As promised, a wind came up from a little east of north at around 11 PM, just when the current turned to the ebb. Convenient. The moon was nearly full, the sky clear; a beautiful, beautiful night. I ran down the Hudson at five knots or so, never touching a sheet. It took five hours and change to get back to 79th Street.
I didn't turn on the radio, which is unusual, for me, when I sail at night. I couldn't tell you what I thought about all that time, with nothing to do but just lightly steer the boat. You can get into a strange trancelike contemplative state, sailing.
The current was running pretty strong at 79th Street when I got there. Managed to pick up the mooring without disaster, though. It was four or five AM and I didn't feel industrious enough to button up the boat and take the dinghy back to the marina, so I just bundled up the mainsail untidily around the boom and went to sleep in the vee-berth.
I hope the storyteller comes back before too long. You know, I listened to the Odyssey just because of your choosing to call your dear spouse Penelope here. What a good idea that was! (To go back to the Odyssey after 40 years, and listen to it read to me as I drove all over New England.) Thank you for that, as well as the images of sailing down the Hudson in the summer evening and night.
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