May 29,30,31,2016-----New York City to Half Moon Bay

Lady Liberty looked as jubilant as we, on “Summertime”, felt. Our more-than-capable photographers were Barbara and David Doyle on PDQ Catamaran “Miss My Money”. They dashed by us at 15 mph just before the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, photographed two other boats at Liberty Island, then graciously waited for us to arrive at our full-speed-ahead 7 mph. Our hope to have a buddy boat record this iconic moment was fulfilled! New York Harbor was eerily quiet that Sunday morning of Memorial Day Weekend. There were a few slow-moving tug/tows... with almost no wave action. What a gift! As we continued up the Hudson River, we reveled at the misty morning beauty of soaring skyscrapers on both the New Jersey and New York sides. Freedom Tower atop One World Trade Center made our hearts soar. Such a stunning reminder of recovery after a horrific attack on the United States. A dozen or so colorful sailing yachts were preparing for an 11am start of a single-handed Trans-Atlantic race...NYC, U.S.A. to Vendee Veille, France. Exciting stuff! Passing under the George Washington Bridge caused us far less angst than when we passed over it a month ago by car...$13.00/auto and lane upon lane of crazy traffic. Along the New Jersy shore of the river rise The Palisades... fortress-like walls of stone that reach 300-500 feet high. We found the Tappanzee Bridge up in Tarrytown in the midst of being replaced by a higher version. Huge cranes affixed to barges loomed over the river and other barges hovered around with their various construction materials. We traveled 50 miles up to Crotin-on-Hudson. There we settled into Half Moon Bay Marina. After catching our breath for that first afternoon, we caught the 7:15am Metro North Train the next morning and returned to NYC. Grand Central Station is a city all in itself. With help from some willing daily commuters, we found our way from Track 40 to #4 Subway bound to Bowling Green Station and Manhattan’s Battery Park. Tickets for The Statue of Liberty National Monument & Ellis Island were for sale at the water’s edge. We boarded the ferry carrying at least 300 visitors at 9 am. For the next four hours we lived and breathed “the immigrant experience”. Making it more real, the multitudes of visitors surrounding us represented a world of culture and language. We were definitely in the minority based on age and ethnicity. We departed each island having experienced a very sobering... yet uplifting... moment in time.

Created by Darcy Campbell