The Big Apple and Hudson Valley: NY Adventures

We are happily docked at the Tarrytown Marina and enjoying the lavish hospitality of my Aunt Marianne at the present moment. Since leaving the Canal, we to Rensellear, NY for a night after which Sarah and I caught the Amtrak into Manhattan. Arriving at Penn Central we spent about 3 hours walking around Mid-Town Manhattan including Columbus Circle, Central Park, the Public Library (featured in the movie The Day After), Times Square, Fifth Avenue, and various shopping venues including a brave venture into one of the hallowed territories of the rich and famous - Bergdorf Goodman. If you have never been there, it is one of the largest and "toniest" pricey stores in Manhattan all done in white marble and gleaming art deco. The basement is a floor is dedicated solely to perfume and cosmetics with all of the most famous product lines from Lancome and Chanel to Clinique, etc. Each product counter had fantastically coiffed and made up salesladies who were busily applying their wares to incredibly well-dressed and jeweled New York debutantes and their moms. The next floor (main floor) is all accessories and jewelry - handbag department, scarf deparment, hat department, on and on and even a Van Cleef and Arpels counter. The jewelry, needless to say, was NOT costume jewelry. The next floor housed designer collection clothing. Even Sarah was hesitant to touch anything ( I knew better). After 3 floors we knew we were woefully underdressed and tried to leave unobtrusively. But what an experience! Next we took the subway down to Canal Street and strolled from Chinatown to Little Italy. We scored a Dolce and Gabbana knock-off bag for Sarah in Chinatown as well as a few other items. By this time it was pushing 6pm and we took the subway back to Times Square, walked to Penn Station and caught a train to Newark where we picked up the Air Train to the depot for hotel shuttles and by 7:30 pm we were exhausted but happily checked in to a gorgeous room at the Airport Marriott. Sarah flew back home the next morning, and as pre-arranged I went back into Manhattan and walked the few blocks from Penn Station to Port Authority and caught a bus to Kingston, NY to meet up with Wayne. He had worked like a dog the day I was playing in NYC, getting the mast de-stepped (which means put back up) and getting the boat ready to be a sailboat again. I managed to find him at the waterfront in Kingston which is a DO NOT MISS for boaters on the Hudson. The entire waterfront areas has been re-habbed into adorable little boutiques, restaurants, bars, and all totally geared to boaters. It is also an extremely historic area (as is all the Hudson) and quaint as all get-out. You can anchor out and dinghy in to this area if you prefer (which is what we did) and for $10 the Rondout Yacht Basin will let you take a shower and jump in their pool. Next morning we left for the Hyde Park Marina and soon after casting off - just as Wayne was extolling the beauty of the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River Valley - the boat made a soft "thud" as we ran aground for the third time. NO!!!! You're kidding! This can be a serious situation in the Hudson as actually there is a tide and the tide was going out. After a frantic effort to free the keel, it became painfully apparent that the only thing we could do was wait until the tide was coming back in. When this happens, the sailboat starts to lean over on it's side until it is nearly horizontal. You can feel the process occuring on board, and it is quite unsettling. The only thing to do was to get into the dinghy and wait it out with water, sunscreen and a book. Luckily the water Sheriff came by and explained that we had made a common mistake: an old lighthouse had been restored and although the sailors had asked for the trim to be painted green, history buffs insisted it be painted red. Many sailors mistake this lighthouse for a "red" when it should be a "green". In sailing terms, this is a very bad situation because you make the decision regarding which side to pass it on based upon its color. Clearly, we should have passed it on the port side, but we went to starboard and therefore, like many before us, ran aground. The Sheriff said he had saved many a sailor from just this spot, which made me feel alot better but Wayne was still disgusted. The Sheriff said he would come back when there was more water, but perhaps we could row out an anchor and try to kedge ourselves off if it started to look more favorable. This is exactly what happened and by 1pm or so we were free of the mud and underway again. Wayne says there are 2 kinds of sailors: those who have run aground and those who will. This is sailing wisdom. I believe it, but I have had enough running around for now. In fact if it does not happen again at all this trip, I will not be disappointed. On to the Hyde Park Marina - which we discovered upon arrival had actually burned down last year. All but the floating docks -and so we tied up to the remnant of the gas dock and spent a pleasant evening anyway. The next day was a fabulous trip through the West Point area in which we saw incredible ruins of old forts and arsenals as well as the home of our Army Academy. Cool stuff actually. We gassed up at the Panco gas dock along the way but there was really no good place to stop or anchor so we went all the way to Nyack. There is a large anchorage area in Nyack, and it is an ADORABLE town. It is upscale artst-fartsy complete with a natural foods grocery store and a fabulous wine store. There are any number of historic mansions along the short and pleasant walk to town, most in excellent repair with lovely gardens. We picked out some nice wine and a few essentials and had dinner on board with every intention to spend another day the next day. In the dead of the night, a storm of major proportions blew up with rain, thunder, lightening, wind, you name it. Wayne bolted out of bed and onto the deck without a stitch of clothing to protect him from the elements to make sure our anchor was holding and the dinghy was still here. Yes on both counts, but it was difficult to sleep much after that and we both slept in fits and starts. Logically, the worst thing that can happen when you are anchored out somewhere is that you "drag" your anchor thus potentially crashing into another boat or running aground or crashing into rocks - you get the idea. OK, dragging is not the worst possible thing - totally losing your anchor would be worse but that is a rare occurance and one that better not happen to me...The next morning brought no more rain but a visciously building wind and waves - even on a river - that did cause us to drag our anchor quite a distance at which point the only choice was to get somewhere safe! We motored over to the Tarrytown Marina and were extraordinarily happy to have made our destination intact and to enjoy some calm water at last. The marina is a stone's throw from the Tappan Zee bridge and boasts a wonderful view of the New York skyline. The staff is friendly, the facilities clean and secure, and next door is a large park with among other things tennis courts. Heaven! That's where Cassie is while we visit with my auntie. Tomorrow we will take her out into the Hudson again and attempt to find an achorage for her somewhere in the Manhattan area. We are hoping to hook up with the fabulous painter John Ranson Phillips who some of you may remember from his show in the DeVos and enjoy some mouth-watering Italian food at a sidewalk cafe in Little Italy. Next entry - our New York City experience.