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Atlantic Crossing | Yorktown, Virginia to New York City


Singlehanded Atlantic Crossing: Georgia, USA to Canaries, Spain (2008)

Itinerary:

Voyage details forthcoming.


Trimming
Swell
Atlantic force 6
Sea Bed
Broken tiller head repair
Buddies
Cabin
Flying Fish
Anchored in Bermuda
Landing in Lajes
Pájarito
Sunset
In Bermuda
Bermuda Islander
Free fish in Portugal
Nice downwind

Yorktown, Virginia to New York City (Summer, 2005)

Itinerary:

The Chesapeake

The very first shake down for us, right after I purchased Pájaro (then named Hummingbird), and after a farewell from our new made friends in Virginia, was a passage to N.Y.C. from VA ,crossing the entire Chesapeake Bay then down the Delaware Bay and up the Atlantic coast to the Big Apple. For Teresa being a dancer and myself a guitarist, this was an interesting opportunity to see some concerts and attend dance lessons in this unique city. The trip was an adventure in itself. Although not very impressed at first with the brackish colored waters filled with agressive jellyfishes, there were a handful of moments that will stay forever in my human memory.

The first night after sailing all day on the lower part of the bay, we anchored on the Little Wicomico River right before sunset. Just ten minutes after the anchor was set, a subtle wind began to roll furiously while the sky became filled with heavy purple rotating counter-clockwise at a vertiginous speed. With a sorrounding coast looking at us like dinner, I got my hands to work on dropping a second anchor from my stern.With me going up and down the boat and with Hummingbird rolling like a rodeo horse, Teresa decided to start laughing at me non-stop. She has a very old soul,that's to say that she's scared of practicly nothing.

This NW cold front passing our heads lasted just ten minutes and, although violent ,was a natural display of beauty. I learned that in this East coast weather conditions can change with the blink of an eye. I didn't miss a NOAA weather VHF report since then. The next morning we had the chance to really enjoy the view of the beautiful sorroundings.

We sailed out smoothly and had a nice breeze for about 8 hours until the wind died and I decided to motor straight to the nearby inlet of Redville. A singular place it was. We happened to be the only human beings there (and nothing wrong with that!). A strong toasted herring smell could be felt for the whole night from a processing factory right in front of our anchorage. We inflated our toy dinghy (a present from Doug Truston in the Virginian Marina I bought Pájaro) and went ashore to explore the sorroundings away from the fish crematory. We found a bar where Teresa made a phone call to her mum in Spain. Because of the intense hot weather I bought a couple of beers, although I don't consider myself a beer drinker. At least they were cold. We went back to the boat and had our own party, with guitar and all. The rest of the night was quiet, except for our bothered noses.

We headed to tha bay again in the morning, making a landfall at night by Solomon's Island super-crowded resorts after having a good breeze pushing us during the day. I decided then to optimize my boom reefing lines.

Annapolis was to be our next stop on the way, but because of the lack of consistent wind and some "Universal" engine troubles, it was impossible to make a landfall by night. I decided to anchor on a piece of coast just 3 miles off East River .Sleeping was impossible because we were fully exposed to the swell. But it would have been suicidal to approach an unknown port by night. With the first light of the morning and with my engine on vacation, I used the breeze and made entrance to the Annapolis anchorage area by sail only. I spent the whole morning sleeping. We used the next two days to get to know this charming city. Even enjoyed a Navy big band concert on the park. From Annapolis we sailed straight to Baltimore, arriving just before sunset under a truly spectacular storm. Fell Point has a free of charge anchorage area with a dinghy dock nearby. We explored the city and it was then that Teresa found out for her first time that Dunkin Donuts are irresistible. I had to work on convincing her of the bad side of the fast food industry. But even so, she probably has some addiction to donuts to date. I was totally thrilled with the open access to classical guitar chart collection at the Baltimore Public Library that one can print free of charge. After this port we felt ready to leave the Chesapeake Bay behind us by means of the C&D canal, but we anchored for the last time on the Elk River where we swam for hours before the sunset. (Although brackish, no jellyfishes could be found.) We came form pristine waters in the Mediterranean (I was born in Mallorca) and Teresa is used to the cold clean open waters of the Canary Islands were she's from. This explains our lack of adaptability to the Bay waters.

If you are snoring by now, let me finish by saying that the rest of the itinerary had some interesting stops in Salem,NJ (where we made some truly good friends), Cape May Harbour, Atlantic City, where we got some laughs at the casinos' flamboyant appearance and had some fun at the amusement park on the boardwalk. But nothing beats the morning leaving Cape May and meeting his Majesty Ocean Atlantic in all his splendour with a welcoming visit by a group of friendly dolphins crossing our bow several times.That wouldn't be the last visit from them. Teresa was jumping out of her shoes (although, she had no shoes...).


Manhattan

We departed Sandy Hook by 5:30 am with a favourable 10 to 15 knot wind and current pushing us over the surface of the planet for an average of 8 knots.In just a few hours we where already sailing among gigantic cargo ships anchored in the N.Y.C. port and taking shots of the majestic Liberty Statue and the tall skyscrapers of lower Manhattan.

Naively,following a very old (1999 edition) of a piloting book, my plan was to anchor on an area marked as anchorage on the Hudson River. However, things had changed a bit since 9/11 and I just found moorings on the 79th St. N.Y. Public Marina for 30$ a day. Because of our low budget I immediately started my research around and Greg, the officer of the marina, generously made a phone call to a marina on upper Manhattan, just past the George Washington Bridge, where we were able to anchor for free for almost one month. (That sounded much better to me.) We had access to the subway system, so we were finally able to enjoy all that the city had to offer us.

Most of all we'll never forget the hospitality we found every place we visit. The next passage was a singlehandled one (since Teresa had to finally return to Spain) back to Salem,NJ via the Atlantic coast down to Cape May and up the Delaware Bay, where I hauled out Pájaro for the winter, and went back to work as a musician for some months. That way I saved some funds for the upcoming major refits I had in mind for the boat. (See Boat section.)