Great Loop Blog | Good News

Day #338 - Catskill, NY

Happy 4th of July!

How lucky we are to be in a beautiful,  free country!

This land was purchased from the Indians in 1682

and the town of Catskill was established in 1788.

Norfolk, VA had their mermaids and Oriental, NC had dragons.  Catskill is very proud of their downtown and their cats.

Henry Hudson…

and Cornocupia, among many others.

This morning we walked to the Farmers Market, which even had entertainment.

It is located at the Point overlooking the Hudson River.

A boat parade went down the river right behind our boats.  They were all decorated for the 4th.

Patti spent all day making and cooking ribs.  They were on the grill for three hours.

And we are really glad she spent the time as they were outstanding!

The fireworks were great and we couldn’t think of a better place to spend the 4th of July than in Catskill, NY during the 400th Anniversary of the Hudson.

Life is good and God Bless America!

Day #337 - Catskill, NY

We left Kingston at 9:00 since we were only traveling 22 miles today to Catskill.  This old tug sits on the shore in Kingston as you pass by.

As we travel up the Hudson River the Catskill Mountains begin to appear in the distance.

Cottages begin to line the shoreline as you enter cottage country.

This lighthouse appears as though someone it attempting to restore it.

The entire Hudson River Valley region of New York State,  is celebrating a significant anniversary. The year 2009 officially marks the 400th anniversary of the European founding by Dutch explorer, Henry Hudson.

We arrived at Catskill Marina at 11:15. It is located .75 miles up the Catskill Creek off of the Hudson.

The marina is nestled in the hillside and looks like a great place to spend the 4th of July.

People are super friendly and they are already getting ready for the 4th of July cook out and fireworks.

Day #336 - Kingston, NY

It was kind of a quite day on our adventure.  We were actually all ready for a “kick-back” day as we have been on the run pretty hard for the past week or so.  We returned the rental car, did a little cleaning and cooking and decided what to try to do on another rainy day.

The excitement was overwhelming as Salvage Crew arrived again.

They had to change slips at the marina as it is filling up for the holiday weekend.  It is beginning to come alive and their little restaurant at the marina opened for business, even though it was raining.

This little boat was here for a few days and I thought it was cute and told the Captain as much.  He replied, “Thanks, want to trade boats?”  Needless to say, I declined.  It was built in 1997 and is made of plywood covered in fiberglass.

After all of our chores were done, Patti and I watched “Sex in the City…The Movie” on their aft deck.  It was a great chick flick and a wonderful way to spend a lazy, rainy day.  By the time the movie was over, the sun had come out and it was a beautiful summer day.

We will be moving to Catskill, NY tomorrow.

Day #335 - Kingston, NY

Last night we decided to pick up the rental car at 8:00 in the morning which Patti and I did.  Brad was having a hard time remembering what time we were planning on coming back to pick him up so Andy gave him a gentle reminder.

We picked him up and did the usual trip to Walmart to provision.  We really stocked up as this is probably the last chance we will have before entering Canada and with the prices you want to buy as little as possible while there.

We came back, unloaded and picked Andy up.  Our first stop was about 20 miles away in Hyde Park.  It is the former home of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.  We toured the Visitor Center and Patti had a nice garden side chat with the guests of honor.

This was the first Presidential Library.

Their home sits high above the Hudson River.

This was a sign that I remember seeing as a child and it frightened me every time I saw it.

The Carriage House sits beside the house

in Eleanor’s beloved rose garden.

They are both buried in the rose garden.

These statues sit behind the Presidential Library and are made from remnants of the Berlin Wall.

Our next stop was about two miles away to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).   This was a fantastic stop for the foodies that we are.  It was established in 1946 to provide culinary training to World War II veterans.  It moved in 1972 to its present location in a former Jesuit seminary.  Today there are approximately 2,800 students enrolled at one time.

This picture is outside their reception area

and this is inside.

As you take your student guided tour you pass many working classrooms.

Their grounds are amazing.

The campus includes such areas as the Durkee Herb Garden

where even their planters are potted with herbs and this one with tomatoes

and the Conrad Hilton Library.

The college operates five student-staffed restaurants.  The one below is their Italian restaurant.

We ate at St. Andrews cafe and the meal was truly outstanding.

Some of their distinguished alumni include Cat Cora, Todd English and Sara Moulton.  It is truly a food lovers paradise and we were really pleased that we went.

Day #334 - Kingston, NY

We were out on the water at 7:00 this morning after a peaceful night in Tarrytown.  This lighthouse sits in the Hudson River just outside the marina.

Today we traveled up the Hudson to Kingston, 64 miles.

The water was especially calm in the morning as we passed under one of several bridges.

West Point Military Academy sits on the western shore of the Hudson.  It was built on a hillside and is lovely.

The hills are green and striking.  It reminds me in places of Canada and Michigan.

If you look in the bottom right corner of the photo below you will be a commercial building which gives you a perspective as to how large some of these hills are.

It is fairly remote in places, but you pass many small towns all clustered around their waterfront.  Below is Newburgh, NY.

This is the Hudson River State Hospital.  I certainly hope I never need it, but if I do…put me here.  It sits high on a hill overlooking the Hudson River.

The Middle Hudson Lighthouse…

and the Rondout Creek Lighthouse. I never knew there were so many styles of lighthouses.

Our destination is Rondout Yacht Basin in Kingston.

Today is our lucky day, look who’s right behind us.

About 10 minutes after we got tied up the rain and lightning began.  Glad to be at the dock and secure after a beautiful day on the water.  Timing is everything.

Day #333 - Tarrytown, NY

We decided to leave New York City a little later than usual to attempt to make the currents work in our favor.   To make the most of the morning Patti and I took the water taxi across the channel to Jersey City since she had not seen it before.   We walked around a bit and took in the area.  Below she is taking pictures for her blog.  For a blogger, your work is never done.

We left about 11:00 and headed out into the busy harbor.  Again the ferries, water taxis, fire department and Coast Guard boats were everywhere.  Oh no, not again…

Salvage Crew was boarded by the USCG doing their routine training.  They got a “get out of inspection free” pass since they had just completed one earlier in the week.   We, on the other hand, were not as lucky.

They pulled up along side Good News and asked if we had been boarded by the Coast Guard recently for inspection.  When we told them we had not, they asked for permission to board and hopped on.  We showed them our US Power Squadron Inspection work sheet and sticker and that expedited the process.  We had that done in October at the AGLCA Rendezvous and we would suggest it to any and all boaters.  Glad to report we passed with flying colors and they were on their way quickly.  They were all extremely polite, courteous and handsome.  You have to wonder if that might not be part of the screening process !?!?!  We thanked them for their service and commitment to keeping our country safe.

Note the machine gun mounted on the bow.  A tad intimidating even when you know you are not in violation of anything.

This is the perspective watching from Salvage Crew (thanks Patti for the photo).  Never a dull moment on the water!

It was a quick 27 miles to Tarrytown up the Hudson River.  We passed under two well known bridges along the route.

The George Washington Bridge

and the Tappan Zee Bridge.

We will be staying at Tarrytown Marina just past the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Tarrytown is a bedroom commuter town where people commute into New York City.

We will be staying just one night and up and out in the morning.  It feels good to back on the move again.

Day #332 - New York City, NY

This old lightship is permanently docked at our marina and used as offices, rest rooms and showers.  It even has an ATM inside.  Its original function was to be a movable lighthouse and used where needed.

And look who arrived this morning into New York Harbor, Salvage Crew.

We were there to meet them not only with the camera, but open arms.  So glad they are repaired and underway again.

Andy and I took the water taxi back over to Manhattan at 11:00.  Today we were to do the Uptown Manhattan tour.  The route was altered several times today because the “Gay Pride” parade was going down 5th Avenue all day.  Fun to watch but certainly congested traffic in an already congested city.

We passed the infamous Waldorf Astoria.  At this time it is home to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

And a few more of the recognizable sites we saw were Rockefeller Center…

The Rainbow Room…

Radio City Music Hall…

Time Warner Building…

and a famous deli.

Our tour took us up Broadway overlooking Central Park the entire distance.

Some other sites included the Trump Building globe outside of Trump Towers…

and many other high end residences including The Dakota where John Lennon lived.

There were many beautiful churches along the tour today.

as well as museums.

An interesting part of the trip took us through Harlem.  This particular bridge has been used in many movie chase scenes.

And of course the infamous Apollo Theater.  Many people had gathered outside to sing and dance and celebrate the life of Michael Jackson which ended so suddenly last week.

After leaving Harlem we traveled down Fifth Avenue past many spectacular homes and finally the Plaza Hotel.

These were a couple of sights that we found interesting…

a policeman texting…

storing in sin?…

a high-end CVS…

and lastly, ahhh home.

We ended another wonderful day in New York Harbor with dinner aboard Salvage Crew.  Life is good!

Day #331 - New York City, NY

Last night we took the water taxi from the marina across the river to Jersey City, NJ for dinner.

Fortunately, we were inside the restaurant just as the storm hit.  We had a great time, but even more impressive was the cloud formation we were treated to on the way back.  This type of cloud is called mammatus.  We had never seen them before and they were amazing.

We sat on the flybridge of the boat after we got back and watched the city come alive at night.  What a site.

This morning we were back on the water taxi and headed across the Hudson River

for Lower Manhattan.  They drop you off in The Battery.  It was a perfect day for sightseeing as it was sunny, breezy and 82 degrees.

We stopped at the NYC Police Memorial.  It really took your breath away to see all of the names from September 11, 2001.

As we made our way to Battery Park there were neighborhood gardens everywhere as well as dog parks and playgrounds.  Local residents maintain little areas within each garden.

At Battery Park we started our double-decker bus tour of Lower Manhattan.  I will attempt to highlight some of the areas we saw.

Chinatown…

Chrysler Building (with the spire)…

Central Park South…

Carnegie Hall…

Part of the Theater District…

Note what looks like little Academy Award statues lined up in the window…

Times Square…

Note the crystal ball that drops on New Year’s Eve…

New York City Post Office…

The Empire State Building…

Macy’s which happens to have 2.2 million square feet…

The Flat Iron Building…

New York Supreme Court Building where “Law and Order” is filmed…

The Seaport District…

The Brooklyn Bridge…

A walk up Wall Street…

And last but not least, the somber site of the World Trade Center…

By order of the Port Authority you were not allowed to take pictures above or below the fence and not between the gates.

It was extremely moving and we plan to return tomorrow and take the personally guided tour of the Visitor Center.

There are also just a few assorted pictures that I thought were worth sharing.

Second runner up…a bride and groom seated mid-day across from the New York Stock Exchange????

First runner up…a gentleman hangs from the hooks on this top of this building and paints a new sign every couple of months.

And the winner is…

A fellow boater was kind enough to take a picture of Good News cruising in front of the Statue of Liberty yesterday and email it to us…priceless.

Day #330 - New York City, NY

We thought this was a funny sign at the marina boat ramp.  Guess they get their point across.

It just didn’t feel right this morning at 7:00 as we left Manasquan…without Salvage Crew.

They need further repairs to their exhaust system and will find out later today when the fix can be made.  The conditions for our last day out on the ocean were perfect so we made the decision to head to New York City and wait for them on the other side.

It was a calm day on the water with just rollers and no real waves, very comfortable.  Unfortunately, the skies were cloudy and there was a fair amount of haze which made visibility tough.

We crossed from the North Atlantic Ocean into Long Island Sound at 9:30.  We have officially completed our time on the Atlantic Ocean and glad to report we are no worse for the wear.  Immediately we picked up about two miles per hour with the current.

The sights of the city began to come into view through the haze.

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge comes into view.  The commercial ship traffic does as well.

It is hard to believe that we are sitting in front of the Statue of Liberty on our own boat.  What a dream come true.

As we sat in front of the statue we played the National Anthem and again realized how proud we are to be Americans.  Note the people standing at the bottom of the picture to get a perspective on the size of the statue.

The Staten Island Ferry passes in front of us.  Water taxis are everywhere.

Ellis Island is off our port side.

As we head up the Hudson River

we pass this yacht named Le Grand Bleu, a 370 foot mega yacht.

Note in the picture it has a 74-foot sailboat and a 67-foot speedboat stored behind the sailboat on her aft deck.  She also makes room for a helicopter, a life boat and has a crew of 50.

In 2002, Le Grande Bleu was sold to Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea Football Club Roman Abramovich. In 2006, Roman Abramovich presented her as a gift to old friend Eugene Shvidler, an asset-management and one-time oil Russian billionaire.   Nice friend.  It is currently the 10th largest yacht in the world.

We pulled into Liberty Landing Marina.  This is the view off the bow of Good News.

This is the view out of our starboard pilot house door.

There is so much to see and do we are a bit overwhelmed.  Time to get on the water taxi and go exploring.  We still can’t believe we are in New York City.

Day #329 - Manasquan, NJ

Cape May to Manasquan…Take Two.  We pulled away from the docks again this morning at 6:00 with Salvage Crew.  Their repairs are complete and we will try this again.

The morning began a little rough. As you can see in the picture below the inlet was rough and traffic was fairly heavy.  The current is always very strong in these areas as the water rushes in and out from the ocean.

About four hours after we left we passed Atlantic City.  This is the view, this time from the ocean side.

The seas for the first two hours were quite rough and we were glad everything was securely tied down.  After that the seas flattened right out and it was as smooth and uneventful as one can wish for when you travel 100 miles out in the ocean.

We were pleasantly surprised by the New Jersey shoreline.  It just stretches on and on.  It is nice to see people using their beach and enjoying the ocean.

Another surprise was the abundance of mylar balloons.  We must have seen at least thirty along the way on our 100 mile trip.  I guess what goes up must come down and around here they land in the ocean.  It is really a shame as we have all seen pictures of what damage they can do to our sea life. I don’t think I will ever buy one again after seeing that.

We arrived at our destination, Manasquan, NJ, about 4:00. The tides and currents were unbelievable.  This is a picture of Salvage Crew entering the inlet.  The boat traffic was busy and the waters were churning.

The beaches are busy in this area.

It now appears that we have left the crabbers and are seeing lobstermen.

We will be staying for the night at Brielle Marine Basin. It was extremely tough backing into our slip as the tides and currents running through here are really strong.  Andy did another masterful job and we are tied up securely.

We are pleased to have that leg behind us.  Hopefully it will be clear sailing into New York City tomorrow.

A nice dinner out at the Sand Bar after a long, but wonderful, day on the water.