We slipped the lines just before 1900, excited to return to cruising life and explore new places but sad to leave after such a short time. The temperature was SO much more comfortable as soon as we got out from behind David’s Island – it had been almost unbearably hot all week. We raised sail once we got out to the Sound in a light but steady breeze just after the start of the Thursday night Can One race. We were pretty fast compared to the fleet – because you know that even though we weren’t racing, we were racing. We’d hoped to be able to set the spinnaker, but the wind angle wasn’t quite right.
We get to sail in so many incredible places, but Long Island Sound remains a favorite. Mother Nature outdid herself with that sunset, and it was wonderful to sail in light air and flat seas. The near-full moon had already risen when the sun set, and moonlight danced on the wavelets, lighting our path as we ghosted along. Originally we’d planned to go to Oyster Bay, but it was such a beautiful night that neither one of us wanted to head in just yet, so we continued on to Northport. We awoke to a calm, quiet, almost chilly morning (chilly being 70 degrees), and relaxing in the cockpit before work reminded me of all the years we sailed Silent Sky there on weekends.
After work, we hauled anchor and headed to Port Jefferson on a mirror-calm Sound. The sunset was more muted but still beautiful, and the passage was easy. When we went to drop the anchor, the windlass wouldn’t engage – when the anchor came up, it was covered in thick mud and didn’t want to swivel (I’m guessing the swivel was clogged with mud), and when I finally got it to orient correctly, it “hopped” a little as it hit the roller so I’m guessing that jammed it. Chris was eventually able to free it, and we set the hook with no further drama.
We were up early the next morning, and I couldn’t wait to get under way. Again there was no wind, so we motored all the way out to the Race which we hit at full ebb, so the lack of wind was welcome, especially since we saw boat speeds up to 11kts over ground as we came through.
As excited as we both were to be on our way to Block and then off to brand new cruising territory, it felt really strange to be leaving the Sound already. It was almost surreal to think we wouldn’t be returning this summer.
Shortly after we passed through the Race, the wind picked up and we had a beautiful sail. We had about a knot of current with us, and we were seeing speeds over ground of 8-9 kts for most of the trip. We were MUCH faster than any of the other boats out there with us, and before we knew it, we were lowering the sails to head into New Harbor.