We were excited to finally leave Deltaville after five weeks. After what felt like an eternity, we closed on Windara and began the whirlwind process of moving aboard. Saturday afternoon, we cast off the lines to continue our journey home. Our shakedown to Annapolis turned up a few issues that the survey hadn’t but also confirmed that we’d made the right choice as we beat into 6’, short-period waves in a 25kt breeze.
We spent a week and a half in Annapolis exploring and visiting with friends while we had the alternator replaced, before setting out on the final leg of our trip. We put some miles under our keel before and after work so that we could be staged close to the C&D Canal for a Friday morning departure. During our late night arrival in Still Pond, we snagged a crab pot, but Chris had enough air left in his dive cylinder to clear the prop the next morning. With that taken care of, we ran through the C&D Canal and down the Delaware Bay with the intent to stop at Cape Henlopen. But conditions were perfect, and boat and crew were ready to get home, so we sailed on.
The 255 mile passage from Still Pond to Port Washington took 44 hours, and we passed under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at 0200 Sunday. With the Statue of Liberty to port, an orange crescent moon rose over Brooklyn to starboard, and the Battery shone bright off our bow. It was beyond a bucket list experience to have New York Harbor practically to ourselves, and it was incredibly emotional to come full circle.
We dropped the hook in Port Washington as the sun was coming up for a few hours’ rest before raising the anchor one final time. As we crossed from Port Washington, we passed the Larchmont Race Week fleet on the course, and it made me giddy to get back out and race. After 10 months away, it was amazing to arrive home at HYC and spend the day among friends.
