It's fall, and the clock is quickly ticking on the time left to enjoy our nautical toys. A few weeks ago, we sailed to City Island for the first time. We love sailing to a new destination, especially one rich in nautical history. City Island fits the bill and also offers a huge variety of restaurants and many marinas and clubs with moorings to choose from. If we didn't live in Oyster Bay, Oyster Bay would be one of our favorite ports. Oyster Bay has it all, plus a beautiful park and revitalized Waterfront Center.

City Island comes up time and time again in books and articles that mention the Western Long Island Sound. But no one ever encouraged us to visit there. In fact, a few friends said stay away; after all it is part of the Bronx. We are finishing our fourth sailing season on the Sound and we decided it was time to see City Island and decide for ourselves.

All City Island was to us was a sign on I-95, until a few years ago when there was an article in the Wall Street Journal reporting that there had been a robbery on the island. Crime was unusual on City Island because all the police had to do was lift the drawbridge until the culprits were caught. Which, according to the article is what they did. A few months later Bob got off the highway on a trip one day to check it out. He liked what he saw, a one-block village with a lot of Italian and seafood restaurants mixed in with quaint little shops, and decided to visit again if he ever had the chance. Ten years later, we finally had the chance.

We dropped our mooring off of Centre Island and started to sail. A few minutes later we had to start motoring to get out to the Sound. Once we were off the Centre Island Reef, we started to sail again. After a while the wind shifted directly on our bow. We realized that we could take the north route around Execution Rock and continue sailing. We were rewarded with an amazing sail and even an extra treat. There were some J- Boat races taking place that weekend, and we sailed within 200-feet of these sleek racing machines as they rounded the mark and put up their spinnakers. It was like a scene from The America's Cup. We took some great photos, and enjoyed the colorful sails behind us as we sailed by. Once we rounded our own mark, the wind was on the bow again, so we motored the last few miles.

The wind was blowing pretty hard, so City Island's western harbor was a little choppy. In fact, we touched bottom in the six-foot choppy water for the first time with our five-foot draft. We were guests of the Harlem Yacht Club, a club that was well over 100 years old. From our mooring we had a wonderful view of the Throgs Neck and Whitestone Bridges, and a seaside town. We quickly called for a launch, so that we could check out the island before the sun set.

The island had not changed much from Bob's last visit. The main street was still filled with a lot of restaurants and little shops. We are always on the lookout for a restaurant that serves garlic hard-shell crabs. We were thrilled to find a restaurant, The Original Crab Shanty, which had them on the menu. We had a delicious dinner and then walked dinner off by doing a little shopping in the boutiques and small shops. Later that evening back onboard our boat, we enjoyed watching the full moon and the lights from the two bridges. Fortunately, the wind had settled down and we had a quiet night.

The following morning, we did a little more island exploring, before sailing back to Oyster Bay. We had one of the best sails we ever had on the return trip. We had four hours of sheer enjoyment as the boat sailed over eight knots, which is very fast for a sailboat. Behind us, the view of the Manhattan Skyline and the bridges was magnificent. Looking back at the sunlight reflecting on the water, sailboats in the foreground of this beautiful view, as the skyline became smaller and smaller we promised each other we would return again next summer. City Island is now on our list of favorite ports, along with Essex, Sag Harbor, Port Jefferson and of course Oyster Bay.

Bob and Shelley-Sue Williams can be reached at swpny@aol.com