HELLO LADY LIBERTY 8.29.2017

We are sitting at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City. This is the first morning in sometime that the weather is a bit iffy - cloudy and cool and radar shows chance of rain. This will be our third day in New York. We came down the Hudson and the tree lined river suddenly turned urban/industrial.

West Point as seen from the Hudson - note BEAT AIR FORCE on roof.

West Point

Tappan Zee bridge under construction across the Hudson river.

Tappan Zee bridge across the Hudson

We passed West Point and The Tappan Zee bridge which was under constructions. There were numerous barges sitting in the middle of the river anchored, presumably waiting for the tide to turn so they could continue their journey. We started to see the high rise buildings of the city and then just above the buildings on the right side, I saw the top of Lady Liberty. I got so excited I started to yell.

We got to Liberty Landing Marina too early to check in because we left Haverstraw at 6:00 am to make the best use of the current. This was a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Had we left later we would have been motoring against a 1.5 knot tidal current. But since we left early, we got here before the people in our transient dock space left. This is much like a hotel with a check in and check out time. So we motor sailed around the New York harbor for a while. There was a lot of ferry traffic which means lots of wakes. For the most part this was fine but when Bob tried to get the perfect picture of the statue of Liberty he lost his balance when a nearby ferry wake lurched our boat sideways. The good news is that he wasn’t launched overboard because he was thrown into the side curtain of the dodger. The bad news was that the impact ripped the end of the zipper holding the sections of the dodger together. Thank G-d Bob was fine and so was my phone that he was holding. After a call to Dan Elliott – our friend and sail maker - and thanks to my minimal sewing skills - we fixed the dodger.

After about 45 minutes I called the marina again and they said we could come in. Trekker went right to the dock and we went to the gas dock to pump out the holding tank and top off our fuel. Their regular pump out was not working (A very common phenomena) but they had a pump out boat that the dock hand, Lakeel (not sure of the spelling on this one) brought over. I had never seen a pump out boat before. They have many live-a-boards docked here so when they need to pump out their holding tanks they don’t have to leave their docks, the pump out boat comes to them; a very cool concept.

When we pulled into the marina channel, the gas dock was full so we had to wait our turn – trying to hold the boat steady in the channel against current and wind. After about a half hour of waiting off to the side near the fuel dock, being yelled at once by an exiting boat for being in the center of the channel and 45 minutes at the gas dock, we safely pulled into the slip next to Trekker. We had been carrying the dinghy behind the boat with the help of a special device (the Dinghy-Tow) but this marina charges by boat length plus appendages rather than just boat length - so in order not pay an extra $200 we had to take the dinghy off the back of the boat and pull it next to the bow. Had we not done that, the dinghy would have been sticking out beyond the end of the dock and since the distance between the docks is minimal, we could not leave it out even had we been willing to pay the extra money – which we were not.

On ferry to city from Jersey City

So we arrived in New York on Sunday – and this was the only day we could visit with Monica and Loren, Bob’s brother and sister-in-law. We took the ferry from Jersey City to the Battery and then a subway up to Greenwich Village. All four of us had foot massages, French fries at a special (French Fries only) restaurant and then a delicious Italian dinner at Monte’s. It was so nice to be able to talk and catch up. The massage was something I would not have done in Cleveland, but it was relaxing and rejuvenating.

Monday morning I tried to stay in bed as Bob did some boat chores – cleaning out the shower drain, bilge strainer and drying out the bilge. Boat projects are his way of relaxing as reading is mine. Bob also made breakfast, first time since we left home, although he is the coffee maker most mornings. We showered using the marina facilities – we are docked very close to the showers and they are clean, not claustrophobic and lovely.

World trade center

Early in the afternoon we took the ferry from Jersey City to the city to see the 9/11 memorial and museum. The museum and pools surrounding the building are awe inspiring. I found it difficult to see some of the exhibits inside, and can only imagine how hard it must be for the people from New York who lived through the events to see the exhibits - seeing all of the artifacts that they have assembled, pieces of the buildings, the airplanes, shoes of people who were running from the scene, pictures of people jumping from the buildings…… There were also two short films that were made specifically for the museum that capture the feeling of world leaders that were particularly good. Weird to see President Bush, Prime Minister Blair and the leader of Pakistan (can’t remember his name) speaking about the events. Bush looked so presidential compared to Trump – imagine.

One of two fountains at Trade Center

We had a delicious dinner at the Merchants River House overlooking the Hudson.

View of the Hudson from Merchant's River House

Actually, my dinner was not so great but that was more a function of what I selected as everyone else enjoyed their meals. I find myself missing salads, as it is difficult to keep fresh veggies for salad on the boat without things spoiling and I don’t’ find myself making salad for lunch – more sandwiches, yogurt parfaits and apples with cheese or peanut butter. So dinner time, I enjoy a good salad. For this one, the actuality was not as good as the concept.

WE took a ferry back to the boat and plan on going to a play tonight. More later.