Month: June 2025

This will be a long post covering 3 days of our expidention, so read it when you are bored and have nothing better to do.

Today (June 9) was the day we had been waiting for – will the Erie Canal Locks #16/17 open up soon ?

Guess what – they made an announcement, that the announcement would be delayed.

We were very sad to leave our friends from Marlboro Yacht Club, but we have to try to keep pressing on northward. So we called several marinas in Kingston NY. With all the Loopers starting to get bunched up, we were luckily to get 1 night at the Kingston City Dock & 2 nights at the Hudson River Maritime Museum Dock.

Prior to departure from Marlboro Yacht Club, in addition to all the great services they supply, they also have a great self/ serve Pump Out Machine 😃. It is simply my favorite thing to do in all of boating.

Our ride up the Hudson River was Rainy & very Hazy, visibility was only about a mile. During the ride we came across this beauty. The Esopus Meadows Lighthouse.

A few Google clicks later = The Esopus Meadows Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse located on the Hudson River in Ulster Park, New York. It is notable as the last surviving wooden lighthouse on the Hudson River. The current structure was built in 1871, replacing a stone lighthouse built in 1837. The lighthouse was originally designed to guide ships navigating the shallow Esopus Meadows flats. The US Coast Guard took over operations in 1939 but closed the lighthouse in 1965 after installing an automated navigation aid.

We arrived in Kingston NY about 3:30pm, got all settled in at the marina, and then went for a short stroll of the quaint little town.

On the waterfront next to the marina, they have an extensive Wood Shop & actually run a Wooden Boat School, to teach young kids the art of making wooden boats. It appears that this town places significant value in teaching their kids about boats & boating.

Our Harbormaster Jim, also takes the kids out for a boat ride on a solar powered vessel named Solaris, then takes them for a history lesson in the museum. Check out all the solar panels on top of the boat.

Everyday, we observed a tour boat taking kids for an afternoon ride. The Rip Van Winkle, originally an oil service boat, converted to a tour boat in 1982.

At our last marina, the Marlboro Yacht Club, we met a couple from Virginia – Ted and Beth Puchalski. When we arrived at the Kingston Historical Museum Marina, we again ran into Ted & Beth, so we asked them if they wanted to join us for dinner. We had a great dinner at a Mexican joint (Taco Tuesday) & then went back to their boat for some drinks.

After 2 days of rain on Monday & Tuesday, we woke up today (Wed-June 11) to a beautiful blue sky and SUNSHINE. Today we will visit the Hudson River Maritime Museum. It was too bad that the museum was not open on the past 2 rainy days, but we’ll take what we get.

The Hudson River Maritime Museum
The museum is somewhat small, but houses a significant amount of history on both the Hudson River & the Erie Canal.

For the small size of the museum, there were several rooms with different themes of history.

There was an entire room that contained MANY models of Historic Miniature Wooden Boats. The room was dedicated to the elderly model maker, a gentlemen named Charlie Niles. The ornate attention to detail in the minature models was impressive. Charlie passed away in 2015 at the age of 93.

There was a room dedicated to New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, and his endeavours to create the Erie Canal & link it to The Hudson River.
Clinton was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal.
He was persuaded by Canal proponent Jesse Hawley to support construction of a canal from the eastern shore of Lake Erie to the upper Hudson River.
When first built, the Erie Canal cut transportation costs by a whopping 95%. The contribution of the canal to the state of the New York is incalculable.

Upon completion of the canal, it was fact that DeWitt Clinton & dignitaries led the opening ceremonies for the Erie Canal and rode a ship named the “Seneca Chief” from Buffalo New York to New York City, with two flasks of Lake Erie fresh water. They poured the two flasks of Lake Erie fresh water into the New York Harbor, symbolically connecting the two bodies of water forever.

There was a room dedicated to The Erie Canal – videos of how the locks work, and even photos of the early days when horses would be used to pull boats thru the locks (all sailing vessels at that time). The Erie Canal is about 360 miles long and controls the waterway between Lake Erie & the Hudson River. Lake Erie is about 500ft higher than the Hudson River in elevation, and has 35 locks which control the elevation difference. The Canal was opened 1825, and is about to celebrate its 200th anniversary !!!

There was a lot of area in the museum covering Steamships that once traveled the Hudson River. The most famous being The Mary Powell.
The steamboat “Mary Powell”, built in 1861, sailed on the waters of the Hudson River over a period of 55 years. She was one of the fastest steamboats of her time, was pleasing in appearance, and reliable. She became known as the “Queen of the Hudson”, proving daily trips up/down the Hudson River between Albany & NYC. The vessel was named after the wife of a NY businessman & steamboat owner Thomas Powell.

There were also a few displays showing several steam engines & how a steam engine works.

There were rooms dedicated to ;

• Restoring the Hudson from Pollution and renewed fish populations.
• Hurricanes & Flooding Histories of the Hudson & tributaries like Rondout.
• Jobs created by The Hudson River – Cement, Bricks, Fishing

There was a very interesting exhibit on Ice Boat Racing.
The material suggested that even back as far as the 1800’s there were ice racing boats that could do as much as 90-100 mph with only a 25mph wind (4:1 ratio), making them the fastest vehicles on earth in 1800s.
There are records of an 83-year-old guy named Chuck Nevitt, who doesn’t look like the fastest man on earth, but many believe that in February 1947 Nevitt set a record as the world’s fastest naturally powered human during a remarkable iceboat sail across the flat, black ice of Lake Winnebago.
Stopwatch-clutching spectators gazed slack-jawed as the Coast Guard veteran piloted his 42-foot Flying Dutchmen between two buoys set two miles apart. It took 53 seconds, and that included a tack he made in the middle of the course that added about a quarter-mile to the distance.
“They figured somewhere in there I was doing 150 mph. Maybe 155,” Nevitt said.
That would definitely shorten the time required to complete The Great Loop.

Google searches indicate the Guinness record as 143mph by a boat named Debutante in 1938 ???

Finally – Do you know how the terms Port & Starboard sides of the ship were created ?

Well I think that’s enough history for now, back to our trip with the Mahi.

Unfortunately we got more bad news today about the Erie Canal Locks. They still have not made an announcement regarding locks 16/17. And due to high rains over the last couple of days, there are now some additional locks closed. We believe the additional locks will reopen with a couple days of dry weather, buy are still most concerned about locks 16/17.

The NY Canal System has promised another update “Later this week”.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading this very long post.

Mike, Deena, Jerry.

But wait, there’s more – as I was gettin ready to hit the button to release this post, I was sitting on the back of the Mahi & was treated to the high school sculling team out for a practice run.

Today (Thu/Jun 5) we had a short 35 Mile ride up the Hudson River, from Crouton on the Hudson to Marlboro NY.

The scenery on today’s ride was beautiful with the small rolling hills, starting to grown into larger hills and then small mountains with jagged cliffs. This area is known as the Hudson Highlands. One of the most well known mountains in this valley is the Storm King Mountain.

Storm King Mountain Video

We saw several trains right along the waterfront while cruising the valley, but this one was massive.

We also passed by a small private island Castle.

A few Google clicks later, Deena found this link to The Bannerman Castle –

Bannerman Castle Video

Then we reached our destination for at least the next 5 days, The Marlboro Yacht Club. It’s a small club but with excellent reviews & only $2.50/ft, much better than the $5-6/ft in New York & Atlantic City.

We are bedding down here because the Erie Canal Locks #16 & 17 are still not open. There is supposed to be another update from the NY Canal System on Monday June 9th.

Back to the Marlboro Yacht Club, our home for the next 5 days.

I cannot say enough good things about the folks at this Yacht Club. Within 1 hour of docking, we had the met the following people – who came up to us to introduce themselves.

Volunteer Dock Hands Matt & Gary, Commodore John, Harbormaster Sean, Boater Daphne, Photographer Felix, Mechanic Brandon, Boater Jeff, Boater Vee, Boaters Mike & Maria, Boater George.
Later at a party at the clubhouse, we met MYC members – Glen, Amy, Anthony/Cairo, John/Megan, Amanda/Nick & several other Loopers. I’m sure that I am forgetting a few names, but you get the point.

So much for New Yorkers not being friendly. But these folks are “Upstate New Yorkers” and there is a lot of difference between them and the big city folks who looked away from us when we were in NYC.

Later that afternoon, we had about a 30 minute conversation with Commodore John Gilberto, while he was “trying” to trim the shrubs.

John has now been Commodore for 8 years. Prior to his tenurere the place was starting to get a bit tired. Since he has taken over, the following good things have happened to the Yacht Club.

John & his support team have re-done the entire exterior, installed new fuel pumps, installed a NEW POOL, & purchased new travel lift equipment.

Every fall, the Marlboro Yacht Club Members band together to Pull Out all of the Docks & Pilings. Then every spring, the Pilings & Docks are Re-Installed. This annual ritual is required due to significant ice forming on the Hudson River & the fact that the Ice shifts up & down the river.

Finally during John’s tenure as Commodore – the MYC actually had 1 episode of a Peacock Series filmed here. The Peacock Series is called – Pokerface, starting Benjamin Bratt. The series was released in 2023, and EPISODE #10 was filmed at the Marlboro Yacht Club in 2022.
We’re gunna try to watch it before we depart.

When I complimented John on the job well done at MYC, he did what most good leaders do – and said that it was his team, who made all the great things happen.

Oh yea, one last note – in addition to John’s duties as Commodore, he also holds down a day job in Sales, managing about 12 people. I don’t know how he does it, he must be an excellent time manager.

On Friday, June 6th we went on a tour of the West Point Military Academy. More to come on that in a separate post.

After West Point, we took the long 40 minute Uber ride back to Marlboro, and had lunch at a place right up the hill from MYC. The restaurant/pub is called The Racoon Saloon. It is up on a high cliff above the Hudson River & has a beautiful waterfall behind the restaurant.

The Racoon Saloon has a cool history going back to the 1820’s, when it was built as a farmers hotel.

The Raccoon Saloon got its name from the family of raccoons that once lived there – coming up through an opening in the wall and being fed by the enthusiastic patrons.

As we were leaving, we chatted for a few minutes with a guy & girl at the bar. We were asking about the closest grocery store. It turns out that Marlboro is not the epicenter for groceries. The guy at the bar then offered to take us to a real grocery store about 30 minutes away. I offered to pay for his drink at the bar, he politely refused my drink offer, and told us that he was the current owner of the Racoon Saloon. Five minutes later we were in Ronan’s car and on our way to the grocery store, then back all the way to the marina. Again – incredibly nice people.

On Friday night June 6th, we attended a party at the Yacht Club & met a bunch more very nice people. I guess that it was not really a party, just another weekly social event at the yacht club.

Last night (Sat-Jun7), we went to dinner with Commodore John Gilberto & his wife Rose.
I actually texted John early in the day to see if they were interested & available for dinner. They responded quickly & enthusiastically.
They took us to a wonderful Italian restaurant in Poughkeepsie NY called Cosimo’s Trattoria & Bar. The food was delicious – we shared Calamari & I had Veal Parmesan.
And then – John & Rose picked up the check, for all 5 of us !!!

It was a great time getting to know John & Rose better and sharing family stories & boating stories. Rose is also quite accomplished, currently acting as the Superintendent of the Marlboro School System.

After dinner we returned to the Yacht Club and as a group of about 30 people, watched the movie “Nonnas” – about an Italian restaurant that employs grandmothers as chefs. The film is inspired by the true story of Jody “Joe” Scaravella’s and the real-life Enoteca Maria restaurant in New York City. 
It was a very cute movie.

As I have mentioned a few times, Monday will be a key day for us, as we hope to find out if Locks 16/17 on the Erie Canal will be opened as planned on June 11th. If not, we’ll have to start discussing – 1) storing the Mahi & flying home for a few weeks or 2) going about 400-500 miles out of our way, up to Montreal and back down to Lake Ontario. More to come in this subject.

That’s all for now folks.

Thanks for your time reading the blog.

Mike, Deena, Jerry

The West Point Academy (United States Military Academy)
West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the American Revolution.

Until January 1778, West Point was not occupied by the military. On January 27, 1778, Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons and his brigade crossed the ice on the Hudson River and climbed to the plain on West Point and from that day to the present, West Point has been occupied by the United States Army. It comprises approximately 16,000 acres including the campus of the United States Military Academy, which is commonly called “West Point”.

The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known as West Point – is a four-year educational federal service academy. It is one of the five U.S. military service academies and the oldest military academy in the nation (1778). Like the Naval Academy, West Point provides a 4 year FREE education, for 5 years of military service.

We went on a 90 minute, semi-private tour of only 6 people 🙂

Unlike Annapolis, West Point is on a very large campus, and the tour was given on/off of a nice air conditioned bus. The tour started at the visitors center where everyone had to get their ticket & security screening.

On the bus ride out, our tour guide Mary talked about some famous grads of West Point including ; Generals Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Douglass MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, & George Patton.

Interesting – both Ulysses S. Grant & Robert E. Lee were both West Point Grads. But Robert E Lee, lived in Virginia and thus served for the Confederate Army.

Douglass McCarthur was 1st in his class at West Point & the youngest general.

Like Annapolis, West Point also has their class of Astronauts ; Frank Borman, Buzz Aldrin.

On the bus ride out, we passed by the Army Football Field, Michie Stadium.
Michie Stadium, built in 1924, is named for Dennis Mahan Michie (USMA Class of 1893), who organized, managed and coached the first football team at West Point in 1890. We also got to see about 30 seconds of the Army Football Team.

The tour began at The Cadet Chapel (1830).
The Cadet Chapel is one of several churches on campus and is a non-denominational church. It was built by marble specialists from Italy, who were awarded citizenship after their hard work. The construction took only 2 years.

Some of the features of the Chapel –
1. Willet Stained Glass – just over 20,000 pieces of stained glass. The Willet company was awarded the business over Tiffany.

Fallen Heroes Row – identified with a candle & equipped with a cable closing off the row. The closed pew is to honor/rember fallen West Point heroes.

The Cadet Chapel Organ – The organ has an impressive 23,511 organ pipes & a keyboard that looks like a fighter jet control station. The organ pipes are as short as a pencil & as long as 23ft. Mary said that there have been only “FOUR” organists in the history of West Point, it is a very prestigious position that one gets awarded and never gives up until near death.

Our next stop on the Tour was The Battle Monument.
The Battle Monument (Civil War)
The Battle Monument includes upside down torches at the base of the statue, with 8 large bronze balls.
Inscribed on the 8 bronze “cannon balls”, are straps circling the the balls which show the names of 2,230 Officers and Soldiers who died for the Union Army during the Civil War. On the perimeter of the statue in the lawn, are cannons buried upside down into the ground, which all are intended to say “let us never be at war with our own brothers again”.

Near the Battle Monument, there are a bunch of cannons. Our guide Mary gave the story that there is one cannon from every war the Army had victory. The cannons are real cannons taken from the enemy after the end of significant wars.

The “Point” of West Point, The S-Turn, and The Chain.
After looking at all the monuments & cannons, we went to the riverfront and were informed that The United Sates Military Academy is called West Point because ; It resides in the city of West Point New York, but also because of its pointed location on the Hudson River. It is on a beautiful bluff, high above a sharp “S-turn” on the Hudson River. The beautiful photo supplied by Deena.

The sharp, nearly 90-degree turn in the river forced sailing ships of the 18th century to slow down significantly to navigate it.

This geographical feature, combined with the high ground surrounding West Point, created a commanding position for the Continental Army to control the river and prevent British ships from sailing north, thus dividing the eastern & western colonies.

The West Point Chain – The “S-turn” also provided a very narrow strategic location for the Continental Army to install a Large Iron Chain across the river to further obstruct enemy ships. While never tested in battle, the chain and its location at the S-turn proved effective in deterring British advancement.
The chain was constructed in 1778 under the supervision of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish engineer, and General George Washington. It was made of 1,200 links of wrought iron, weighed 65 tons, and stretched 1,700 feet
There is a monument which has 13 Links of the actual chain.

Control of the Hudson River was vital to both the American and British forces, as it served as a major transportation route for troops and supplies. West Point, situated at this strategic bend, was considered the “most important post in America” by General George Washington. Here is a graphic which shows how the western & eastern colonies could have been separated if West Point & the Hudson River had been lost to the British.

Next stop was the statue of General John Sedgwick.
He was wounded but not killed 3 times in battle, leading to the phrase “Lucky Sedgwick”
Legend holds that if a cadet is deficient in academics, the cadet should go to the monument at midnight the night before the term-end examination, in full dress, under arms, and spin the spurs on Sedgwick’s boots. With the resulting good luck, the cadet will pass the test.
I’m not so sure it works, Sedgwick is also known for his last spoken words “”They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance” , right before he was killed by a sharp shooter.

During the tour, one of the other folks brought up – Benedict Arnold.
Benedict Arnold was a general during the American Revolutionary War who fought heroically for the American Continental Army. He was thought of so highly by George Washington, that he had Washington’s fullest confidence, and was given command of the fortifications at West Point. Thru a series of career events (lack of promotion) which soured Arnold against the new American Military, Arnold felt betrayed for all of his service, was offered money by the British, & planned to surrender West Point to British forces by giving away top secret West Point documents. But in September 1780 the plot was discovered and Arnold escaped with minutes to spare. His name quickly became a byword in the United States for treason and betrayal because he betrayed his countrymen by leading the British army in battle against the men whom he once commanded.

The West Point Cemetery
During this tour with Jerry & Deena, we did not go to the cemetery, but I did remember how cool it was from the tour that Jonell & I went on in 2018, so I Goolged a few tid-bits of information & some photos.
The cemetery overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Revolutionary War Soldiers and early West Point inhabitants before 1817, when it was officially designated as a Military Cemetery. Now the Cemetery allows burial for anyone who attended West Point and their family. The cemetery has many famous “old & recent” customers like General George Armstrong Custer & General Norman Schwarzkopf.

It was another great history lesson, today at The United States Military Academy.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Mike, Deena, & Jerry

Have you heard of the movie – Plains,Trains & Automobiles.

Well how about – Uber, Trains, Taxi, and Subway.

An early 7am rise again this morning, but not for travel by boat, we were off to see the Big City, the Big Apple, New York-New York !!!

We started with an 8am Uber pickup at the marina, for a short ride to the Crouton- Hudson train station.

We boarded the train about 8:30am for an hour long ride into NYC & Grand Central Train Station.

We arrived safely at Grand Central Station about 9:30.
The Station did not look so Grand.

From there, we next took a $45 taxi ride, from Grand Central to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. The taxi ride was only 6 miles, but 45 minutes long, and $45 🙁

It was well worth the effort, the visit to the museum & memorial was very somber, but also very awe inspiring to hear the stories of heroism on that infamous day.

It will be easiest to tell the story with the pictures, so I will just show the photos and attach descriptions of each exhibit at the museum.

Before we start, the tour guide mentioned that the 9/11 Museum & Memorial is dedicated to the 9/11 Victims & First Responders at The North & South World Trade Centers, but it is also dedicated to memories of ; The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, The Pentagon Attack, & the Flight #93 Heroes who most likely saved The White House or The Nations Capitol Building.

The morning of September 11, 2001 it was a beautiful blue sky morning.

Some quick Facts / Timeline

4 Airplanes, 3 Locations Hit, 1 Plane Crashed
7:59am = AA Flight #11 from Boston to LA takes off (#1)
8:14am = United Flight #175 from Boston to LA takes off (#2)
8:20am = AA Flight #77 from Dulles (Washington) to LA takes off (#3)
8:41am = United Flight #93 from Newark to San Fran takes off (#4).
8:46am = AA #11 crashes into the North Tower, floors 93-99
9:03 am = United #175 crashes into the South Tower, floors 75-85
9:37am = AA #77 crashes into the Pentagon.
9:59am = The South Tower Collapses.
10:07am = Passengers of United #93 induce a crash, most likely saving the US Capitol !!!
10:28am = The North Tower Collapses.

It became 102 minutes of time, which changed the world forever !

The 9/11 Museum & Memorial was opened exactly 10 years after the event, on September 11, 2011.

Photos & descriptions from the 9/11 Museum Tour

The Memorial Wall & Virgil Quotation
“No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time.”

This quote is indicative of the museum’s mission to honor and remember the victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. The quote is from a poem written by a Roman poet named “Virgil”. Each letter was forged from pieces of recovered World Trade Center steel by New Mexico artist Tom Joyce.

These words are part of a larger art installation in the 9/11 Memorial Museum created in 2014 by artist Spencer Finch, titled “Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning.” The installation is the focal point for Memorial Hall, the area between the two main exhibitions at bedrock in the museum.

Every one of the 2,983 watercolor squares is its own shade of blue – one for each of the 2001 and 1993 attack victims – and the artwork as a whole revolves around the idea of memory. Our own perception of the color blue might not be the same as that of another person. But, just like our perception of color, our memories share a common point of reference.

The North Tower Antenna

At our next stop, the tour guide showed us a Section of the North Tower Antenna. This 19.8-foot-long fragment was about one-twentieth of the 360-foot-tall transmission tower atop the North Tower. The massive antenna provided the signals of most of major New York City broadcasters until it went off-the-air on the infamous morning. The signals then had to be rerouted to the Empire State Building Antenna.

The Elevator Motor

The Twin Towers were the first skyscrapers to use a system of High Speed Elevators. Each tower had 99 elevators, and 4 High Speed Elevators. They were the largest in the world when installed.

Ladder Company 3

It was 9am shift change time. When the attack occurred all 11 members of Company 3 volunteered, even the guys who had just completed the night shift. All 11 team members are known to have reached the 35th floor by 9:21am, and all 11 men of Ladder Company 3 were killed inside the North Tower when it collapsed at 10:28a.m

The North Tower Impact Beam

This piece of steel, once part of the façade of the North Tower, was the point of impact where hijacked AA flight #11 pierced the building from floors 93 through 99.

The Foundation Wall

This is the Foundation Wall which separated the base of the North Tower from The Hudson River. If this wall would have breached, it would have flooded all of Manhattan. All of the objects protruding from the wall are part of the structural tie backs into the ground behind the wall, like a normal seawall in a marina.

The Last Column

As the recovery at the World Trade Center site neared completion, the Last Column, a 58-ton, 36ft tall piece of welded plate steel, was removed from the site in a solemn ceremony on May 30, 2002. In the weeks that followed, recovery workers, first responders, volunteers and victims’ relatives signed the column and affixed to it memorial messages, photographs, and other tributes. This actually became the 1st piece of the museum.

The North Tower Column Remnants

The towers went 1/4 mile into the sky. The towers were supported by these steel columns anchored 70 feet below ground. A total of 84 columns defined the towers perimeter. Recovery workers cut the columns to their current height shown in the photos. Family members viewed this as sacred ground and did not want it dug up to remove the columns.

The Vesey Street Stairs

The Vesey Street stairs, are also known as the “Survivors’ Stairs”.
Over 15,000 people made it to safety on this path.
During the attacks of September 11, 2001, the stairway became a vital safety route for many of the survivors. The stairs were one of very few exit areas which had overhead covering, protecting the lucky people who actually made it out from falling debris. Many people made it out but were killed by the falling debris.
The stairs were mostly intact immediately after 9/11, but they were significantly damaged during the nine-month recovery period. The stairway is also the only exhibit above ground of the World Trade Center.

The 9/11 Flag

The tour ended with a walk through a room which held a photo & family mementos of each victim. Photographs were not allowed in this room, but there were 4 very tall & very long walls covered with photos of each victim. In an adjacent room was a non-stop movie running biographies of each of the victims family members describing the personalities of their lost loved one.

The Memorial Pools

After the Museum, we walked outside to The Memorial Plaza & 9/11 Memorial Pools.
The Memorial Plaza is an 8-acre park composed of nearly 400 white oak trees, and the largest manmade waterfalls in the United States. Set on the footprints of the original Twin Towers, each pool is approximately 1-acre in size. The names of every person who died in the terror attacks of February 26, 1993 & September 11, 2001 are honored in bronze around the twin Memorial pools (we are showing only one of the 2 twin pools).

The Pools are continiuosly filled with water that cascades down 30 feet into a basin and then further down 20 feet into a void that is never filled and cannot be seen. This symbolizes the loss of life and the lingering void left after the 9/11 attacks

As I stated in the beginning, it was quite a somber day during the tour, but also an uplifting day to see how we Americans can pull together to help each other, and how the “American Spirit” cannot be defeated.

After the 9/11 Museum & Memorial, we were hungry and thirsty. We looked up the closest place to the memorial. Carrigher’s Irish Pub. It didn’t look like much from the street, but the below ground bar looked like something out of a Frank Sinatra movie.

https://www.carraghersnyc.com/

After a quick appetizer of mini Lamb Chops & Smithwicks, we were off for the next adventure – the NYC subway 😱

Mikie was not totally up for the subway, preferring the $45 return to Grand Central via taxi, but Jerry talked me into it.

I was quite sure that with my boyish youthful looks, that I was gunna be raped & pillaged. I was also uneasy because I am the tour guide, and had no idea on where to go, or how to use the infamous subway.

So we started with a discussion with the friendly NYC Policeman. He told us to go to the station at Broadway & Fulton, and take the Green 4/5 line.

Luckily, the police officer was right on, his directions were impeccable.

The subway station was not like what I saw in the movies, it was actually nice and clean up top in the main complex.

The subway itself, did look like the scenes in all the murder mysteries.

After we used the subway to get back to Grand Central Train Station, then we had to figure out where to go, what line to get on, and how to buy the tickets.

With the help of some Dutch tourists, we figured out how to buy the tickets from the kiosk machine. Then with the help of another one of NYPD’s finest, we found out which line to go to for our train back to the marina. Above ground, Grand Central Station did look Grand.

Along the way, we encountered an American Indian guy playing music. Jerry exchanged musical backgrounds and we left the guy a tip.

We got back to Crouton on the Hudson & Half Moon Bay Marina just in time for me to request an Uber, right before my phone went dead 🙃.

Nitie Nite,

Mike, Deena, Jerry

As I write this section of the post, it’s only 7:15am. We wanted an early start up the Hudson River, to hopefully avoid the chaos of ships that will build as the day goes on.

The plan worked reasonably well, the boat traffic was not too bad, but still higher than I expected for 7am on a Tuesday

On the way up the Hudson, we passed several attention getting objects.

Item #1 = a very large screened in area with several boats & some large ships. It was hard to believe, but this was a Golf Club right on the Hudson River. The Chelsea Piers Golf Club. The members use the net to drive golf balls, like at the driving range.

Item #2 = We saw a building with the name Erie Lackawanna. But what could it be, is it a restaurant, a club, boat slips for rich people ? Ms. Google says that Erie Lackawanna was a closed down Railroad Station. They would take product from boats and deliver it by rail car to the local NY/NJ area.

Item #3 = A very large White Head Sculpture. It was uglier than SH – -, and had no place on the river. But I had to take the photo and look it up.

Item #4 = The next objects looked like a large number of HUGH Golf Tees, holding trees & vegetation. Ms Google says this.

Item #5 = An Aircraft Carrier with an Atrium. Ms Google tells me that this is the USS Intrepid, that has been converted into a museum.

Item #6 = The Leaning Tower of America ? Ms Google tells me that this is just an architectural firm having fun with shapes. There are actually 2 buildings, but the 2nd one is hidden in my photo.

One of the other things we noticed is how the landscape changed dramatically after we crossed under the George Washington Bridge. Prior to cruising under, the scenery was all buildings and impressive structures. After cruising under the GW bridge, we started seeing more trees, until finally – trees and rocky cliffs were the dominant sites. Here are some photos showing the change.

Deena helped me with some research of the jagged cliffs on the NJ shore, they are called the Palisades Cliffs.

All along the Hudson River past NYC, we saw trains coming by every half hour. It’s really small on the video, but it was cool in real life with the horn blasting every 5 minutes.

Towards the end of our ride, we passed under the Tappan Zee Bridge, but it appears that the Bridge was recently renamed after Mario Como, the former Governor of NY who was ousted from office after the 2020 Covid scandals (sorry for the political commentary, this is a fun post, but please don’t name bridges after politicians).

We arrived in a city called Crouton on the Hudson, about 35 miles north of NYC (Adam & Patty, do you remember). The marina is called Half Moon Bay. It is a beautiful setting tucked off to the side of the Hudson River. With a quaint little town.

We strolled about 15 minutes into downtown Crouton on the Hudson. I found myself once again following the Luv-Birds, wishing that Nellie was here with us.

We were going to go to a mom/pop Diner restaurant, but stumbled onto a wonderful Greek restaurant on the way. The Piato Greek Kitchen, a family running the place was incredibly friendly – owner Gregory, son Gregory II, and waitress Sade (yes, like the singer). The food was awesome. The owner Gregory sat with us for a while and provided 4 free Ouzo shots.

After the walk home, it was an early night. Jerry and Deena tucked in about 9:30, Mike finished this darn big and hit the sack about 10:30.

An early day tomorrow – train ride into NYC and then visit the 911 Memorial & Museum.

Nitie Nite,

Mike, Deena, and Jerry

We planned our arrival into NYC for Monday, about 1pm in the afternoon & in calm winds, to hopefully avoid a circus of boats around Liberty Island.

The plan worked great, during the initial entrance onto the Hudson River. But as we got closer the Statue, the congestion of vessels in the small area of Liberty Island, Ellis Island, and Manhattan increased a lot.

Liberty Tour Boats coming 2 at a time every half hour, Pleasure Boats, Coast Guard Boats, Statin Island Ferry Boats & Tow Boats pushing Barges. I can’t imagine what the marine traffic would have been like, late on Friday or Saturday afternoon.

On our way up the Hudson River, we passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The bridge connects Statin Island to Brooklyn.

Verrazano Narrows Bridge

We arrived at Lady Liberty about 1:30pm, and due to the Marine traffic, spent over a hour taking photos. We have a lot of photos & videos, here are some of our favorite shots.

Here is a screen dump showing our anchorage location. In the screen dump – The Mahi Mahi is shown in the blue dot and you can also see our location relative to; Lady Liberty, Ellis Island, and the south tip of Manhattan.

For you history buffs, here is a really cool video, it starts out silly but becomes very interesting (thank you Deena)

Video = Statue of Liberty

Back to the photos. Another reason it took an hour for photos is because we made a deal with another Looper Boat on the VHF Radio – that they would take a photo of the Mahi in front of the statue & we would reciprocate with a photo of their boat.

Here is the photo that I took of their boat.

Here is the BEST PHOTO they sent of the Mahi in front of the statue. Not a fair trade I would say. 😞

We were thinking of asking them to redo our photo, but the boat traffic was increasing by the minute, and one of the tour boats really wanted us out of his way.

About 5pm, Jerry & I called our friend John Nelson for a quick chat. Then we had a 3-way call from the Mahi Mahi to Jonell, and then linked in my niece Julia for the annual birthday phone call singing. It’s a Murphree Tradition. Jerry & Deena joined me & Jonell in the Singin’ this year.

Some night photos, to say farewell to New York City, for now !

We will be back to NYC later this week by train, to see the 911 Memorial & Museum. Coming back down 35 miles to NYC by train, will be a lot cheaper than paying NYC marina prices.

Nitie Nite,

Mike, Deena, Jerry

A very short post for today, and somewhat boring 🥱

We traveled 60 miles from Atlantic City to Manasquan NJ.

Today I was reminded of how Wind/Waves can be defeated by OnShore protection, if the wind is coming from the proper direction.

If you looked at the wind charts for today, they showed 15mph wind with 20mph gusts, not necessarily a good day to go out on the ocean.

But the wind was purely out of the West & we were able to hug the east shore of New Jersey very close. We were only 0.5-1.0 miles offshore, but we were in 50ft of water & and the ride was WONDERFUL, in spite of the high winds.

This great fortune of wind direction allowed us to again avoid the dreaded New Jersey ICW. From previous posts you may remember that we were very nervous about having to try to pass thru the NJ-ICW.

While in NJ, we have had Two Atlantic Ocean voyages on this trip & Zero New Jersey – ICW rides, we win 🏆

Manasquan was the perfect place between Atlantic City & New York City, to bed down for the night, before heading up to NYC and the Hudson River tomorrow.

Manasquan is known for their miles of beautiful sandy white beaches. From the water, the beaches were indeed VERY LONG and did look pretty darn nice.

From our little slip in the marina, it seems that Manasquan is famous for; Shrimp Boats, Fishing Charter Boats, and Bars with loud music. There was a lot of boat traffic until about 7pm. Commercial Boats, Pleasure Boats, Kayakers, and even a large Coast Guard Boat.

Our marina is a peach. It is really a gas station with 2 transient slips. No Power, No Showers, but it saved us from going 5 miles out of our way to the closest anchorage. And our slip was very cheap 💰

That’s about it for today.

Deena’s Kitchen – Meatloaf & Baked Potatoes for dinner tonight.

NYC & the Statue of Liberty tomorrow !!!