Sunday 20th October 2019

Finally a day out in NYC 

Up early showered and into the water taxi, a hike up the hill to the train station and we were just in time to catch the hourly train, it stopped at all stations and in less than an hour we were stepping out into Penn Station.

Daily edition with our coffee 

We had a rough itinerary with a few things we wanted to see but the plan was to walk and  wander and take in the sights of the big city.  

Off we trekked from Penn Station to Times Square, then on to 79th Street Basin Marina, this marina had been one of our options to be able to stay in the heart of NYC, we could have taken a mooring ball right in the centre, but we had heard is was very rolly and uncomfortable (our friend had to take a seasickness tablet while on a mooring ball while they were there) but we still wanted to have a look so that if it looked ok we could stop there on our way through.

It was a bit of a hike but by going there we walked off the main tourist path and passed lots of beautiful apartment buildings opposite the Hudson river.  The marina was tiny and didn't look that inviting so we were satisfied we were not missing out on anything.

By this stage it was raining quite heavily.

its a bit overwhelming after living on a boat 

We bought an umbrella and kept walking.  We wanted to make it to Seinfeld's Diner, just for fun.  It was packed and I really don't remember what it looked like inside from the tv show but it was warm and dry, we shared a souvlaki plate  -  that was awful !!

and we got the photo

By then we had had enough and headed for the subway, an Australian lady from SA had stopped us earlier in the day and after a brief chat had gifted us her subway card that still had some $ on it.  The ticket guy let us both go through using the one card, we were happy to sit down. I must say the subway carriages were quite small inside but there were plenty of carriages.

On the Monday we made the same trip,  this time our first destination was Ground Zero we caught the Subway from Penn Station to the World Trade Centre, it was interesting how upscale the subway stations became as we got closer to the finance district. The 9/11 memorial site was stark and poignant, such a sad place to visit. 

We headed out towards Battery park so we could see the Statue from land.

Walking back up Broadway we passed the Charging Bull statue and the New York Stock Exchange then into the fashion district starting with the uptown designer consignment stores with their genuine old Levi's and 80's platform shoes, I could have spent hours looking through those shops.  On the street there were venders selling fake bags, wallets and clothing this area was quite rough, next we passed the huge designer stores so many and all so Grande.

We passed a huge number of poor and homeless people, all living on the streets just like any city they have to sleep during the day when they are safe and then they will be awake all night.

We noticed a lot of locals out walking their dogs I think its a status symbol to show you live in the City.

Next stop was a cute French bakery for some sustenance, giving the hot dog vendors a miss.  Weed is legal in NYC and we passed many new shops selling it and all the paraphernalia, there were even food truck like vans all down Broadway selling the stuff.

After 42000 steps (logged on Craig's watch/phone) we were done and we were more than happy to jump back on the train home to Adriana.  The trip home in the train was interesting just a snap shot of life in New York State.

In the 8 seats in our divided row in my line of sight, there was a couple on their way home from a New York Jets game, a man reading the Koran to himself as in prayer, a couple that looked like they were on their way home from work, eating burgers and having a beer out of brown paper bags, a young girl with headphones in scrolling through her phone and us, all squashed in a crush of humanity in one moving train. 

Our mid morning and early evening trains had not been so busy as the subway or if we had used public transport in peak hour.  The subway carriages were a lot smaller than I had envisioned and humanity is really crushed together in those carriages.

We now had three days to fill, waiting on the part for the engine to arrive, of course we had been told it would be ordered on Monday and delivered on Tuesday but it actually didn't arrive until Thursday morning then it was fitted and we were set to leave on the Friday am. We did some washing, shopping cleaning all the usual stuff, One of the highlights was meeting  Mario a French/ Canadian from just outside Quebec he is heading in the same direction as us and after a few beers declared he would like to follow us through Hells Gate and out of NYC. 
We paid for our mooring ball at $25pn we had been there for 9 nights all up, we had sheltered from a storm, used the water taxi and visited NYC so it had been worth the expense.

Friday 25th October 2019

We were up before the sun at 6am we had worked out the times so that we would have a good strong current running with us down the East River and through Hells Gate, Mario followed us out of Port Washington Harbour. 

Mario following, leaving Port Washington 

We would have to motor the whole way.   The scenery started off with expensive suburban mansions on the water, then it changed to industrial back lots including passing a floating prison, just opposite LaGuardia Airport. Passing the airport was fun we could almost wave to the pilots we were so close.

Can you believe -  a floating prison

There were so many bridges to pass under, and the water traffic started to increase. going under a bridge is incredibly nerve wracking we have the information that tells us the height of the bridge and we know the height of our mast but it never looks like the bridge is tall enough for us to pass under !!

It never seems like we are going to fit under !!

The scenery changed constantly

it was so smoggy 

so many bridges

It was a cold morning and the sky was so smoggy its almost a green colour.  We timed it just right and literally flew down the river as we approached the area called Hells Gate. The river was a bit bumpy and the traffic became heavy with ferries, police, water taxis and other

pleasure craft, there were two other yachts as well as Mario with us all heading through.  

Then the scenery changed from industrial to expensive high rise apartments and high end hotels all with river views, we had timed it just right and we had a very quick smooth passage out the East River to where it joins the Hudson.  

And there she was the Lady of Liberty everyone else kept going giving the area surrounding her a wide berth as there were now sightseeing boats and cruise ships in the fray.

Almost there 

It got a bit hectic as we got closer !!

Up close and zoomed in

I had found out while researching New York City that the Statue of Liberty has a web cam looking down to the water and I posted on FB that we would be passing by soon, in the off chance that family or friends were awake and if online they might even be able to see us going past.

Steven my brother was on to it letting everyone know the link and we had friends from Canada and family in Australia following us via the webcam as we passed her, it was really cool but it got a bit hectic trying to reply to Steven giving him our exact location, take selfies and dodging the other traffic, the smog was so bad the photos look such a strange colour.  We put our mainsail up so that we were easier to identify.

Steven managed to take a screen shot of us as we passed that was really cool...
We were tempted to turn around and do it again but the currents were so strong and the traffic was hectic.

So we have done it sailed past the Statue of Liberty in New York City, when we flew from Miami to Toronto we cruised over NYC and I was so excited to see it from the air, never dreaming that we would actually get to visit or even sail past the iconic statue  !!!

It was not so daunting as I thought it would be motoring Adriana through one of the worlds largest cities, really we had no choice we just had to do our research as much as we could and do it. Not that I was at the wheel Craig did all the stressful navigating and did such a great job. 

We managed to put the sails up once we had left the main port behind us and cruised on to Sandy Hook, about 16nm out of the city we dropped the anchor and had some lunch and a bit of a rest as we were going to continue later that afternoon and do an overnighter to Cape May.

Leaving NYC behind 

The overnight passage went smoothly no huge seas or strong winds, there was a light wind at the start that dropped off around 2am and we motored for the rest of the night, it was cold but we only needed one hot water bottle fill at about 4am so not so bad.

All the way down the coast we could see the lights on land which is always comforting not as scary as pitch darkness.

Loosing the light at dusk

On the horizon we could see Atlantic City lighting up the sky with all its casinos and hotels, we don't hear much about Atlantic City but its a huge place like Las Vegas. On our overnight passage there were a few ships on AIS to watch out for but quite an easy journey overall.

We had a stowaway for a couple of hours 

Around 9am we motored up into the Delaware River and dropped the anchor just inside the breakwalls of the town of Lewes at Cape May to take shelter while another cold front went through. 

The winds were not hurricane strenth but peaked at gusts of 30knots so still uncomfortable our Matis anchor and swivel held well in the open anchorage but we did keep the anchor alarm on as at one stage we were backing on to the rock breakwall and old unused lighthouse that seemed to be getting close as we swung past.  We we’re stuck there swinging for 3 days it was chilly but not freezing cold, it didn’t rain but incredibly windy.

The winds died down late on the Monday night and allowed us some sleep.

 

We seemed to be getting close to this breakwall but really the anchor did not move 

Tuesday 29th October 2019

On our way before sun up at 6am again !! this is so we have the right currents to take us up the Delaware and through the C&D canal this route takes us up river and inland it is used by huge ships and barges that allowed safe passage without having to go out in the Atlantic Ocean.  We will be going close to Philadelphia, then on the way down close to but not going to Baltimore and then Washington. 

Again Craig timed it right and we had a good strong current pushing us up the Delaware River, some friends had done it before us and had had an awful time with wind against tide the whole way.  We navigated our way through the canal it was such dirty water with so many big logs to dodge and small sticks and other debris it was quite frightening how black the water was, I would not be trying to fish in this area  - we were passing nuclear power plants and other huge industrial sites not really very nice.

Some scary industrial plants

Passing these always makes me think of The Simpsons 

The canal was pretty straight forward one lock that only dropped us a couple of feet 

The autumnal colours were stunning as we traversed the canal

Eagles Nest

Once we had cleared the canal we pulled over to the side at a point where its called the Elk River and it was soooo still and calm we had such a good sleep after our wild nights at Cape May.  

Up at a reasonable time this morning to make our way to Annapolis the home of the famous Boat Show.