New York City Area

Monday, June 14, 2010

040-43.560 N
074-1.860 W

Ahoy from the NY/Jersey City area!

Wow, what an intense 3 days it's been! I'm not sure what gave out first...my feet or my wallet, but it's time to get out of here. Actually, we've had a great time in the area and despite what people say about New Yorkers, everyone that we've been in contact with has been very friendly and we've actually been quite impressed at how relatively clean the city has been. I suppose that it helps that I'm not wearing Boston Red Sox gear or a Yankees Suck t-shirt...

Last Friday we left a Brewer's marina in Manhasset Bay and headed up the remainder of the Long Island Sound. Based upon what you read, you need to pass through an area known as Hell Gate at slack tide to avoid strong currents which can run at up to 5 kts. Our timing was perfect and we even had about 1+ kt of current going with us. I was also surprised at how little traffic we encountered on the East River. Other than a few tug boats with loads and a 132' sailboat doing 15+ kts and throwing up a huge wake, it wasn't bad at all.

The trip along the East River is quite enjoyable. You pass along Manhattan and are presented with great views of the Upper East Side, the UN, Empire State building, Chrysler building, Brooklyn bridge and the financial district. Once you're through there, you're in the Hudson River, where there's a LOT more traffic and you really have to pay attention. We headed down to the Statue of Liberty and then cruised by Ellis Island on our way to the Newport marina in Jersey City.

The Newport Marina is a nice marina with a wake problem. It's very convenient to lots of services, but the ferry wakes can be a bit overwhelming. The wakes start at 6 AM and are intense during the rush hour period and you can get rolled 20 degrees side to side at worst. They don't put sailboats side to side as their rigging can get caught in one another. The good news is that a night it's pretty calm. One of the nice things about the marina is that it's located right next to a PATH subway station which takes you right into NYC. It's only $1.75 each way and we took it to 33rd and Broadway, which is highly convenient to the city. From there you can hop on the NYC subway system or hoof it, as we typically did.

On our first day we went to the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, the UN, Times Square (for some sensory overload) and Macy's. Believe me, that's a lot of walking for an afternoon. To keep those feet sore, we set out on Saturday and went to the World Trade Center site, wandered down to Wall Street (the weekend is not a good time to tour the financial district if you want a tour), went to China Town for lunch where we ate at one of the few restaurants with an English menu and then we went to the Rockefeller Center which is where the NBC studios are located. That pretty much had us worn out, so we headed back to the boat.

One of the things that has become apparent is that having just 1 laptop on board isn't sufficient with me processing photos and video. Our old laptop is having power problems, so we decided to get a new laptop for Sue. I've done a lot of business with B&H Photo and feel very comfortable with them, so on Sunday morning we headed to their store. Let me tell you, I've never seen a store like this before. It is 2 floors of non-stop cameras, video, computers, electronics, telescopes, you name it and all of the counters are linked by computer controlled conveyor belt systems that move your purchases to a centralized pickup area. Believe me, it's truly amazing and if you like any of this type of equipment, you need to stop here.

On Sunday afternoon we headed back into the city to see The Addams Family on Broadway. This had just opened up in April and has been getting great reviews. We were able to obtain some great seats (row N, center) and we really enjoyed the show. Nathan Lane (Gomez) and Bebe Neuwirth (aka Morticia/Lilith from Cheers) were wonderful as was the rest of the cast and the sets. After that we wandered down to Radio City where the Tony's were being held and watched the stars arrive. A light rain forced us home and my feet were thankful.

Today we're headed up the Hudson river, and as I'm not 100% where we'll stop, I had better get busy and research that. So, so long from now from the crew of the BlueJacket!

-- Geoff & Sue

Log ID: 1359