Northport - Sandy Hook ( Through the East River ) 10/1/17

Sorry about the delay, we have been having some wifi problems which have hopefully been fixed

The East River was a trip that we had been looking forward to for a long time. We were exited, but also a little nervous about the currents and boat traffic.
We got up (I did not want to but a metal pencil box fell on my head really early going through a big wake from a powerboat and after that I could not fall back asleep 😒) and left Northport at 5:00 am in the dark. It was a beautiful sunrise. It was cool to look at all the other boats and big barges and such as we headed into the East River. Stan really liked looking at different barges and tug boats. We passed a few lighthouses, one of which is extremely haunted because the British would execute patriots and soldiers there. It was called Execution Rock Light. When we got to the mouth of the East River it was very exiting. At one point, near the beginning, Rikers Island was on the port side of our boat, and there was a floating prison that held over 800 prisoners on the starboard side of our boat. We went under our first bridge of the day, and there was only 5 feet of clearance. It was crazy because it looked like our mast was going to hit the bridge, but it did not. Mom was steering and following a Navionics course that it made automatically. There were two ways to go by Roosevelt Island, and we went the way the course was telling us to go. There was a railroad bridge up ahead that we could tell from just looking at it, it was too low for us to go under! It looked like it used to open, but we could tell that it could not open anymore. Navionics was supposed to know our mast height and know the bridges height and make a course that we are able to follow. We had to turn around and go against the heavy current, and go on the other side of Roosevelt Island. From then on we always double checked the Navionics courses. Once we got hit by a crazy current that knocked the boat sideways!

It was so cool going through the city and seeing all the buildings around us. We all were very exited to see the Empire State Building as we motored by, but there were also some really cool newer modern buildings. One looked like a Jenga game that was half done and another was kind of bent and covered with mirrors. I had only been to New York City once before, so it was really cool seeing all the big buildings. We were waving back and forth at people walking and biking along the river, they were so close! At one point a big powerboat came by us at full speed and we got knocked around a lot. After that we learned which stuff needed to be secured better. We were almost out of the East River when we saw a Staten Island Ferry getting ready to leave. The Staten Island Ferries go very fast and do not normally slow down for other boats. The current was very strong and pushing us toward the ferry quickly as it was about to leave. Dad was trying to hail them on the radio but they were not answering. They came of the dock and quickly sped up, just missing us.
We came out of the East River into the Verrazano Narrows and slowed down, because there was a 8 knot current, so we could pass by the Statue of Liberty slowly. I wish we could have gone onto the island and climbed the Statue of Liberty. I think Stan was the most exited to pass the Statue of Liberty, he had been talking about it all day. A little past the Statue of Liberty, we were still idling, the current started to slow down. We were still idling as we were passing Staten Island and then our engine quit. Dad thinks there was some air in the electric fuel pump and when we started to idle, and I don't quite understand what happened, but it caused the engine to quit. Dad was in the engine room fixing it when we almost got run over by the same Staten Island Ferry!!! It only lasted 10 minutes but it felt like a long time. Dad finally got the engine working and we left the Verrazano Narrows and headed for Sandy Hook.
We got to Sandy Hook at around 3:00pm. We looked around for the perfect spot to anchor, and finally chose to anchor in Horseshoe cove. Soon after we got there we headed to the beach. The water was cold and we did not really want to go swimming, but we wanted to get off the boat and stretch our legs. The beach looked like any normal beach from far away but once we got there we saw that it was covered in trash. It was so sad seeing all the plastic covering the beach. Jessie and I took naps on the beach and dad played with the drone, getting aerial shots of the boat and the trash covered beach. Then we took a walk down the beach to stretch our legs.
When we got back to the boat I did some ballet up on the foredeck, but I wanted to get some more sleep so I had dad help me set up a hammock on the foredeck and I read and napped for a little while while mom made a yummy dinner. Dad's friend Dr. Bob came with his two friends Dave Pennfeild and Rob Maitland and anchored near us in his new power catamaran. We ate dinner and then went over to his boat. His boat is so nice! There is so much room and his kids have separate bedrooms. He even has two indoor showers. Lucky! We stayed at their boat for a little while and then went back to the boat and went to bed. Even after all of my naps, I still was very tired.

The sun rising as we head to the East River.

Making our course through Hell Gate.

Our first bridge of the day!!!

A floating jail, built in 1992, still in use, along the East River.
There are about 800 prisoners inside.

We started a game of trying to clothespin each other without the person you are
clothes pinning knowing you are doing it. Here are some of the results.