As You Wish - Our Adventures: August 3, 2026 Onward to the Land of Megayachts

Saturday August 1, 2026 Huntington, NY to Sag Harbor, NY 84 miles and 8.5 hours

Let loose the lines to our mooring ball at 7:45 and headed over to the yacht club dock for a pumpout then quickly on our way by 8:00. It will be the longest cruising day in a while. Original plan was to cross over to Milford, Connecticut, but we never could get a confirmed reservation. So instead opted to head further out Long Island. Heading further east around the North Fork and into Sag Harbor became the next logical destination. A long day but favorable conditions. Mostly sunny, 80 degrees, flat calm to start although winds picked up a bit in the afternoon making for a little chop. Nothing of concern. Just no longer flat. Open water allows Otto to do most of the driving. Most times we're able to see land on both the LI and Conn sides with some occasional haze masking them. Cross paths with a few of the ferries that run between NY and Conn. They keep a busy schedule with one or more always in motion and visible on AIS.

Flat calm conditions on the sound as we begin the day passing a tug and tow

Ferry PT Barnum coming out of Port Jefferson and headed to Bridgeport Conn.
We were on a collision course per AIS so had to yield the right of way.

Ferry John H coming out of Orient Point and headed to New London Conn.

Round Orient Point and head into Gardiners Bay. The tidal currents from the ocean, sound and bay meet here creating confused seas. The large yachts ahead tell us we're approaching Sag Harbor. The number and size of them increase as we get to the harbor proper.

Rounding Orient Point Lighthouse built in 1899.

178' yacht Kisses was tied to the dock along with multiple smaller 100' to 150' yachts

Prices for dockage are obscene here. Mooring balls run the prices we're used to paying for expensive dockage. Anchoring is the only option for us and luckily we can get under the 21' bridge that allows us to get into Sag Harbor Cove. A decently protected large cove with a suitable anchoring area and good depths. We find our spot, drop anchor and get settled along with another half dozen boats. Long day so we're happy to just chill out with a drink and a dinner off the grill. We fire up the generator for a few hours at dusk. Top off the batteries, watch some TV, and turn the A/C on for a bit to cool things off before we head to bed. Bit of drama as the generator goes into overheat mode and auto shuts off. Quick check shows no water flow out the exhaust.. Too late, too dark, too hot and too tired to mess with it tonight. Will investigate in the morning.

Our "little boat" at anchor

Sunday. Not my best night's sleep as I run through possibilities for the generator shutdown. For our cruising style we rely on the generator while at anchor for recharging our house batteries. This then goes through an invertor for 120V power to run the freezer and refrigerator and a host of lesser items. Without the generator we would need to stay at marinas most nights to connect to shore power to keep the batteries fully charged. Getting this fixed quickly was a priority. Lack of raw water was the obvious problem so decide to begin with the intake system. In the back of my mind I'm worried it may be a more complex fix with the water pump but taking a systematic approach I start with the water intake system. First step is to check for a clogged water strainer. Close the seacock, take off the lid on the strainer, pull the screen. Not much there but clean it anyway. Decide to check we have flow through the seacock. Leave the lid off the strainer housing and begin slowly opening the seacock valve. Just a dribble of water overflows. Not good. There's a clog somewhere in one of the upstream items - hose, seacock or thru hull fitting. Shut off the seacock and remove attached hose. It's clear. Crack open the seacock and a wad of vegetation pushes up. Pull it out but still just a trickle of water. Use a variety of tools trying to push the blockage out the thru hull fitting but it's not working. Start hooking and pulling the vegetation up and out instead. Bit by bit the flow increases until I finally get a gusher flowing out the seacock. Quickly shut the valve and feel confident this was the problem. Reassemble and do a test run. Temperatures remain low and water out the exhaust is strong. Wish I could figure out where and why we got such a packed clog. Went through the remaining six seacocks. Engines, A/C, stabilizer, and raw water washdown. All were perfectly fine. Strange. Thankfully, major crisis diverted!!

The troublesome thru hull, seacock and hose

On to the next project. Drop the dingy off the flybridge and prepare for a trip to the town dock. Been too long since we've done this, but it goes relatively well. Davit system works as it should. Lifting, swinging and dropping the dingy. Once in the water the outboard motor starts right up. Quick trip to the town dingy dock right at the wharf at the end of main street.

Checking that all systems are functioning properly.
Nice to have those paddles but hope to never need them.

Windmill at the foot of the wharf is a replica built
in 1966 and serves as an Information Center

We walk up Main Street headed to the Whalers Museum. As a kid when visiting my paternal grandparents in Bridgehampton, I know we made trips to Sag Harbor and I remember passing the large white mansion housing the museum. Sadly, there was nothing else down Main Street that brought back any memories. This is part of "The Hamptons" on a weekend and looked the part. Exquisitely dressed tourists exuding money. Porsche's, BMW's, Mercede's, Audi's, Land Rovers, Bentleys at every turn.

Main Street

The Whaling Museum is housed in what started as a Greek Revival style private residence built in 1845 for whaling ships owner Benjamin Huntting. Sold to philanthropist Margaret Slocum Sage in 1907. Later used as a Masonic Temple before finally becoming home to the Whaling and Historical Museum. It had a nice display focused on Sag Harbor's heydays as a prosperous whaling center but also included items from its later days as an industrial base with silversmith and watch case manufacturing factories. It's current economic status is simply centered on tourism. At it's zenith in 1847 there were 67 whaling ships based here that traveled the world searching for the diminishing number of whales. By 1849 most had headed off for the gold rush in California never to return.

Whaling and Historical Museum

Right Whale jaw bones at entrance

Ornate circular stairway leading up to the Masonic Temple area on the second floor

Display case of whale vertebrae, harpoons, etc

Wealth of the area during the whaling days as evident by this
upright "giraffe" piano. One of only 4 known in existence.

Little bit of a walkabout going thru the Old Burial Grounds. Tombstones dating from the Revolution through the mid 1800's. Old Whalers Church circa 1844 next door fashioned in a unique Egyptian Revival style. Originally had a 185' high steeple that was the first sign of land for returning seamen. Came crashing down in the great hurricane of 1938.

Tombstones in the Old Burying Grounds

"Old Whalers Church"

Plenty of historic houses. Everything from small cottages to big mansions. Marched up and down Main Street a few more times. Restaurants, gift shops, antique stores, art galleries, decorator showrooms, realtors, etc. Lowest priced posting in the realtor's window was $2.3MM. Way up from there.

Wealthy whaling ship owners built extravagant homes

Original Customs House - first on Long Island

Summer home of President Chester A. Arthur

Time to check out Kidd Squid Brewery. Limited selection and mostly lagers, fruited lagers, pilsners, ales and basic IPA's. Worked through a flight but no need for more. Back to the boat by late afternoon. Winds and rain coming in so needed to get the dingy back up secured and covered. Then heated up that premade "meat lasagna" we got in Huntington at Caruso's market. Big surprise was it was actually eggplant lasagna. Still very tasty.

Kidd Squid Brewery

Monday. Most of the other boats in the anchorage departed Sunday afternoon. We settle in for a rainy and windy Monday. Forecast is for strong winds gusting to 30+mph with some bands of heavy rain. Wind picked up about 3AM as expected. Out of bed to check the anchor was still holding us in position. Took the opportunity to sleep in later than usual. Heaviest morning rains wound up going north of us, but we still managed to get some torrential downpours along with those strong gusts throughout the day. Good day for some TV, read a book, and work on the blog. Clouds finally broke up enough for a decent sunset. Nice way to end the day.