The Big Apple

On Wednesday, June 5^th we were ready to depart Tuckerton, NJ.  It was a beautiful morning; we knew that we had a short weather window in which to move on to our next destination, Staten Island, New York.  We departed early with the high tide in order to have the most water underneath us.  Our route was planned using the track from our chart plotter, like using virtual breadcrumbs when we came into the marina.  This was a good plan; however, the chart plotter only used waypoints and erased our original track.  So…..  with Leslie using her binoculars to pick up the buoys and Harry using the chart plotter and depth gauge we were able to carefully pick our way back out the way we had come through Little Egg Inlet and into the Atlantic Ocean.

Light Station at Little Egg Inlet

Once out of the inlet, we headed north.  Happy to be once again on our way we enjoyed the ride.  As we rounded Sandy Hook, New Jersey and headed into Great Kills Harbor we could see the Freedom Tower in the distance.  Having traveled 97 miles we were ready for a quiet evening.  As we entered Great Kills, we were stunned by the level of devastation still evident from Super Storm Sandy.  Most of the mooring balls were empty in this harbor which would normally be full this time of year.  It is one thing to see the devastation on the news, seeing it firsthand nearly eight months later is something else entirely.

Mooring Field in Great Kills Harbor

In the morning we dropped the mooring and headed up the Hudson River traveling under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, reported to be the world’s longest suspension bridge with a center span of 4,260 feet.
 

West Bank Light

Verrazano Narrows Bridge

We then passed the Statue of Liberty which welcomed us into the harbor, the island of Manhattan glistening in the sunshine ahead.  

Lady Liberty

We continued up the Hudson to Lincoln Harbor where we had reservations.  Our friends, Bob and Martine Fee soon arrived and took us to their lovely apartment which overlooks Midtown Manhattan. We had a delightful lunch then headed into the city to tour the 9/11 Memorial.  It was a beautiful and poignant reminder of the horror of that day.  We felt fortunate to be able to visit this site to see it for ourselves.  We found the “survivor tree”, with its amazing story of struggle and perseverance.

Freedom Tower

Memorial Pool

 

Survivor Tree

  












The next two days were very busy.  Harry had another project on the boat; they say that cruising is “maintenance in exotic places”, we have found this to be true.  The project required a couple of runs to the hardware store and Bob graciously provided transportation.  Martine took Leslie and Hali to “Woofie Pet” where Hali had an appointment with the groomer.

Exhausted After Her "Day of Beauty"

In the evening Bob and Martine picked us up for dinner at Fontana di Trevi in Leonia, a fabulous Italian restaurant, their original location in Manhattan is said to have inspired Billy Joel to write “a bottle of red, a bottle of white”.  During dinner we noticed police and fire activity on the street outside.  One fireman walked through the restaurant while we were finishing our meals.  We were curious as to what was going on.  It turned out there was a gas leak at the building on the corner, the streets were closed for a block in all directions and we were in the center of this closure! We enjoyed tiramisu and cappuccino at Bob and Martine’s after dinner.  The idea was to enjoy their stunning view of the city by night but it was raining so hard that we couldn’t see across the river.  Tropical Storm Andrea had arrived.  It poured all night!

View From our Boat During a Brief Break in the Storm

We are very grateful to Bob and Martine for their help and for the wonderful time we had with them while we were there.

After the Storm

We enjoyed one last evening together before we headed on up the river on a bright and beautiful day, waving as we passed their apartment. 

Their Apartment (on the left) As Seen From the Hudson