New York and Jersey City

Sunday, August 7:  Today, we left City Island at 8 am, with a 15 kt wind on our nose and a steady light rain from  grey overcast skies. 

We could see the New York City skyline off in the distant gloom. 

Our departure time was selected so we could motor through Hell Gate on the East river with the current running with us.  By the time we got there, the rain had stopped and there was some blue sky starting to appear.

We found that the current was indeed pushing us along but somewhat faster than we expected.  In fact, we saw boat speeds over the bottom of up to 11 kt.  11 kt!  

I am guessing that our water speed was no more than 5.5 or 6 kt, so the current must have been running at about the same speed, giving us the extra push.

It really was not a problem.  The water was swirling noticeably in places, but the channel was fairly wide, making navigation quite manageable.  It was only when we looked at the shoreline racing by that we could tell that we were going really fast.

After making it through Hell Gate, we then motored down the west side of Roosevelt Island,  then came around the south end of Manhattan, passing by the UN building and under the Manhattan bridge and the Brooklyn bridge. 

We also  got our first glimpses of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Empire State Building.  Wow!  We are really sailing in New York City!

We then went a short distance up the Hudson R. to Liberty Landing marina at Jersey City, NJ, and took a slip that Stephanie had reserved for us.

We settled in and then walked a half mile to a bike rental stand and the Bottlenose crew rented bikes.  Then, all five of us rode the Liberty Landing ferry over to the Manhattan financial center for lunch.  We sat outside under thick shade trees at “Southwest NY”, looking out over all the activity on the Hudson. 

There were ferries zooming around in every direction.  Add, commercial tugs with barges and recreational boats and it was a zoo.  The water on the Hudson was in perpetual turmoil from all the boat wakes, yet, out “playing in traffic” were two kayakers.  How they could handle the rough water and not get run down by a ferry was beyond me.

After lunch, Stephanie and Lance took us inside a nearby building that had a great vantage point for seeing the construction of the new Freedom Tower on the site of ground zero for the 9/11 attack.

Then, they went back to work on their boat, while the rest of us went for a bike ride along the Manhattan shore of the Hudson.  We got as far as the aircraft carrier museum, Intrepid.

By now, the day was hot and steamy, so after riding an hour or so, we had had enough and took the ferry back to our boat.

Back on the boat, we worked on cleaning it up, inside and out, since this was the first marina we have stayed in for a while.  We had earlier filled our fuel and water tanks.

We met Eric, who came on board MerSea today to help them stand the necessary 24-hour watches during our overnight ocean leg that starts tomorrow.

All six of us had dinner at Liberty House, just a few steps from our marina.  It was a little expensive, but the food was good.

It was still steamy outside but cooler.  No matter – we have our A/C units humming and it is comfortable in the boat.