In search of Billy Joel

I thought Huntington had a lot of boats in its harbour until we went to Oyster Bay!
We left Huntington after much discussion on what our next move should be. We were still watching Irma closely as she hadn't made up her mind exactly where she was headed, so the decision to stay in Long Island Sound was easy. But where to go?? Captain Hugh really wanted to keep heading east to discover "The Forks" which are at the very east end of Long Island, and had lots of history and towns like Greenport,  Sag Harbour and the Hamptons that he had heard about over the years. But unfortunately he was outvoted by the rest of us, so we decided to stay in the west end of the Sound and explore some more bays. One of the ones we had heard about was Oyster Bay, another big sailing centre, and so it was decided.
There was not much wind as we left Huntington, but we decided to have at least a slow sail as we had plenty of time and it wasn't a long way. One of the things we are learning about very quickly are tides and currents, which I'm sure we will talk about a lot more as we go. We had to leave about 10 am to catch the outgoing tide from the harbour, which had a narrow entrance into the bay.  As it was a Sunday morning, lots of sailors had the same idea, and it was a busy place!
We had a nice sail out of the bay into the Sound but there the wind gods were not in our favour, so after flailing around for awhile we put on the engine and headed into Oyster Bay.
Sunday afternoon races were on, and everywhere you looked there were different classes of boats racing each other. Avoiding them was quite a chore, as was avoiding sticks with little flags on them. We had no idea what they were marking, so we hailed a small sailboat we were passing and asked them what they were. Apparently they mark the oyster beds, and he said you can go around them either side but to not go over them as they will scratch your hull. We did read that it used to be the premiere area for oysters but that it had been over farmed years ago. They are now making a big comeback and we saw many boats gathering oysters.
We had decided we would anchor in the West Harbor beside Centre Island, as it is a designated anchorage, away from all the many, many moored boats. Big boats, little boats, huge boats, antique boats, you get the picture!! So for the first time since we left Georgian Bay (2 months!) we anchored. Ahhhh ... it was so nice. We were surrounded by beautiful big homes, with just a couple of other boats anchored around us. This is a new experience for our boat buddies, as they have never anchored overnight, going from marina to marina during their sailing career on Lake Erie. But they were up for the challenge and managed quite nicely. After settling in we decided to take our dinghies into town and check it out. Plus, Billy Joel lives on Centre Island, and I was quite determined to find him! It was a quick ride into town and we found the town dock easily. After asking for directions we headed into the town, which was mostly closed (Sunday!) and very disappointing. Where is that cutsie little "small town USA" I've been looking for??? Apparently not here. Although we were told the actual town of Oyster Bay was further inland and not walkable. Maybe that's where Billy was. However, we did manage to find a Brew pub that was open!

Oyster Bay Brewing Company

 After a  quiet night on the anchor, we decided to spend another night there, after all it was free and lovely! Bob and Sheila took their kayak to a beach on shore, and Hugh and I did some cleaning, had a quick swim, then decided to dinghy into town, maybe Billy was there today. But alas ... no Billy! But, someone told Sheila what his house looks like. We think we saw it!

Billy Joel's place?

Tuesday we crossed the Sound to the other side, to a town called Stamford, Connecticut. Sheila has a friend who lives close to that town and wanted to meet up with him and go out for dinner, so they kindly invited us too and we all trundled off in an Uber for dinner.
In my quest to find "small town USA" we went to Mamaroneck the next day which is also on the north shore of the Sound. Once again I was disappointed but it was certainly one of the better towns we have been to. Plus it had one of the nicest pubs we've been to, and the marina washrooms were spotless! Hugh was excited to walk by Derecktor Shipyards, the builder of many noteworthy yachts including Stars and Stripes, the 12M America's Cup yacht that repatriated the auld mug from Australia.

We have decided, after much discussion and weather map reading, that we are good to start heading south. Back to "the plan". So this morning, at 6am, we left Mamaroneck  and went back down the East River, by Lady Liberty for the last time, and left New York Harbour.

Manhattan from the harbour

We are in Sandy Hook for the night, which is considered a jump off point to head down the Jersey coast. Tomorrow looks sunny and calm , which is perfect for our first ocean experience, despite the fact that there may not be much sailing. We figure it will take three days to get down to the bottom of the coast at Cape May, stopping in Manasquan Inlet and at Atlantic City. It appears that right now we have a good weather window to do it. Once in Cape May we will head up the Delaware and into the Chesapeake.

We have been watching with horror the devastation that Irma has caused to many Caribbean islands, as well as Florida. We have been to many of the islands affected and are so sorry to see what has happened. With relief, we heard from  Hugh's brother Adrian, in Florida, who was not affected, and from friends whose boats are stored in Florida for the summer which are also, thankfully, fine.  We will continue on our way and take time to make sure we are safe wherever we go, and always keep an eye out for bad weather. I hope Mother Nature is tired now!

One day at a time!