In my quest for large but protected bodies of water, I searched Google Maps and spied what seemed like convenient access to Shrewsbury River (Middletown, NJ) from
Old Warf park. This was indeed a great location to launch from (the parking lot is very close to the water)... unfortunately I did not account for one small problem: a low bridge. We set out, tacked upwind towards the main body of water, and then encountered a 6' tall bridge (with the NJ Transit North Jersey Coast Line trains passing overhead).
The mast of the sailboat is at least 16' tall. There I was, struggling to remove the mast while the boat is helplessly drifting under the bridge. Live and learn. Ultimately, we sailed in intermittent 5-7mph winds and managed to hit maybe 3mph (according to the waterproof gps I brought.).
Shrewsbury River should probably be called a bay, due to its size and shape (and lack of current), and on this sunny but cool day it was being used by a dozen or so real sailboats for the purpose of some type of speed competition. All they did was go back and forth over maybe a 200' area - what they were doing didn't look too interesting. I had a marine radio with me and someone seemed to be critiquing the sailors over the radio with a single and mysterious phrase: "Ice Blade, Ice Blade, not straight". The phrase was repeated over and over.
One thing I learned was that as long as there is wind, you cannot do much else but sail. You need both hands on the controls at all times - steering oar and sail. You can't really dig into a bag for a snack or reprogram your GPS without winding up somewhere else entirely, possibly ashore or in the way of another craft. Another thing I learned is that departing is quite difficult if the wind is pushing you towards shore. You wind up using quite a bit of strength on rowing before you can try to sail - and the transition is far from seamless - as you need to quickly drop the oars, jump aft, grab a steering oar (which was probably not in the water for fear of getting tangled or lost), and grab the sail rope. Then you need to point the boat in a reasonable direction and adjust tension on the sail - all only to realize that you forgot to drop the lee boards into the water, and the boat isn't sailing but simply drifting sideways (and now you have to start over). Eventually you sail.
We had a nice lunch on a grassy knoll, headed back, had to yank the mast to get through the bridge yet again, and that was it.