As We Begin Again....

Just over a week to go to begin the second leg of our Great Loop journey - needless to say, we are very excited! Greg has been planning our route north on the Hudson River to the Erie Canal and beyond. We are somewhat trepidatious about navigating river systems and locks, but know we will 'get through' each and every milestone with humour and hopefully, some grace!

To reprise our journey so far, we left Nova Scotia in June, 2024 and arrived in Stony Point, New York on October 1, 2024. We left our boat at Pennybridge Marina for the winter. Our final adventure in NYC before leaving the boat was very exciting - NYC from the water was new and not something we had experienced.

Upon leaving Port Washington, we entered the East River and passed under our first bridge of many, Throgs Neck Bridge (seen above). I won't belabour the point that we passed under MANY bridges - I'll just hit the highlights! Heading down the East River was an adventure in itself, as we passed LaGuardia airport, then Rikers Island (also above).

As we passed Rikers, we came upon a huge police presence on the water. Although I am not posting many photos from this experience, suffice to say we were NOT getting near the United Nations building as the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations was in progress and many high-level dignitaries were in attendance. We were slowed in our progress, but not for long - apparently we were not viewed as being dangerous folks and they waved us on! We did have to stay to the left of Roosevelt Island though as nobody was allowed too close to FDR Drive and the shore of the city proper. I've posted some photos of the lighthouse on the end of Roosevelt Island, the Noguchi-like statues in the Girl Puzzle Monument honoring Nellie Bly, and the New York skyline which was magnificent, even in the fog.

After six more bridges, we approached the Brooklyn Bridge, an iconic sight. By this time we were being chased by the many ferries that transport folks around the city, so we did not linger too long. It is an amazing structure though - and we passed underneath it! Next in our sights was the Statue of Liberty - I can only say - WOW!!

Again dodging all of the ferries and sightseeing boats on the water, we made our way out to the statue and took photos to mark the official beginning of our Great Loop journey (coming from NS to NYC is not officially part of the Great Loop, although it was for us!).

We stayed the night at the Hudson Point Marina, a small marina on the Jersey side of New York. After docking, we passed through a memorial park for Korean War Veterans on our way to the ferry at Paulus Hook to cross to downtown Manhattan. Upon landing, we came across the Irish Hunger Memorial, something we had never visited in all of our previous visits.

From there we passed through the financial district on our way to the 911 Memorial and Museum. That evening we dined in an old style Italian restaurant - Serafina - and then headed back to the boat. The evening skyline of lower Manhattan is so pretty! So

much history in this city!

The next day, we headed to Haverstraw - up the Hudson. Again, passing the landmark buildings of Manhattan - Whitney Museum, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, the Vessel at Hudson Yard and so many skyscrapers - was a surreal experience. What a city - I love NYC!!

The city was visible in our rearview for a very long distance up the river.

As we traveled up the Hudson, we passed Yonkers, Sleepy Hollow, and other interesting sights. Our stay in Safe Harbor Haverstraw was uneventful - we arrived as boating season was winding down and there were very few people around. Even the geese were flying south at this time! The marina has a fun vibe though - fake palm trees at every slip on this dock!

As the summer season was winding down everywhere, we were lucky that the marina had a great restaurant still open that saved us as we were at the end of our journey and not keen to purchase more perishables. We did attend a football game at Metlife Stadium (Jets vs Broncos) - it poured rain for the whole game!

We used our time at Haverstraw to clean up the boat, launder everything before packing up linens for winter storage, packing up our suitcases and preparing to leave our boat at the marina next door - Pennybridge Marina in Stony Point.

It was a sad day saying so long to our home on the water, but both of us were eager to return to Nova Scotia once more.

On June 3, we restart the adventure. I know this last installment was late in coming but I hope you enjoyed it. I enjoyed reliving our New York adventure, and am looking forward to what comes next!