August 12 – Sunday
We were away from the anchorage by 06:25 for our trip down the lower Hudson and past NYC harbor. The ebbing tide gave us an extra push for the first 2 hours and moved us along at 9.5 knots. The WX was great for this section of the river and we enjoyed seeing the New Jersey Palisades lighted by the sun rising in the east. Not much other water traffic at this hour so we could take time to really look around. The George Washington Bridge came into view and we measured it to be 10 NM distant on the chart plotter, CAVU conditions for sure – we finally slid under it at 10:00 AM. There was a small tug nearing the bridge as we approached, and it was towing 2 gray landing craft and was being accompanied by a good size U.S. Coast Guard vessel. We monitored the radio and heard the tug talking to the CG vessel which soon stopped and did some backing–up maneuvers across the river.
South of the GW Bridge the commercial traffic began to build with water taxis and tugs, but not as intense as what we experienced on a week day coming north. Below the Battery some ships entered the mix and several were getting underway for sea, as we approached the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, but we stayed way clear on the Jersey side of the channel.
We were headed for Atlantic Highlands Marina and as we got to the point at Sandy Hook, the weekend sport fishermen were out in full force. We wound our way through and past them and entered the break water at the Highlands. Oh yes, there was also a sailing regatta in progress in the bay as well. The marina is operated by the municipality and they do a nice job. We had arranged for a slip but went to the fuel dock first, to top the tanks with 110 gallons of low cost (relatively) diesel. They pump a lot of fuel – when I went to the fuel dock office for a receipt, another boat, a sport fisherman that had fueled up, had a total charge of $884.46. I hope they caught a lot of fish. Unlike the floating docks we had grown used to during this trip, ours was built with pilings like they are in the Bay except here they have a 6’ tide range so the pilings are really tall. We got things arranged to our satisfaction in the slip and had the A/C running in no time flat, then headed for Zio’s, the dock side restaurant, and some great pizza. We had been deprived of pizza since we were in Ilion, NY July 4th. We ordered a large and two Heinekens, and that was lunch. We would return to Zio’s later that evening for a couple of killer, deluxe cheeseburgers as our dinner.
The on-line marine WX indicated Monday looked good for the ocean run to Atlantic City so it would be another early departure. We checked in with the kids by email and almost immediately got a call from son Matt who happened to be at his computer so he wanted us to know he had just sent us some pics taken that day when he, Kris and Cameron visited the Bahorics to celebrate Libby’s birthday. We enjoyed the photos then watched a DVD before turning in for the night. Ain’t modern technology wonderful?