We put in a long, 13 hour day from Atlantic City, NJ, but we made to the Big Apple.! Those thirteen hours were not without challenges. It all started with us pulling out of Atlantic City at 05:30 only to find the Atlantic exactly as the marine forecast had predicted. Sunrise photo below, leaving Atlantic City NJ.
Unfortunately by 10:00 the wind and waves had increased in strength and size well beyond what we would regard as “do-able”. We opted for our contingency plan to enter Barnegat Inlet and resume north on the dreaded NJICW. No surprise, the NJICW was shallow, painful and probably as stressful as running outside (often we found ourselves in 3 feet of water, inside the channel!). We struggled northward to the end of the NJICW, arriving at Manasquan Inlet at 14:00. We were now a mere 25 miles away from New York City. If we did not press on today, the weather forecast indicated that we would be stuck here in northern New Jersey for close to a week (not optimal at all!).
So we stuck our nose out into the Atlantic Ocean, only to find more favourable conditions. We decided to go for it, but not without a struggle, when the wind began to build again with 10 miles to go. The New York City skyline and the Narrows Bridge were in plain sight, but the 20 knot winds directly on our stern were untenable for Catan, so we started “tacking” in among all manner of sea traffic in order to get into the inner harbour. We finally made it cruising pastt the Statue of Liberty by 18:00 and to our marina by 18:30. We may have been weary, but there was an undeniable 'awe' viewing New York from the water amidst all the activity around us.
Since the New York marina prices were astronomical ($4.50 per foot, per night), early the next morning we headed north on the Hudson River. We did not have a restful night in New York, so we were happy to come upon a free municipal dock at Yonkers and tied up at 11:00, minutes before the skies opened up. with the predicted stormy weather. The heavy rains lasted all day (and lead to local flooding), so we were happy to relax and recoup. Yonkers proved to be a delightful stop, and is in the midst of a billion dollar rejuvenation. But, we could not linger longer than one night because the following morning the rain, wind, currents and tide conspired against us. Catan was getting beat up at that dock despite 4 bumpers deployed. and another poor night of sleep due to the heavy wake from the high tide making it's way upstream.
So we set off north again. We just had our second night of poor sleep and our pressing necessity to move Catan northbound, has us completely out of sync with the tidal current. We put in a short day in heavy winds (surprise) and are now 35 miles north of New York City at a place called Croton on Hudson. We enjoyed a short walk to a highly recommended pizzeria. After a nice dinner, all is calm and we plan on an early, restorative sleep. We are in agreement that we are working very hard to get home! That said, the prize of getting home is highly motivating and our spirits are high.
Tomorrow, we hope to tie up at the municipal dock in Waterford, NY .... our entry into the Erie Canal. That said, we'll have a bit of a wait until the projected opening of May 19. That's ok - it is free, with power and water (and some friends from Alexandria Bay who are a few days ahead of us).
Home is lookin' good!
