Long Island, New York

Three Mile Harbor
Saturday, August 31 - It’s the unofficial last day of summer. We pulled the mainsail out, lifted the anchor and left Block Island for Three Mile Harbor, NY at 7:40 a.m. Winds were coming over our port side but only at about 2 knots. We finally got a good heading to sail but no wind. I’m happy that the sun is out and it’s warm. We arrived and anchored at Three Mile Harbor at 1:57 p.m. We lowered the dinghy and rode around the harbor to several of the marinas checking them out while looking for diesel options. It’s a big place with probably 6 or more marinas with very few boats in the anchorage area.

Sunday, September 1 - It’s the unofficial start of fall! Rain was forecasted for today and we did get some drizzle late morning. Cleared up for a bit then became cloudy again late afternoon with showers and higher wind. We contemplated leaving today as we had no plans to go ashore but decided to stay another day for the rain to pass.

Northwest Harbor
Monday, September 2 - Happy Labor Day! We woke up to 15 knot winds and no rain. The sky was covered with a thin layer of white clouds and it was mildly warm. We pulled anchor at 10 a.m. and motored for about an hour to a cove around the bend from Three Mile Harbor and west of Sag Harbor for a new view. It was a pretty view, surrounded on 3 sides by beach and no other boats anchored, just a few day boats along the beach. On one side of the land were structures that looked like lean-to camping buildings that turned out to be a “glamping” tent site. There was a pizza shop there but not opened on Tuesday. The water was mostly calm, a bit rolly but overall not bad. The winds that night were very high, we could hear it howling as we went to bed.

Orient
Tuesday, September 3 - We left Northwest Harbor at 11:00 a.m. and chose to take the longer scenic route to Orient by going to the west of Shelter Island versus east. The current was in our favor and we were able to move at 7 knots with minimal rpms, no sail. The sun was bright and the air was a cool 69 degrees with low humidity. We are in the Hamptons and it is lovely with beautiful homes and large trees behind narrow sandy beaches. We finished anchoring at 2:00 off Long Beach across from Orient, Long Island. We are again surrounded by trees and beach, with only 2 other sailboats nearby. We went ashore with Pepper and the beach is made of small stones and seashells along with leftover crab shells and legs. It’s 71 degrees and beautiful. Except for the biting flies 😏

Port Jefferson
Wednesday, September 4 - We left Orient in 59 degree weather at 7:30 a.m. though it felt warmer with the sun and no wind. The water was flat and winds were only 4 knots at best.
Once out in Gardiners Bay the wind picked up to 15 knots just off our port bow and we pulled the mainsail out. We went through Plum Gut at 9 knots with the current into Long Island Sound. Once in Long Island Sound we pulled out the jib and sailed between a close haul and close reach tack with the wind now coming over our starboard side. Unfortunately that didn’t last long and by 9:30 the wind was gone and we pulled the jib back in. We anchored in Port Jefferson by 3:30 p.m. This was also a quiet anchorage with only 3 other sailboats. It was slightly busy in the afternoon with a high school rowing team out practicing which was fun to watch, a few jet skiers, dingy boats going to the small beach and a ferry that caused intermittent waves.

Northport
Thursday, September 5 - We departed Port Jefferson at 8:11 and pulled the mainsail out part way. There was no wind until we got out of the cove and into Long Island Sound when it picked up to 10 knots. We then pulled out the main fully along with the jib and sailed on a broad reach starboard tack. It had been a long time since the wind was behind us. By 11:15 both sails had been pulled in, the jib about 30 minutes earlier, as we approached our destination. Of course the winds picked up substantially with small white caps the closer we got to our anchorage! We anchored in Northport at 11:30. It was a bigger anchorage than I expected, compared to the last nights. There are a lot of boats in a mooring field, we anchored a good distance from them, further away from the town dock. At first we were the only boat anchored until a leisure motor yacht anchored near us. We were surrounded by homes, including a multiplex unit with its lawn being mowed, and directly in front of us are power plant towers. I would not say it is the prettiest location on Long Island but it was quiet at night. We had planned to go ashore and stay another day to do a few errands but decided to leave tomorrow and do it all in Port Washington.もっと詳しく