New York City

Getting There....
No need to take the cruise, we motored right past in our very own boat.

 It's a very busy waterway - avoiding ferries and freighters and dealing with the wake they leave behind...but Old Rosie and Captain Ben handled it well.

These sailboats manage to race amid all the traffic.

In New York City-
Our first visit was before Irene on August 25th.  We took the train from Tarrytown and headed for Times Square.

This group gave a little impromptu performance from the musical Hair.

Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe,

a tour of Madame Tussaud`s Wax Museum,

After Irene, we had moved the boat and were moored in Great Kills Harbour, Staten Island.
So getting to Manhatten Island took a bit more time- first, a dinghy ride to the club house, then a 15 minute walk to the train station, a 30 minute ride on the Staten Island Railroad, then a 30 minute ride on the Staten Island Ferry, and finally a subway ride to wherever we wanted to go on the Island.
The total cost?    $4.50 one way...the ferry was free!

Once in NYC we enjoyed the Hop On- Hop Off  Doubledecker Bus Tours.  We were given lots of interesting historical details, architectural info and facts of all kinds while seeing many sections of Manhatten.

We "hopped off" at the site of the World Trade Centre and saw new construction underway.  

St. Paul's Chapel is known as the "little chapel that stood" while the Twin Towers collapsed right across the street.  It became a place of refuge for the rescue workers at the time, and continues to be a place of remembrance ten years later.

On the second day we met our niece for lunch; she is a college student in NYC.

Our narrators on the second day were and informative and entertaining- one of them sang New York, New York at the top of his lungs as we climbed up to the upper  level of the bus. We were told that now we probably know more about NYC than the average New Yorker.
My brother and sister-in-law told me that riding in a horse drawn carriage through Central Park was one of their favourite activities, but unfortunately, we were not able to do it....maybe next time...

We saw the Dakota building where John Lennon was shot and where Yoko Ono still lives...on the whole third floor.

These water towers are on most buildings and are used when the power goes out and the municipal water fails.

We hopped off again at the Metropolitan Museum of Art...amazing!
I could have spent a week just visiting museums!

After all that walking, we relaxed on the "back porch"....

'Bye for now...from our mooring ball at the Richmond County Yacht Club, Great Kills Harbour, Staten Is.

Looking back at Hurricane Irene

Just a few pictures of Old Rosie before the storm...
      the dinghy, motor, kayaks and booms were tied down,  

"I don't know where I'm-a gonna go when the hurricane blows..."

We headed north to the Super 8 Motel in Newburgh where we encountered lots of rain, but not that much wind.  The red rental car was ours...

After the storm, we went back to check on the boats, everything was OK except for one exploded fender.

The water was absolutely brown, so muddy with floating branches, logs and debris.

Three boats came down the Hudson together.  One couple spent the hurricane on their boat out at an anchorage.  We all survived and decided to have a little celebration.

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know where I'm-a gonna go when the hurricane blows.
Eyes are on the radar screen,
Hurricane Irene's lookin' mean,
Dilly-Dally's on the hook,
Give 'em time, they'll write a book!
I don't know, I don't know, I don't know where I'm-a gonna go when the hurricane blows!"

The Hudson River gang, ready to head off on the next adventure....

August 31

Old Rosie weathered the storm well and we are now moored in Great Kills Harbour on Staten Island, heading back to NYC tomorrow via MTA    :)

Rollin’ On the River…. August 19 - ?

It's August 28th, and our story of going down the Hudson River isn't over yet....
Hurricane Irene has slowed us down, but we are safe in a motel in Newburgh. Fifty miles to our southeast, Old Rosie is riding out the storm at a dock in the Tarrytown Marina.  New York City is another twenty-six miles further down.
The last couple of days were busy with preparations to secure Old Rosie ...

A few years ago our Wiarton friends, Dave and Al, gave us some heavy spring lines that they no longer needed and felt we might use some day...  well, we used every one and tied to all the docks and the pilings in numerous directions... Old Rosie looked like she was caught in a spider web.

So... while we wait out the storm, I might as well take you back ten days to our first days on the Hudson.
Castleton-on-Hudson is a yacht club where you can pay to use their electric hoist to lift the masts.
It's always good to have a little help from our friends on Dilly Dally and Thomas Leigh.

Ben, Marcel and Dale are a hard-working team...no funny business here!

Finally Jane got to control the remote...

After all that hard work, we motored across to anchor on the other side of the river.  It was fun to get together for a singsong on Old Rosie.  After a floating party, you have to row home!

The Hudson River has some interesting lighthouses,

and bridges,

The Hudson River is all about transportation...  boats in all shapes and sizes...
The Clearwater is a 106' sloop which serves thousands of students a year as a venue for science-based environmental education. Pete Seeger (of Peter, Paul and Mary)  became involved and co-founded the environmental organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater in 1966.  The organization has worked since then to highlight and clean up pollution in the Hudson River.  

 freighters...

PT boats,

...and even a motorized dock.

What's under the plastic sheet?  People coming back from a lighthouse fundraiser during a downpour.


My favourite section of the river is the Hudson Highlands where amazing buildings are tucked up along the bluffs.

including West Point,

bluffs and mountains...

We loved the castle on Pollepel Island.   According to Wikipedia:
"Bannerman's Castle is an abandoned military surplus warehouse.^[2] It was built in the style of a castle by gilded age businessman Francis Bannerman VI (1851–1918).^[3] Pollepel Island is sometimes referred to as Bannerman's Island.^[5] One side of the castle carries the words "Bannerman's Island Arsenal".^[2][3] The island has an interesting history, being strategically important during the American War of Independence and purchased by Francis Bannerman VI. However, after his death in 1918, the island experienced a series of disasters. Lightning was known to strike the flagpoles. Then, two hundred pounds of powder and shells exploded, destroying half the building. Later, a massive storm on the Hudson caused a freighter and passenger barge, the Pollepel, to explode and crash into the island (hence the name Pollepel Island). The name is from the Dutch word pollepel, meaning "ladle". According to Native American lore the island was inhabited by unfriendly spirits." 

Here are some pictures of the castle:

At the anchorages on the Hudson, you can see that the train tracks are never far away.  One conductor took great pleasure in blowing the horn for a loooooong time before, during and after he passed us.

When we were kayaking I found this water chestnut floating near the shore...they are also known as dinghy poppers!

Sunday afternoon update-
The rain and wind have subsided here in Newburgh.  We've been able to go out to eat and even did some shopping at Walmart!  But there has been some flooding and road closures, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that tomorrow we will be able to head back to Tarrytown Marina.

Old Rosie, hang in there for one more night!