Port Jefferson Revisited

Port Jefferson Revisited   …   Tuesday 2nd July 2013

We really feel that we are getting close to the end of our trip and have very mixed feelings. We have a rough plan of how the next few days might play out as we make our way up Long Island Sound and we expect to be back in East Greenwich early next week. In some respects, with the end in sight, we are keen to make progress and get home. There are some practical matters like laundry that need to be taken care of - soon! In other ways we feel sad that the trip is coming to end. It has been an amazing experience. I don't think either of us expect it to be particularly easy to be back - it's not as if we have a very clear plan of what we are going to do going forward, although we have plenty of not so well defined ideas.

We woke this morning to more grey skies and the prospect of more showers and afternoon thunder storms. The weather over the last few days has really helped us appreciate just how lucky we have been overall with the weather during our trip. After coffee and muesli for breakfast, we raised the mainsail, pulled up the anchor and motor sailed outs of Oyster Bay. The wind was light from south, but once we cleared the Bay we raised our stay sail, cut the engine and spent  a very pleasant 3 hours or so sailing quietly eastwards up Long Island Sound. We could have done with our genoa, but with some favorable current we were able to make 5 knots over the ground and so we enjoyed the peace and quiet and concentrated on trying to finish a crossword puzzle. As we approached Port Jefferson it started to rain and we turned on the engine, dropped the sails and motored in past the breakwater to anchor on the west side of the bay, about a mile or so from the harbor itself. We spent the rest of the afternoon being lazy on the boat, reading our books and cooking a pork and apple cider casserole, which was delicious. The weather gradually improved and as the afternoon progressed the sun came out and it was fun just to hang out on the boat. Tomorrow we'll jump in the dinghy and go in and explore the town … we happen to know there is a particularly fine bakery!

Mike

40 57.948 N, 73 05.785 W

Oyster Bay, NY

Dredging Oysters