New York State of Mind: De Planes! De Planes!

We’re definintely in a New York state of mind as we have been cruising through the state for the last week. Of course, that started with the Big Apple last Friday after stopping in Sandy Hook for a brief rest following our overnight trip up the Jersey shore. We have blogged about going through New York before, so I’ll just hit some highlights, mostly through photos, because the views NEVER get old! This was our fourth time through the city and it was still thrilling. We’re transiting waterways so you think boats, right? What’s the deal with “De Planes” subtitle? Well, ALL types of watercraft, commercial and personal, fill the waters around NYC, but we seem to have interesting encounters with aircraft on these trips!! We see planes coming in to land at LaGuardia… MULTITUDES of helicopters coming in to the business helipads… the SKIES are full of traffic as we transit the area. You’ll see….

Approaching the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Ems taking in the view

The Battery… Hudson River to the left, East River (our route) to the right, and One World Trade Center standing proudly.

So as we approached The Battery where you have to choose if you’re going up the Hudson River or the East River, Frank reminded me that this is where Sully Sullenberger landed USAirways Flight 1549 back in 2009.

This came from a simulation I found (using the real voice recording from the incident).

Yellow arrow – Sully’s route in. What could go wrong? Blue arrow – the direction we’re headed. Sobering.

By the way, if you haven’t seen the movie, “Sully,” it is VERY interesting. Okay, moving on…

The many bridges of New York – approaching Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges

So a LOT of visual stimulation happens in this next part (because there hasn’t been enough already)…

Empire State Building and The American Copper Buildings

I was fascinated by these strange looking towers! I sent the picture to my family and I don’t remember the EXACT quote, but my sister Christine thought they looked like hugging Gumbies, I believe it was. I had to find out… they were designed by SHoP Architects who also designed the Barclay Center… and they are apartments. The 2-story sky bridge houses a – get this – LAP POOL. No thank you.

And, of course, the UN… I am stifling any political comments.

Okay, so I’ll post a flashback from our last transit going the other direction in 2014. That was when we passed port to port under a bridge with an NYPD helipcopter – that startled the %&#! out of us! Yup, he flew under the bridge. Hard to forget that one.

Flashback from 2014…

So when you think that can’t be topped,  Frank looks up and I hear something like, “What the hell am I’m looking at?” DE PLANE! DE PLANE! That’s the same bridge where we saw the police helicopter! (Bonus for getting the classic TV show reference…)

Well HELLO!

Yes, THIS time through we got to pass starboard to starboard with a sea plane! And 3 minutes later, we had another one!! Note to self… stay out of the middle of the East River.

And then there’s all size and nature of water vessels to dart around. Large cargo ships are anchored here and there…

When you’re looking up at the ships you’re passing…

No picture could possibly tell the story of how busy the waterways are. At one point a small herd of 10 jet skis whizzed by going top speed! That’s a little crazy if you ask me. (Frank thought that looked fun…we’re different that way.)

So it was another exciting, memorable and successful trip through New York City. On the other side of the city is Pt. Washington (Long Island) – a very cruiser welcoming harbor! We have stopped there before and it did not disappoint this time, either. We had a couple orders of business there….

First order of business…. okay, anybody notice something important missing in this picture?

What should be flapping behind Frank’s shoulder? Ooops.

At one point I went to take a picture over our stern, framed with Old Glory, when I realized “GASP” where’s our flag? Our offshore trip wasn’t bouncy enough to lose the flag… except for the 20 minutes that we turned around into the wind to await sunrise – and then we bounced real good! Apparently our flag gave up the ghost in that part of the trip… drats. That was a nice flag pole.

We had an extra oversized flag aboard… rigged a broom handle that fit nicely into the holder… this will do in a pinch, but we’re going to need to look for a more stable answer.

That’s a pretty big flag!

And of course, ice cream (or in this case, Italian Ice) is in order.

Main St. – Pt. Washington

Looking out over the harbor after a stroll around town and a good dinner.

We found a new favorite for dinner… Finn MacCool’s. First – it’s Irish so what’s not to love. Good advice from a local… the further up Main St. you walk, the food gets better and cheaper. Good tip!

The launch ride back to Eleanor Q with a nearly full moon

Next day we walked town and, upon advice from a friend, went to check out the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club… beautiful!

Confirmed the rumor that there is a superstition that bananas on a boat are bad luck. If that’s the case, we are so screwed…

We walked BACK to Finn MacCool’s with nice folks we have met in our past cruising whose travels we’ve followed ever since! Good to see you, S/V Ullr!! (Yes, that spelling is correct.)

Okay, that’s funny.

And so, after a very restful and fun stay in Pt. Washington, we said goodnight and prepared for our next leg… on to Pt. Jefferson – hopefully without meeting any aircraft on Long Island Sound along the way.