Saturday, June 4th
Today the Western end of Long Island Sound was in sight. We could see New York’s Throg’s Neck bridge through the haze as we turned down the channel into Manhasset Bay.
As predicted, the winds on the Sound were less than 5 knots out of the SW all day, and we rode a fair current of about 1 knot most of the morning, making for an easy travel day.
We passed a minor milestone today, crossing the 41 degree latitude line. The farthest South, as well as the farthest West, we expect to be on this trip is off Battery Park, at 40°41.869′ North latitude and 74°01.267′ West longitude. For reference, the 43 degree latitude line passes through Rye, NH. 90 degrees is the North Pole.
From yesterday, remember that each minute of latitude is one nautical mile. There are 60 minutes in a degree. That means we’re more than 120 nautical miles south of Rye. For most of the past few days we’ve been travelling more West than South.
The town of Port Washington on Manhasset Bay maintains 20 guest moorings, only a few of which were occupied when we arrived. More filled up as the afternoon wore on, but there are still plenty. This will position us well for tomorrow.
The plan is to ride the early morning incoming (“flood”) tide through Hell Gate and as far up the Hudson as we can before the current turns against us in the late morning. Weather permitting, this stretch also offers some convenient fuel stops with (relatively) more reasonable prices.
- Miles travelled: 267.6
- Engine Hours: 39