Block Island, RI to Atlantic Highlands, NJ 20 August 2007

We left Block Island at 11 am on the 19 th. and arrived in Atlantic Highlands (Sandy Hook) New Jersey at 9 a.m. This is a picture of the clay bluffs at the south end of Block Island. There were many fishing boats along the passage on this clear and sunny day. We saw what might have been "schools of fish" steering up the water throughout the afternoon and many chartered fishing boats.






I caught the "captain" enjoying the sunshine and light breezes. After he gets the "auto helm set" he takes that "blue chair" situated behind him and perches himself in the back enjoying the day-even though it is not one for "sailing". In fact we have put 4,000 miles on the engine this trip with far few of them "sailing" because of weather conditions and the direction we were attempting to travel-so we have certainly put miles on the engine.






Montauk Point Light House which is situated on the east end of Long Island. We cruised along Long Island Sound throughout Sunday, viewing the sandy beaches, and then the large mansions scattered along the shoreline. At twilight we passed the "Hampton's" and thought of TWA Flight 800 as night approached. The wind was "on our nose" so we "motored" all the way to New Jersey and the seas were calm so we didn't even put up our mainsail to stabilize the boat. No sunset, as clouds took over the sky and we knew we would be approaching the warm front weather system so we expected some rain, which came on and off throughout the night.

As we approached Ambrose Light ( the beginning of 5 shipping channels into New York City Harbor) there were 6 large container ships anchored waiting for the tide to turn before they headed into New York City. This is a picture of one of them. Somewhat blurry because of the bouncy waves. On this watch I woke up Gordon so we could go through the waves safely by all these anchored ships.








The nice warm cabin is inviting after spending a 2 hour watch in the rain.















This is one of the many container ships we passed along our way to Sandy Hook New Jersey.














At dawn the wind picked up to 25 plus knots and the seas got bigger. You can see the following seas building behind Captain Gordon. Yes, the wool cap and the foul weather gear were what was needed in this fine August morning!

This was the crashing waves hitting the sandy beach as we approached Sandy Hook and approaching the outer harbor to the Atlantic Highlands. Soon after this picture we followed the channel into the harbor passing the fast ferries to New York City. We picked up a private mooring in gusty winds and after a nap we connected with the harbor master and got situated on one of the the rental moorings.