Port Washington

Friday, September 6 - We pulled anchor at 8:00 a.m. and left for Port Washington in cloudy weather. It was 59 degrees but no rain. We thought it would be a good sail day as the winds were 10-12 knots and at a good angle to the boat; beam reach from starboard side. That lasted for about an hour then the winds slowed down. We brought the jib in and motor sailed with the main. We arrived at Port Washington around noon and found a good spot to anchor between the mooring fields. A couple that we previously met in Onslet, MA, David and Karen, stopped by in their dinghy and invited us to a dinghy hangout later that night. After a much needed pumpout we went for a much needed grocery run. We were so low on food we only got about 3/4 of our list to limit how much we needed to carry back to the dinghy. Plan is to return tomorrow along with doing much needed laundry. It’s been 7 days that we’ve been on the move and I’m ready for a break, happy to be in Port W. where there are amenities nearby and more people. That night we went to the dinghy meet-up and met several other cruisers, all with interesting stories.

Saturday, September 7 - It was very cloudy and rainy all day and we opted to hold off with errands. A storm passed over us around 4:00 in the afternoon with 35 knot winds. It was not as bad as the hail storm in Block Island but a boat near us was dragging and almost hit the catamaran next to us. The owner was not on the dragging boat and TowBoat US came out and worked to fend off the boat. We decided to pull anchor and move to a mooring, as we did the owner of the boat was returning in his dinghy.

Sunday, September 8 - We walked to the laundromat in the morning. While there Kevin went to a bagel shop and bought a bakers dozen. Later that afternoon we met Ori and Lisa Cohen on their Catalina 470 which they keep in the marina. Kevin contacted Ori the first time we were in Port W. but he was out of town. He owns a manufacturing business and he and Kevin connected on Facebook when Kevin was installing a chart plotter. Ori made him a customized metal plate to go under the plotter as it was a different size from the original plotter. They were super hosts, had lots of wonderful cheeses for snacks and good wine! Ori is from Israel and told us the story behind the name of his boat, Miranda III. When living in Israel his father had a horse or mule that was named Miranda and was very stubborn with a mind of her own. That started an expression in their family of “that’s a Miranda” or “he/she is pulling a Miranda “. He bought his first boat on a whim and against his ex- wife’s wishes. Thus he named his first boat “Miranda” and kept the name for his second and now third boat. Another couple from the marina, Zhanna and Andrew, came to chat for a bit. Zhanna is from Kazakhstan and was fun to talk with. We then went with Lisa and Ori to a Turkish restaurant and had a delicious meal.

Monday, September 9 - We walked about 30 minutes to the train station and went into NYC, getting off at Grand Central Station. Another couple we met at the raft-up Friday night, Ken and Eilu, were also on the train so we chatted with them on the way in. They are interesting, he’s Scottish and she is from Singapore. They have been cruising for 9 years! Literally been all around the world. They are slowly making their way back to Singapore, where they live. He is a true sailor, he was waiting a week for the winds to be just right before departing again. He joined the navy (I assume in Scotland) at age 20 and was enlisted for 10 years, then went into commercial marine. He met Eilu while working in Singapore. He’s been on the water his whole life and around the world 3 times!
In NYC we spent the entire day walking around the city, over 13 miles and 32,400 steps! We walked to Times Square, Union Square, Bryant Park, Chelsea, SoHo, Herald Square, NYU, Hudson River, Battery Park, Greenwich, Tribeca and back tracked a bit. We had Raman for lunch in the area of NYU. I had never been to that area so it was fun to see the university and students. We went by Kevin’s Metadata stomping grounds and had a slice of pizza at Joe’s Pizza, his favorite pizza joint, then met Eric, a past colleague at Brooklyner’s, a pub near their office. They of course caught up with each other and what’s currently happening at Metadata. To conclude the experience we took the subway to Penn Station and a train back to Port W.もっと詳しく