US East Coast 

This time, I am neither the organizer of the trip nor the skipper. I am joining my cruiser friends Taras and Emily on their boat as crew for three weeks of sailing the US coast from Charleston to Newport. It makes no sense to keep a day-by-day log, it’s much better to cover the locations we visit. But first, let’s start with the boat we are sailing. It is an OVNI 395, which my friends bought in Ushuaia. They sailed it through Argentina, Brazil, and the Caribbean all the way to the US. It is a centerboard aluminum expedition yacht, very well equipped for rough seas, and a comfortable home at the same time. For three weeks, I call it home as well.

Charleston

My plane lands way later than it should, and I am on board around three in the morning. Despite the late arrival, we are having a drink with Taras, whom I haven’t seen for a year or more. Besides a 4-hour delay, Delta also managed to lose my luggage, and to be honest, everyone else’s luggage too. The luggage that is full of spare parts, ropes, and other goods I bring from Europe. So, the first thing in the morning, we go back to the airport to pick it up, it should be delivered from Atlanta on the first plane. Charleston is the starting point of our trip, but I can’t say much about the place because I haven’t seen much of it. Don’t get me wrong, Taras offers to explore the city, but I am much more interested in what lies ahead of us. But first, we need to get some provisioning done for the trip. It’s only the two of us for the first week, and we don’t need much. Less than an hour in the supermarket, and we are done. After navigating the narrow channel for about 3 hours, we are in open waters. We have almost 600 miles to go non-stop, with New York as our destination.

Crossing

This is my first long offshore crossing, and it’s only the two of us. There was an option to invite a third licensed skipper on board, but I insist we do it with a smaller crew. The main reason is that I want to know how it is with only two people on board and if I can do it myself later on. The plan is to catch as much of the Gulf Stream as possible to increase our speed. It can add up to 3 knots, which makes a huge difference in travel time. This means we are quite far away from the shore, and this sets some rules to follow.

First of all, no alcohol. One beer during lunch is okay, but no more. Being sober is one thing, but you also have to be quite careful in general. If you fall overboard at night with a strong current, really far away from the shore, the chances of survival are quite slim.

Half of the time, you are on watch, four hours on, four hours off. This makes the whole five-day passage a very weird, long day, which is a very unusual experience. The closest I have come to this is when we were sailing in Lofoten in 2019, and due to the polar day, we had 24 hours of daylight.

You have to keep yourself busy. There is plenty of stuff to do, but mostly we fix, clean, and upgrade things on board. Also, cooking is quite a popular way to pass the time. We do have internet onboard via Starlink, but in offshore mode, each GB costs $5, so no streaming. You can download some movies, podcasts, and so on beforehand, but for me, it is a good chance to drastically reduce screen time at least for a while.

Overall, such a passage is quite a meditative thing. There is absolutely nothing around you besides the sea and sky. Sunsets and sunrises are stunning, and occasionally, you are visited by dolphins or a lone passing tanker.

New York

This is a very unique experience for me. Entering New York under full sails, dropping anchor for a night next to the Statue of Liberty, exploring Manhattan in one day, partying until 4 in the morning, and going through Hell Gate all in 48 hours. Let me describe all this in more detail.

We arrive in the second half of the day to the Ambrose Channel. The first thing we see is many sails moving our way, as I later figure out, this is the start of the Long Island Regatta. 

We sail all the way to the Statue of Liberty and drop anchor just behind it. The location is surreal, especially impressive after some time at sea. On one side, we have the most iconic statue in the US, and on the other, the lights of evening Manhattan.

After some rest, we drop the dinghy in the water and have a little fun ride around the bay. The evening is complete with proper American fireworks launched from Liberty Island. Tomorrow, we move to the marina next door so we have easy access to the shore. Taras makes quite a statement: “I will show you New York in one day.” Hard to believe, right? But he delivers.

Waking up at six in the morning, we move the boat to a cozy family-owned harbor called Hudson Point Marina located in Jersey City. One night here costs $200. Considering it’s only the two of us, we don’t want to stay here for too long. To get to Manhattan, we need to cross the New Jersey channel. The ferry sounds like fun, but to save time, we call a taxi. Traffic is not that terrible yet.

We start with a walk on the High Line, which used to be a train track and is now an awesome walking area. From here, we take the metro to REI to do a bit of shopping. I need to buy some clean clothing since it’s NY, and almost everyone is fancy dressed, while I just stepped off the boat. After some successful shopping, we go to Grand Central Terminal to meet a friend at a classic lunch.

Next stop is the USS Intrepid. It is a fascinating ship and museum, full of exhibits: a space shuttle, a Blackbird, tons of other aircraft on the flight deck, and the ship itself is impressive. It is an aircraft carrier from WWII, well maintained and preserved. As a bonus, the submarine USS Growler is parked next to it. During this trip, we visit quite a few museums. We have some more shopping to do, so we hop in a taxi to get to the south part of Manhattan. 

While walking, we spot a good-looking Mexican place with great tacos and margaritas. One more item on today’s menu is Central Park. It is huge, and it is impressive how the city manages to preserve so much nature downtown.

To finish the day, we decide to see a sunset from a rooftop bar. This is where things go “wrong.”  Instead of having one cocktail as planned, we have, let’s say, a few. It is quite a night afterward: more bars, Times Square, walking through the night city, and so on. Long story short, we get to the boat around 4:00 in the morning. I consider the promise to show me the city in one day fulfilled. 

The next morning is late and slow. We need to wait for a window of opportunity to go through the East River and Hell Gate. We need to be on time since the tide here can reach up to five knots, hence the name Hell Gate. 

One of many unusual things in NY is the insane number of helicopters in the air. You even have the option to get a helicopter via Uber. The river itself is also busy, but the most interesting things are on the shore, of course. 

Surrounded by skyscrapers, I wonder how much it costs to buy an apartment here. A quick Google search gives quite a range, starting from a modest $400,000 to a whopping $200 million. I would love to live here for some time but to enjoy it properly one needs to be wealthy. 

Manorhaven

Located only a few miles north of NY, this place has a completely different vibe. It has a nicely protected bay with a couple of marinas and a super tranquil and absolutely not posh atmosphere. Onshore, there are some useful stores like West Marine, Target, a laundry, a gas station, a liquor store, and a couple of restaurants. Mooring balls are still expensive, but nothing compared to the berth in the marina. Since the bay is not small at all, there is a water taxi service that can pick you up from the boat and drop you back free of charge. It is a great place to chill for a couple of gorgeous days next to NY.

Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay is located just around the corner, but it is way different from Manorhaven. You immediately understand that the super wealthy live here when you enter the bay and notice the huge amount of mansions onshore. The marina matches the surroundings. To get to the shore, you need to pay $20 just to park your dinghy. I have never seen this before.

In the bay, a lot of fancy, expensive boats are moored on buoys. Onshore, you can find multiple restaurants, all of them serving oysters. We also find a really nice small brewery, good for grabbing a couple of beers. Besides that, there are a few restaurants, all serving oysters, of course. In general, the whole coast is famous for oysters, clams, and lobsters.

New London

This town surprises me a lot. While entering the channel to the city, we spot a huge hangar with a sign for General Dynamics and something about electric boats. So what? Electric boats are very popular now, but what we learn later on is fascinating. We spend a couple of days in the city. The boat is parked just in front of the main harbour with a few other boats around us. There is a train track just in front of us, and trains make a lot of noise, but this is more romantic in a way than annoying. We have easy access to the shore, and there are things to do on land here.

The town itself is in a bit of a run-down state. A lot of empty storefronts, and in general, the infrastructure is a bit beaten up, but you can see the city was rich in the roaring 20s. There are a lot of once-fancy Art Deco buildings, theatres, hotels, and so on. After some research, we figured out that it used to be a bustling whaling city but declined together with the industry.

The residential part of the city consists of two-story private houses. Some of them are in great shape, while some of them are in decay. We even drop by the fire department to try to dispose of outdated pyrotechnics from the boat but with no success. The seafront is full of bars and restaurants and is busy in the evening.

But what is it about electric boats? We learn completely by chance while visiting the USS Nautilus moored nearby and well known for its history-making polar transit “Operation Sunshine.” It was built in Groton, the city just across the water from New London, and General Dynamics is the main submarine producer for the US. The last one launched just a few months ago.

Block Island

It is a small island 10 nautical miles away from the shore of the US with a huge bay in the middle called Great Salt Pond. The only entrance to the pond is a narrow channel, meaning the bay provides decent protection from all directions. The island is a popular destination for local sailors, and the bay is filled with all kinds of boats. Apparently, this is also a very popular destination for family reunion parties, and there are a lot of houses for sale and rent. There are two major harbors here in the bay and another in the main town of New Shoreham. There is also a small airport in the middle of the island. You can circumnavigate the whole island by foot in 2-3 hours. There are a few good restaurants and a lot of tourist shops too.

It is a very cute getaway spot close to the mainland and definitely worth a visit if you are nearby. Also, there is a nice local tradition. Each evening at sunset, all the boats in the bay blow their horns for a couple of minutes. It is quite a show.

Newport

Newport is a big and bustling port in Rhode Island, popular among recreational sailors and fishermen alike. You can get a spot in the marina, pick up a buoy, or just drop anchor in the designated area. We choose the latter. We stay here for almost a week and have plenty of time to explore the surrounding area. We also have a big project planned: replacing an old anchor chain with a new one while being anchored.

There is plenty to do onshore here. The seafront has a wharf full of restaurants and entertainment, and even a dedicated jerky store. There are a lot of nautical shops too, with a great selection of sailing clothing.

In the fishing port, we find an awesome food truck called Newport Lobster Shack. It is inexpensive, delicious, and has a good view of the port. In general, it is a very pleasant stroll from the dinghy dock all the way to the other side of the seafront.

To get the anchor chain and also explore the surroundings, we rent a car. This allows us to do some shopping inland. One of the highlights is a visit to Bass Pro Shop, which is amazing. It is the biggest outdoor store I have ever been to, with boats, fishing gear, camping equipment, you name it.

Another thing Newport is famous for is the mansions constructed in the 18th century by the wealthy and powerful. The one we visit is The Breakers, built by the Vanderbilt family, owners of shipping and railroad empires. The mansion’s interior is extraordinary and suitable for a palace of European kings.

Battleship Cove

As you already noticed, we are visiting a lot of warship museums these weeks. One worth its own section is Battleship Cove, home to six retired warships from WWII and the Vietnam War era. 

You can access every part of the ships and explore how sailors onboard go about their day-to-day life. One of the things I did not know is that the US has had drones all the way back to Vietnam. You can see two of them used in an antisubmarine role. The combat radius of the drone is about 30 nautical miles with a top speed of 80 knots. Besides that, you can also see old navigation and communication systems and even one of the first computers placed on board the vessel.

Boston

This is my departure point, so I don’t have much time to explore the city. My impression is a bit affected by the sad mood that always comes at the end of a trip. Despite all that, I can tell that Boston has its charm with famous red brick buildings, a beautiful harbor, and a diverse culture