Day 3 – Freeport to Patchogue

Well, this is what we came for:  good cruising in totally unknown waters, exploring new harbors, visiting friends, and generally taking it all in.

According to this criteria, or any criteria, this day was a success – here is why:

• An early start from Freeport, down through the tidal marshes, gave a fresh view to this extensive area of marsh, marsh grass, buoyed and documented access channels, undocumented channels for Lord knows what purposes, and a general quiet beauty of a mysterious land.  The early morning view of the area was far, far more interesting than yesterday evening’s dash for the marina.  This morning it was all very alive with birds, bugs, jumping fish, and LIFE.  It was beautiful, and the extensive island and channel arrangements continued for miles and miles until mid-day when we broke out of this terrain at the Robert Moses Bridge at the Fire Island Inlet.
• At Fire Island Inlet the Great South Bay opens up – about three or four miles wide – and you can do some sailing.  Still kept one reef in … the afternoons are still blustery, and there was no sense in fighting it or being overpowered.  Yes, there are shallow spots – but it is a thrill to come out from under one of the bascule (draw) bridges, and see miles of unobstructed seascape.
• At mid-day Roger and I split tacks, literally.   He headed North to see a PanAm pilot colleague in Babylon, and I made for Point O’Woods (POW) to have a sip of lemonade with Carol Guthrie and her son Charlie.  The landing at POW was a hoot – dodging Opti’s and 420’s out for their afternoon lessons and combat-round-the-hippity-hops.  A picture should be posted soon, over in the gallery – showing Carol and Charlie celebrating their award of the Catboat Hat.   (By the way – if you really feel you deserve a Catboat Hat – put in your application with Ground Control, and you will be on the list!  No promises – no favorites ….  After all, the Catboat skippers at a recent regatta had to buy-in to these very same hats … they are collectors items!)
• Leaving POW a fine, quiet (no engine) passage to Patchogue – and a chance, en-route, to think things over, how this trip makes me happy, and what being happy at this difficult time really means.  I’m working on it … I’m working on it …. Almost a year now, seems like yesterday, doesn’t it?
• It turns out that Roger did not make the trip up into Babylon, but arranged for his friend to come over to our marina and take us to dinner up in town.  A very good plan, well executed, and now all is well after a good sailing day.

Looking back on yesterday, the epic dash from City Island, the Bronx …. To Freeport, Long Island  … there were so many things right about the day – it was a record breaker.  The weather was perfect for the dash, the timing of the ‘Slack, high tide’ at Hell Gate was perfect, and the crews were more than agreeable.  A perfect day – and a classic one, for the NY scenery from sea-level, the large cargo ships that kept their distance, the high-speed commuter ferries that left no wake, the cooperating current (see the picture of the GPS in the gallery;   9.1 knots at the Battery …. No wonder we could not go back and have a do-over for Gabe and Enid, who were at the new Brooklyn park, south of the Bridge …. We were moving, and couldn’t go up-stream again, even if we had needed to).  So the day was a total classic, and if you could take little snippets out of the master tape, and played them a couple of times a day – you would not get tired of it.