Thankfully the old weather adage of the wind dying at sundown held true. It got a bit unpleasant before it did, with the waves building and being timed to catch both the bow and stern on the bigger sets. Not sure the aft cabin would have been a better choice than the 'V' berth to spend the night with the scoop plunging into the water as well as the bow.
Dawn saw no wind and a few sprinkles that soon cleared up. We headed out with the tail end of the ebb current at 0700. According to the NWS, this will be the last 'warm' day for a bit, with daytime highs in the 50's for the remainder of the week, and 30's at night. Good thing we brought our old sleeping bag for Deeter since it has both a light and heavy side. Long johns and extra blankets will feel good!
Palisades along the New Jersey shore - note foliage is
still in the early stages
We planned to meet Deeter at Liberty Landing Marina and it looked like she would arrive before us if Amtrack was on time. Our progress was slow thanks to the flood current and a slowly building S wind as we headed for the city. Our ETA hovered around 1400, but the current would dictate our arrival time. It would have been nice if the wind had gone a bit more to the W so we could have raised the main and got a boost, but Murphy's Law said it would blow either up or down the river, and it did, right on the nose. Good part was the wind was in sequence with the flood tide, so we didn't have nasty, short choppy waves to slow us down even more.
Work being done in the new Tappanzee Bridge - the crane is
placing huge steel beams that
are constructed in Albany and brought down by barge
are constructed in Albany and brought down by barge
Extra wide barge raft - needs 2 tugs to push it
An interesting new building along the Hudson
When I spoke to Deeter, she was hiking to the ferry dock from the train station, and it looked like our timing couldn't have been better - we'd arrive about the same time. With transient rates at $4.40/ft, spending the night at the marina wasn't going to happen. We opted to top off the diesel to give us an excuse to park at the dock until we connected. We arrived shortly before Deeter and found a yacht taking on diesel, so waiting on the dock wasn't going to be a problem since it took a while to fill their tanks.
The dock hand was a hoot. He had no problem (I think he was from the Islands) with us hanging out, urging us to slow down and relax. Best of all we were on a finger dock, out of the main channel, out of the way for all traffic and didn't have to deal with pilings. Deeter arrived as I was purchasing some vinyl tape at the ship's store. The Liberty Landing Ferry had dropped her off practically next to the boat - really convenient! We still had a bit of a wait while the dock hand helped the yacht tie up at a nearby dock before we got fuel.
Deeter on board with a Manhattan skyline backdrop
With a full fuel tank, the Captain opted to head to the Atlantic Highland anchorage rather than the one behind the Statue of Liberty for the night. On the way out of the harbor, we raised sail for the first time since leaving Vermont. A couple of stronger gusts had us reefing to keep Antares under better control, and we headed out the harbor passing under the Verrazano Bridge at 1545. Of course, the wind didn't hold, so we motor sailed down to the anchorage at Atlantic Highlands where we joined a small fleet of cruisers waiting for a weather window to run the Jersey shore.
We got the chance to try out the new side curtains during dinner. I'm pleased they fit nicely, especially given the lack of fitting time in the rush to depart. Placement of grommets to run lines to tie them down will wait until another day, Leonard jury rigged some tarp clamps to keep the sides from flapping in the wind for the night. They certainly made the cockpit warmer, although it didn't rain hard enough to see if we got the attachment to the dodger right to avoid rain running off the dodger dripping into the cockpit. Even the Captain is pleased with the outcome, especially in the morning when they kept out a cool breeze while we enjoyed the view at breakfast.
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