Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Big Apple

The trip to New York City was uneventful as expected since we had previously made this trip in July 2003 (just before the twin towers came down). We planned the trip through an area called “Hell’s Gate” for slack tide so that our boat would not be swirled around in currents. Large swirling eddies are caused as the Harlem River and Long Island sound both dump together into the East River that moves at more than 4 knots toward Manhattan.

We also anchored (for free) in Liberty State Park and had Lady Liberty watching over our boat during our stay. We toured Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty on one day and took a series of busses, and two trains to attend Sunday Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. After the nice Mass complete with full organ and coral singers, we took the subway (yes, we are fearless) down to Little Italy and had a nice lunch before working our way back to the boat. On this day, we also toured the “Ground Zero” memorial and site and could not believe how it still looks like the initial stages of construction more than 5 years after the tragedy.

We are traveling in company with another Nordhavn 46 (same model as Emily Grace) that came all the way to New England from California (via the Panama Canal). John and Mary are down to earth and it nice being able to have a friendly face in every harbor and to confer with them on weather and passage issues. They have voyaged to the Galapagos Islands on this boat and are a wealth of knowledge on what really works when cruising.

We are now moving through New Jersey and finally truly heading south though waters that are new to us. Unfortunately, someone has turned on the wind machine and we are comfortably sitting in Barnegat harbor with 30 knots of wind whistling through the rigging while waiting for more benign conditions for our next passage.

Tom

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Tom,

It looks like things are going well with you. I enjoy reading your Blog. I was out fishing on a charter boat a few weeks ago and on the way back I was hanging out in the pilot house with the captain. He said the fuel costs were killing him be he uses this fuel addative called Ethos. He said it was expensive but it reduces his fuel consumption by 10%. He said if you do the numbers it saves him some money. Chech it out on the web site http://www.ethosfr.com

I like the New York pictures - I took the Seadoo around Manhatten Island in August, it was a blast. Did you get to see the barge on the East River with all the old subway cars piled on it? It was an interesting sight.

I'm sitting in your old desk doing your old job - it's kind of ironic!!!

Enjoy, Vinny

Sue M said...

Hi Tom, Kim and Emily!
I forgot my password and have had trouble posting.:-( Hope THIS gets through. I requested a new one!)

Ah..Hell's Gate! One of the scarier experiences I have ever had! We went through there on a 27 ft SeaRay. The boat was on a steep angle riding the current. We were full speed ahead and going no where! I looked at our friend driving the boat and asked, "What do we do now?!?" He said "I don't know!" but about that time we punched through it! You were wise to time it well!

Little Italy is a fun place. Since our daughter Nikki lived in NYC for nine years we got pretty good at riding the Subway! Sounds like you had a fun time!

Can't wait to comment on your other posts if this one get's through!
Hugs!
Sue