stormy weather - Port Washington

5/15/18 . Port Washington, LI, NY

Nothing like a life threatening experience to make you want to dance! Rocking out in the pilot house to Mavis Staples "Have a Little Faith".

After THE storm - that would be the one with squall winds above 40 knots, rain, lightening - David has photos of the double rainbow but this half with reflection is also brilliant.

We were surprised - after the major distress of the storm - to discover that we were outside the turn to Port Washington. Amazing how time flies when your trying to survive. So, we turned in. By this time the major aspects of the storm were past. Thanks to all the storm gods for that relief.

Thank you Grace - the boat and the spirit.




The day started with pea soup fog at our anchorage. I remember thinking that it would be good to see this side of Coney Island during the day since I didn't see much last night. Forget that. Couldn't even see the navigational buoy that was a couple hundred feet from us. We stayed up until it was apparent that we weren't going to make the morning tide to go through the East River/Hells Gate. David went back to bed. I waited until around 11:00 to go snooze again. There was some relief to having a fog morning.

Both up. No fog. Beautiful day. Go now and we'll just go slow but maybe beat the storms that are predicted. Off to the races....with storms. Spoiler: we couldn't out run them.

I was a little skittish, still, from last night's inability to figure out how to steer the boat to its anchoring spot. Amazing how quickly confidence dissipates when tired. The waters were rough-ish around the Verrazano Bridge and a bit of traffic. Better that David takes the helm. After The Narrows at the bridge the waters and winds were very calm and manageable. Photos along the East River past NYC's East Side:

Lady Liberty somehow has a greater meaning to me these days, given the anti-immigrant attitude apparent in the USA. How quickly we forget our roots and our heritage



These modern dinosaurs were doing some important construction or loading work in Brooklyn as we passed



A lot of these old Brooklyn buildings are being renovated into living quarters. The chimney.









This wisteria hangs over the highway. Not sure who grows it but it is beautiful greenery and the fact that it hangs over a highway is bliss!

I love this little building with the ivy covering the "over the door" work sort of at center. This is Roosevelt Island, a "sky tram" ride beside the Queensborough Bridge at 59th Street. I texted my friend, Diana Simkin to say this was a must visit the next time I was in NYC. There is a monument to the right of these ruins. The other end of the small island is tall condos or office space. Don't know, yet, what these buildings were used for.

Dance partners with the chaperone - Chrysler Bldg, pointed one - keeping its watchful distance in the background.

These buildings were just going up this time two years ago. The one on the left really has a "swayed back". Not as apparent now as when they were going up. I wonder what it would be like to have an office at the water side where there is a connection between the bldgs? Someone's google search.

I've two photos of the UN, the hope of so many people near and far. Lots of good work goes on here.

This left photo represents more for me since there are sail lines in it somehow underscoring the notion that people from away came on sail or at least in boats, some of their own free will, others in bondage.



I was at the helm as we came through Hells Gate, a section where the Harlem River joins the East River is a squeezed waterway, ofter causing turbulence, even standing waves if the currents aren't running correctly. NO PROBLEM.  Smooth, if SLOW, motoring. We were lulled into over-confidence. Put our inner jib up to help push us along faster.

And then the storm....we noticed the heavy dark blue clouds to our left and we knew the weather report for severe storms around 6 PM and it was around 6 PM.

SUDDENLY! we were smacked with high wind gusts and bouncing seas. David tried to get the jib furled, managed a little and then it fouled and slapped around mercilessly. We were smacked over three times. Two times rail in the water and water in the door. Alarms went off - literally. The shallow water alarm. The bilge alarm. No way shallow water. It was 60' seconds ago! We were so heeled over that the depth measure was out of the water! Slippery floor. I braced myself in the companionway, back against the starboard side and as many hands as I could manage on the wheel to steer...as if I had any, even imaginary control of the boat. David took the helm. Another smack over (but never down, thank you very much) this time without rail and water in. Grace, the boat, rounded up just the way she is supposed to. (I can say that now sitting on a mooring. Good Grace).

Amelia came running, sliding into the pilot house from aft cabin, caterwauling. "Sit down, kitty!" me shouting. She jumped onto the seat and hunkered, wide-eyed. After the first couple flips and flops, side to side of the boat she stretched out...and relaxed (!??!)...watched the action, feet braced against the armrest.

The wind abated a bit. Rain continued. A rescue vessel hailed us. They'd received a distress call from a black hulled boat. Nope, we'd not called but we were definitely distressed. The boat was at our port quarter, not too close. The rescue boat went on its way looking for one in distress since we'd not called. "Where's Active Captain?" David asked, and I found the iPad in the galley floor and opened it. Winds/seas "settled" enough to look at harbors. Can't go there, wind against us. Not there, too shallow. Nope, bridge too low. Carry on as we're near the end of the predicted worst of it. So we did. As slowly as possible...going in the direction we were wanting to go.

I took the helm so David could take the fouled jib down. Life jackets had been on both of us since the first smack. David took down not the sail but the entire roller furling structure. Sail was too wrapped around itself and its support. I noticed it was a little shredded, too.

Phew! And now...wait for it...we were at the turn for Port Washington! Our anticipated home for the next two days. "Turn now," from David. "Now? A little or a lot?" from me. "10 degrees now, and then another 10 and then another." In we came. Familiar territory and the winds have calmed themselves. We looked to see if our companion boat would make the turn in. He did and is moored next to us. French and speaks limited English, we think, though he may be fluent after the adrenalin subsides.

Had there been time to be terrified during this experience, I'd have been terrified. I had trouble touching the correct place on the iPad as my pointer finger was trembling so much. The reality, though, was that I/we were doing as much as possible to keep ourselves afloat, handling the boat as much as possible in this horrible situation. We managed. Nothing about managing was pretty and successful outcome was NOT a given. But in the middle of a difficult situation you just keep doing what you can do to correct the situation and secure a positive outcome.  I'm reminded of James Shaw's comment that he wasn't a hero, he was just trying to save his own life.

In retrospect:
I wonder if the sailboat we were paralleling from Hell's Gate to Port Washington called the rescue boat (Coast Guard or TowBoat?) on our behalf...or his behalf.

Signs of impending danger were so present and available to us. We'd been lulled by easy Hell's Gate passage.

We were fool-hardy and stupid to put the jib up, wanting to go faster to get there sooner. (This is a place for both David and me to really take a look at our habits...trying too hard to push rivers)

We could have left Coney Island anchorage earlier. Results might have been less harrowing or not.

During our distress I kept hoping...we weren't endangering the other boat near us, our lines would not go overboard and into the prop, and that we'd all make it through.

The recuse boat mentioned King's Point just astern of us across the way. Familiar name. Yes, that is Port Washington but couldn't make that connection at that moment.

How long did this all last.

We cleared the mess, made a pathway for kitty who is talking to us again to get to the litter box. Emptied her litter box of all the forward cabin stuff that had fallen in. Put the chart table stuff back on the chart table. Other stuff on the seats in the galley. Soft stuff from the aft cabin sort of back in place. Dried off as much of the floor as possible. Shoveled the dirt spilled from the kitty grass pot. Made dinner.

DANCED!

Affirming life as we like it.


The sunset and rainbows were brilliant, more beautiful than ever before. All senses heightened, post emergency.

Grateful to be here.