It will be a long day today. With the excitement of seeing the Statue of Liberty, crossing our wake and cruising the Hudson along New York City we are hoping the day the time passes quickly. The tide will be against us as well making the journey of 50 plus miles take longer.
Leaving at 7 am we travel back up Sandy Hook and turn into the NYC harbour. The entrance to the harbour is already busy with commercial tankers, ferries, all us early risers, and barge tg traffic. We pass the West End Lighthouse, go under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and can see the city still in the distance. It is a hazy day too. Passing by Brooklyn to our port and New Jersey to our starboard we see the Statue of Liberty standing tall in the morning sun. Even her flame is bouncing light off and looks to glow. As we approach the base Scott puts our boat on Skyhook to keep her in position. Skyhook keeps us in place by monitoring our GPS position and using the engines to keep us stable without a captain. It works brilliantly and we are impressed with its ability. Taking photos of us crossing our wake with our new platinum flag is an unexpected accomplishment. Covid created us doing the loop again and here we are now complete.
As our day continues down the Hudson River we pass many famous sites. Battery Park on the east end of Manhatten, the new Freedom Tower in place of the twin towers, Rockefeller Park where many a movie has been filmed, the retired SS Intrepid aircraft carrier, Empire State Building, Harlem, Washington Bridge and so many more. The river has much traffic moving from one place to another but it is less than we have seen in the past. As we leave the city the Peekskill Mountains begin. The beauty of these ancient Mountains with the new bloomed leaves along the blue/brown of the Hudson is spectacular. We are traveling these waters with several other Loopers who left their various NYC marinas.
At Half Moon Bay Marina we find there are over 30 Looper boats and more coming. The marina is tight but doable. Be sure to radio the dockmaster before getting into the harbour. It is a one way, one boat situation. We are up front on a T head. The marina is close to restaurants, trails and the train to NYC to explore so many of these Loopers will stay longer periods of time. The staff is very helpful and helps us slip in. Heading out for a dock walk to meet the other loopers we are invited to a docktail. We are both tired and need a down day so we stay home. I made stuffed green peppers, checked my next grocery list and Scott rinsed the boat. We made new friends with our slip neighbours, DeeDee and Jon of War Eagle. We hope to meet up with them in a couple days when they head towards the Erie Canal too.
