We headed off from Half-Moon Bay marina with our 6% wine over to Nyac Boat Club and picked up a mooring ball which was inside of a huge mooring field of about 100 balls. Our last experience of picking up a mooring ball was in the British Virgin Islands. After some struggle we were able to snag and tie up to it. It was our first time overnight off the grid with FBG.

During dinner preparation a beautiful full orange colored moon appeared in the eastern sky just above the horizon. I tried to take a picture of it, but my $40 Android phone didn't do it justice.

We received a surprise visit from Lee Luce a good friend of Shirley Kimmis one of our dear friends from Uxbridge. We received a phone call from Lee who told us that she was coming by to make sure we were alright. Lee is a member of the Nyac boat club. Sure enough along came a boat, in the dark with no lights on. Lee was determined to seek us out. She sidled up against out boat, and we had a nice conversation about our trip to come and specifically what to expect in the New York Area. Lee also relayed the warning her club had received of an approaching nor'easter storm in a few days. This was going to be a nasty one. We had to plan where we were going to weather out this storm which was predicted to last a couple of days.

At around 1am that night, the winds changed to a SE direction coinciding with the tidal current flowing in the opposite direction. This caused a huge rolling affect because the wind and tide were working against each other. When we rose to see what was going on we couldn't even stand up because of the violent movement. It felt like a roller coaster ride so we returned to bed. It was very difficult to sleep for a few hours until the tide reversed and the wave action diminished. It was our first real encounter with how the tides can really affect the seas.

The marina in New York City that we had thought would be our next stop was booked solid. Given the impending weather, we decided to head back a couple miles to Haverstraw Marina which according to Lee would provide good protection from the storm.