Long Island Bound

2.25.11

We left Georgetown yesterday, a day after our weather window. The wind was supposed to still be cooperative with the direction we were heading, but as we motored out of the harbour, we soon realized that was not to be the case. We were heading due East and the winds were right off our bow. We realized we would be motor-bashing all day if we stayed with our original travel plan.
No fear! Thanks to my excellent navigational skills, I directed us onto a different route where we would be able to use the wind to our advantage. So, we hoisted our sails, cut out of the main channel and headed to the North end of Long Island. The day was gorgeous! Beautiful blue skies with enough wind to fill our sails and send us in the right direction. We were at our destination right around sunset , had the anchor in just as the sun dipped below the horizon and were treated to an elusive green flash! We were tired from the long day, so we had a filling dinner of steak and rice and then headed to bed.
The next day, we opted to move in closer to the shore. We hauled the anchor back on board and found what we thought to be a suitable anchorage closer to the beach in beautiful sandy-bottom crystal clear blue water. We made sure the anchor was set, loaded up the dinghy and took Koa in to land for a hike around the town.
We soon learned that the town was little more than a few residential houses. There wasn't even a mini mart. I guess when the island is only 50miles long you don't have to have a grocer in every town. As we were walking through “town” we did noticed that every yard had at least one, if not two, goats. They were tied up like dogs in all the yards. They were oblivious of us, but were very interested in Koa. And, as I'm sure you can guess, our dumb dog was also very interested in them!
The people of Long Island are purported to be among the friendliest in all the islands. They offer walking cruisers rides and not a single one goes by without honking and waving. We heard more car horns on the stretch of road than when we were in Miami!
We hiked on. On the Northern-most tip of the island is a Columbus moument. The statue is so worn down that you cannot even read the inscription anymore, but the monument sits atop white rugged cliffs and is supposed to offer amazing views. Well, we didn't realize it was over 5 miles to get there and since we had Koa and it was the middle of the afternoon with no shade trees to be seen, we accepted defeat and turned around. We prefer the coolness of the water and the beachside winds to the sweltering heat of the land. We were all exhausted and had a very low key evening before retiring for the night.
Unfortunately, being so close to the Northern tip of Long Island doesn't offer much protection from the waves. The waves from the Atlantic rolled in around the tip and over towards where we were tucked up against the shore. We spent the night rolling from gunnel to gunnel, and since our bed is perpendicular to the boat, that meant we were rolled from head to toe all night – not exactly what we had in mind when we thought about being rocked to sleep by the waves.
Tomorrow we will head farther south down the island.