Goodbye New Jersey, Hello New York

Days on cruise:  75

Distance traveled today:  73.8 miles

Travel Time:  7 hrs, 31 mins

Total Trip odometer:  1,709 statute miles

At 6:15 a.m. we slipped our lines and left the marina at Manasquan, NJ. The ocean inlet looked vastly different on departure than it did day before yesterday on arrival.

Manasquan was an attractive little town, we’re told, but between storms and chores, we didn’t see much of it.

The early bird gets the worm. Oh, that analogy doesn’t work in this case? It’s fish they’re after, not worms? We had fairly gentle swells of about 4-5 feet on the beam most of the day. Best to stay on the flybridge with your eyes on the horizon (as Cathryn found out when she went below to prepare some food for us; she returned looking a tiny bit green, first time on this entire trip).

We were only halfway through the days’ journey when we began to see The Big Apple off in the distance.  Goosebumps!

The last lighthouse before entering New York Harbor.  The weather was hazy today, so not the best for photos.  Neither  of us has been in New York since 9/11, and we couldn’t help but remember the azure blue sky we saw on the TV that day.

Traffic in the Harbor was crazy:  enormous freighters, tugs pushing big barges, water taxis, ferries, Coast Guard and police boats, a few pleasure boats like us and lots more. We felt on “high alert” for quite a while, staying out of the shipping channel and avoiding anything that was bigger than we are (and the smaller things too, but mostly it seems the rule is the small guys stay out of the way of the big guys).

Manhattan looms large.

 

Even the sky is busy!

Several people sent us emails in the last few days alerting us that NASA’s  space shuttle Enterprise (which we happened to see at the Kennedy Space Center at the end of March just after we began this Great Loop)  was coming into the New York Harbor some time this week, so we should keep a lookout.  And guess what????? There it is up ahead!

Lady Liberty looms large and proud and thrilling.

 

Somehow coming into New York Harbor and seeing The Lady on your own boat felt very special. It’s hard to describe.

 

Ellis Island is a special place no matter who you are if you’re an American, but it’s also the place where our son-in-law Matt proposed to our daughter Mackenzie in December 2007, so holds a unique place in our hearts.

 

The Freedom Tower looms high over the rest of the city, still under construction.

More iconic landmarks including the Empire State Building.

 

And there it is:  the space shuttle Enterprise on a barge, being transported all the way from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to New York City to its’ new home in a museum, and we coincidentally happened to arrive at just the right time to participate in the flotilla of 100 or more boats escorting it through the Harbor and up the Hudson River. What a sight!

There were fireboats spewing water, tourist boats loaded with gawkers, recreational sail and motor vessels of all sizes, tiny inflatable dinghies, police boats and more, all moving along  at about 3-4 mph, the same speed as the barge.

 

 

 

The George Washington Bridge is lovely to behold.

The bridge at the north end of Manhattan Island.

Density of development drops off quickly as soon as you get north of Manhattan on the Hudson River.

We ended our day tying up at Tarrytown Marina, about 15 miles north of Manhattan and immediately beyond the Tappan Zee Bridge. There are all kinds of boats here, including the one below.  (Justin: does this qualify as a shantyboat????)

After tending to a few chores and business items, we went for a walk on the lovely 1-mile River Walk here in Tarrytown. Tomorrow will be a busy day, so we expect to hit the sack at our usual hour of 9:30 tonight.  We’re so happy to be off the Mighty Atlantic Ocean and into a protected waterway that we think offers no scary challenges for the next leg of our journey!