Great Kills, East River, Hell Gate, Manhasset Bay

We left our mooring at Great Kills at 12:30 pm on Monday. Transiting the East River, and especially Hell Gate requires attention to the tides. The current is very swift on the East River, and can exceed 5 knots at Hell Gate, so it is very important to play the tides correctly. From Great Kills we went under the Verrazano Bridge (which connects Staten Island to Brooklyn), up the Narrows, past Lady Liberty and on to Manhattan. At Manhattan we took a right and entered the East River, went under the Brooklyn Bridge among others, through Hell Gate, and eventually entered Long Island Sound.

The East River floods east, but Long Island Sound floods west. So the trick is to get through the East River and Hell Gate on the last half of the flood so that you hit Long Island Sound when the tide starts to ebb. Then you have a fast ride the whole way. To accomplish this we fought a 2 1/2 knot current up the Narrows to Manhattan.

Approaching the Verrazano Bridge and the Narrows.

When we left Great Kills we could see some fog in New York Harbor, but fortunately it was all gone by the time we got there.

Manhattan.

The Battery is just to the left of the tip of Manhattan. The British placed 92 cannons there in the late 1600s just so they could name it the Battery.

Lady Liberty. I have always wanted to sail by her in our own boat. It was a special moment. I'm not sure Lisa was quite as enthusiastic, as at one point we had 5 different ferries, and 2 tugs coming at us from different directions. It is unbelievable how many ferries race around New York Harbor.

The East River.

I read that the East River is one of only 2 rivers in the world that has 2 mouths but no source. The other one is the Harlem River, which goes between the Hudson River and the East River. Maybe if there is no source they are not technically rivers.

We're giving up sugar. Not sure how it comes out white from a building like this.

 

Empire State building from the East River.

Our timing worked out well, and we had a very fast ride up the East River. We were doing 10 to 11 knots over ground most of the way, and did a bit over 12 knots going through Hell Gate. For those of you that drive cars or stink pots, that might sound slow, but consider that a sailboat generally goes between 5 and 7 knots. We actually saw rapids. Made us think of our canoeing days.

When we entered Long Island Sound, we noticed a boat that looked like a Caliber (our boat brand), and it turned out to be Loon. We met Loon on Mill Creek off the Chesapeake a couple of months ago, and without knowing it we went through Hell Gate on the same day. We got close enough to say hi and then continued on to Manhasset Bay.

We made it to Manhasset Bay with no problems. The tide here is about 9 feet. They have huge mooring fields here, so we have to anchor quite a long way from the dinghy dock, but it has not been a problem. We are happy we can anchor, and don't have to pay for a mooring.