Two Days in New York with a Spectacular View!

Thursday, September 3

We left for New York at 7:30 AM!

As we untied from the mooring, I spotted my first little crab!!! The water is salty??

We passed under the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the former Tappan Zee. We motored because the wind was light and we wanted to arrive early!

As the river’s bends unfolded, we began to see the city and the excitement grew!

While passing under the George Washington Bridge, we were intercepted by the police. We had already noticed several police boats. I didn’t really understand the beginning of his sentence, but I think he said he had to identify us before our entry into the city. He finished with: “You’re good to go!”, then added in French: “Au revoir!”

We found that very funny!

We had some decent waves and Jonathan confirmed that the water was indeed salty. Despite the impressive number of ferries, motorboats, sailboats and freighters, navigating in New York was ultimately much less complicated than we might have thought. You still have to be very attentive, because there’s constantly something moving around us!

We went to the anchorage recommended by Patrick, but it was too busy. There were many boats at anchor, several dinghies were flooded and overturned and, on top of that, a ferry passed through. So we decided to go behind the statue, more precisely behind Ellis Island.

At noon, we were anchored!

There was some chop, but at least no traffic. The anchor held well.

We left by dinghy for the marinas to catch the ferry. It’s our means of getting into Manhattan, since Miela is accepted on board, unlike the train and the subway.

Surf City, where we had read we could leave the dinghy, only opens at 4 PM on weekdays and is therefore not an option. We looked for a dinghy dock and went around the marinas, finally going to the fuel dock at Liberty Landing Marina.

The lady at the counter told me it was $50 for a slip, but she ultimately offered me the Dock and Dine option for three hours at $10 ($1/ft).

We took the ferry and arrived at Brookfield Place in less than 15 minutes.

We love Manhattan! It’s hot, Miela is thirsty, so we stopped for a drink and a big bowl of water for her. We walked through SoHo and Greenwich Village, then stopped for a beer at Gemma, with a wonderful fried burrata — a first for us.

About a 10 km route. It’s been a long time since we’ve done that, and it felt great!

We took the 6:45 PM ferry. When arriving at the dinghy, we had to deal with traffic to avoid the wakes and the ferries!

In the meantime, Patrick told us he had arrived, but had ultimately chosen to go to his anchorage.

We spent the evening watching the view. It’s impressive and so different to see the city from that angle!

Friday, September 4

We got up early. We wanted to be at the marina by 9 and catch the 9:30 ferry.

We arrived at the marina and there was a strong smell of gasoline… Everything seemed fine, we tied the dinghy and I went into the office to pay. Nobody was there. I came back out and Miela fell into the water!

Luckily, she had her jacket and Jonathan was holding her leash. She managed to get out, shook off, and I confirmed that the water was indeed salty!

I went to the end of the dock. An employee was there assisting a boat that seemed to be dealing with the aforementioned gas spill. The employee told me to put the dinghy in the same spot as the day before and let me go without charge!

That was a good start to the day.

We walked over 22 km, from Brookfield Place to Central Park round trip. Of course we stopped to have two beers, eat a hot dog and deviled eggs at Milk and Hop. The Tin Building, where we used to go, is definitely closed and we’re disappointed. It’s a big loss for the area.

It was another very beautiful sunny day. We took the 6:45 PM ferry again.

Arriving back at our anchorage, we found Patrick and his family there. He had written to us during the day to ask where to put his dinghy and to tell us he had ultimately anchored very close to us.

We chatted for a good 30 minutes. He told us about his morning mishap with a tugboat that almost clipped them, but three other boats weren’t so lucky!

Back on Eolo, I realized that strong beer and the sun don’t mix well. I had nausea that kept me from eating and enjoying the evening.

Once in bed, we noticed there was much more traffic on a Friday night and that the swell was considerably bigger and more present. We woke up several times, but we slept well nonetheless!