through a very lumpy and confused New York City harbour to anchor only one day at Sandy Hook.
 

Leaving New York city harbour on our way to Sandy Hook

We were careful to pick a reasonable weather day for our first offshore sail.  We were up at 4:30 a.m. and motoring out of the harbour by 5:45 for our sail to Atlantic City.  We had a nice reaching sail all the way with some leftover three to four foot rollers from the last weather front and twelve and a half hours later we arrived in Atlantic City (It was easier than many of our Lake Ontario passages).  The welcome committee – a pod of dolphins that everyone seems to see - swam out to greet us we turned towards the entry channel. We anchored in 15 knot winds across the channel from the city and (ok, confession time)  tied the dinghy on to the end of a very long dock at Farley State Marina. We stayed the day without paying thanks to our new friends on Jazzabelle who knew the gate code.  As these new friends said – “if it’s free it’s for me”, no one knew we were there! The sand on Atlantic City beach was warm and the sun was hot. We had catch of the day and stayed away from the casinos.  It was definitely low season.
 

Atlantic City boardwalk

Atlantic City view from our anchorage

Our best sail so far has been from Atlantic City to Cape May – another long day that ended at a Marina! At least one of us gets excited when this happens because it means we can do the laundry, spray the layer of salt off the boat with fresh water, and go out for dinner.  We stayed at a ‘fancy’ location for $3 a foot, and of course they charge for the length of the boat plus the arch and dinghy.  Now you know why we anchor so often – plus we sleep better when there is no dock for the boat to rub up against during the night. Cape May is like a Niagara on the Lake, very historical and full of gift shops. (No offence to our Chapman cousins!)   We had a good feed of crab at the Lobster House, owned by the same man who set what seemed like a thousand crab pots that we picked our way through on the way into the Cape. Stay tuned for Virginia and Maryland next - we've already been there, so it shouldn't be long.