ELECTRIC SAILING: Heading Home

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The Oyster Bay Oyster Festival is over and it's time to start thinking about heading back. Conditions were the reverse of the sail to Oyster Bay I made a week ago. The winds were now expected out of the west in the morning which was good for my easterly journey. Unfortunately, just like a week ago the winds were expected to be light only between five to ten knots. But, the sun would be shining so it would still be a nice day on the water.  But, like last week during my Columbus Day voyage I would need to get an early start in order to ride the last of the ebb current out of the Oyster Bay/Cold Spring Harbor entrance and into Long Island Sound:

Not quite as early as the trip to Oyster Bay. I figured a 6 AM departure would give me enough time to get out into Long Island Sound before the flood current started to enter in the harbor. I would be bucking the flood current for most of the day but, that's a sailor's lot sometimes.

The alarm went off at 5:30 AM. I made coffee and had a blueberry muffin for breakfast. I had everything ready in the cockpit including even having the searchlight nearby. I let go the lines off the mooring at 6:11 AM. I raised the sail  and  fired up the electric propulsion system for a 10 Amp draw and was moving along at about 1.7 knots in the pre dawn of the morning:

A slight breeze kicked in and BIANKA was soon moving along at 2.2 knots. Even though I was motor sailing I could still hear the noise of the traffic along West Shore Road which was over a mile away as the residents of Bayville started their early Monday morning commutes to work.  A solitary Seagull was keeping watch on a buoy and appeared to be checking that things were clear as I headed toward Cold Spring Harbor bound for the sound
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At 6:56 AM I was off Plum Point at the entrance to Oyster Bay Harbor. At 7:44 AM I was at Buoy 1 in Cold Spring Harbor having used 16.4 amp hours and the battery capacity had dropped to 92% .

At 8:43 AM I was in Long Island Sound off of Buoy 2 at Lloyd Point. The XBM battery monitor showed I had used 26.3 amp hours and battery capacity was at 87.4%. the current in Long Island Sound had also turned against BIANKA.

10:22 AM Found BIANKA off Eatons Neck and battery readings were 79.5% capacity and  showed the EP had consumed 42.8 amp hours in four hours of electro sailing. As I rounded Eatons Neck the Northport Power plant stacks hove into view:

They are hard to miss being 600 feet high and part of the biggest gas fired power plant on the east coast.
Here's a little Nav tip from Capt. Mike: When the Northport Stacks line up they point due north.

At 11:24 AM I was directly north of the stacks. BINAKA's electro sailing had consumed -52.7 amp hours and battery capacity was now at 79.5%. Usually by this point I would have fired up the Honda 2000 to start operating in hybrid mode and not draw down the battery bank much further. But, it was such a nice day even in the very light wind and I still was bucking the flood current so I kept motoring along. I had ducked into Smithtown Bay where the flood current was much weaker than further out in the Sound and was moving along at 2.3. knots.

At 12:05 PM the wind picked up from the northwest and I was moving along nicely at 3 knots so I backed down on the electric propulsion.

At 12:35 PM A gentle breeze developed so that I was moving along at 3.4 knots and I shutdown the EP completely after drawing down 65.4 amp hours and having a battery capacity reading of 69%.

Later in the afternoon I spied the Tall Ship MYSTIC that was docked in Oyster Bay for the Oyster Festival just north of BIANKA:

I thought they might be headed back to their homeport of Mystic Connecticut. But, they instead ducked  into Port Jefferson. Probably were on a cruise with passengers of Long Island Sound. 

I sailed on until the breeze started to lighten and fired up the EP once again to minimize the prop drag. By 2:22 PM The battery monitored showed 69% and amp hours used at 63.5.. I set the EP for a 10 amp draw. I continued on this way until about sometime around 4 PM when a nice 15 knot sea breeze made it across Long Island and BIANKA was soon sailing toward home at 5 plus knots which was a real nice way to end the day. At 5:10 PM BIANKA was back on her mooring. Where the final readings for the 20 plus mile electro sail were  85.3 amp hours and battery capacity was 58.9%. Battery voltage was 49.5 volts. I think a lot of the extra amps were to buck a hefty current coming out of the narrow harbor entrance as the current had once again turned a few hours before. Still BIANKA's electric propulsion system made for a delightfully quiet day on the water and showed that 20 mile legs are easily made in light winds without even turning on the generator during the whole trip.
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AN ELECTRIC SAILBOAT CRUISE TO NEW YORK: PART 1

Well, Labor Day (a national holiday here in the United States) was approaching and I decided perhaps a little cruise might be in order. Especially since I am not currently employed in any work that involves a schedule and a place to be. I was a little apprehensive about traveling too far with BIANKA because the XANTREX XBM Battery meter had failed a little over a month after the one year warranty ran out in June. Several phone calls and two emails to Xantrex produced no results as to what I could do about this issue. On an boat with an electric propulsion system the battery monitor is the equivalent to a fuel gauge on a boat with an internal combustion engine. You don't need it but, it sure helps to know how much fuel or amps you are using. Especially to make sure you don't run out when you need the auxilary propusion most. Below is what the Xantrex display looked like:

There is a happy ending to this story. Even though Xantrex was most unresponsive to my plight with their defective product. NGC Marine the people from whom I bought the Thoosa 9000 propulsion system from stepped up to the plate and are sending a replacement XBM. Unfortunately, I did not have it in time for the start of this cruise.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5TH

So off I go. I decide that I'll head over to Port Jefferson Harbor on Long Island's north shore for the weekend. It's only about 3 nautical miles away has plenty of space to drop anchor and is scenic enough to enjoy the surroundings. So I head out bucking the ebbing current on a windless day using electric propulsion. Since it's only about 3 nautical miles away I am not concerned about not having the functioning battery monitor for this trip. As I entered the harbor entrance I looked behind me:

Looks like a lot of other people had the same idea of where to spend the holiday weekend. I was actually glad I was under power at this time. Because I was able to get to my anchorage location before most of the power boats coming in made things rock and roll in the entrance.

I dropped anchor and enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon and evening on board. Later, listening to the NOAA weather forecast that called for 10 to 15 knot winds out of the East. I started thinking. Hmmm, sounds like great conditions for sailing West.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 6TH

So that's what I did the next morning. I took advantage of a favoring current and winds and headed toward New York. In three and a half hours I was in Cold Spring Harbor where I stopped for the night. I could have continued further but, one does not cruise in a sailboat because you are in a hurry. At least I don't. I have found that pushing things is when you often get into trouble.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 7TH

The next morning after consulting the essential Eldridge Tide and Pilot book on board I took the last of the ebbing current down Cold Spring Harbor and arrived at the entrance just as the westward flood was just about to start helping to push BIANKA and me westward on Long Island Sound.

Past the Execution Rocks Lighthouse and onward to my final destination for the day:

A nice anchorage just east of the Throgs Neck Bridge called Little Bay. This bridge marks the western end of Long Island Sound and the beginning of the tidal strait called the East River which I will head down tomorrow. Even though I arrived in plenty of time to take the favoring ebb current down the strait I anchored for the night to rest and enjoy the beautiful afternoon. With the defective battery monitor I decided to fire up the Honda 2000i generator to help bulk charge the battery bank and then let the wind and solar continue the charging. Besides I get a kick of being anchored next to the bridge and listening to the traffic reports during rush hour to see if they are being honest about the traffic conditions and being glad that I am on a sailboat and not in a car in such traffic on such a gorgeous day. It also brings back memories of going on vacation with my parents in the early 1960's and traveling over the same bridge. I remember looking out and seeing a sailboat anchored where BIANKA is now and wondering as a child what it was doing there. Perhaps I am inspiring that same wonder in someone in one of the cars passing over me on that bridge. I'd like to think so and perhaps they will become sailors in the future.

GO TO: AN ELECTRIC SAILBOAT CRUISE TO NEW YORK PART 2