We bid a sad farewell to Newport, one of our favourite stops in New England and headed for Fishers Island. The plan is to make our way to New York with a few stops via Long Island. The first night we anchored in East Harbour on Fisher Island, just next to a world class golf course (Fishers Island Club). I was making chicken pie for dinner so we had plenty to go around when Tim and Nancy (Larus) and Ian and Ann (Tourterelle) arrived. Later that evening Penny and Peter (Serendipitous) also appeared so they also came aboard for a couple of night caps.

Fisher Island

The next morning was an early start to catch the incoming tide to Mattatuck. There was no wind so we had to rely on the current to improve our speed. We had heard good things about Mattatuck, the anchorage is located up a river (more like a creek). We had to enter at high tide. At the entrance we saw 2.2 meters…not a good start. We wound our way through the river with Tourterelle not far behind us. It wasn’t until we saw Tourterelle come under a power cable that we gave ourselves an almighty scare…where did that come from? We must have only had a couple of feet clearance. There was no mention of it in the pilot book or active captain. Sure enough we did find it on our Raymarine chart and kicked ourselves that we did not see it prior to coming in. We made our way to the anchorage that looked to have a bit less water than we were expecting. The tidal movement is about 1.6 meters so even in 4 meters of water at high tide, we would only have 30 cm clearance at low tide. Not enough to for us to be comfortable so we waved goodbye to Tourterelle and made our way back down the creek. Even though we knew that we could clear the power cables, we still held our breath as we went under.

The next planned stop was Port Jefferson which was 26nm away. We still had a positive current and the wind was slightly up so we put the sails out and had a great motor sail. I think we even managed to sail without an engine for an hour...wohoo!! Port Jefferson was very much an industrial port with a big power station located in the heart of the bay. It was good enough to anchor for the night, once the ferries stopped running.

The next morning we picked up the anchor and headed to Oyster Bay. We had met some locals, Cindy and Neil in Newport who had recommended this place. Not only for its natural beauty but because you can also catch a train into New York. We arrived to lovely sunshine and calm weather. The anchorage lived up to expectations. We finally got the anchor to hold as it was soft mud and takes a little while to set. Shortly after arriving, we got a call from the broker that a guy from Boston was interested in looking at Aura. Considering it is a 5 hour drive from Boston we figured he might be serious so we got Aura nice and pretty for her first viewing.

Oyster Bay

We really liked Oyster Bay. We visited the local brewery and sampled their wares. We caught up with Cindy, Neil and Cindy’s mum with drinks on Aura. We waved hello to Billy Joel who had a big house across the bay and walked around Teddy Roosevelts place on Sagamore Hill.

Sagamore Hill

While at Oyster Bay, we decided to visit New York. Although the train takes a bit longer, the walk is a lot shorter. Day one in New York involved a lot of walking. We caught the train to Penn Station and walked to the High Line. This was once an overhead train line that they have turned into a garden with interesting sculptures and good views of the city. From there we walked to central park via Time Square. What we had originally calculated as a 20 minute walk turned out to be over an hour. Once reaching Central Park, we found a nice tavern and shouted ourselves to a well deserved bottle of wine. We got talking to the bar attendant who pointed us to the John Lennon memorial (Strawberry Fields) then onto one of the best pizza places in midtown New York. I was so hungry I burnt my tongue :- (

Now that we had been revived with food we took the metro then walked to 230 on 5th Avenue. We found our way to a recommended roof top bar with great views of the Empire State building. We were not disappointed so had a glass of wine, took a few happy snaps and made our way back to the train and home.

Day 1 photos of New York

Just for the record, the fellow who looked at Aura decided to pick this day to drive back up to look at Aura for a second time. As we were not home, he bought a Sense 55 instead. A very keen buyer but it obviously was not meant to be.

The following day we picked up anchor and moved to Port Washington. This was to be our base for several days as we continued to explore New York. Port Washington is very cruiser and transient yacht friendly. We received a welcome pack from the local commerce association. They were extremely friendly and helpful. A short 15 minute walk to the train station, cafes, restaurants, pubs, good shopping and even a chandlery (West Marine) in walking distance from the dingy dock (equipped with phone charger station, rocking chairs in a shady area and water bottle refill station). Note to Simon…be careful of the vicious swans. The harbour was also surrounded by a number of larger homes for the wealthy. Speaking of wealthy, we did note the 8 am morning overhead rush hour of helicopters ferrying the working important people to Manhattan…we assume Wall Street.

Port Washington

Day two in New York saw us explore downtown New York including the 9/11 memorial, Wall St, China Town, Little Italy and a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The sun was out and we had some great views from the bridge…we even saw Trump fly out from the helicopter station near the Wall Street pier. For lunch we enjoyed Dim Sum at Jing Fong and really enjoyed the food and the whole experience. It was just like being back in Singapore, a huge dining hall and we were one of only a few tables that were not Asian. After walking across crossing the Brooklyn Bridge we wondered through the nearby water front area then took a ferry to Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange was kindly flying the Australian flag. Si was in search of the bronze bull statue however that we a few blocks away in the opposite direction… something for next time.

Day 2 photos of New York

While I was having a rest day, Si went on a mission to find a super Walmart to replace our laptop that might have had a little bit too much red wine. He caught a bus to New Jersey via Manhattan. During his travels, he stopped at Time Square for a bit more of a look around.

More photos of New York

The following day was rainy so Si, Ann and I went into New York to go clothes shopping. We spent most of the morning at Century 21 going through rack after rack of discount clothing. Ann and I picked out about 20 items to try on but only came away with a few random items. Ann did find a dress for an upcoming party in Palm Springs so she was happy. I bought a new bikini so Simon was happy :- ). We once again stopped for pizza before heading home. On our return we were shocked at the amount of rain that had fallen, Si had to bail out half a dingy worth of water.

The following day we had planned to head into town again to see a Broadway show but I was worn out after a very busy week. Instead we organised a pump out of our holding tank, we then took Aura to the town dock to get water and went grocery shopping. Unfortunately Si who had been nursing a sore back had a relapse so back to square one…so easily done when you start feeling better.

On Sunday, we headed into New York for the last time. We would have liked to have seen a show but Si would not have been able to sit for three hours, even with intervals. We headed to the East Village which had a very different feel to mid and downtown Manhattan. We walked around until we came to a Moroccan café that was recommended for its great brunches. We were not disappointed.

Brunch

From there we jumped on the sub way and visited Grand Central Terminal. Big and grand packed with people…great people watching venue. We started walking towards Times Square and decided to go via the New York Yacht Club. Unfortunately we were not able to take any photos but the architecture of the model room was impressive, very much an indication of a by gone era. On display, they have a model for every yacht that participated in the Americas Cup right from the beginning. We were even given the key to the library…everything old and stuffy but interesting. Thank you to RPYC for kindly organising the letter of introduction.

New York Yacht Club

As the yacht clubs food and bar facilities are closed for the month of August. Our next was a quick drink at the roof top bar on 5th Avenue before heading to Masey’s to see what bargains could be found. By now, we were both tired so there was not much in the way of shopping, more just looking. As we headed home for the last time we felt a sense of sadness to be leaving this impressive city and only scrapping the surface of what there is to do and see. Here’s hoping that we will be back some day.

More fun

Our next blog, we transit the East River and make our way to the Hudson where we anchored behind and anchor at the Statue of Liberty.