New York 40:27.3N 73:59.88W
Lotus
Thu 15 Jul 2010 20:26
|
The allure of the big apple
with it's bright lights and cheap iphones was too much for us, so we set sail
towards New York. A short leg was to take us to the start of the
Chesapeake and Delaware canal. Halfway there John sailed straight into a
green 8 foot tall channel marker, at 7knots, bending the stem of the boat.
We were lucky that Lotus is made of Aluminium as if we had been in a
fibreglass boat, such an impact, would no doubt have created a large hole
in the bow. John bleated on, with all his excuses;
he'd been on the helm for several hours and was tired (about an hour and a
half in reality!), it was a grey day so he was hunkered down in the helm seat
(it was actually quite bright and sunny!), he was distracted by another boat in
close proximity which he feared was in shallow water and should therefore take
more care, but basically he just wasn't paying attention! To give him his
due he was extremely remorseful!
 We had timed the tides just right so that the
transit through the C & D canal saw us clock 10knots a couple of times and
with our twin head sails poled out our run down the whole of the Delaware bay
saw us cover 65nm before nightfall. We anchored in Cape May which is like
Blackpool to the New Yorkers. Despite the 'kiss me quick' hats the
town is quite pleasant and in the end we spent a couple of days there
before embarking on a 120nm overnight passage to New York.
We arrived shortly after day break and initially
anchored in great kills harbour some 20nm outside of the city. A quick
look at Eldridges tidal atlas showed that we could go with the flow and be
at the 79th street yacht basin in time for dinner.
Entering New York was an unforgettable experience, the Manhattan skyline looms
into view with the skyscrapers growing larger with every mile. On the way
you pass the world famous landmarks of Staten Island and pass within 100m of the
statue of Liberty. The Hudson river was a throng of activity with
sail and motor boats weaving in and out of each other everywhere you
looked. There were US coast guard and NYPD boats patrolling the water and
keeping boats out of the no go zone which had been set up as there was a
Red Bull Air Race in progress. It was very exciting watching the
aeroplanes race past at speeds of up to 200mph and looping the loop as they
negotiated a course of huge blow up cones which had been positioned in the
Hudson river.
   Another 5nm and we reached the municipal marina at
79th street which is just 2 blocks away from Broadway and a mile or so from Times Square, amazingly a night on a mooring
ball costs only $30, the cheapest accommodation you'll find this close
to the heart of New York; perhaps we should open up as a
B&B! |