A nap, a swim, some food. A couple hours rest.
Miles to go, and the breeze still fresh, so I lashed the jib to the foredeck and set out under single reefed main alone. Out on the lake the downhill ride continued, the waves somewhat mellowed as I came into the lee of Splitrock Point. But the lake rolled by beneath me and before I knew it I was passing the mouth of Snake Den Harbor, the site of my first night’s anchorage. I was able to appreciate the lofty heights of the Palisades, to the south, this time in daylight.
Just past the Palisades, I rounded the massive granite bluff which guards the entrance to Barn Rock Harbor and beached at the mouth of a small stream. A couple of hours exploring the wild shoreline here. Craggy coves and great bluff vistas!
Enough time left in the day to overshoot my takeout destination at Arnold bay and put myself in a position to ride tomorrow’s south winds home. Looks like Cole island on the New York side could be an ideal anchorage, so I push off and am soon surfing south again.
Stealing glances at the fluttering chart beside me, and squinting at the distant sunbathed shoreline ahead, I make out the point that hides Cole island and keep Sharky’s bow headed that way. Gusts come and go. Waves lift us and push along with a noticeable surge in momentum. Barn Rock recedes into the haze to the north. We are now approaching the point of land and pass a small cove to starboard. As we come around the point expecting to see a small wild island, there is only...more summer houses. I grab for the phone and gps confirms that we have overshot Cole Island by a couple of miles! All that’s here is a shallow dent in an otherwise unprotected shoreline... Looking back upwind I know there’s no way I could possibly battle my way back to Cole island, but I pull in the sheets and head into the wind to see if I can at least make it back to the cove I had just passed. A half hour of cramped hand sheet clutching, butt gouging coaming sitting, new jib flapping, and I manage to tack back to this shallow sandy bay and drop anchor. Cole Island can wait till tomorrow.
![2938](./gallery/image.php?mode=thumbnail&image_id=2938)
View from atop Barn Rock.