A lot of water under the keel

Sorry to be so long, too much going on to take time to blog.

To catch up, we had a beautiful outside (in the Atlantic) 5 hour run from Atlantic City to Manasquan Inlet and a restful night at anchor. Then onto Great Kills harbor in fine conditions for the worst stop since leaving the Solomons. Great Kills is a man made (WPA) harbor on the SE shore of Staten Island with 4 marinas and other services. On arrival we were informed that all shore facilities were private and we could not land our dinghy anywhere.
The Captain dinghyed into a small marina to beg for mercy which failed so he told the proprietor that Great Kills was a disgrace to the boating community. Must have hit a nerve and he offered a slip at a discount ($30) on the fuel dock. We got to stroll around town and found if full of hyper New Jersey'ns.

Onward the next day for our long awaited leg through the heart of New York City. It is hard to describe the emotions of awe and anxiety swirling around in a mix of fast current , ferries and ships. Actually it went quite smoothly and nobody ran over us. We had a rather long day continuing 50 miles up the Hudson to an anchorage 3 miles north of West Point.

Somewhat worn by the trek through NJ we threw out the anchor and decided to just hang out the next day. We were anchored by one of the most unusual "castles" ever seen and smooth river conditions allowed us to scoot in the dinghy down to Cold Springs, a really charming small town and up to Newburgh a not so charming city. The pictures at picsaweb.google.com/lropka in album Hudson River tell the story of these adventures.

Onward (upward?) on Sunday 22nd to the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club for a very warm welcome and a delightful evening of boat talk and conversation. Further on Monday to the neat little village of Catskill where the main street is lined with 4' cat statues in every conceivable decor. The Admiral wheedled a free dock out of a restaurant owner and we had a great time strolling the streets. (Adrmiral's Note: Had to buy a dinner ....;-) smart bargain huh!)

The tide (current) in contrary so we are going to stay here today and catch the current north at 5 am tomorrow for Troy and the entrance to the Erie Canal system, about 500 miles since leaving the Solomons.