One Week Left In The Yard - I Hope!

Escaping the boat yard - at Fort Macon, Atlantic Beach, NC

One week left in the yard - I hope! For a short haul out (6 weeks now) we sure do take our time. I think we can blame Sim for this...he is happy as Larry pottering on with boat jobs. Our whole boat has turned into a work shop. Aside from the mess and chaos, I don't mind either. The yard here is very comfortable....surrounded by tall pine trees, and a pretty river...I can see why people get stuck here. I love just stepping off the boat, driving about in the courtesy car, good Internet, electricity and hot running water. The yard is busy too with all sorts people from different walks of life working on their boats.

Work crawls along, it always seems to take longer than expected. Little hiccups here and there slow us down. Like scratching the paint in the hole the rudder goes up, so down it comes with a five day delay as we build up the paint again. The anti fouling paint which we ordered off site (as I wanted to go with a 'green' that isn't sold here) has turned into a bit of a fiasco...first the company forgot to send out the five gallons that we ordered. Then Fed-ex dropped four of them (can you imagine the mess) at one of their depots. Then the company only sends us two gallons back. So we chase them up, get them sent out only for Fed ex to drop them again. By now three weeks have elapsed. The remaining paint finally arrived on Tuesday afternoon. But of course it has been raining ever since.

Sim working on the windlass 

So now we wait for the rain to stop. Everything is damp and soggy. The last of the engine hoses are going back on and the motor for the windlass will be going back together soon. We 'whacked' the galvanised chain for an inordinate amount of time but finally all the links are free.  And the chain has been painted at 5 meters intervals so we tell how much chain we are letting out when we anchor.

We hired a car again through Enterprise over the weekend. Their $9.99 a day deal is hard to pass up. It's nice just for a couple of days to have the freedom of being mobile and not confined to the yard except for two hour stints in the courtesy car. We did a little stocking up for our journey to....wherever we end up. And took the car out for a drive over to the outer banks - where we didn't see much as it was grey and drizzly. But back out through Morehead City to Atlantic Beach the sun peaked through and we enjoyed a short walk around Fort Macon and its surrounding beaches and sand dunes. It really is such a pretty area. Halloween passed us by with a small cruiser get-together BBQ that evening.  For now we plough on with all the iddy, biddy jobs and one last coat of anti foulinng and hope  to be out of here in about a weeks time.

Out and about on a Sunday afternoon

Pumpkin anyone? - a church giving them out for free

Its common to see houses decked out for Halloween

Driving through a place called Sea Level - not much going on there.

One of the many churches in North Carolina - coincidentally our radio on board cant pickup any thing other then religious radio stations.

Provision store near the Outter Banks

America east coast has incredible beaches.

 Atlantic Beach 

The beaches stretch for miles and miles

I still cant resist a good beach walk

Sim on the other hand whose knees are playing up prefers to sit and watch

But he does make it over the sand dunes

Port Washington To THE Hamptons

Full set of sails in the Long Island Sound

When the weather wasn't looking favourable for us to start our migrate south instead we pointed Wandering Star towards the infamous Hamptons on Long Island, stopping at Port Jefferson along the way. The sail there was fabulous - one of those 'to be rememebred sails' - full sails, calm seas and a balmy wind. Port Jefferson is a busy ferry port connecting Bridgeport and Connecticut but also a fairly affluent and touristy waterside town. I liked it there. We anchored in a bay behind a spit of land just to the right of the channel as you come in. The holding was excellent with thick sticky mud clinging to the anchor chain. 

Our favourite spot to anchor at Port Jefferson

We had a fabulous walk around the waters edge to the tip of the peninsula so different from our Caribbean beach walks. The beach filled with slippershells and Horseshoe crabs and reedy grass waving in the breeze. The only sad sight, a dead deer washed up on the shore, oh Dear! It was such a crisp beautiful day and so peaceful surrounded by the rolling hillside and large properties.  

Horseshoe Crabs - the bottom one was alive and scuttled back into the water

The following day was dreary so we moved Wandering Star slightly closer to town, anchoring just outside the channel and tied our dinghy up at Danfords marina in between rain squalls. The town itself is cute - full of ice cream parlours and coffee shops. I'm sure it would have been glorious on a sunny day but it wasn't meant to be. 

Port Jefferson, Long Island

So we walked about in the drizzle to stretch our legs and headed back to the boat (only after an ice cream of course) to get ready for a longer sail to Sag Harbor in the Hamptons the following day.

Sim is not impressed to be out in the rain.

 The sail to Sag Harbor was only memorial in that it was ugly - very windy with opposing tides creating choppy seas - we were being thrown about all over the place. But we stonked along and arrived that afternoon to the Peconic, a large body of water protected on three sides by a north and south fork and the main body of Long Island. We anchored in Sag Harbor one of the many villages and hamlets that make up East and South Hampton. 

Shane and MV from 'Gem' and Sim

Our friends Shane and MV on sv Gem make this their home away from home and have been happy to show us around. From an outsiders point of view its hard to remember all the names and the villages and hamets like Sagaponac and Quogue but I can tell you its all very exclusive and expensive and gorgeous. Even the small properties are stunning and the larger ones almost obscene. The summer attracts the hoi polloi in their masses, to be seen in the fancy restaurants and bistros, shop in the boutiques and hangout on the mega yachts by the waterfront. Sim and I did our best to blend in but some how we lack a certain j'ai ne suis quoi that stands us apart from the 'high society'. That said we had a great time. There are affordable places to eat like 'The Corner Bar' in Sag Harbor and 'The Clam Bar', in Mantauk and the morish $5 margaritas at La Supericas. We did well, thanks to Shane and MV and had a winderful time.

At The Clam Bar

Shane and MV drove us around the entire neighbourhood over a couple of days showing us the sights, the beaches and the magnificent properties all nestled around small villages and set against the lush and flowering country side. 

Top two photos are Billie Joels Sag Harbor home and private boats
and bottom two photos in the marina at Sag Harbor

Clockwise: The lighthouse at Montauk, abundant wildflowers in the Hamptons, pretty properties, and fabulous beaches.

Sim and I took Wandering Star over to Shelter Bay - a 27sq mile island in the Peconic Bay to anchor in some clearer water and walk more beaches. We did a little house keeping on WS and removed the awful orange beard she had been sporting since sailing in the murky US waters.

The before and after photos

We had a final day with Shane and MV- who have showed us a great time but more than anything its been great just to hangout with them. We had a 5am start as we made our way back via Port Jefferson to Port Washington and eventually points further south.

Margarita Monday with Shane and MV

Ali and the swan hissing at each other!

Sunset in Sag Harbor, The Hamptons

Our 5am start to leave Sag Harbor

Bike Rides & Top Of The Rock - NYC

On our way to the big city.

Back in New York its been difficult to settle back into"normal" boat life when we have been gallivanting around the city. With two remaining items on our New York City Explorer passes we were keen to get them ticked off. We checked the weather and with sunny days ahead decided to do a full day bike rental in Central Park. Central Park has been one of the highlights for me - lush green areas surrounded by the incongruous lofty skyscrapers of the city. There is a one way cycle path (map) circumnavigating the whole park and one dual way path down the middle of the park. So if you want to get to some parts of the park you have to cycle all the way around it first.

Central Park and skyscrapers

As we left a little late in the morning we didn't make it into the city until 11.30am. So much for a full day cycle! But who are we kidding, our butts would be killing us after a full day on the saddle.

......I like to ride my bicycle,
        I like to ride it very well...

We picked up the bikes at 'Central Park Bicycles' rentals a couple of blocks away from the park and then cycled back over. As it was nearing lunch time we nipped to the supermarket (I can't deny I found it a little hairy riding on the roads with all the traffic) and chose some food for a picnic. Back in the park we peddled around surprised at how hilly it was (and how unfit we were). Central Park has an outdoor theatre, a small boating lake, a lido, baseball pitches and tennis courts, it even has a children's zoo - it is literally a hive of activity. In its centre is large reservoir.

Large reservoir in the centre of Central Park

After we had peddled around the majority of the park we had a picnic and a rest by a small lake filled with lily leaves and lined with weeping willow trees, people were out painting and red squirrels were collecting crab apples. 

Red squirrels -almost a rarity in the UK.

It was so relaxing (or we were so exhausted) that we fell asleep.

Artists out painting the pretty view.

Our final and last choice on the Explorer pass was to go to the top of the Rockefeller center. As we had done the Empire State Building by night we thought it would be good to do the Rockefeller by day. That way we get the views of the Empire State Building as well. The Rockefeller, as with many other similar buildings mainly houses office space but the bottom of the Rockefeller is filled with fast food shops and cafes. 67 floors up in the elevator (about 45seconds) takes you almost to the top. Here you are shuffled out with the rest of the tourists to views out across Manhattan. 

View from the "Top of the Rock" - we could see for miles to the south

It was a surprisingly hazy day but still clear for miles, I don't think we could have asked for much better. There were two more floors by lift or steps to the very top. We timed it fairly well with the sun almost directly overhead. Though I hear sunset is a good time too. 

View to the north with Central Park and the Hudson River

With "Top of the Rock" ticked of our list it was time to meet Mark from 'Sealife' for lunch at, would you believe it, a British Pub! Sim was happy sipping on a pint of 'Wandering Star' but apparently not as good as a 'Old Speckled Hen'!

Fancy a pint of Wandering Star?

Although there is so much to do in Manhattan, we have worked our way through our wish list and need to call it a day before we break our cruising budget. We have started to check the weather, looking for a northerly wind to go south to spend some time in the Chesapeake, but there doesn't seem to be any. As much as Manhasset Bay on Long Island has been great with easy access to shops and laundry, free dinghy docks and free 48 hrs on a mooring etc, we are getting itchy feet to move on. So we have lifted anchor and headed north to explore anchorages along the Long Island Sound while we wait for a favourable wind and keep an eye on some tropical development in the Atlantic. It is still hurricane season after all.

Bethesda fountain in Central Park overlooks the lake and has the famous

Angel of the Waters statue atop of it.

A horsehead, suit toting, heel wearing accordion player -

only in New York

Boating in The Lake on a sunny day

"Unconditional Surrender"

The famous "sailor kissing nurse" statue comes to NY

How can you not love the streets of New York

The Naked Cowboy - a NY street performer.

TOP OF THE ROCKERFELLER

Amaazzzing views 

Sim and the Empire State Building

Awesome

The top of the Rockerfeller building

Another awesome site ticked off our list

Sim explains that i was looking the wrong way! ;-)