This was a long day! After a sunrise departure, Mike and I made our way through Plum Gut, by the mysterious Plum Island (reputed to be a disused biological warfare research facility) and out into Long Island Sound. As advertised, the winds were strong, blowing straight down the sound toward NYC. We made plenty of speed toward our destination, but the steady winds built the following swells to 8-10 feet, making steering difficult and creating a tiring corkscrew motion. We rigged an impromptu drogue using a half-filled bleach bottle which prevented the towed dingy from overtaking Alana on some of the steeper swells. We hand-steered most of the day, eventually reaching our destination of Manhasset, NY just before midnight. It was certainly our most efficient sailing day, 90% of our mileage having been in the direction we wished to travel, and put us within striking distance of NYC.
The motion of the ocean, hunger, and the fatigue of prolonged steering combined to wipe us out. We didn't even bother to eat or do the dishes when we finally got anchored, opting instead to go right to sleep.
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