New York doesn’t seem eager to let us arrive. The wind blows so hard on our nose that we have to tack toward the skyline at 33 knots. Entering the bay turns out to be a little frustrating. The cargo ships whizzing past don’t help us relax, either. After what felt like hours, we finally got close enough to the city structures that they provided shade from the wind. We breathe a sigh of relief as we tuck behind Coney Island and turn into Sheepshead Bay, where the sailing club hads a free mooring buoy for us. Relieved, we tie up and arrive in New York.

The air grows cooler and the water grows murkier. The feeling is almost homely. One thing is certain, though: the Caribbean is definitely a few hundred nautical miles behind us.

On land, the sun rises no less often. And yet it seems that way to us. Sunsets have also become more frequent since we’ve been on the water.

The next big leap is on the horizon. The Bahamas to the USA. We want to travel as far up the East Coast as the winds allow in one leg. Ideally, we will make it as far as New York; worst case, we will make it to one of the southern states.

The leg to Long Island will be etched deep in our memory: Perfect moonset and sunrise, the incomparable light of the Bahamas and sailing in two to three meter deep water over a white sandy bottom. All around us, every shade from turquoise to blue. Not a soul far and wide.

When was the last time we spent several days at sea? Over three months ago when we crossed the Atlantic. Time to warm up our sea legs again, because it’s three full days to the Bahamas. At least if we leave the Dominican Republic on the left and the Turks and Caicos Islands on the right.

Puerto Rico is a breather. After the many countries, islands, impressions and short sailing legs of the last few months, we are looking forward to a slower pace.

There is a special chapter in the last pages of our logbook. It’s called “People and Boats” and – you won’t be surprised – it lists the names of people and their boats next to the place where we first met them. This is how we try to keep track of all the encounters we have had over the last few months.

The places we have visited so far are characterized by their British or French colonial past. Today, they are either French overseas territories or independent states of the British Commonwealth. Sint Maarten and Saba are the first countries with a Dutch colonial history that we visit.

In theory, night sailing is great. It’s quiet, the moon or stars light the way, and you can use the day for other things. In theory. In practice, we are often tired after a night-time passage and catch up on sleep on the day of arrival. Then it is not used any better. So it doesn’t make much difference whether we sail during the day or at night.