We had a north wind yesterday and it was fine! At least for a while. We managed to sail for about 4 hours, mostly wing and wing, from the beginning of the Palisades down to mid town Manhattan. We were bucking a flood tide, but it gave us a nice slow look at the spectacles of the skyline, both of Manhattan and of Hoboken.
The previous evening allowed for some exploration of Nyack, which turned out to be a lovely place. Gaining access to shore was a bit problematic, but we met a fellow at a yacht club there who allowed us to tie the dinghy up for a couple of hours. We found the town to be quite busy as we walked up Main Street. Seems to be thriving with tons of eateries, folks on the sidewalks strolling, etc. On our return to the Yacht Club we found the place locked up, so we scaled the chain link fence, ignored any security cameras, and left in our dinghy. Happily, the wind had died down and the anchorage was quite pleasant for the evening.
Transiting New York Harbor in a small boat is quite remarkable. It wasn't bad till we got to the Battery at the tip of Manhattan. From that point on it was utter chaos. The waters were turned into a froth from the intersecting wakes of every imaginable type of vessel proceeding in every direction at flank speed. I can only imagine how many mishaps must have taken place in this area over the centuries. The primary concern would be high speed collisions. There were tugs and barges, tour boats, ferries, kayaks, paddleboards, sailboats, and the resulting bedlam was a sight to behold. I was trying to get my navigation app to download the appropriate chart while Johannah was doing a stellar job on the tiller avoiding multiple ongoing catastrophes. While all of this was going on the air was filled with helicopters taking tourists on a fly by of the Statue of Liberty. The thump thump of rotors would be with us till sunset. We pulled into the Liberty Park anchorage and after several attempts managed to get a good spot. Thankfully, there is no current in this anchorage, and none of the wakes make it in from the main harbor.
There appears to be no safe place to leave a dinghy on shore, but we chained ours to a light pole. I was very apprehensive about leaving it there so after walking about for a bit, I returned to safeguard it while Johannah explored the park. She has determined there is a train of some type that can be taken to Manhattan and on to Penn Station where she will catch the Amtrak. Turns out todays train is fully booked, but she has made a reservation for tomorrow. And, there is a possibility her aunt and uncle will pay us a visit today as they live here in northern New Jersey. So today looks like a day of rest, and probably some puttering around on the boat. Or, maybe a trip into the city, if I can secure the dinghy in a better fashion.
Hi Charlie, Your description of NY Harbor brought back many memories of our time there! Oh, my goodness! It seemed we needed more sets of eyes than the two of ours to keep up with all the movement in the water. SO many boats going so many different ways all at once! Glad you got through it safely!
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