Atlantic City, NJ to Staten Island, New York Our 16th and LAST State!
We were up at 5:00 AM, checked the weather, and decided it was go-time. The rain was expected to hit New York around noon, so we wanted to get a head start. By 5:50 AM, we were off the dock, thinking it would be a 5-hour run. Instead, it turned into more like 6 hours, and the weather had us on edge as we could see ominous dark clouds approaching from the west. We kept a close eye on the radar, with a few backup plans for anchorages just in case. One of our anchoring options was behind the stretch of land in this photo. It's a popular anchorage in Sandy Hook Bay. Fortunately, we made it to our destination in time but the rain rolled in soon afterwards.
When we left Atlantic City, we didn’t have a place to stay for the night, but Kathie worked her magic and secured us slips at Great Kills Yacht Club. Kathie and Ken could stay until Sunday, but we'd have to check again on Saturday to see if we could extend our stay. This was our first view of the New York City skyline as it started to appear out of the haze when we were about an hour from our destination. We
would be navigating around the marker and heading east to Staten Island. By 12:15 PM, we were safely docked, with Caribbean Dream and Margin right behind us. Margin was a Looper boat that we connected with enroute so we arrived as a flotilla of three. Just a few slips down from our boat, there was a young family of swans drinking from a trickling hose. We had never seen cygnets before and there were five of them with Mama and Papa Swan watching closely.
While the rain came down, Cam tackled some work, and Heather ordered groceries through Instacart. By 5 PM, the delivery arrived, and we headed to the Great Kills Yacht Club bar for drinks. The local boaters were super welcoming, and the drinks were incredibly affordable—six drinks for only $21! The bartender handed us pizza menus from local pizzerias, and when the delivery arrived, she set up a table for the four of us, complete with paper plates and napkins. The pizza was delicious, and Heather was thrilled she could indulge thanks to her gluten pills.
After a restful night at the yacht club, it was time to move the boat to a mooring ball. Once secure, we lowered the dinghy and made our way to visit Jim and Elaine on JEMA. They are from our home town and Jim was a client of Cam's many years ago. They were staying at the next marina over. Afterwards, we tied up at the dinghy dock and caught the city bus to Manhattan. Our first stop: the 9/11 Memorial. From there,
we grabbed a quick lunch before hopping onto the Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off downtown tour. We got off to explore the Theatre District, and carried on until we reached Time Square, where we returned to the bus to finish the tour.
Back at the marina, we enjoyed drinks with Ken and Kathie at the Yacht Club Bar, followed by a relaxing dinner with leftovers. Exhausted from our full day, we turned in early.
Staten Island, NY to Montrose, NY
Our last few travel days had all been running at 15 knots, so today we finally took it slow, cruising at a comfortable pace toward New York Harbour, with Caribbean Dream following close behind. Due to our extended absence, a couple of family members had given us cards to be opened for special occasions, so Cam opened one that said, “Dad – open on June 18.” We shared a mini Father’s Day celebration on the bridge, sending texts and photos back home, while teasing our family about a visit to a "special lady" (the Statue of Liberty, of course).
As we approached the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, we slowed to let two cargo ships pass through the busy harbour. There were several ferries and other ships zooming around and while we navigated around the traffic, we had a constant eye on our goal, which was the Statue of Liberty. Everyone wants to get that iconic shot of themselves and their boat in front of Lady Liberty and we were no exception. Heather thought about her grandfather, John Henry Allen,
as we entered the harbour. He would have made a similar journey through the harbour in 1910 with his two brothers when they immigrated to Canada. We wondered what it must have looked like for immigrants arriving back then, as they entered the harbour and passed so close to the statue on their way to Ellis Island. It wasn't until a few years later that immigrants destined for Canada would arrive in Halifax instead.
We recognized many of the landmarks we had seen on our downtown New York tour and it was interesting to see many of them with a clear vantage point from the water. The two photos above are of a building nicknamed the Jenga Tower and we had a much better view
of it from the water. After passing under the George Washington Bridge, the city skyline quickly faded, and the southern shore gave way to the dramatic Palisades cliffs. We passed through towns like Yonkers and Sleepy Hollow on our starboard side as we made our way up the Hudson River.
One of the highlights on the river was crossing under The Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge, the longest bridge in New York State, at 5 km. It is a modern, cable-stayed bridge spanning the Hudson River between Tarrytown and South Nyack, New York, replacing the outdated Tappan Zee Bridge. Opened in 2017 and 2018, the bridge features three lanes in each direction for vehicles, as well as dedicated lanes for pedestrians and cyclists. Apparently, it has an LED lighting system that changes colours. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the lights but it would have been pretty cool.
When we finally reached the Courtlandt Yacht Club, we docked stern-in, but there was no finger dock on either side, which meant climbing over our dinghy to get off the boat—a bit awkward, especially for Heather, who needed help in both directions because her legs were just a bit too short. We later noticed that none of the yacht club members had dinghies, so they didn’t face the same issue. We slipped into swimsuits and made our way to the pool for a refreshing dip, followed by a Father’s Day dinner on the boat. Later that evening, we noticed our boat was listing, and sure enough, two of our lines had become snagged as the tide rose. At least we were awake to catch it! Tides here were running 4-5 feet—one more thing we’d soon leave behind.
Each day brought its own adventure, and despite a few challenges, we couldn’t help but feel lucky to experience the scenery and history of New York in such a unique way. Click on the photos below to view the images in slideshow mode. Thank you to Kathie from Caribbean Dream for the photos of Sea Clef in New York Harbour. You can also watch our videos on the area including Exciting News on Our Way to New York City and Photo Opportunity with a Beautiful Lady! There is less than a month of travels left in our loop and we will continue next time with the Hudson River.
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