The Big Apple

We made it to New York City !!! The trip started with some excitement as we exited the Manesquan Inlet into the Atlantic Ocean (there is NO inside route). The waves in the Inlet were huge, we almost buried the bow as we came out and we held our breath as we watched the Eschaton exit. They took water over the front windows of their Gibson, but there was no turning back so they pushed on through the Inlet and into the calmer water in the ocean. We traveled up the New Jersey coast and into the lower harbor of New York. We rocked and rolled pretty much for the whole trip, but it was tolerable and we were excited to see New York. The Verrazano Narrows Bridge marks the entrance to New York Harbor and the Hudson River.

We could see the skyline of lower Manhattan in the distance. This harbor is busy, busy, busy. Ferries, tour boats and commercial craft of all kinds. It was Saturday and we saw more sailboats actually sailing than we've seen in one place the entire trip.

We saw the Statue of Liberty ...

... and then we took turns taking pictures of each other's boats. Here's the shot Eschaton took of Shingebiss ...

... and then this fire boat came by ...

... and then the fire boat drove in front of Lady Liberty and we thought "wow, what a show".

We had plans for a two night stay at Newport Marina and Yacht Club in Jersey City, right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Jersey City is has its own share of skyscrapers, but you can see the marina here at the base of the tall buildings.

This is the view of Manhattan we have from the docks. The "wave barrier" in the picture is supposed to break the wakes from the many huge boats, but it's still one of the bounciest marinas we've ever been in. The waves do settle down at night; the view is worth it and it's spectacular at night.

Diane and Tom (Noah Genda) also came in, so the six of us made plans to take the PATH train, which goes under the Hudson River into Manhattan today. We took a double decker bus tour of "downtown". What a great way to get an overview of this incredible city. Steve and I have never been to NY before and we were amazed all day at the architecture, the people, and the history that was related to us by our tour guides. You can hop off and on the bus at any of the 23 stops, so we got off at the World Trade Center site and St. Paul's Chapel where the congregation coordinated a huge relief effort that lasted for months following the attack. The fence surrounding the church is where all the survivors brought mementos and photos to honor the victims. The chapel has preserved all these and has them on display. It's very moving.

We walked past Wall Street and the famous bull where tourists were all taking pictures. So we did too.

At the south end of Manhattan is Battery Park which has an old fort and the landings for the tour boats to Liberty and Ellis Islands.

We walked to the shore and saw that the harbor water was extremely rough. We were all glad to not be out there in our boats today.

We got back on the bus which took us by many other NY highlights: the UN building, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Madison Square Garden and the neighborhoods: Chinatown, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Little Italy and the Theater District. Wow, we were overwhelmed, but very glad we had taken this tour. We found our way back to the PATH train and our marina in Jersey.

Tonight we continue to enjoy our awesome view and tomorrow we head up the Hudson River.