This past week, we continued our southern leg to New York, which will be our state for a good chunk of time. We explored the harbors and rivers of Long Island Sound, mostly on the Long Island side, before heading into New York City and the start of the Hudson River.

One great find was Mattituck Creek, a 2 mile narrow and shallow creek which housed a surprising amount of boats. Best of all were the 8-10 large osprey nests we passed, many with one or two adult ospreys nearby.

The creek opens into a small bay, with a “water club” and marina, Strong’s nestled there. A large facility with docks and a pool, and we were able to pay a small fee to land the dinghy at their docks and use the showers (yay!). The season hasn’t really started yet, so we had the whole place practically to ourselves.

Explored a little of town in the drizzle and wind. It was nice to be in such a protected area with the high wind gusts and were thankful when the wind died and the weather cleared around sunset.

Next day I walked into the little Love Lane area of Mattituck, a cute little historic area with shops, breweries, vineyards, and coffee shops. Found the Fed Ex drop off to ship back to Canada our thruster part.

From Mattituck, we cruised over to Port Jefferson NY, also on Long Island. We were again looking for a place to hold over during the rainy, windy weather predicted. We hoped to anchor in Misery Cove (also called Pirate’s Cove), just at the inlet, but it wasn’t very hospitable, which was disappointing as it was calm, beautiful, and absolutely empty of boats. No anchoring allowed. We are definitely not in Maine anymore!

Instead, we rented a mooring near the town which allowed us easy access to the town. We took a ~ 6 mile walk up to the cliffs overlooking the Sound and Misery Cove, then along the beach and over the sand dunes. Lovely.

Early birthday celebration (can I really be 59?!) with dinner in town at The Wave restaurant. Great restaurant right on the dock. I ordered their charred cauliflower steak, and was very surprised and confused when the waitress asked how I wanted it cooked – rare? medium? Eventually she figured out that it was a vegan “steak” and we all had a good chuckle. Thanks to all who called, texted, or emailed birthday wishes – it was especially nice to talk to everyone. I had a lovely boat birthday.

Another great spot along Long Island was Oyster Bay, NY, which has a productive oystering industry, reportedly producing 90% of the oysters in NY. Lots of smallish boats raking the oyster beds around us. We anchored in a small bay off the town park, sailing club and marina. The train into the city ran nearby. Another walk through town and circuitously around the nooks and crannies of the bay toward Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, home for President Teddy Roosevelt and considered the “summer White House” during his presidency. The museum was fascinating, but we arrived too late in the day for a tour of his house. The grounds were beautiful and it seemed like a great place to shelter and raise a family. Dean’s mom, Clare, tells how they previously visited the home by just rowing their dinghy up to the beach and climbing the hill to the house. More restrictions these days…

The next day, my birthday, was cold, rainy and windy so we huddled in our cozy trawler, doing boat projects, reading, playing games and baking brownies. So blessed to have a relatively spacious (compared to our sailboat), dry, and window-filled cabin to hunker down in.

On Saturday, we were next graciously hosted at the American Yacht Club by Erik and Claudia Asgeirsson, cousins of our good friends, the Thorntons. A beautiful historic yacht club in view of the city, with a rich youth sailing program and a racing heritage. Erik gave us a tour and kindly let us borrow a car to get groceries, as well as inviting us to their house in neighboring Rye NH. Fun to meet their 4 beautiful girls, ages 5 to 12, and to swap Bensley- Thornton sailing stories! Thank you so very much, Erik and Claudia.

Another huge benefit of the Asgeirsson’s kindness was that our son, Ethan, and his wife, Lia, were able to launch their 16’ boat, Aqua Zu II, and store the trailer at AYC so they could join us. On Saturday, they headed off for a Karp-like adventure on the East River, which connects the southern end of Long Island Sound with NYC and the Hudson River. Busy waterway filled with historic sites and boat traffic, but they faired well and had a great time. They have stories to tell.

We had a wonderful visit with them, as they rejoined us after their day adventure and visit to Lady Liberty in Port Washington, a super cruiser-friendly place, again off of Long Island. This harbor is large, with several marinas, and the town has ~ 20 free (for two nights) moorings. We joined several other Loopers on the moorings and enjoyed the calm and quiet setting. Planes were overhead as they headed into LaGuardia airport and a seaplane taxi landed/departed several times.

Thank you so much for traveling (with boat in tow) all the way down from Maine to spend time with us, Lia and Ethan! We loved your adventuresome spirits and spending time together!

After E & L headed back to American Yacht Club to retrailer their boat and journey back to Maine, we went into town for supplies at West Marine, Target, and Stop & Shop. Spent one more night to wait out the weather and look for a weather opening to traverse the East River into NYC.

Stay tuned for our little trawler Clare in the big city adventure….

You can always find our location via https://trackme.nebo.global/?link=1G7C99Q1OFCU5FFJLGCNCA02WN Nebo –

~ Karen and Dean