Day 305
On Monday morning, 07/12/21, in very hazy but calm weather conditions, we left our tie-up at Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island at 7:45 pm. We were headed north-northwest through New York Harbor, toward the mouth of the Hudson River. All morning long, the sun fought hard to break through the haze, but never succeeded that morning, sadly for us, as this was our day to cruise through the magnificent New York Harbor, directly beneath New York City’s large and historical skyscrapers, bridges, and park areas, for which it is so famous. But, we could barely see any of them through the haze. 🙁 I was disappointed and frustrated!
As we cruised, we could see silhouettes of buildings and landmarks, but of course scoring any decent pictures was pure fantasy. We could see the famous Verrazano Bridge up ahead, through the heavy haze, along with the Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Jersey City skylines. Still traveling in the Lower Bay of New York Harbor, we passed New Dorp Beach, Midland Beach, and South Beach, all part of Staten Island, to our port. Our cruising waters were smooth, but there was an undeniable roll coming from the ocean. which kept my stomach on the queasy side. I was very ready to get off of the ocean and into some protected waters!
Once we crossed underneath the Verazzano Narrows Bridge, we passed Fort Wadsworth to our port, right on the Hudson River, just north of the bridge, and just like that we were now cruising in the Upper Bay of New York Harbor. As Legacy passed the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, now barely visible through the thick haze, I was grateful we’d gotten to view them earlier that week, even though it had been rainy off and on. Stormy skies trump hazy skies any day!
The Upper Bay is far busier than the Lower Bay, there’s no question. Legacy found herself with lots of over-the-water company, as we were passed by multiple ferries, barges, and container ships. We passed endless buildings obscured by haze, as we slowly cruised northward on the Hudson River, through NYC’s Battery, Tribeca, Lower Manhattan, Soho, and Greenwich Village areas to our starboard. We passed Hoboken, NJ, to our port, with Manhattan proper to our opposite side. We passed Harlem, Upper Manhattan, and Washington Heights before we cruised beneath the George Washington Bridge. Then it was on to Inwood, Riverdale, and North Riverdale, NY, before we reached Yonkers, NY. It broke my heart that we were coming through all of these well-known and historic areas, yet I could not photograph their actual beauty. 🙁
Just south of the Tappan Zee Bridge, on the eastern side of the Hudson River, we could just barely make out the Lyndhurst Mansion up on a hill. I told Steve I really wanted to tour that place if we got an opportunity. We learned that “tappan zee” is an old Native American term meaning “natural widening”, and indeed the Hudson River does widen considerably through the Tappan Zee.
As we had been told previously, many massive, majestic bluffs and lush forests line both sides of the Hudson River, and we could tell this part of the country was truly beautiful, if we could only see it… In the middle of all this natural scenery, as we progressed, we passed right by Sing Sing Correctional Facility. 😐
We arrived at Half Moon Bay Marina, in the town of Croton-On-Hudson, NY, at 1:15 pm. Our slip there was literally RIGHT BESIDE Bella Vita, owned by our friends, the Sharps. We’d known she was there, but thought it funny we ended up with the slip right next to her. Bella Vita was staying at Half Moon Bay while her crew drove home to Florida to check on the progress of the remodel of their home in Ft. Myers for a couple of weeks. I texted Brandee a picture of Bella Vita to let her know we would be able to personally watch their boat for at least a week. As I was placing fenders to pull into our slip, I noticed there were still portions of crab carcasses littering Legacy’s deck, left-over from Todd and Terry Turns’ feeding frenzies at GKYC. 🙂
We had heard great things about Half Moon Bay Marina, the town of Croton-On-Hudson, and the lovely bucolic scenery on the banks of the Hudson River in this area. Unfortunately, we could not fully enjoy it as we had experienced cloudy and/or hazy weather pretty much ever since we’d arrived in the state of New York. We were both very ready for some clear, blue, sunshiny days, so we could view that scenery properly illuminated by Mother Nature. Eventually, we learned all that haze was not due to weather as much as it was residual smoke from the forest fires out west slowly drifting eastward. We were in dire need of a cold front to come through and clear away that haze.
Our slip at Half Moon Bay was decent, as there was a make-shift “sea-wall” made from vertical, buried pilings that were partially submerged surrounding the marina to provide “protection” from Hudson River traffic. It protected us fairly well from the wakes of southbound traffic, but was pretty much wide open to any and all wakes generated by northbound traffic, so Legacy experienced her share of rocking at that marina.
Position: N 41° 11.802, W 73° 53.392
Distance traveled: 54 SM
Total distance traveled: 4307 SM
Total marina nights: 281
Total nights at anchor: 23
Locks today: 0
Locks Total: 28