Sag Harbour

We had a very sporty sail over to Sag Harbour and the entrance was the worst. The wind picked up and it was very rough, but we had reefed the head sail early and we were fine. 

We are never really sure what to expect when arriving in a new place but we were surprised to find a large bay. There were a lot of mooring balls but also enough space to anchor behind them. We found a spot in which we thought was fine, however a few days later the water police came to our boat and told us to move. Apparently we were in the recreation zone.

The following day we woke to clear skies and flat water. Amazing what a difference a few hours makes in the weather.

We dropped the dinghy and went ashore for an explore. The supermarket was small but well stocked.

That afternoon the little boats came out again. It must have been a sailing school as there were instructors on the little boats. 

Andrew and I went to fill our Jerries with water from the dock. When he was lifting the heavy jerry onto the deck, Andrew tweaked his back. He had back problems last year and he was trying to be so careful! So frustrating!

The weather wasn’t great for most of our stay in Sag Harbour, so we spent those days on the boat.

The water here is so much cleaner than we have had in ages so we decided to flash up the water maker. It had a problem! It wasn’t holding the pressure once Andrew switched it over to the making of the water part.  It seemed to be getting air in the pipe. He looked at everything to see if there could be a hole somewhere. Eventually we realized that the sea though hull wasn’t letting much water in. He stuck a screw driver down it and cleaned it out. And voila! The pressure was back correctly and we could make water.

We went across to Mellow Puff for sundowners and a chat. And then met their friends from Siren’s Call when they popped over as well. Mellow Puff are a family of three from New Zealand. Siren's Call are a family of five, with three boys on board. 

The following day, Wednesday,  we went ashore to go to the Whaling museum. I had downloaded a wonderful app that has various walking tours of the town. We started one and it narrates all the stops as you get to them. 

Unfortunately, quite a few of the places were not open.

The Whaling Museum was interesting but quite sad. The life of the people of Sag Harbour was hard and whaling was even harder! But thinking of those poor whales…

We continued our stroll around the town finding the Sailors church and graveyard.

It was quite funny because when we got to the museum we were the only ones there but were told that a tour group was arriving. So we had to wait for them before watching the video. Then when we left they had all boarded a bus which took them round the corner to the church which was our next stop.

Happy 30th birthday, Matt

Thursday 26 June was Matt’s 30th birthday and it was terrible weather again. We spent the day on devices. Matt phoned us at around 1pm when they were ready to do cake, sing and open presents.

I was sad not to be there, missing out on the celebrations. It doesn’t get any easier no matter how many we miss.

We had to do some provisioning before we left, so Andrew and I bombed across on Friday morning. The weather wasn’t great again and after shopping we got a bit wet getting back to the boat. Thank goodness we got wet going back to the boat and not to the shops! It is not pleasant at all.

On Saturday 28 June we waited for the rain squalls to stop before upping anchor and heading off, setting sail for Montauk. We always seem to leave a place in the rain!

North Port and Port Jefferson

We left Oyster Bay on Saturday morning in the pouring rain. The sail over to North Port was rough with us bashing into the waves. It wasn’t far, thank goodness, only 12 nm so the unpleasantness didn’t last for long. We dropped anchor, in the rain and settled down to a quieter afternoon.

On Sunday we headed ashore to meet Dave who had invited us to his house for a braai. He took us on a guided tour all around North Port and Center Port before taking us to his home.

Dave and his wife, Fiona, really spoilt us. The food was delicious and we had a really lovely afternoon. They have a lovely home with a nice outside area and swimming pool. Sadly, it was still too cold to swim.

Somehow Fiona manages to avoid the camera!

We spent Monday on the boat as it was raining again. 

When we woke up on Tuesday it was very misty, so we waited until noon and then went ashore. We started walking to the shop which was only 2.5km away and should have been an easy trip. However, we ran out of pavements about 1km away from the shop. The road was very busy so we decided to call an Uber. The Uber came from the direction we needed to go and he went on a roundabout way before getting back to the place he picked us up from. Extra cash for him, I suppose. 

Laura's favourite aisle

Once the shopping was finished we called another Uber and watched as he went round the block three times before finally turning into the parking area. He spoke no English but got us back to the boat safely enough. We did wonder if he had a drivers license as he exited the parking area where it was clearly marked with a no exit sign and he also made a few errors on the road, causing much frustration and hooting from passing cars.

While Andrew was sitting in the cockpit that evening, a chap from the cat next to us came over to introduce himself. He said he saw the South African flag and wanted to say hi. He is American but he said he likes meeting people from around the world.

He had just bought the cat and was doing some work on the steering which wasn’t working properly. His name is Kyle. He is getting married on Block Island on 25 July!

We offered him a beer and he came aboard for a chat. Just before he was leaving he said we should get together for a meal at the yacht club. We agreed and after exchanging numbers he set off back to his boat.

The next day he messaged Andrew to suggest we got together on Thursday night. As it was Laura’s birthday that day she had to approve before we agreed. 

Life went on with boat work, cleaning and going ashore for walks. We ran out of gas for the stove, so Dave took Andrew to the place to refill it on Wednesday morning. 

Kyle then messaged to say the yacht club had a nice menu option on Wednesday evening, could we make it then. That suited us better, so we agreed.

On Wednesday evening we put on our best shorts and least stained and unholy shirts and went ashore to meet Kyle, his fiancee, Carly, and their friends Angus and Charlie.

We had a fantastic time, delicious food and good company. Kyle organized a slice of cake and a candle for Laura so that we could sing happy birthday to her. So kind of him!

We took Laura out for breakfast on her birthday, Thursday 19 June to the place that Dave said was a good place to buy pastries, Copenhagen. It was very busy and clearly very popular!

After a walk around the town, we went back to the boat, where Laura opened her presents. She got a few nice things, including a hard drive which she had been looking forward to getting. While Andrew was copying her files on to it for her something went wrong and it stopped working! Shame, poor Lau. She was not happy. But she is happy with her light! Thanks Dave Oppermann for the recommendation!

As you all know we watch the weather carefully. Later that afternoon we were watching the sky as it got darker and darker. Eventually the storm hit with high winds gusting 46 knots. Thank goodness we had agreed to dinner the previous night.

The storms never last long and before we knew it the sun was out again!

We had a lovely steak dinner and watched Only Murders in the Building, which is one of Laura's favourite shows.

We left North Port on Saturday morning in conditions very different to when we arrived. Fiona could even see us from her verandah and took pics and video of us.

That's us!

We had a 4 hour motor sail to Port Jefferson and dropped anchor amongst the day trippers and other sailing boats. We hadn’t planned to stay for long, so didn’t even drop the dinghy. There were so many people and boats with some boats rafted up - three or four on one ball!. The balls here are expensive clocking in at $35 a night.

Putting a foot up

We got a message from Jaqui on Mellow Puff that evening. They were leaving at midnight and doing an overnight sail to Sag Harbour. They were buddy boating with another family on Siren’s Call.

We woke early on Sunday morning and had the anchor up just after 6am. We motored for the first 4 hours before the wind really filled in. After that we had what I would call a sporty sail with winds reaching 30 knots as we were coming in to the cut in Sag Harbour. 

In the next episode we visit Sag Harbour and formally meet the crew on Mellow Puff.

Oyster Bay

Each time we enter a new bay we are surprised by what we see. We look at charts and the guide book but it never seems to be what we have imagined. Sometimes it is better and sometimes it is not. 

We passed some huge mansions with enormous grounds. After doing a search we discovered that Billy Joel owns one of the houses. 

His 26-acre property was for sale for $49 million in 2023, but is apparently off the market as it is being renovated. The grounds host a main house which is 20,000 square feet, a three-bedroom beach house, a three-bedroom guest apartment, a four-bedroom gatehouse, and a maintenance house. It also has a helipad, two swimming pools, a spa, wine cellar and of course, a music room or two! 

There was only one other boat when we arrived in the bay, but a few hours later a cat came in and dropped anchor over the way from us.

Andrew had heard that this place was not very cruiser friendly so we decided to stay on board and didn't even drop the dinghy.

The family from the cat, Mellow Puff, came across on their way to shore and introduced themselves. They are a Kiwi family: Jeff, Jacqui and Daniel, who recently bought their boat in the US. They spent six months in the Bahamas before returning to the States. After exchanging boat cards, they went on their way. Jacqui sent us a message later to say the island was really nice. 

While we were chatting to them, the chap from the other boat came across to ask us how we strap our water and fuel Jerries on the deck. He was wanting to do the same. Next thing we see him returning to his boat with a plank of wood.

Although we woke on Saturday morning to dreary skies and rain, we decided to head off towards North Port. We had a lunch date on Sunday and wanted to be settled on anchor before leaving the boat. The wind can come up quickly and we didn't want to stress about whether we were holding well or not.

The trip over was terrible, probably the worst we have had in a while. The waves were very choppy, it rained off and on and was thoroughly unpleasant. I couldn't spend too much time below and even Laura came up after a while. We don't generally get seasick but every now and again the conditions are like this, which makes it very bumpy down below.

We eventually turned into the inlet to North Port and the conditions improved a bit. We messaged Dave and Fiona, asking if they could see us from their house. Initially they said no, but when they looked again they could actually see us!!

As we anchored behind the mooring field we noted that we were the only boats there. It was nice and peaceful, compared to the chaos out in the Long Island Sound.

We spent a week in North Port, sightseeing, seeing people and celebrating a birthday!

Port Washington

After a few hours we turned into the bay to Port Washington. We had a couple of other boats with us, who veered off in a hurry to pick up a ball. Mooring balls can be pricey and we are actually happier on anchor. One never knows how well maintained the mooring balls are. In our anchor we trust!

It continued to rain on Sunday and on Monday, Andrew and I took a gap and shot to the shore in the dinghy. This town is very cruiser friendly. There are two dinghy docks. You are allowed to drop rubbish at one but not at the other. The Stop & Shop is just over the road from the second dinghy dock.

We got stopped in the shop by a lady who said we must be on a boat with that tan. Both of us wearing shorts in this freezing weather. She was interested in where we had come from and where we were going. People are generally amazed that we have sailed all this way from South Africa!

There was a robot in the shop that apparently can "see" if things are low on the shelves and reports spills and mess in the shop. The robot took a shining to Andrew and followed him around, beeping as it went. Maybe security were checking us out with our backpacks on our backs!

We bought a few things and headed back to the boat in the rain. 

After spending the whole of Tuesday hunkered down as it rained all day, the sun finally came out on Wednesday. It was time to do some chores. Laundry was a top priority as the last time we had done washing was in Rock Hall. We dragged poor Laura along with for the walk and spent the next 2 and a half hours watching washing go round. 

A bit dramatic

Later we went ashore again to go to the shops. There is a Target close to the laundry. We went to see what they had. Next was a stop at the shop to get the all important eggs and cheese and a few other things.

That evening we watched an almost full blood moon rise in the night sky. It was absolutely amazing. 

Blood Moon

The sun was shining again on Thursday and after Andrew had gone to get water we went ashore to do linen washing. And then back to the shop to do a proper provision in anticipation of not being near shops for the next few days.

We watched a few boats doing a bay race. Some of them came quite close past us. 

Andrew had done an Amazon order for Laura’s birthday which is next week. He also bought me a present for my birthday and insisted I get it early. Well, what a spoil! He bought me DJI microphone and a DJI camera. I have been wanting another camera since our GoPro died in Guadeloupe!

The camera is amazing and I spent the evening filming the boat race. The mic is brilliant as it will cancel out all the horrible wind noise I usually have with my videos. YouTube videos are going to be so much better! Thank you, Andrew!

So excited!

On Friday morning, Andrew did a last water run and then we upped anchor and headed out.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t sail as the light wind was on the nose, so it was motoring all the way to Oyster Bay!