The day finally arrived when I
returned to Essex to “take possession” of
the boat I’d turned my life upside-down over,
outfit her, and set off cruising New England. I
arrived in Hartford and through some machinations got
my rental and spent the afternoon getting groceries
and making a trip to the local Goodwill, where I got
sheets, dishes, and other stuff to make Aurora
habitable. I finally showed up at the boat yard after
closing and discovered that work that was supposed to
have been done over the previous two and a half months
had not been attended to. Well, that’s not quite
true....the big projects were mostly done, but a whole
raft of smaller things were not. I was glad I had
allotted extra time for catch-up, but hadn’t
planned on the yard taking two and a half weeks of my
break to do it. Every morning I was up before seven
and hard at it from slightly thereafter until
sometimes midnight doing whatever I could do to get
stuff done to facilitate the yard getting the rest of
the list out of the way. It was like herding cats, and
at times it was absolutely the most frustrating
experience of my life. And then on a Thursday
afternoon, I realized the chores were done, and that I
was faced with what I’d been waiting for:
putting my study and training to the test and
singlehanding my 40 footer wherever I wanted to go.
I didn’t get out of Essex
until early the next afternoon, and I knew that
getting down the Connecticut River to the Sound, and
then across to Port Jefferson, Long Island was going
to be a push to do by dark. I was right. By dusk I
wasn’t yet quite there. As I started down the
channel into Port Jeff, I glanced over my left
shoulder and saw the bloody ferry screaming by
silently without warning, practically on top of me.
Then, to my right was the breakwater. Just what I
needed was an obstacle course on my first day out. I
headed to the GPS coordinates a buddy had given me for
an overnighting spot, and shortly after dark the
anchor was set. Day One, and I’d put everything
to the test, and come out on top on all counts.
The short story is that I headed
down to New York. My trip was abbreviated by the
boatyard’s screwing around, and the thing I had
wanted to do most of all was sail through New York
Harbor. I knew I had to time the currents right, or
I’d be in trouble bucking them at the trecherous
Hell Gate. As it turned out, I consulted my tables,
left Manhasset Bay at the crack of dawn, and nailed
the currents within five minutes of perfection. Not
bad. The trip was peaceful, watching the joggers and
people walking to work along the East River walks.
Around the Battery, watching out for the commuter
ferries was essential, especially as I was crossing
over to get a view of the Statue of Liberty. Seeing
her as a speck in the distance as I rounded southern
Manhattan was quite amazing, and up close from the
edge of the restricted zone was amazing. Then, up to
my $30/night mooring at the 79th Street Boat Basin.
Such a deal! I ended up staying there for five or six
days while visiting friends, family, and generally
hanging out at art museums.
The return trip was a quickie,
essentially retracing my steps and heading up to Three
Mile Harbor near Easthampton, an ideal spot from which
to visit the Jackson Pollock/Lee Krasner House. It was
indescribable to walk across the studio floor,
essentially a Pollock painting itself. Then, an
evening in Greenport, and a race early the next
morning against the weather back through the dicey
Plum Gut (by the infamous Plum Island) up to Essex for
stripping the boat in prep for shipping to Seattle.
We won, the race, no problem.
Was it all worth it?
You bet.
More Pictures:
Long Island Sound & New York
Shipping Aurora To Her New Home
Arrival in Seattle
Boat Blog