Destination: Raritan Yacht Club, 10/2/2021
We rarely if ever go West in the Lower New York Harbor which consists of Sandy Hook Bay and Raritan Bay — several “bays” add up to a large body of water. The destinations in this area have not really been appealing to us even though they are a short ride away. This includes Keyport, Perth Amboy and South Amboy amongst others. ‘meh, we normally pass through these areas on the highway.
Due to our 7′ draft, getting there is also a little painful, since the channel zig-zags all the way into Raritan. Nevertheless, we decided to give it a try.
Of course, on a day we hoped to sail and tack as far as possible, we had crazy low winds for the month of October. Our admiral had her sights on the destination the whole way there, but I kept looking back hoping to make an error in navigation and end up back in Upper NY Harbor. Hmmm…
Ok, this got us more excited when we saw our friend, Jack Flannery, on Lucky Girl. Our last boat was stored on the hard next to Lucky Girl during the Winter of 2020-2021 at Atlantic Highlands. Jack is a great guy and gets out on the water all the time. That excitement was short-lived, when Jack kept sailing past us. Maybe he knew better than to follow us down into some of the most polluted (I mean smelly) waters in the area.
We did a short tango with another sailboat on deciding when to tack. They followed us out of Atlantic Highlands area and we both kept tacking back-and-forth all the way out to Staten Island. It was only a matter of time before one of us pinched the other out of space.
I love looking at the Elvstrom jib. It is one of the prettiest sails that we have, and it’s shape is striking on when unfurled and in use. I go all the way to the foredeck and stare at it. Up and down in a way that might cause me to be labeled a “creep”. Stunning pee-pole, simply stunning.
Once we landed here, the launch captain assigned us a mooring and helped to show us the way out to it. It was a long way in, 2nd in line to the railroad bridge which offered almost unobstructed views of the sunset.
After I washed down the deck with seawater, I went to disconnect the hose and forgot it was still under pressure. So, I got a face full of Raritan Bay water. Just what I was looking for. Don’t mind me, I’ll be okay.
We fired up the barbeque and had some chicken. A couple of swans came over to visit with us before we turned down the lights for a peaceful night of rest.
We got fogged in! The next morning before leaving Raritan, we were astounded by the feeling of being fogged in. I’ve never experienced this before. It felt like we were all alone and no one could see us; which was probably true. We didn’t expect to have this happen in the morning where we couldn’t see anything around us. We wanted to wait until the fog lifted until to leave to ensure our safety.
Once the fog lifted, we set a course to bee-line back to Atlantic Highlands. Nothing out of the ordinary, except — NO WIND! It was warmer, but that didn’t stop our Admiral from once again collecting data and information about the surroundings. I kept the motor running and sails flogging the whole way.
We had a great overnight sail to Raritan Yacht Club. Huge thank you to them for the hospitality.
The Loxodograph 
I enjoy reading about each and everyone of your trips with family and Skyward!
They all come with their unique challenges which make those trips very memorable!!! Thank you for sharing!! As always, “Sail On”!!!!
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