New York Lights and Sights!
23 August 2017 | New York City
Barbara/warm
One 15 Brooklyn Marina- Brooklyn, NY
Thursday, July 27-July 30
Nearly eight weeks after leaving Florida we reached a significant sailing milestone- New York Harbor! Cruising friends have told us seeing Lady Liberty from our boat would be an unforgettable experience. The Lady did not disappoint! Her size (305 feet from base to torch), beauty and majesty can only be truly appreciated when you get up close. It is even more impressive approaching her from your own boat! Another item checked off our Bucket List!
Before entering our marina, we took a short tour around the harbor passing by Governor's Island and Ellis Island. It was a bit of a bumpy ride. There were several huge ferries and numerous water taxis in the harbor as it was the early evening commute. Rush hour traffic on the water! Once we were docked we realized the wakes generated by these nearly round the clock ferries and taxis were so strong you sometimes felt you were NOT securely tied to a pier but in open waters.
Although we only had two and a half days in NYC we packed in as many activities as we could. Manhattan is one of my favorite cities - love the dynamic energy of the people, interesting restaurants, Broadway, museums and of course shopping. Somehow we got to work in all of these except the museum visit- the Frick Museum closed just as we arrived on Saturday afternoon.
The famous Brooklyn Bridge was just a few blocks from the marina. On Friday, we walked across with hundreds of other tourists. The views were awesome. Bridge trivia: A Prussian-born engineer, John Augustus Roebling, had the dream of building the suspension bridge to make the commute easier for Brooklyn residents working in Manhattan. While taking measurements for the future bridge in 1869, he sustained a crushing injury to the foot and passed away from tetanus. His son, Washington Augustus Roebling, took over but he too had bad luck. He developed "caisson disease" (similar to the bends) and was confined to bed in his Brooklyn Heights apartment in view of the bridge. A third Roebling stepped in as the de facto chief engineer, Washington's wife Emily Roebling. She took command of the project and is widely recognized as a pioneering female engineer and driving force behind the bridge. Mrs. Roebling was the 1st human to cross the historic bridge. A week before its official opening she rode across in a carriage with a rooster, a symbol of good luck, sitting in her lap.
Another highlight of our brief visit was attending the Broadway show, Bandstand, a musical set amidst the 1940's swing scene. Andy Blenkenbuehler, who rose to prominence as the choreographer of Hamilton, did a stunning job as both director and choreographer of this production. We were on the 3rd row and had a terrific view of the outstanding choreography!
New Yorkers love their green spaces and there are more of them then you may realize. Of course, the most well-known is Central Park covering over 800 acres. We spent most of Saturday there enjoying the beautiful weather along with thousands of New Yorkers and visitors. Later that afternoon we cooled off with ice cream in Trump Tower. I was surprised by the number of people wandering around the first two floors and expected security to be tighter.
Along the way, Pete and I have been sharing our thoughts on favorite stops. One mutually cherished New York memory is sitting in the cockpit after dusk watching the sparkling lights of the skyscrapers. The stunning views of the Manhattan skyline were mesmerizing perhaps enhanced a bit by the wine we were drinking!
Far too soon our stay in this port of call was over. Our next challenge was navigating Hell Gate .This well known area (at least to mariners) is the mid-point of the 14-mile long East River between tip of Manhattan (roughly where we were) to river's end at the entrance to Long Island Sound. Pete timed our departure carefully to take advantage of the current created by the opposing tides of the East River and Long Island Sound for our passage through Hell Gate. All went as planned through the tidal race. Marco Polo gave us a good ride at over 9.3 knots! Our typical cruising speed is around 7.0-7.5 knots.
After 2 ½ busy days, we were on our way to Long Island Sound looking forward to a slower pace for the next couple of weeks in the picturesque seaport towns of the Sound. Thanks for staying tuned.
Take care,
Barbara and Pete
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P.S. Check out the New York Photo Album