Here is a map referring everyone to our cruising route into New York City. Freedom's Turn and Queen Ann's Revenge stayed the night before on a mooring ball at Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island via the Richmond Yacht Club. The next day we entered the New York Harbor!We began our day by cruising under the Verrazano-Narrow Bridge getting a first look at Coney Island, the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline straight ahead. We then cruised over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, as indicated by our yellow star on the map. They are located on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River.
Then we passed Manhattan on our port and headed up the East River to the Brooklyn Bridge, then turned around to go back to the tip of Manhattan, known as the Battery, to pay our respects to where the World Trade Center Twin Towers once stood. The Twin Towers were once the first landmark as you entered from this location, we had read. The area is known as Ground Zero today. Charlie and I had a mixture of feelings on this day that went from excitement, pride, and personal acomplishment to sadness when we saw the gaping hole in the Manhattan skyline.
Last, we headed north up the Hudson as indicated on the map.
Both boats chose not to stay in the city for a variety of reasons. We both have been in the city before and wanted to keep moving. It is very expensive to stay in a marina here and the wakes from the ferries and other watercraft can produce choppy anchorages and moorings.
We could have taken a bus and a ferry into the city from our Staten Island mooring spot by going ashore in the tenders that come back and forth to the moored boats staying with the Richmond Yacht Club. But with mixed feelings, we wanted to get ahead of the June 6-13, 400 year celebration of Henry Hudson's trip up the Hudson River. A flotilla of at least five Tall Ships and several hundred pleasure boats boats were about to journey up the Hudson and we wanted to get ahead of them because we heard the places to stay on the water were going to be packed. We read that there were many activities planned along the Hudson River to Albany for the entire next week.
Luckily for us, in the next few days as we headed northbound on the Hudson River, we got to see three of the Tall Ships in the Floatilla when they passed us, making their way southbound to New York City for the Blessing of Boats at the Statue Of Liberty on June 5.
First, an explanation of our present location.
At this writing, it is Monday, June 8 and we have completed a three day stay in Albany New York at the Albany Yacht Club, right on the Upper Hudson River. We have been on the Hudson River for eight days now total. We have been on the go since Baltimore and needed a place to tie up, do chores, rest, and take in a little more sightseeing by land.
Arriving in Albany, we worked for two days straight promising ourselves a free day on the third day. We rented a car for the three days to run around in and it was great.
Linda caught up on her chores consisting of basic cleaning inside of the boat, six loads of laundry, major grocery provisioning, Walmart, journal updates, washed the exterior of boat along with a cleaning and polishing of the strataglass on the upper helm bimini and last, cleaned and polished all the external stainless steel.
Charlie also caught up with speciality chores because of now going from saltwater to fresh water. These items included changing zincs, cleaning the bilge, changing the transmission fluid, cleaning out the shower sump, cleaning the sea strainer for the air conditioner and the engine.
But today was our free day! About an hour ago, Charlie and I returned back "home" to the boat from a 12 hour sightseeing day back south along the Hudson via land with our rental car. It was a very satisfying day to see the land side of the water scenes we saw from the past three days. The next blog will be about our experiences and observations from June 2-8 on the beautiful Hudson River, both on and off the water!
June 1, 2009, Day 300, Staten Island, New York
Here is the view going into mooring ball night in the Great Kills Harbor at Staten Island. "Great Kills" means "Great River" in Dutch. The Dutch were primarily the first settlers in the entire Hudson River area.
We wanted to go ashore so we called the launch service and this young man came to pick us up in only five minutes. The service runs every day from 9AM -11PM taking boaters back and forth to shore. The service is included in the cost of the mooring ball.
We called our friends Lew and Florrie who live close by in Key Port , NJ and met for a delicious Greek dinner nearby. Charlie and I shared the same dock with them for several weeks at our marina at Elbow Cay in the Abacos. Florrie is an accomplished acrylic painter of animals and landscapes and Linda has enjoyed keeping in touch with her new found artist friend. Lew and Florrie have a sailing catamaran and are experienced sailors.
Charlie checking the oil from the engine; getting ready for the trip up the Hudson river.
This photo shows how we tied up to our mooring ball. We use an old line for this, not our regular lines.
June 2, Entering the NYC Harbor! Oh, what a ride we are about to experience! This view is showing the west side of the Hudson River with New Jersey in the center of the picture. You can just barely see the Statue of Liberty in the distance on the left but there she is! Ellis Island is not shown in this photo or on the map but is just north of the Statue of Liberty; the same side of the river (the New Jersey side.)
Queen Ann's Revenge is ahead of us. The Narrows Bridge is behind us.
There are five boroughs of New York; Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. Queens is the only borough not shown on the map above. It is located north and east of Brooklyn.
The following paragraph is taken from Dozier's Waterway Guide Book; Great Lakes 2005.
New York City is the largest city in the United States with a population of more than 8 million people. The City is the world's most important center for global finance and communications and is unrivaled in cultural events and entertainment in the western hemisphere.
Hank and Charlie planned carefully to go in with the currents and tides flowing out. The wakes from the many boats made them require their full attention. (except when Ann and Linda directed them to pose for a quick photo while the boats kept moving in the busy harbor!)
Since 9-11, if this day would have been a high security day from the department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard could have required us to call in ahead before entering the harbor.
New York Waters are deep and well marked here which helped our captains greatly.
Linda and Ann took the pictures and at the same time watched for any potentially bad floating debris. Cruising this harbor was exhilarating to say the least.
The Statue of Liberty. Our lady of liberty stands for democracy, freedom and opportunity and is breathtaking to see whether one is on land or water. We got the lump in our throat and felt very proud to be an American. The Statue of Liberty is 152 feet high and sits on top of a 98 foot pedestal. Her official title is "Liberty Enlightening the World." French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi is her creator and in 1886, France presented her to the United States as a gift for the friendship the two countries had shared since the American Revolution.
Since 9-11, no one can go up inside past the height of the pedestal and no vessel can get closer than 300 feet to her in the water.
Freedom's Turn navigating the busy NYC harbor. A Staten Island Ferry whisks behinds us.
What a view of the tip of Manhattan. The very tip is known as the "Battery." In 1693, there was a British battery of 92 guns placed on this tip to defend the city from the French. You can see the opening in the skyline in the left of the photo where the Twin Towers once stood.
Just past the Statue of Liberty going north, we cruised past Ellis Island. Millions of immigrants have come through here for a new life; including my maternal great grandparents from Germany! Another proud moment for us. The Moorish towers and minarets have a kind of fairy castle look!
Below, we are going past the Battery (the low greenish building in the front) in Manhattan. Notice the gap where the 9-11 bombing took place. (on the left in the photo) It made us feel very somber and sad.
Now called "Ground Zero," there is a 16 acre work site here with a two story, "see through" work fence we could see but it is not visable in this photo.
Freedom's Turn going past Pier 17 on the East River going north towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Wall street buildings in the background..JPG)
The Brooklyn Bridge with the city of Brooklyn in the background. Do you see the smallness of Freedom's Turn in the center! We are coming back from going under the bridge here; heading back towards Manhattan.
A majestic view as I looked back for a close up photo.
Going north on the Hudson River near the Bronx. A pretty red tug. Hoboken, New Jersey in the background.
This photo was taken last of the next three pictures. This one shows us leaving the City, heading northbound up the Hudson River. We are looking backwards and seeing the George Washington Bridge. This is the location on the water where the pilot of the plane that crashed into in the Hudson approached as he flew south, just before crashing his plane in the water on the other (north) side of the George Washington Bridge. He safely landed his plane and it was considered a miracle.
The photo above we took of the southern side of the G.W.bridge BEFORE we cruised under it, to show where the plane actually came down. The photo below we took first out of the three, and it shows Pier 90 where the authorities moved the plane afterwards.
We know these facts because while we were on the radio with Hank and Ann wondering where the plane went down, a captain from a commercial boat heard us and radioed us back with the information.
Before we left the City, we were all delighted to see the first of the Tall Ships that would parttake in the floatilla celebrating Henry Hudson's historic voyage; 1609-2009 later in the week. This ship is known as the "Clearwater." Henry Hudson's ship was the "Halve Maen" in Dutch or "Half Moon' in English. We actually got to see the authentic replica of the Half Moon the next day during our cruise up the lower Hudson River.
We know these facts because while we were on the radio with Hank and Ann wondering where the plane went down, a captain from a commercial boat heard us and radioed us back with the information.
Before we left the City, we were all delighted to see the first of the Tall Ships that would parttake in the floatilla celebrating Henry Hudson's historic voyage; 1609-2009 later in the week. This ship is known as the "Clearwater." Henry Hudson's ship was the "Halve Maen" in Dutch or "Half Moon' in English. We actually got to see the authentic replica of the Half Moon the next day during our cruise up the lower Hudson River.The next week would be on the Hudson River with our destination to Albany, NY.
Sincerely,
Linda and Charlie
