June 4
Today was the day we took on the waters of New York
City!! We couldn’t have asked for a more idealic day. A cold front had pushed
through giving us cool clear skies with light winds. So off we went leaving our dockage at 7 AM
from Great Kills Yacht Club along with
Cat and Dogs, Avalon, and Vitamin Sea.
We left as a group with the intention of staying as a pack so that once we made it to Liberty Island
we could take pictures of each other in front of the statue. The trip was tranquil for the first hour as
we slowly approached the Verrazano Narrows bridge but started getting a bit dicey
once past it.
A sunny morning and calm seas as we approach
The Verrazano Narrows Bridge
New York looms ahead on the horizon
A few tugs, the Staten
Island Ferries, a container ship, a coast guard boat, a sailboat all jockeying
around each other and us. Two in our
group had to peel off course to stay away from traffic. The sailboat got a nasty 5 blast “danger,
danger” warning from the ferry captain to get the heck out of his way.
The big ferries are on a schedule and give way to no pleasure boaters
We finally made it safely to Liberty Island and circled
around a few times taking pictures of each other as well as the Statue of Liberty
and then continued our travel north up the Hudson and past more of Manhattan.
Headed to Lady Liberty
As you Wish passing under her torch
The Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island
This is the area where it really got interesting
as the smaller high-speed ferries crisscross the river in every direction. We
just held our course and they went around, in front and behind us at their leisure. The biggest issue is all this fast traffic
creates a very confused and choppy wave pattern that made for a bumpy ride. It was
hard to appreciate the scenery while staying focused on the water but quick
looks upward showed us going past One World Trade Center , the Empire State
Building and others. Once
past the ferries and the midtown area things quickly settled down as the
traffic all but disappeared and the waves flattened back down.
I don't understand the fascination with this leaning tower architectural style
Lower Manhattan looking southward
The George Washington bridge beckoned ahead
with the little red lighthouse by it’s side. You can read about it in a children's book.
Then we were suddenly in the start of the Palisades
area with high stone cliffs reaching down from the NJ side. As a kid growing up in NY during the 60’s I can still remember that old jingle for
Palisades Amusement Park “Where your dime buys the most, swings all day and
after dark… Ride the coaster and get cool.., in the waves... in the pool, you’ll have fun ..
so … come on over”. Never made it there as we always went to Rye
Beach and Playland Amusement Park
instead. Despite it being the largest
amusement park of it’s time -or perhaps because of it creating traffic
problems in the local communities – it officially
closed in 1971 with the land sold off to developers.
Passing Grant's tomb and Church on the River
Palisades Cliffs
Easy cruising
Leaving the Big Apple in our wake
A tranquil ride continued as we approached the NEW Tappan Zee Bridge. Quite a site seeing large portions of the
old bridge sitting on barges and remnants of the old support columns being
dismantled. That old bridge was always a
bit scary so I’m sure passengers are appreciating the new bridge.
Old bridge supports
Part of old bridge span
Approaching new Tappan Zee Bridge
More easy cruising with a surprisingly strong
upriver current giving us a nice push through some fantastic scenery. I know we’re not in the best of the Hudson
valley scenery yet but you can already understand why the area was such a draw
to landscape artists in the 1800’s. We made
it to Croton on Hudson and Half Moon Bay Marina by 1PM after a 6 hour cruise
that was as varied as anything we’ve seen in one day. We’ll rest here a few days and explore the
area with a rental car.
Half Moon Bay Marina at Croton on Hudson
Journey for June 4
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