Well all doubt was quickly removed today about an hour after we pulled anchor in Northport. By 10 am the 10-15 knot S winds predicted for the morning became 20-30 knot winds, forcing us to really hug Western Long Island's crenelated north shore, making a 20 mile 'as the crow flies' run into a 30+ mile serpentine route. So we were quite happy when we tied onto one of Port Washington's (in Manhasset Harbor) yellow transient mooring buoys (free for 2 nights, then $25/night, a great deal). But the wind kept screaming and there were 2+ ft white capped waves training by us. Launching the dinghy for a trip to shore seemed suicidal. We lowered Spray's bimini top before the wind did it for us. If we had attempted crossing NY harbor in that wind it would have been brutal.
Fortunately at around 4 pm the front passed through with a rainstorm followed by somewhat diminished winds and periodic showers. This allowed us to dinghy to shore at about 6 pm to empty the dogs and explore downtown (an abundance of kebab restaurants). It's quieting down now and tomorrow promises moderate N winds and clear skies.
But the forecasts for here and for the Jersey shore then show NE winds beginning Wednesday and continuing as far as the predicters can see, into the middle of next week. If this holds true (maybe it won't) then we will be staying on this mooring for quite awhile since those NE winds make transiting the Jersey shore a no-go.
So we'll just need to keep monitoring the situation and make the best of it. Kebabs anyone?
Did you see our little cottage on Northport harbor while you were there? Uncle Larry
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