TripSailor.com® Sailing Blogs

Friday morning I slept in a little.  Was off the mooring at 0755, about the same time as the boat on the mooring next to me.   Once we were out of the harbor, it became clear that we were both headed in the same direction.  The wind was out of the west southwest, which is the direction I wanted to head towards the East River, so I started out on a starboard tack towards Stamford, CT.  

The other boat was a few hundred yards ahead of me, and before I knew it, we were ‘racing.’  I could point better than he could, but he was slightly faster in all but the light winds. My ability to point gave me the advantage when it came time to tack. After he split off (maybe headed to Stamford?) I had a calm period, then a nice breeze that was westerly enough to for me to comfortably sail close hauled on a starboard tack all the way from Oyster Bay to the Throgs Neck Bridge.

Rather than tacking down the East River to Flushing Bay, I motored in past Kings Point and the SUNY Maritime Academy down the East River.  By this time I was ready to get out of the sun and heat  (hottest day of the year, 104 degrees in Central Park) and get a shower. Pulled into the dock at World’s Fair Marina (after fueling) at 1815. At least the 1.5 hour subway ride home was air conditioned.  But, all in all, another superb day of sailing.