The other title for this phase could have been "Never on Sunday". One of the pieces of advice we received before leaving was to avoid traveling on a Sunday as the weekend boat traffic can get a little overwhelming. I understate. As we approached a channel on the Hudson, just past West Point, a very beautiful part of the Hudson I might add, I counted 11 power boats of various sizes (mostly over 30 feet) and 6 sea-doos, who love wakes, coming around a bend in the river at us. We just held our course and watched the scene unfold. This was the definition of a "confused" sea. Many of the power boats are quite courteous and either slow down to pass or give you a wide pass to allow time to turn into the wakes. Many do not. I wish I knew the names of different designs of power boats as some through much bigger wakes than others. I do know that power boats that look like off-shore fishing boats - high bows and a third floor helm station - throw humungous wakes.

The Hudson is really a beautiful river. At one point, you actually go through valleys, something unique to lake sailors. It is just rough on the weekends. We stopped at Nyak, New York for the night. Then, after a quick stop at Tarrytown to pick up water and a "free" pump-out, it was off to New York, New York. On our way down the Hudson, we picked up a favourable current with an outgoing tide and moved along at the princely speed of 7.9 knots over ground even though our speed through the water was 6.4 knots - not bad for a sailboat. We also got to experience the effect of wind against current as we had 20 knot winds on the nose for portions of the Hudson and, guess what, it was bouncy. At New York, we picked up a mooring at the 79th Street Marina. This marina is right on the edge of the Hudson, with 2 knot currents flowing in different direction at different times of the day. It was also somewhat bouncy and rolly with all the Hudson traffic, but where else can you stay in downtown New York for $25/night. The Marina is very basic, all you get is a mooring ball. There are no showers, water or ice. Fortunately, you are right near the downtown and subway, and beside a park (and freeway) so you can get around or provision without any problem. The marina also has a secure dinghy dock as you need a dinghy with a motor to counteract the tidal current to get to shore. After doing a bit of exploring New York which is really, really big, we headed out past Ellis Island and the Statute of Liberty to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Karen managed to get pictures at every angle, thank heaven for digital cameras. New York harbour is busy with commuting ferries, freighter traffic and barge traffic. Fortunately, cruising through Toronto Island gives you practice in the dodge the ferry game and the ferries did make their intentions known early.

Once out of New York, we were really in salt water - the first time for Vagus. We then proceeded to Sandy Hook to stage out for our next big step down the New Jersey coast to the Chesapeake. At Sandy Hook, we picked up a mooring at the Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club. This is a very friendly club, which provides a launch service to pick you up from your mooring. The club is near the downtown area with all the conveniences, including a movie theatre. We finally got to see "The Pirates of the Caribbean", an enjoyable flick which was much recommended and very enjoyable. After doing an oil change and Karen attacking the stainless steel on the boat, which on discovering salt water (the stainless steel not Karen) questioned its parentage and showed signs of stains, we had to get down to figuring out how we were going to go down the Jersey coast. We had not done a lot of planning for this segment of the trip. After talking to club members, the general consensus is there are only three potential stops along the 135 mile coast for sail boats. The first at Manasquan Inlet was not given high ratings for a boat our size. The second was Atlantic City, about 85 miles down the coast from Sandy Hook on the Atlantic. The third was Cape May, about 35 miles past Atlantic City where we would then make our run up the Delaware Bay. So the plan is to head to Atlantic City when we get the next good weather window. Fortunately, this spot is great to wait for weather as there is plenty to do and the club is friendly. We might even get to see another movie.