EASTHAMPTON TO SANDY HOOK

Sailing Solo To The Keys

This is the first in a series of reports sent via E-mail by Michael Caldwell, of East Hampton and Manhattan, who is making a solo trip to the Florida Keys. Mr. Caldwell left Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton on Oct. 7.

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I was a bit apprehensive as I left East Hampton with a boat that looked like an overstuffed storage unit. Sailing to the Florida Keys single-handed might be more than I'm capable of, I thought. I'd sailed as far as two days away from Long Island before, but this time I would not turn toward home.

Since I am by myself, I chose to go though Long Island Sound instead of rounding Montauk. The sail to Port Jefferson was a long one against the current-there is a 7-foot difference between low and high tides. I knew that going into the harbor but was amazed when I actually saw it.

The next stop was Port Washington. With the current, from now on, it was just six hours away.

It was raining when I jumped off the boat at Capri Marina. My feet went right out from under me and I ended up on my stomach holding a line connected to the bow. The wind was taking both me and the boat away from the dock. I really didn't want to go swimming with so many clothes on. I was able to sit up and pull her back in, only losing a leg to the drink. No one was around to help or to laugh at what seemed to be a pratfall.

I took on a great deal of water but had not noticed it because of all the things that were not stowed. After getting to the bilge and pumping out almost 40 gallons, I figured out that the water was coming in through the bilge pump that I had just installed and forgot to set on automatic.

I had hooked up the outflow hose to an already existing hull-through that was too close to the waterline. A siphon was created, drawing water in. Despite my not wanting to put another hole in a perfectly good boat, I took out my hand drill and successfully installed a proper hull-through for the discharge and parked the switch in the automatic position.

Hell's Gate, the East River, under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to Sandy Hook was the next leg of the journey. I timed the tides just right and flew by Manhattan faster than any cab could. The city was right on top of me. Much too crammed from that point of view.

The city only started to look majestic after the South Street Seaport. I was traveling at 11 knots, sailing wing-on-wing, between the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano Narrows for almost one full minute. The water was littered with huge tankers, oversized pleasure yachts and the Staten Island Ferry. I looked back at this metropolis and realized what I was doing. It sunk in: I'm on a great adventure, for me anyway. After the Verrazano it seemed like I was in the country again. I liked that, even if it was unfamiliar.

I dropped my anchor in Sandy Hook. The boat tossed all night. In the morning I removed my cell phone from the remaining stew that I didn't finish. Cell phone stew, yummy. Using the VHF radio I accessed a phone line with Maritell (for $30). I contacted Omni Point and they had a new phone waiting for me at my next port of entry. They were the only company able to supply me with a modem connecting my laptop with my cell phone boasting continuous service all the way down the Atlantic Coast.

MICHAELCALDWELL