May 28, 2019 – Ocean conditions for Tuesday were forecasted to be pretty good, so even though there was weather coming in later from Western Pennsylvania, we decided we needed to put the ocean stretch behind us and press on up the 38 miles to Great Kills, on Staten Island, to get closer to New York Harbor.
We woke to the siren announcing the railroad bridge closing for the first 5am train.
The ebb current ( after the high tide at 3:32 ) was beginning to flow past our dock as we made coffee and prepped to get underway at sunrise. Out the inlet into the ocean with no excitement, to a beautiful sunrise.
We turned up the coast in very placid seas, although there must have been a current against us down the coast, as we didn’t carry quite the same speed over ground as the previous day. We began to see more seagoing traffic as we came up to round Sandy Hook, and we felt the outflowing current from the Hudson as well.
As we made the turn inside Sandy Hook, we saw a whale surface several times, with a spray of mist, and then a breach and the tail in the air. Very cool, but too far (and sudden) to have gotten a good picture, so you will just have to take our word for it this time.
The waves and wind started to pick up, and even a few raindrops as we pulled into Great Kills Harbor. Loopers are spread out at several of the local marinas and yacht clubs, but we chose to take a mooring ball, and exercise some of our self-sufficiency systems. (Q: How much power will solar panels make on a rainy day? A: Some, but not a lot. <followup: 1.46kWh> )
A nice quiet afternoon to relax, after a couple of trying days.