ELECTRO SAILING AROUND NEW YORK: PART ONE

Time to get caught up on some of the blog posts after Sandy, the holidays and a freelance job interrupted my work flow here on The Bianka Log Blog.  I return now to the beautiful fall days before Superstorm Sandy raked the area with 90 MPH winds and storm waves. I was anchored up near Hook Mountain on the Hudson River admiring the fall colors. But, I had to get back to BIANKA's homeport for a dentist appointment in a few days. Of course I had my ear on the forecasts of the storm Sandy heading up to the area but, details were fluid five days out as to where it would hit. Since this was my first trip this far north on the Hudson River since I installed electric propulsion I did not know how far I would get. If things work well with the currents and winds I might make it all the way to the East River and back to Port Washington in Long Island Sound. A distance of about forty nautical miles. Shown by the red line below:

My plan B was to stop off at one of the marinas in New Jersey or the 79th Street Boat Basin on the way down for the night if it looked like the Hudson river currents were going to be turning against me. BIANKA and I would  continue up the East River and into Long Island Sound the next day. Happily, I did not have to use Plan B as the currents were favorable. The forecast winds however were pretty light (5 knots or less) which meant I would be electro sailing (motor sailing) for much of the way. But, the real nice thing about electric propulsion is that motoring with it for the forty nautical miles is nothing like motoring with a diesel engine. It is very quiet and there is almost no vibration. You can hear birds squawking over head and the sound of the trains along the shore. It makes for a much more pleasant trip.  Here's a video of the first part of this journey around Manhattan under electric propulsion:

 ELECTRO SAILING AROUND NEW YORK PART TWO CLICK HERE