A Special Birthday Sail on the Hudson

Imagine sailing by the Statue of Liberty & Ellis island. 

by Stas Holodnak 

The classic late August weather was perfect for the leisurely evening cruise.  Light winds allowed for smooth sailing and warm, mild sunset put skipper Paul and his crew Carolee, Lena and Stas into jovial mood.  

Upon leaving the marina we raised the main and after a short while the genoa.  It was Lena’s first time on the sailboat.  Her initial reservation was quickly replaced with excitement from being propelled by the wind alone – something I feel anew every time.  We tacked in the direction of Verrazano Bridge and then sailed on the broad reach to the statue of Liberty.  

The J104 race was in progress with the bulk of their fleet raising spinnakers, starting their downwind leg about a mile away from us.  The other attraction was a lone fancy cruise ship that steamed towards Verrazano Bridge.  We sailed as close as we could by the Statue, right at the moment when the sun set directly above her torch.  Is the torch made of gold someone wondered?  “No” said Paul confidently.  “Not anymore anyway”.  

We headed back to marina, helped by the current, on the dead downwind course and so the wing n wing rigging worked out very nicely.  A few hundred feet abeam the spinnaker rigged boat from J104 race was gaining fast on us.  The fellow J104, on the port tack, was sailing right at it.  She passed astern missing contact by just a few inches, inviting some yelling from both crews.

The flags on Ellis Island were flying half mast marking the passing of Senator Kennedy who himself sailed in his last years as much as his condition allowed.  Soon after we turned on the running lights and started to take down sails jib first then main.  How was it?  I asked Lena after we docked.  “Hudson River trumps Central Park by far” she said.

As for me, tonight's cruising was one of my most memorable birthdays so far.  The most memorable of them all was my bar mitzvah a quarter century ago in prohibition crazed Ukraine.  Back then my mother, with her eyes sparking with joy, proudly poured me a glass of Moldovan semi-sweet right in front of the stunned guests and passerby’s.