Gotham ahoy!

Sept. 3, 2007 On passage to NY.
Sheesh, who writes these titles anyway? Well, in spite of the titling, we found the weather window we wanted and are on our way. It took us about 4 hours under power to get clear of the Chesapeake and its shoals. Then we got a nice breeze with some East in it and were able to sail directly towards NY. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but we've had Northeast winds for quite a while now and were not looking forward to sailing directly into the wind for 260 miles. For much of the afternoon and evening, we were doing only 4.5 knots - less than our target speed of 5 knots, but the conditions were so very pleasant that we just were enjoying the sailing. This is the first time the mainsail has been up since Paul and I sailed into Beaufort.
It is now 3AM and I have relieved Andi on the watch. It's pretty quiet out here. Every once and a while we see a ship or a smaller vessel, but they haven't come too close. About 2:30 the wind got light and we had to turn on the motor. Oh well, the batteries need charging anyway. Now we are going fast and making up for a little lost time. We want to come into the harbor in daylight. The plan is to anchor behind Sandy Hook - a peninsula at the tip of New Jersey. Then the next day we will enter New York Harbor - only 10 more miles. We have to time the tides right so that we have a flood tide coming through the Narrows, a tight spot on our way into the Hudson River. Then we will see if there is an empty mooring at the 79th St. Boat Basin. We'd like to spend some time in NYC if possible. Stay tuned. Write if you find work.