Block Island - Picture postcard pretty

Our next sail was onto Block Island which was leaving the state of New York and moving into Rhode Island which is the smallest state in the US.  As you move east from the sound the sea becomes noticeable more like the ocean, the swells increase slightly but more noticeable the colour and the clarity change.  Block Island is about 12 miles from the mainland and is 7 by 4 miles long, the channel to get into the harbour is narrow and feels like you can almost touch the fishermen on the shore but thankfully was deep enough for Magnum.

The harbour is large with lots of moorings but also plenty of space to anchor – they state in the pilot book that during a summer holiday there can be 2000 boats in the harbour!  Really glad we were not there with that many boats!

We went ashore the next morning and enjoyed a run around the country roads to the old harbour; this is where the limited number of shops and hotels are situated.  We were initially struck by how much the island is like somewhere in the UK or Channel islands, with the shrub land and the little lanes but this was probably influenced by the very grey weather!

Block Island Old Harbour main street

Old Harbour Main Street

We spent the remainder of the day exploring the island, the old harbour has a couple of small old hotels which make it seem like a old fashion seaside resort and there are a few tourist shops.  The ferry arrives here from the mainland so even on a grey weekday there were quite a few people around.

Old Harbour

Hotel in Old Harbour

We were able to dodge the showers and by the time we had walked to the south east of the island to visit the lighthouse we were getting warm – this was the first day we had worn jeans since we had been in the UK the previous November.

Walking on east coast

Beautiful coastline

Suns out and Mark is happy at the lighthouse

Amanda at Lighthouse

We walked onto the beach on the south of the island, it was beautiful with the Atlantic rolling up the sand.  It was almost deserted even though the sun was now shining.  We had a walk along the beach but also built ourselves a pebble towers, to join the 100’s that were all along the shore line.

Our amazing artwork

Look at all the pebbles!

Amanda enjoying the beach

Mark enjoying the sunshine

Happy that the sun is out

We had a wonderful day walking and exploring in Block Island and really wish we could have stayed longer but felt lucky we had found the time to visit.

Magnum at anchor in Block Island harbour

The calm before the storm

The visit wasn’t even ruined by the fact that that night the wind came up (as forecasted) and although we were happy with our anchor, at least 2 boats dragged in the anchorage so there was lots of shouting and mayhem which meant we were awake for the majority of the night L

Stunning sunset before the wind came in

Long Island - heading east to the Hamptons

Finally our part arrived, Mark fitted it and we were ready to head off, we had decided that we had become so sick of motoring that we would only move on if we could sail.  So we left Port Washington for Huntington, we left with sails up but by the time we were out of the Bay and in Long Island Sound the winds were light and we were motor sailing! So much for no motoring!  But it was great to see so many other sail boats, it was the weekend and there was racing and cruising boats heading in all directions.

This was a short hop 17  miles to Huntington, we never went into the main harbour but anchored off a sandy beach, it actually looked quite appealing, the water was looking slightly less like a muddy river.

Beach at Huntington

Next day we were off again and yes there was more motoring! It seemed that we just had the main sail up for show! But we preserved and at any opportunity tried to sail.  Next stop was Port Jefferson.  Being a Sunday it was busy with boats in and out of the harbour plus the ferry which sends a huge wash down the entire harbour every hour!

Port Jefferson ferry

The shelter is good in the harbour as you can tuck round behind a sand bar, which was good because as we anchored the wind started to pick up from the north and blow directly into the harbour.  There was quite a bit of swell wrapping round the sand bar which made for a bumpy night.

Next day and we moved to try to get close to the town but the harbour is full of moorings and we did not want to pick up a mooring at it would have cost us over $75 for the night.  We managed to sneak in a little further but we still had a lengthy dingy ride into town, we were also not impressed by the $10 fee to park your dingy, not very welcoming.

Busy Port Jefferson harbour

The town is just a few streets mainly for the tourists with restaurants, cafes, some tourist shops including a really good Tea Shop.  There was a small deli to pick up a few essentials and then we found a coffee shop and took advantage of their internet.

The next day was a windy one and we sat at anchor and were unable to get off the boat, these days are always frustrating!

At least we were treated to a lovely sunset

When we could final leave we had another long day, the morning was filled with motoring frustration but thankfully the wind picked and and we had a fantastic sail most of the afternoon and into the evening.  We were now at the east end of Long Ilsnad and rounded into the forks, The scenery here is very pretty, it is lush and green with little rocky out crops and various small island.  First stop was Sag Harbour, this is part of Southampton ( the Hamptons) and we where told it would be full of Superyachts.  There were a few large powerboats in the marina but not quite what you find in some of the luxury resorts in the Med – Palma and Porto Cervo. 

Anchorage at Sag Harbour - you can see a few of the larger powerboats in the marina

Sag Harbour marina - on a very grey day!

The village is small, there are quite a few antique shops, cafes and restaurants.  What is nice about this location is the have not been able to knock down the original properties so often the shops are in the front room of what was originally a house.  The Sag harbour coffee house was pretty good to kill an hour but not much else to see.

Next day we moved from Sag Harbour on the south fork to Greenport on the north fork, only around 15 miles.  Greenport had a bit more going on than Sag Harbour, here rather than the antique shops there were Art Galleries along with the cafes and restaurants that make up this small touristy resort.  Greenport did have more for the locals and here was a nice farmers market on the Saturday. 

Sandy spit on entrance into Greenport

Sun setting from the anchorage tucked in behind the seawall - still pretty rolly

View to Shelter Island from anchorage

Port Washington - More New York

Port Washington has various marinas and lots of moored boats but we were also lucky that there is lots of space to anchor so we dropped anchor and spent a few days getting back to all the normal boat jobs and the inevitable things that have gone wrong with Magnum.  One of these jobs was Mark servicing the Auto Pilot that had decided to back up! 

It was quite funny being in a new very yachty place for the weekend, we had a huge number of local boats sail way too close, why? because they want to have a better look at Magnum!

The main reason our stay was to be so long in Port Washington was Harriet and Abbie were coming to visit for the week, so we had arranged a berth at Brewers Capri marina.  The staff here were really friendly and because the economy is having a hit on their business we got a really good deal.  The girls were keen to see New York and from here we could catch the bus to the train station and then the Long Island Railway into the city. So we repeated the tourist trail with visits to Time Square, Central Park, Macys, Chelsea Market, Grand Central Station, Staten Island Ferry and anywhere the girls fancied visiting.

Mark, Abbie and Harriet in Times Square

Mark and girls on the bridge in Central Perk from the Elf snowball fight!

Enjoying a sit down at Chelsea Market

A busy Times Square

Grand Central Station

We also had a hire car for the day and headed out to see some of Long Island, the girls were as impressed as us with the beautiful houses that are everywhere on Long Island.  We were lucky that the sun was still shining and we had a picnic at Huntington Beach.

Enjoying a picnic

We were keen to move on once the girls had left but unfortunately we had a another boat problem and were awaiting a part.  The bolt that holds the engine and the saildrive together had snapped so they were no longer held in place, Mark managed to put a very temporary fix in place so we could leave the marina but we then sat at anchor and waited for the part for almost a week.  During this time we did get a few more maintenance jobs done on the boat, Mark spent an entire day removing the pegs holding the teak deck together, drilled them out where necessary and then replaced with new pegs.  A soul destroying job as a small area takes such a long time to complete.

If you look closely you can see the pegs poking our on the starboard side of the deck

We were also able to get off the boat and use the bikes to visit Sandy Point Preserve.  This was previously the Guggenhiem Estate and was donated initially to the Navy in the 1940s but Nassau County bought this from the them in the 1960s and additional land was donated by the Guggenhiems in the 1970s. There are 3 mansions within the 200+ acre estate although we only visited the grounds, only 1 of the mansions is open to the public although they are no longer occupied.  The grounds are very pretty and they are along the shoreline of Long Island, a spectacular place to live, in an equally spectacular property.

One amazing house

Mark enjoying the sunshine

Pretty gardens

Amazing house number 2

East River and Hells Gate - Riding the Rapids

To reach Long Island sound from New York we had return south along the Hudson River which was great at 6am as there is little river traffic so you get to have another great view of Manhattan.

Daybreak as we leave the mooring buoys

Rounding Manhattan island

We then round the end of Manhattan island and head north up East River which run up the other side of Manhattan under the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges with some cool views through to the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building. 

Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge in the distance

Passing under the Brooklyn Bridge

Looking back at at the Manhattan Bridge

Skyline from East River including the Empire State Building 

Empire State from East River

Chrysler Building glinting in the sunshine

We passed close to Governors Island and then on past Roosevelt Island where the channel starts to narrow, we were saw a crazy guy in a rowing boat! It was one of the boats that they use to cross the oceans but the tide rips through this area so he was pretty brave.

Roosevelt island had apartments and what look like some offices, there is both a bridge and/cable car which connect it to Manhattan.

Bridge from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island

We then pass through "Hells Gate" this is where the tide runs the strongest and it is critical to get the tides right, so you are running with the tide but not at full flood. We could instantly see why, the water was bubbling up in front of us and once we hit it, we were riding the rapids, Mark fought we the tide to keep us central in the channel and avoid getting swept into the shallower water. We have passed through some challenging tidal gates but this was quite spectacular.

Tide ripping past the buoy

There goes the tide behind us!

We were glass to make it out into the Long Island Sound and it wasn't many miles before we arrived at Manhasset Bay. The shore to the Bay is lined with magnificent houses, it was the location which inspired the Bay in the Great Gatsby.

If you look closely you can see some of the amazing properties lining the shore

Port Washington is the major town in the/Bay and would be our home for the next few weeks. Although there are 100's of mooring buoys in the Bay there was also plenty of space for us to anchor.

Lots of moored boats in Port Washington

The sun starting to set in Port Washington