New York - July 2008
We left the Chesapeake Bay in late June and made our way up the coast of New Jersey and into New York harbor. Traveling up the intra-coastal waterway in New Jersey, we think we've finally figured out why the open steering area on top of a boat is called a 'Fly Bridge.' It's because it gets covered in FLIES when you travel through certain areas. Fortunately, our steering station is down below - where we can safely hide behind windows and screens from the buggers. I shot this picture out our front window somewhere around Great Egg Harbor inlet in New Jersey. Not nice...
Leaving New Jersey, we headed around into New York Harbor. The day started out with a bit of excitement as we left New Jersey out the Manasquan inlet. It didn't seem that windy, but what there was was blowing out of the east towards shore. Unfortunately, at the time we left there was a fairly strong outgoing tide. Two things that don't mix well are a narrow inlet combined with an opposing wind and current. We went out next to another boat and together we bashed through some pretty steep waves to get out of the inlet. I know that there were times when about half his boat was out of the water as he crested over the top of a wave, and based on our motion, I can only guess that he was seeing the same with us. I'd have to guess that the highest waves were approaching 12-13 feet - about what we saw when we got in that nasty weather out on the west coast. The good news here is that this was only close in to shore - it was fine farther out - so we just had to push through it. There was no turning around in those seas - that's how you can roll a boat. Ah the joys of boating...
Once we got out the inlet, we had a pretty smooth ride up around Sandy Hook and into New York Harbor. We ended up staying at the Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island. One of the members there had extended transient docking rights to members of the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruising Association) at the bargain rate of $1 per foot plus $5 for electric. That is unbelievably cheap for New York. We usually stop off at the 79th St Marina on the Hudson river and pay $30 a night for the privilege of rolling around on a mooring ball. This amounted to $39 a night in a nice secure slip WITH complete with power. Life doesn't get much better!
The people at the Great Kills Yacht Club were wonderful. They have a neat little Tiki Bar where several of the members gather during the afternoon into evening. This is what we need on Dock 10 back in Brunswick!! Transportation into the city couldn't be easier. There is an express bus that will take you all the way to Central Park for $5 - or you can take a bus to the Staten Island ferry for $2 and ride the ferry into the city - for FREE!
Jeremy shot the picture below of Nunzio's Pizza from the bus. He has this theory that if you go into an Italian restaurant, you should always ask for Nunzio. The correct answer is "Whicha Nunzio ya want??"
We left Great Kills after spending several days there, and headed past Manhattan up the Hudson River. It was a bit foggy when we left, but we thought it looked like it was clearing - so we left anyway. Not our brightest decision, as it turned out. The fog got heavier as we headed out into the harbor - so that we couldn't even see the Verizano Narrows Bridge. This is a huge bridge that normally visible for miles as you approach NYC. We turned off the channel and drifted for awhile in a relatively shallow area - deep enough for us, but way too shallow for the big ships that run in and out of this busy harbor. When the fog eventually lifted enough for us to have about a mile visibility, we slowly made our way into the harbor. That's a picture of the Statue of Liberty appearing in the mist as we approached Liberty Island.
Leaving NYC and heading north, we spent a couple of nights visiting with our friends Roger and Sally at Roger's Point Yacht Club. Sally has the hots for a jet ski, so she borrowed her friend Alice's to take it for a spin.
The picture to the right below is of Roger and Sally with Driftwood - who is all dressed up in her fancy yellow bikini.
Driftwood, if you can't guess, has a bit of a story. Roger and Sally found Driftwood - drifting, I would presume - somewhere up in Lake Champlain a couple of years ago. Roger gave it to us last year as we were heading south in the fall with the promise that we'd "Show it a good time and bring it back next summer."
The pictures below were taken of Driftwood at the beach in Florida one sunny day day this past February. We sent then to Roger and Sally one day when there was a particularly nasty snow storm up in New York. Wanted to let them know Driftwood was OK and having a good time...
Oh No!! Driftwood has been hit by a rather large wave and knocked down!! Not to worry, Jeremy was there on the spot to rescue Driftwood with much needed CPR. (OK - well maybe we DO have a bit too much time on our hands, or the sun in Florida was particularly hot that day, baking our brains...)
Speaking of Driftwood, we were all sitting on the dock one evening having some beer and wine and snacks with Roger, Sally, and their friends Alice and Lou - when Lou jumps up and starts pointing at this HUGE piece of driftwood (like half a tree) that was floating down the river. He determined that he needed to drag it out of the river before a boat hit it - so off he went on the jet ski. He managed to lasso the beast after a few attempts. We were all sitting on the dock cheering him on and waiting to see if he'd fall of the jet ski while we was trying to lasso it - helpful friends that we are.
He got it and then managed to tow it back to the dock.
This thing was HUGE! Roger used their truck to pull it out of the water. No, we're not taking this one with us when we head south in the fall!!
Roger's Point is very close (maybe a couple of miles) to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Home and Library. There are several buildings on the property and surrounding area - including his family home (shown in the picture to the right below), his library, Top Cottage - the house high up in the hills that he built as a private retreat, and Val Kil Cottage that he build for his wife Eleanor. It's well worth a stop if you get up to this area.
This is the "Freedom Court" which contains busts of Churchill and Roosevelt facing each other together with the sculpture called 'Break Free' which was created by artist Edwina Sandys, granddaughter of Winston Churchill, from portions of the Berlin Wall.
We headed north along the Hudson eventually making our way to Waterford and the start of the Erie Canal. We had hoped to purchase a copy of the New York Canal System's Cruising Guide in Waterford, but I couldn't seem to find a copy of it anywhere. I called the NYC Canal Corp number and was told that I could get a copy if I stopped in at their offices in Albany. This was a bit of a bummer, since we'd already passed Albany on the boat. No problem though, we checked and discovered that we could get there by bus - well 3 busses actually - but it was doable. So off we went one day on a bus trip to Albany to get our cruising guide and see the town.
We arrived an hour and a half later and then had a bit of a time finding the Canal Corp. office - but persistence prevailed and we did find them! We both had to sign in and get temporary badges, but then only one of us could go back and actually get the guide. I guess at this point, I was a little tired and frustrated and I may have vented a bit about having to come all this way for a guide that really should be available for sale somewhere close to the waterway - where folks who need it can more easily get it. They girls in the office seemed really surprised that it wasn't available in Waterford. They apologized and said that we should have been able to get it there. One of the ladies made a call to her boss and told them of our odyssey - and he came out and apologized profusely, offered to give us the guide and then offered to give us a lift back to Waterford. What a nice man! We said that we'd like to see Albany since we'd some this far - and we had all day bus passes so we were fine to get back to Waterford. He ended up taking us into town and giving us a mini-tour before dropping us off in downtown Albany.
There are many beautiful old buildings in Albany, including this old bank building - with it's intricately carved front and this older apartment building with the interesting stonework on the front.
The main administration building for SUNY (State University New York) is in Albany, near the river front - another beautiful old building with lots and lots of intricately carved stonework.
We saw this lovely blue tile painting of Henry Hudson's 'Half Moon' or 'Halve Maen' in which he explored the river which would one day bear his name.
The picture to the right was snapped by a friendly Albanian (?) - well person from Albany - who stopped to chat while we were there. New Yorkers are very friendly, despite what their reputation may be - especially once you get out of that huge city to the south.
We stopped off in Troy on the way back to Waterford and our boat.
Troy is the hometown of Samuel Wilson (1766-1854) - who would come to be known as Uncle Sam.
At the time of the War of 1812, Samuel Wilson was a prosperous middle-aged meat-packer in Troy. He provided large shipments of meat to the US Army, in barrels that were stamped with the initials "U.S."
Supposedly, someone who saw the "U.S." stamp suggested -- perhaps as a joke -- that the initials stood for "Uncle Sam" Wilson. The suggestion that the meat shipments came from "Uncle Sam" led to the idea that Uncle Sam symbolized the federal government.
Over time, it is believed, anything marked with the same initials (as much Army property was) also became linked with his name.
Updated July 28, 2008