September 23-24

The next leg took us out for our first trip on the ocean, and we had been giving this quite a bit of thought. Our route took us from New York City along the New Jersey shore, past Atlantic City where we could stop for awhile if weather dictated, and then around to Delaware Bay and Cape May or Cape Henlopen.

Originally we had planned to stay in New York City a while longer, but the weather forecast was very good for the next couple of days, before a stronger cold front was forecast to approach, so we decided to leave early Sunday morning. This decision made our trip a little longer than we might have liked since we left directly from 79th Street instead of staging at Sandy Hook or Great Kills Harbor.

Looking out on the receding skyline of lower Manhatten, gazing over at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty were remarkable sights.

Of Ellis Island, one of the websites says, 'Ellis Island is a symbol of America’s immigrant heritage. From 1892 to 1954, this immigrant depot processed the greatest tide of incoming humanity in the nation’s history. Nearly twelve million landed here in their search of freedom of speech and religion, and for economic opportunity.

'

We had hoped to anchor near the statue for a night, but as our itinerary changed we were happy to settle for this view.

The coastline of New Jersey is beautiful as mile after mile of sandy beach rolls by. Late in the afternoon we were joined by a stowaway, a pretty little bird who flitted around the boat and sails for quite some time – in fact much, much too long if you were to ask Corinne.

All too soon the day had faded and a bright ¾ moon came into view. It was dark, we had a long way to go, we were out in the ocean, and it was remarkably serene and peaceful.

As blackness settled in, we could see the neon glow of Atlantic City in the distance. What amazed me is that it took most of the night to come up to this landmark, pass it and see it recede in the distance. If we looked at the ruffle of our wake it seemed that we are flying along, but to watch our movement past this landmark we were moving unbelievably slowly.

We had some fun sailing, especially through the night, lots of motoring, and were very relieved, and tired, as we dropped anchor in a harbor of refuge at Cape Henlopen. We had been traveling for 28 hours, covered 176 miles and were ready for a nap.

September 21-22

The guide books talk about how rolly it can be for boats anchored in the 79th Street Boat Basin. Certainly passing boats do create waves, but it was no where near as uncomfortable as we had been led to believe.

We still had to pinch ourselves in the morning to realize we were sitting in the middle of downtown Manhattan. After coffee, we dinghied to the marina where we could tie up and walk a couple of blocks up to Broadway Avenue. We stopped for a breakfast bagel at Zabar’s, a huge and well-known delicatessen. It was very busy as Yom Kippur was only a couple of days away. As we were eating, the manager at the fish counter boomed over the intercom, ‘We’re now serving number 138. If you are not within 25 of this number, go and have something to eat in the deli or visit our mezzanine. Please, move away from the fish counter.’ Of course, we quickly finished our coffee and headed towards the fish counter to see what was going on.

That evening, Darlene, John, and Jorie joined us for appetizers on the boat before heading back into the city for supper. Jorie returned with us to the boat for a sleep-over. We are hoping that we have a fellow sailor in the making.

It was interesting to compare stories the next day. Our mooring ball to anchor for the night in downtown New York was thirty dollars, while Darlene’s parking fee for the evening was forty-six dollars. In the end, though, we thought of it as dinner with family in New York – priceless.

On Saturday, we had company to the boat – lots of company and lots of fun. John, Darlene, and Cody, along with Cassie and four of her friends from school joined us for a cruise along midtown Manhattan. The captain must have been looking pretty good that afternoon, as the dinghy with its crew received much more attention from other boats than it ever has in the past.