Safely Back on the Ball

[Maryanne]What a weekend! On Friday I made it to Flushing, and the World Fair Marina without incident, despite the contrary current. I was pretty proud of myself for planning and doing the journey, and arriving at the dock without help from Kyle. I have a WHOLE load of new respect for those that solo sail, although given the time etc, I cheated and only motored the whole way. Even so, I arrived exhausted and was happy to spend the evening relaxing on the boat.

Saturday the rain held off longer than expected. I'm not quite sure what I had expected of the area ashore, but on a quick inspection it seemed WAY more interesting than I could have hoped for. I collected my bicycle and went for a tour. I started off heading for the College Point area - here Chinatown begins for the district of Flushing, it is also FULL of single shack car mechanics (I wish I'd taken a picture, it was hard to believe there would be enough cars to keep them all busy) - all with signs mostly in Chinese (We'll how would I know? but definitely covered with those Chinese looking symbols! I'm assuming). I eventually found a route to the park, but all the while being "redirected" by swarms of traffic police. Something big was happening and I had no idea what, I thought it might be a Mets game. Once at the park the event became clear, it was the US Tennis Open - and the place was packed with people arriving for the day's tournaments. Large areas of park lawn were temporary corporate hospitality tents; police were everywhere. The park had gone into winter mode (paddling pools drained, etc) the museums appeared closed, but I managed to cycle around and between most of it. I especially liked this huge globe!

The weather was threatening, and it was too early to eat. Other Gemini owners had recommended Chinatown, but I didn't want to hang around too long and risk the weather, they also suggested the golf, but despite finding at least 3 golfing (pitch and putt) places in the park, I didn't feel there was much fun in playing on my own. I made my way back to the boat to wait out the rain, and the coming storm. The storm was pretty much a non-event; I'm now pretty sure I didn't need to move.

So today, I made my way back; this time with the luxury of picking the right tides and slack water for the most dangerous parts of the route. There was a little challenge as I heard the SECURI-TAY on the radio that the Hudson river (the bit I needed to pass through to get back to the mooring) was going to be closed for several hours for the NY Super Boat Grand Prix Race. I was sailing and it looked as though I'd make it through before the river closed, but don't you know it, the wind died on me with 3 police boats and a coast guard cutter trailing me! I had to motor to get out of the security zone before I was in trouble.

I'm back on our mooring ball, and managed to get one a little closer to the Marina today, so tomorrow's row won't be so tough.

Although I'm a little frustrated about being asked to move, I'm also really pleased, it forced me to take the boat on my own, further, and in more challenging conditions that I would have done if left to my own pace - I made it there and back, all on my own - I feel my boat confidence has just risen at least 5 notches (lots) on some imaginary scale. Very happy. I still want Kyle to come home though, so I can resume my more leisurely role on the boat :-)