The Big Apple to Atlantic City

10/9/13 - Into New York Harbor - During Daylight!
We got underway early from Haverstraw this morning at 0745 to motor down the rest of the Hudson on a strong ebb tide that gave us 8+ knots over the ground. With this kicker we quickly passed under the Tappan Zee bridge and on to the George Washington Bridge. We arrived in the NYC harbor during lunch hour and there was not a lot of water taxi activity today. For those of you who followed our blog from last season, you'll remember that we mistakenly motored into NYC harbor at night with millions of lights on both sides of the harbor and water taxis criss-crossing our path. We definitely did not want to repeat that! The weather was somewhat windy and cool but we were warm in our new "solarium" cockpit enclosure. By 1400 we were tied up to dock D10 at Liberty Landing Marina where we planned to stay for up to a week since there was a big nor-easter blowing along the New Jersey coast with gales and rain in the forecast. In our slip, however, the weather was less rainy and not as windy as forecast. We busied ourselves trying to put the mainsail onto the mast furler but were in a cross wind and so it would not raise. Frustrated, Jeff lowered it and tied it off so we could try again in the morning. We had dinner onboard and watched a couple episodes of Downton Abbey.

 Ongoing construction at the Tappan Zee Bridge

 Approaching the George Washington Bridge and NYC skyline

 Cruise ship Aida entering NYC

 Yikes! Speeding water taxi close on our starboard bow!

 They pass really close and ignore their massive wakes!

NYC slowly lights up across the Hudson

10/11/13 - With Pamela at the Guggenheim
We got up early to bend on the sails before Jeff's call at 0900. The wind was still blowing on our beam so we moved the boat to the gas dock by 0730. On our first try we got the "main" almost to the top where it stuck mysteriously. After a big AH-HA! Jeff realized that the sail in the main sail bag was actually the jib sail and, embarrassed for not noticing the night before, he pulled out the jib sail bag which contained the real mainsail. After some coaxing and with Neala grinding hard on the winch, (REALLY hard, she says!!) both sails were ready for sailing again (and no more mention of Neala's Hudson grounding - we were even). By 10:30 we were on the Liberty Landing water taxi heading for the World Trade Center ferry dock. There was rain in the forecast and gusty winds but the radar did not show rain so we traveled light. After a bit of confusion in the subway station as to how to get to the Guggenheim Art Museum we finally ended up on the wrong side of Central Park and so we took a taxi the rest of the way to meet with Neala's childhood girlfriend Pamela Wood. They were adding a new exhibit so we did not have the whole museum to view but we had lunch with Pamela's friend Jennifer before touring the Motherwell and Kandinsky exhibits. Jeff's pretty sure he doesn't understand Abstract Expressionism, but Pamela (who is an accomplished artist) likened it to the various forms of jazz music and that struck a chord (no pun intended!) with Jeff. Neala, of course, is happy any time she's in an art museum. Oh, btw, Jeff and Neala have a tally system of visiting art museums/galleries vs. touring old Naval vessels. Jeff still owes Neala, hence the Guggenheim!

 The new WTC tower still under construction is magnificent

 Guggenheim Museum spiral walkway by Frank Lloyd Wright

 Looking down is interesting too

 Jeff & Neala at the Guggenheim (photo by Pamela)

 Neala loves the interesting patterns of old NYC architecture

Especially when it is reflected in the new

10/12/13 - With Christian and Jeanette and Friends in Brooklyn
Neala's son Christian and his fiancee Jeanette took the train down from Connecticut and we met in Grand Central Station shortly after noon. Christian's childhood friend and Neala's cub scout trooper Jon met us there and we had some lunch at a Lexington Avenue deli. Jon is a computer programmer so he and Jeff enjoyed sharing some tech talk. After eating, we met up with Kelsey, who went to Montessori school with Christian and whose mother is a dear friend of Neala's, and Jon's girlfriend, Laura, and took the East River ferry to Brooklyn to hang out for a while in Williamsburg. While there we all piled into a booth at a pub, drank a few interesting beers and had a lot of laughs. Afterwards, we took the train back to Manhattan and Neala, Jeanette, Christian & Jeff went to PJ Clarkes on North Cove Marina for some dinner timing it perfectly for the last water taxi back to Liberty Landing. When we arrived at the ferry terminal, however, it was closed! So we walked back to the WTC area and took the PATH train that runs under the Hudson to Grove Street and we lucky to get a taxi back to the marina. What a great day in the city!

 Subway musicians serenade us heading uptown

 Interesting traffic flows in front of Grand Central Station

 Neala & Kelsey on the East River Ferry

 Left to right: Jon, Laura, Christian, Jeanette & Kelsey crossing the East River

 Christian & Jeanette in Williamsburg Pub

 The whole gang at the Williamsburg Pub

Jeanette & Christian on the train back to the marina

10/13/13 - Some Assembly Required
Christian and Jeanette took an early water taxi back to Manhattan after coffee to catch the train north to Connecticut. We spent the rest of the day getting ready for our departure down the New Jersey coast. This entailed completing the installation of the Iridium satellite phone and pulling some cables for the WiFi repeater. We got all of our stuff that had been piled first in the aft cabin, then under the salon table while C&J were aboard, stowed, water tanks filled and everything ready for ocean sailing tomorrow.  We took the water taxi over to Paulus Hook for some last minute provisions. The weather looks favorable for the next 2-3 days for a nice run down the Jersey shore and we didn't want to be stranded in NYC by another nor-easter. We, of course, watched another couple episodes of Downton Abbey - we're hooked, what can we say??

Saying good bye to Christian and Jeanette at the Liberty Landing Ferry

Jeff completing the Iridium SatCom installation. All this makes perfect sense to him, although Neala thinks it is a perfect example of Abstract Expressionism!

10/14/13 - Easy Motor Sail to Manesquan, NJ
The forecasted winds had proven correct and we left our Liberty Landing slip at 0800 to motor out of the New York Harbor on an ebb tide. The sun was just starting to shine on the new WTC  tower and on the Statue of Liberty as we motored by. NY harbor can be a bit daunting with all the ferries criss-crossig, the tugs towing barges, not to mention those gigantic container ships. We passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and headed out into the ocean. It was a beautiful day, but the wind was fairly light so we motor sailed all the way to Manasquan.  We tied up at Hoffman's Marina which is right next to a bascule bridge that periodically opens for small commuter trains. Not only does the train blow it's whistle, but the bridge itself has a siren before opening and closing. This happened all evening until around midnight! The boat was on an end tie and was moving about significantly so Jeff went out to rig another spring line which helped quite a bit. Out there, Jeff called to Neala to come and see the rushing ebb tide current. The dock master told us the next morning that the current there has been clocked at 5 knots during Spring tides. We're sure they were pretty close to that!

 Departing Liberty Landing

 Passing Lady Liberty, by now our old friend

 Sailing out of NYC harbor towards the Narrows

 Entering Manesquan harbor for the night

Sunset in the west made the clouds and the water facing eastward quite spectacular

10/15/13 - Lovely Broad Reach to Atlantic City
0730 - We awoke early as today we had a 53 nm passage and we wanted to get an early start. Pulling out into the ocean into the sunrise was a beautiful sight and once in the Atlantic we found favorable winds at 13-15 kts for an easy broad reach down the coast. This was our first day of actually sailing - no motor! We spent most of the day reading and occasionally looking for other traffic as the sun shown down, the wind pushed us along and the following sea rocked us into a relaxing state. Staying upright in a rolling boat in a following sea definitely requires a lot of abdominal muscles. Neala thinks of it as Boat Pilates! By 1600 we were in sight of the Atlantic City buoy and by 1700 we were safely tied up to a dock enjoying the rest of the evening.

 Sailing on a broad reach towards the Atlantic City skyline

We both had time to read along the way while "Otto" drove the boat