Sailing Adventure Aboard the Ventura

It was a Sunday in June and the NYC area had just gotten through a day of thunderstorms and downpours the day before. When I arrived at North Cove Marina (after getting slightly lost - thanks nice police officer for pointing me in the right direction so I could get there on time!), I saw our beautiful sailboat for the day. It has a single sail and we were informed that this boat was built in the 1900's and still had most of the original parts and wood. It was made with great craftsmanship and has been well taken care of. There were about 25 of us on this MMA adventure. We began by learning about different parts of the ship and then divided into groups to learn more specific and hands on knot tying and sailing prep. The crew was kind enough to hand out orange ponchos when a light shower passed over us. Little did I know how much we would need them later!

We proceeded to leave the marina and our sailing fun began. We headed out towards the Statue of Liberty and got pretty close. It was a great photo op! Then we headed out towards Governor's Island. You could see the new Ikea store and how massive it is on the Brooklyn shoreline. Up until now the skies had been partly sunny and a bit overcast. However, once we turned back towards Manhattan, a looming black sky was directly over where we were headed... Not a good sign. We continued on for a bit but then the ship captain said to his crew "Get everyone settled. We are going to see some action". Shortly after, we were bundled in our ponchos, trying to avoid getting drenched by the monsoon upon us. Believe it or not, it was rather fun! I kept laughing at how crazy the weather was. Some people were still taking pictures even in the pouring rain. The storm seemed to pass quickly and when we got back it had pretty much stopped. Needless to say, no one was dry when we arrived back in the marina.

This was a great way to get out on the water and go for a ride on a beautiful ship. The Ventura offers sunset sails on Friday evenings and other weekend outings. They can also book for private parties. I highly recommend going on your own sailing adventure with them!

Ventura Website: WWW.SAILNEWYORK.COM