Solo New York to Gloucester

I left New York's 79th St. Boat Basin on Saturday May 20th in the Morning to get a favourable tide back down the Hudson River.  It was my first time soloing Pegasus and I had put Luna on the davits the night before. I figured that it was easier for me to get Luna on the davits alone rather than on deck.  It was a nice sunny day when I anchored behind the Statue of Liberty for lunch to wait for the tide to turn in Hell Gate so I could go through the East River to Long Island Sound. By the end of the day, it had clouded over and there was a strong easterly wind in my nose when I entered Long Island Sound.  I decided to Anchor behind City Island for the night where I was warmly greeted by fellow boaters on a neighbouring  yacht.  It turns out the lady was originally from Cap Breton Island.  We had a pleasant conversation and they told me of what was available on City Island and even offered me a ride in their dingy.  It had been a long day for me so I decided to turn in early instead.

In the morning, the sun was out again and I had a beautiful but almost windless day to start my journey up Long Island sound.  I stopped at the Norwalk Islands and anchored next to the lighthouse.  Once again, I got warmly greeted by fellow boaters.  It was a local couple who were starting out on a beautiful 70 feet Swan that they had been fixing for the last few years.  They are hoping to go off for an extended cruise and had many questions on how our trip had been.  Later, the guardian of the lighthouse also dropped by to greet me and said to let him know if I needed anything.  Once again, it was a very friendly place.

Memorial day was another beautiful day on the water with pleasure crafts of all types covering Long Island Sound.  As one dismayed tug skipper said to an other on the radio, 'be careful, the kamikaze are out!'  I had a very good day motor sailing in light breeze on the stay sail and far from the shipping lanes.  I managed to cover the rest of Long Island Sound that day and anchored at Fisher Island.  I also stayed there on the 23rd to wait out for favourable winds for Block Island Sound.  I didn't quit get them.  I still got 15 knot winds in the nose when I did the short hop though Block Island Sound over to Newport.  I almost decided to stop in Point Judith but then decided to push on since the next couple of days weren't going to be any better.  The engine's fuel pump had stated to have a slight leak and I needed to replace it.  I wanted to get to Newport because I knew there was a Yanmar dealer there.  It turns out, we had four days of fog and rain so I stayed in Newport till Saturday May 30th.  That gave me time to get a new fuel pump, change it, and do my last oil and filter change on the engine for the trip.  Somehow, it made me feel much closer to home to know that the last scheduled  maintenance was done with!

I had noticed some stress cracks appear on the davits after the waves I had gone through off Judith Point on my way into Newport so I decided to put Luna back on deck for the next leg.  It tuns out I got Luna up there fine on my own also.  It even went a little easier than on the davits. I had a beautiful flat day out of Newport to get passed Sakonnet Point.  What a change from last fall when we had head winds and 8 foot waves there!  By the time I got to Buzzards bay, it was a perfect sailing day.  Unfortunately, I didn't feel comfortable raising the main sail up alone so I decided to motor sail with the stay sail instead.  I made it to the entrance of Cape Cod Canal and decided to pick up a mooring from Onset Marina for the night.  There was an other Canadian flagged sail boat anchored nearby and I got to meet them.  They were from Fredericton and were also heading home.  We would meet up regularly for the rest of the trip.

The favourable tide through the canal started at 10 am the next day and that was when I headed out.  I didn't want to wait too long because the forecast for the afternoon was for increasing winds and thunderstorms.  That is exactly what we got.  Luckily the wind was in the back and was pushing me north.  As I got closer to Scituate, where I was planning to spend the night, the winds got to over 25 knots. I had to take the wheel as the auto pilot was starting to get overwhelmed by the following seas.  Scituate harbour is very nice and protected though and I was glad to pick up a mooring there just before the thunder clouds came rolling by.  The mooring fee includes a shuttle service to shore so I was able to go take a shower at the harbour master's office as well as do groceries.  As it turns out, the thunder storms missed Scituate that day but I still got a nice picture of the rainbow at sunset.

The next day, June 1st, I had a perfect day to continue my trip.  Once, I got past the Boston Harbour shipping lanes, I shut down the engine and sailed to the Gloucester harbour entrance with both head sails.  I decided to wait for my friend Jason there.  We would face the Maine lobster traps together.