Day 56 The Big Apple

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We were on a mooring at Port Washington last night,  literally around the corner from the eastern end of the East River. Along the shores going into the marina & town dock are the Hollywood kind of houses with manicured lawns & little hedges planted in formal gardens.

The town dock has 20 moorings that are free for visitors for the first 48 hrs. We snagged the last one available.

The East River winds through New York City and Manhattan, past all the famous landmarks and ending around Staten Island. It is notorious for it's strong & turbulent currents and takes a lot of concentration by the captain.

We left the final decision about whether to proceed through NYC today until this morning when we could check an updated wind forecast. It was a brisk 17-24 kts at Port Washington, but our evening destination of Atlantic Highlands, NJ was supposed to peak at 10-15 then die off.

There are two time frames each day when the tide is running in the same direction we want to move. Going against the tide isn't an option, and too much wind or wind from the wrong direction also makes it very difficult, if not risky.

After discussing the pros & cons ad nauseum as only two engineers can do, we decided to go for it. Of course by then it was the very end of the tidal window, but we had enough time. It went very smoothly and took us 120 minutes  from one end to the other.


First up: Throg's Neck bridge
Then the Bronx
Rykers Island
Harlem
The Upper East Side 
The United Nations
The Chrysler Building (my fav!)
The Empire State Building
The Brooklyn Bridge
And the Statue of Liberty

I was totally a tourist, huh? 😁 I want anyone who read last year's narrative to know that I had no peanut M&M's this time! I had cookies and a cup of tea. LOL. But seriously, it wasn't a traumatic thing this year, however I won't say I'm over my NYC phobia. I still don't want to set foot on land!

We took a left turn at Governor's Island, I took the helm, and we hoisted sails after passing under the Verrazzano Bridge. There was another hour of sailing till we reached Atlantic Highlands,  windy, but uneventful. After hitting the fuel dock, we anchored in our usual spot and breathed a sigh of relief to be able to relax.

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