The route out of New York takes you up the East River and gives you a fantastic last view of Manhattan as you sail past. We sailed on under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, as well as many others and out into Long Island Sound past Harlem and Rikers Island prison.  Although we had plenty of room to get under the bridges, from the deck of the boat it always seems to be touch and go and the 15 metre clearance appears far less! Heart stopping bridge moments aside, apart from the slightly cold and damp weather we had a very pleasant motor out of the city.  The complete lack of wind, about 1.5 knots, meant that sailing was out of the question when we hit the Sound.

Oyster Bay is on the northern shore of Long Island and is a very traditional American town.  Most of the buildings are wooden clapperboard style, brightly painted.  There is a real quaint feeling about the place without any naffness. We ended up on a mooring ball, which I think we bought rather than rented for 2 nights! Although the cruising guide book we have mentions an anchorage, the reality is that almost the whole bay is now a mooring field - when we woke in the morning we realised part of the reason why - the shellfish farmers are dredging in and out of the moored boats and would cause all kinds of chaos if all the boats were anchored with 20-30 metres of chain down.  I will definitely check the costs of a mooring ball in future - we have been tied up in marinas for less, and the free launch service, although very efficient, did little to soften the blow to the wallet!

The town itself is very pretty, although small and as it is still 'out of season' here, very quiet.  That said, at least the locals have started sailing here, and there was yacht racing to watch from our deck in the evenings.  In New York they don't start until the school summer holidays after July 4th which seems a bit of a waste. We started to make a plan this afternoon for the next few weeks - we have to be In Maine by 3rd July for a regatta party. If we don't make a plan we will end up dawdling along and not get there as it is about 550 miles from here.  Most of the towns in Long Island Sound look much the same in the book, so we will stop at one the middle, and one at the end before moving north towards Newport, Rhode Island.  We got a lot of recommendations from Michele at the marina in New York so at least have an idea where to go.  

 The approach to the Brooklyn Bridge

 Sneaking under the Brooklyn Bridge, it seemed very low from where we were sitting!

 Rikers Island prison

 Oyster Bay Railroad Station

 The houses are all quite traditional wooden frame style........

 .......unless you have a waterfront property on the bay, (I checked and this is not a hotel) ........

 .......or you are Billy Joel, who owns this house. The 'smaller' building at the front is his summer house/boat house!!!