LIBERTY LANDING to NEWBURGH

Today we departed LIBERTY LANDING at about 8:30 am at the start of the flooding tide ( low turning to high) in order to get a tidal push up the Hudson River, but had no idea where we would stop for the night? The start of the journey today was very industrial with manufacturing plants and barges on the river. After a few hours It was absolutely beautiful. We were in awe of the lush green banks of the Hudson River, dotted with many small picturesque towns.  We saw an empty dock in front of some restaurants at NEWBURGH and decided to stop for the night. Very friendly people at the Marina and great restaurants! We both described the small town with awnings and umbrellas along the river walk like being in south of France.

The highlight of the trip today was viewing West Point ... We are both proud Americans!  Greg did tell me a story about Benedict Arnold from 8th grade history... Who remembers his connection to West Point?

Good night....Headed further up the Hudson tomorrow. Our number one priority is to find a spot  to watch the USA World Cup Game tomorrow !

About 6 hours up the Hudson River (red dots center bottom to blue dot center top).

Lots of Tug Boats!

Lots of Barges !

Lots of Industry!

West Point 

Green banks of the Hudson.

A little History ....

Thistle on our dock in NEWBURGH.

Restaurant walk along the River Front in NEWBURGH :)

CITY ISLAND to LIBERTY LANDING

Yesterday was the first "official" travel day on the actual Loop map. First thing before our late morning departure we changed our bow burgee to the AGLCA (Americas Great Loop Crusiers Association) burgee.  We left about 10:30 am in order to arrive at Hell Gate at slack high tide. The travel day was spectacular with the sky line of Manhattan, going under many bridges, seeing river traffic of all sizes and shapes (helicopter, jet planes, water taxi, water ferries, float planes, barges, jet skis, tug boats, small plesure craft to mega yachts) .....and yes, experiencing the wake and noise of all!  It took about  3 hours to reach the Statue of Liberty, we took the required photos, and then stayed in a slip at Liberty Marina. The Marina on the New Jersey side, it's a bit of a splurge but worty every penny ($3.65 a foot with our AGLCA discount, plus about $20 for electricity). Not bad considering our spectacular night view of Manhattan and Lady Liberty :)

After docking and a quick ship shape we took the ferry from Liberty Landing to Manhattan. We toured the 9-11 Memorial ( beautiful ), watched  some World Cup and had an early dinner. We wanted to watch sunset and enjoy the lights of the city on our fly deck....the best.

A nice couple staying in the Marina from Florida noticed our burgee, and we learned they had just completed the entire loop the same day we were starting ours. We exchanged information and got lots of great tips.

This morning we were advised not to depart before 9am, in order to avoid Monday morning commuter ferry traffic....we are departing soon to continue the loop up the Hudson. Not sure of where we are stopping tonight, you will have to check Looplifewithgregandreenie tomorrow :)

We started at CITY ISLAND (red dot - upper right) and traveled by sight to LIBERTY ISLAND MARINA ( blur dot - lower left).

 Hell Gate Bridge.

Hell Gate.

We crossed at the perfect 12 noon time.

River traffic .....all kinds !

Yeah...we see her off our bow :)

The Statue of Liberty from Thistle.

Manhattan sky line.

On the Ferry to the 9-11 Memorial.

View of Manhattan from our fly deck last night.

A surprise firework show :)

PORT JEFFERSON to CITY ISLAND

On Friday morning ( Thankfully not too early) we departed PORT JEFFERSON for the Harlem Yacht Club on CITY ISLAND,  NY. The weather was warm, about 80 degrees and there was little or no wind. The trip was about 35 nautical miles and took about 4 hours. We are on mooring G-13 and all I can say is this stop is a great find!!! CITY ISLAND is a classic ( and at $35/night the best mooring price so far).

Pinch me....Yesterday, was epic!  I will start from morning to night: Our journey was beautiful, sharing helm time between the two of us and looking at the beautiful homes and coastline along the Sound. We saw boats of all sizes and shapes with beautiful lighthouses in the middle of the Sound. Then arriving at the Harlem Yacht Culb, where the shoreboat escorted us to our private mooring with a view of the Manhattan skyline. We secured Thistle and took our bikes to shore for lunch at the City Island Dinner (where it's rumored a Jerry Seinfeld episode was filmed).  After lunch we rode along a gorgeous tree lined bike trail through Pelham Park ( New York City's largest park) to Orchard Beach and then to the New York Athletic Club in Westchester County. On the way back to port we stopped for a beer and watched World Cup Soccer, then back to the Harlem Yacht Club for a shower and change of clothes. Dinner was at the Original Crab Shanty where we shared a $17 dollar lobster, clams and shrimp dinner ... Great :) Then best of all we watched a fireworks show from Orchard Beach on Thistle to end our epic day!

Today was also great ... Greg rode his bike back to the pool at the New York Athletic Club for a swim and I accomplished some maintenance on Thistle. Then we studied the tides and charts for our journey through Hell's Gate and into the Hudson River tomorrow. 

PORT JEFFERSON through the Sound.

The Sound to CITY ISLAND.

 Sound Lighthouse.

Harlem Yacht Club.

Bike ride through Pelham Park, New York City's biggest park.

Orchard Beach, considered New York's Riviera, but a lifeguard's nightmare ... (they sell beer at the beach snack bar?).

Greg :)

Dinner at the Original Crab Shanty.

Firework show at Orchard Beach viewed from Thistle.

New York Atheltic Club Pool.

View of the Manhattan skyline from our Harlem Yacht Club mooring.

    

NEWPORT to PORT JEFFERSON

After a fun two days in NEWPORT, RI  we set our alarm for 4:45 am to travel the 90+ nautical miles back to PORT JEFFERSON, NY. Yes, the Boyer's up early....You may all be surprised by this? Well there was good reason - Crossing "The Race" where the Long Island Sound is very narrow and shallow. When crossing this area the currents and tides are wicked! Greg studied the situation and decided a 5 am departure from NEWPORT was perfect to catch the "Flood Tide" which pushed us three knots faster through "The Race" and one to two knots faster to our destination. It still took 10 and a half hours,,, our longest journey to date but pleasurable.

We stopped at PORT JEFFERSON, as we are familiar with the harbor after a long travel day and we know the town pretty well. Our mission at this port stop is to reprovision, do laundry, refuel and most importantly, watch the USA World Cup game vs  Germany. (Yeah, USA advanced :)

Tomorrow we start our Loop towards New York City and up the Hudson River. (Very excited, hope we can sleep tonight ?)

Leaving NEWPORT.

Point Judith to The Race near the point of Fisher Island.

The Race currents off our bow .... Wicked! 

The Race to PORT JEFFERSON.

PORT JEFFERSON.

Fans of USA...World Cup Soccer Team!

Already planning where we will be next Tuesday to watch the game. 

Two bars in PORT JEFFERSON .... Thought my brother's (Bill & Tom) would appreciate :)

Life necessity....

Oh ... I forgot to tell you (not really) got a little silly in NEWPORT?

BLOCK ISLAND to NEWPORT

On Monday we traveled from BLOCK ISLAND to NEWPORT, RI. It was a beautiful crisp sunny day with a chill in the air. We departed about noon after a yoga class for Greg and a bike ride for Reenie. We arrived to our destination about 3 pm and are on mooring # 8 at Oldport Launch Service.

Upon entering NEWPORT harbor we quickly became aware that we are back in a big city and missing the solitude of BLOCK ISLAND.  That changed fast as we became exited to learned our Niantic, CT friends would be visiting on Wednesday for lunch and a tour of Thistle :)

Newport is a beautiful harbor full of boating tradition with amazing yachts of all sizes and shapes! This week alone there is a Luxury Charter Boat Show with vessels in the 200 feet range and the Etchell World  Sailing Championships with 95 entries.

Today we enjoyed lunch at Franklin Spa with our friends then took the shoreboat to Thistel where we relaxed, shared stories and laughed for a couple of hours. About three in the afternoon Greg hailed the shoreboat, riding it back to land and our friends drove back to Niantic. The two of us went on a bike ride to view the NEWPORT Mansions. The Mansions were beautiful and we enjoyed stopping by The historc Castle Hill Inn overlooking all of NEWPORT for a needed iced tea.

After two nights in NEWPORT our plan  (weather permitting) is to depart by 5 am tomorrow morning (thats when we have a favorable tide to cross the Race) and head back to Port Jefferson for a night or two befor starting up the Hudson River.  Tomorrow will be a long journey...Good Night XO.

BLOCK ISLAND to NEWPORT.

Beautiful boats Sailing in NEWPORT.

Our first guests on Thistle...Team Niantic: Jay, Frank, Marie and Roger.

The Breakers Is considered the grandest of NEWPORT'S summer "cottages".

NEWPORT Mansion.

Beautiful home overlooking the harbor.

Riding our bikes to view the NEWPORT Mansions.

Castle Hill Inn ... Established 1875.

Rochambeau Statue overlooking NEWPORT harbor. A present from France as a Memorial to a key Commander of the French forces who assisted the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

MONTAUK to BLOCK ISLAND

On Thursday we traveled from MONTAUK, NY to BLOCK ISLAND, RI. At our 10:45 am departure time it was poring rain and a chilly 55 degrees but we wanted to time the "Slack Tide" for our crossing (It's a steep learning curve about the Long Island Sound tides and currents..... all new to us). The trip took about 2.5 hours and it was sunny when we arrived to BLOCK ISLAND.

Everyone told us how beautiful and unique BLOCK ISLAND is but once arriving it is honestly great beyond our expectations! We are on a Town mooring in the New Harbor. BLOCK ISLAND was charted by a Dutch explorer, Adrian Block in 1614. There are only about 1,000 full time residents with the summer population up to 12,000 and the entire island is about 10 square miles. Greg describes BLOCK ISLAND "As a hybrid of Catalina Island, Mendocino and a bit of Perth's Rottnest Island thrown in for good measure...very nice."

Some of the highlights from our four wonderful days here: We launched our dinghy for the first time and are liking our new quite Torqueedo electric outboard engine, on our bicycles we circumnavigated the entire Island visiting both lighthouses and nice beaches, we enjoyed the local Saturday Farmers Market, watching the fisherman return from a shark tournament, had our first Lobster Roll and best of all we love the touring the old historic hotels ( they add so much to the charm on BLOCK ISLAND).

A must for visit for everyone ( Warning: Getting a shower coin token feels like winning a challenge on the Amazing Race TV show!.....also, part of the Island charm :)

MONTAUK to BLOCK ISLAND.

Captain Greg on our dinghy.

Lobster Roll!

BLOCK ISLAND Saturday Farmers Market

Atlantic Inn first opened in 1897.

National Hotel originally built in 1888.

The Spring House established in 1855 is the oldest island hotel and considered one of BLOCK ISLANDS historic landmarks. 

447 lb Thresher... Winning the BLOCK ISLAND shark fishing tournament,