Martha's Vineyard to Manhattan ... A quick sail between two worlds Lindsay McRory October 7, 1995 (Editor's Note: Lindsay continues to push south with a couple of his sailing buddies. Once to Norfolk, Virginia, he will head back to Halifax, Nova Scotia, by plane to collect his young family and return to Hakuna Matata to begin the voyage November 1.) Vineyard Haven in Martha's Vineyard is a step into wealthy America. The shoreline is sporadically populated with huge mansions, all candidates for "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." Each of these mansions has an enormous amount of beachfront property, giving the illusion that the island is only sparsely populated. We entered New Haven Harbor just after sunset. We quickly found some pilings, where we tied up for the night and headed for dinner. Vineyard Haven is a "sort of" dry town. "Sort of" means you cannot buy beer or wine in the city limits, but you can drink it almost anywhere. It seamed odd to walk into a restaurant with a dozen beers in a bag. In Canada, you would be out of the establishment and possibly enjoy a free ride to jail. Everyone was half-awake for the 4 a.m. alarm the next morning. The wind had built during the night and was whistling through the rigging. Without much verbiage we acted like half-asleep sailing automatons and cast off. Next stop ... to be determined en route. To get to Norfolk we had a couple of options. We could pass Martha's, turn south, and keep going for four or five days until we saw the entrance to the Chesapeake. That was the fastest route. Alternatively, we could follow the inside of Long Island Sound, sail past Manhattan, and wave to the Statue of Liberty before turning south. The Long Island route was longer in miles but offered better protection in case of another blow. Some of the crew had booked flights out of Norfolk, so we did have some time pressures. In the end we decided on the Long Island route. We would drop people off along the way. The sail from Vineyard Haven was one of those rare, exhilarating sails that just keep going and going. The wind was from the east at 30 mph, which was a perfect angle. Hakuna Matata charged along past Block Island, past Newport, and into Long Island Sound. Everyone on board was enjoying the sail. The stars came out and the wind kept up. From Martha's Vineyard to Hell Gate, New York is 207 miles. Leaving Martha's Vineyard at 4 a.m. would put us at Hell Gate at 8 or 9 a.m. the next day. By 2 a.m. Hell Gate was only one hour away ... time to put on the brakes. This was our best passage time to date: 190 miles in 20 hours. It's a very rare occasion when a sailboat arrives early; we enjoyed the moment. We drifted around Execution Rock until daybreak, then proceeded through Hell Gate, then Manhattan. Sailing Manhattan is pretty cool. Seeing the Chrysler Tower, Empire State Building, and the World Trade Center from the water yields a different perspective. Without so much as stopping for a hot dog, we passed Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty is just a few miles downstream from Manhattan. We wanted to stretch our legs a little and take the stairs, but there are no docking facilities on the island. With a wave to the babe, we pointed Hakuna Matata's bow for the Atlantic.