Branford, CT to Port Washington, NY //
After experiencing some rough conditions on the Connecticut side of the Long Island Sound, we decided to bite the bullet and head straight south to the New York side, coasting along Long Island. Were the winds to build from the Southwest again, we would have been closer to land and have less fetch. We also knew we wanted to head towards Oyster Bay, Huntington or Port Washington for the evening. In the end, the winds were pretty much forecasted to wind down to nothing, so as we got closer to Long Island, it became very calm, and the seas flat.
On our way we saw another vessel cruise by and we figured they were doing a similar trip South. They had a Canadian flag flying from the stern. At this time of year, any sailing vessels we've encountered are pretty much doing our same trip, or at least headed wherever it won't freeze. These guys were going pretty fast, on a much bigger boat, so we kept an eye on them until we lost them in the horizon. We ended up seeing the vessel again in Port Washington where we moored for the next two nights.
While in Port Washington, we endured some more windy nights on the mooring. Winds gusted up to 25 knots all through the evening on Friday. We barely got any sleep. We had continued monitoring the weather and saw there would be a window of "calmer" winds between early and mid-morning on Saturday, as there was a gale warning forecasted for the afternoon. Knowing the tide was going to be in our favor for transiting Hell Gate and the East River, we made the decision move on to New York City first thing in the morning.
