We showered in the boat since the bath house at the Marina wasn't finished. About 11:00 I fired up the big diesels and we turned north. In thirty minutes we covered the 10 miles into Lower New York Harbor. We were passed by huge commercial vessels and we saw hundreds of small boats, from 16 feet to 25 feet, with fishing lines overboard.
As we passed under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge the water was very rough from giant boat wakes. We snaked through dozens of moored barges and then on the the other side, there she was. Lady Liberty, gleaming in the noonday sun.
Please don't laugh at me for having a powerful reaction to this sight. Certainly, as Americans, we have all seen the image for years. On business trips to New York I have flown over the harbor and seen her from the air. But to motor up to her in our own boat, after traveling the entire East coast to get here, was almost an out-of-body experience.
I clamped my camera to the hardtop and set the self timer. I wanted a selfie of this moment. It was a tricky photo to get because of all the boats cris-crossing the bobbing waters near the statue.
After soaking it in for a few minutes, we headed to Liberty Landing Marina which was only 5 minutes away. If you every come here by boat, don't miss this Marina. We had intended to take the water taxi to Manhatten, but instead we enjoyed the environs of the Marina and its fabulous view of lower Manhatten. We soaked in the sunshine from the deck of the boat. We could see Lady Liberty and Ellis Island from the grounds of the Marina. The celebratory cocktail had to be a Manhattan!
Late in the afternoon we watched a beautiful 60-foot wooden motor yacht pull up to the fuel dock. It looked like the Presidential Yacht, Sequoyah. After fueling, it pulled up right next to us! As the captain walked past our transom, I said, "Afternoon, Captain. She's beautiful, is she a Trumpy?" He beamed and said, "She sure is -- 1939, 61-feet. I'm delivering her to Thousand Islands, New York to spend her life as a special events vessel."
Of course we wangled our way on board for a tour. In the master head, Linda said, "I thought you told me you couldn't have a bathtub in a boat!?" The boat's name is "Washingtonian" if you want to look her up online.
All afternoon we watched a young man scurry about his 21-foot racing sailboat, obviously preparing it for an ocean voyage. At one point he was struggling to turn the boat around in the slip and I went over to give him a hand. He thanked me in a heavy French accent. We visited and I learned that he will be sailing the boat to England on Sunday in an attempt to set a record for a solo crossing -- hoping to do it in less than 14 days. Linda asked him what he would eat. I asked him if he had life insurance (well, no I didn't, but I thought it). His name is Oliver Jehl if you want to look him up and read his story.
Friday was forecasted to be a rainy day, so we started planning our day in the Big (Wet) Apple. Linda got on line and bought tickets to the 911 Museum and made a lunch reservation at a trendy restaurant in the Meat Packing District.
Thus day night, we ate dinner in the excellent restaurant adjacent to the Marina and watched the lights of the city emerge from the glow of the sunset.
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