May 8 through May 14 th

Cape May , New Jersey to Troy , New York

Monday, May 8 th

At port

Monday morning in Cape May was pretty dreary. The skies were overcast and it was raining enough to be a nuisance. It was also cool—the temperatures were in the mid fifties. Jean and I had boat and website ‘stuff' to do and knew that we would be busy all morning. John decided to visit the Cape May Coast Guard Training Station and to try to get a quick tour of the facilities. John did his basic Coast Guard training at Cape May in the mid-1960's. For the past 54 years, Cape May has been the home of the nation's only Coast Guard Recruit Training Center . Each year over 5,000 young men and women come from all over the country to begin their Coast Guard careers. Cape May is home to several units involved in Maritime and Homeland Security operations. The Coast Guard Cutters Vigorous and Dependable are 210 foot medium endurance cutters that conduct maritime patrols from the North Atlantic to the Caribbean . This picture shows the Vigorous .

Additionally, Cape May is home to one of the largest Search and Rescue Stations in the Coast Guard. Each year, Station Cape May conducts over 700 Search and Rescue cases in these local waters.

After lunch, we all went into town for a quick walk and to check out the supermarkets, shops, post office and library. We definitely wanted to find the library since we had no internet access at the marina but were told that the library could help us.

Cape May is a very interesting place, sitting at the very tip of New Jersey with a rich history. The earliest inhabitants of the peninsula were the Kechemeche Indians of the Lenni-Lanape tribe who mainly hunted the grounds. Following the sighting by Sir Henry Hudson in 1609, and exploration by Cornelius Jacobsen Mey in 1621, the first residents purchased land from the Indians in the 1630's and developed a prosperous fishing and whaling industry.

By the early 1800's steamboats began bringing passengers from Philadelphia , Baltimore New York and Washington . The first hotels and boarding houses sprang up to accommodate the increasing number of guests. As a result of this early period of grand hotels, ballrooms and music pavilions, Cape May became known as “Queen of the Seaside Resorts”.

Cape May has a beautiful location and is very much a summer resort for many tourists. It prides itself on its history and on the number and quality of Victorian houses in its community. Especially in the downtown area, almost every house and place of business is constructed and decorated in the Victorian style. The house trim is extremely ornate and the colors are very vivid. It's written that Cape May 's downtown covers 30 acres of land filled with Victorian style houses and businesses.

We made our way down Ocean Street which is lined with B&B's and beautiful houses. Another interesting feature of Cape May is that the street lights are gas lanterns with flower pots on either side. You can see some of these in the pictures. This street leads directly to the ocean with huge stretches of beachfront and shops. Since Cape May 's season starts later in May, quite a few of the shops and B&B's were closed.

Dinner was light—it had been a long day for everyone and we were tired. A light dinnerand early to bed was very welcome.

Tuesday, May 9 th

At port

Tuesday morning found us doing a very thorough cleaning of the outside of the boat. The long trip from Annapolis left the boat covered with a fair amount of salt. Additionally, the diesel fuel always leaves the stern area in need of a good cleaning. John took the lead and we managed to clean everything!!!!!

After lunch we headed back into town—this time on foot. It's only about a 1 ½ mile easy walk. We came upon a small Firehouse Museum where John had an opportunity to meet some of the firemen (two of John's sons are firemen). This Firehouse, very historic, was founded in 1875 as both a rescue and firehouse station.

I forgot to mention, that while at Utsch's Marina we were joined by, and actually lined up in consecutive slips with, three other “Loopers”—other boats doing the Great Circle Route. One Canadian couple was just about finishing—having already been at sea for almost a year. Another couple, from Maryland , had only begun nine days before. And the third boaters—we never got to meet. They arrived very late and departed on Wednesday at about 0500. It was nice to see the four boats lined up, all about the same size, and all displaying the Great Circle burgee. The Canadian couple shared with us some helpful information.

Dinner on board was Shrimp Scampi—by Chef Jean—with a great salad!!!!!

Wednesday, May 10 th

Cape May to Liberty State Park , Jersey City , NJ

The weather was definitely not cooperating at this point and it looked like our best and maybe only day to get underway would be today. We were up and off the dock at 0600. I was surprised at how calm the waters were at the marina given the NOAA report that the seas would have waves of 4-6 feet. In preparation for a pretty choppy ride, I wore one of my seasickness ‘patches' for this leg of the trip. John and Jean can ride through anything but not me. The morning temperature was cool—only 56 degrees with winds NE at 15mph.

For this leg of the journey, we would be in open waters far from the shore line. From this vantage point it's difficult to take good photographs. Things are too far away—they seem tiny. We passed Wildwood NJ and could see an amusement park complete with roller coaster and huge ferris wheel. We continued on passing Atlantic City and other NJ seaside communities. We saw very few pleasure boats and not many fishing boats. The weather was dreary and the seas were very choppy.

We passed the Barnegat Lighthouse and then further along we passed the twin brick lighthouses at Sandy Hook . We made our way up the Sandy Hook Channel, to the Swash Channel to the Chapel Hill channel and then into lower New York Harbor. We didn't really see much activity until we got closer to NYC.

As we approached NYC there was quite a bit of activity. Amazingly, there were a large number of tankers and cargo ships lined up waiting to get into NYC. We counted more than 30 ships all lined up—some moving slowly and some anchored. What a sight. We were also in the approach corridor for planes landing at JFK Airport and had the combination of the ships with the airplanes. It was a strange visual but not one that we could photograph.

As the Verrazano Bridge came into view we could also see the Eagle —the Coast Guard Academy's training sailing ship. We later realized that she was here in NYC as part of the celebration for the Volvo Boat Racers—yes, the ones we saw in Annapolis—who had completed their leg from Annapolis to NYC. We also saw a huge cruise ship, the Costa Magica which looked beautiful framed by the bridge.

The lower Manhattan skyline came into view and even on a dreary day, it's beautiful.

We went past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island headed for our marina at Liberty State Park . There were boats everywhere and every type of boat was in the water. We saw four different ferry boats including the Staten Island Ferry, many container ships and tankers, some of the Volvo Race boats, many tug boats and many pleasure boats. This is a very busy harbor.

We were ‘in' the marina at 3:30 in the afternoon, having gone 138 miles in 9 ½ hours.

The Liberty Landing Marina is located directly across the Hudson from lower Manhattan . It is a very convenient location with water taxis directly to the Battery and also tour boats to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. However, we were assigned a strange slip— it's nestled between the old Ambrose Lightship and the NYC water taxi landing for Liberty State Park !!!!! Later we realized that one of the Volvo boats—one of the non-racing boats—is in front of us!!!!!

Thursday, May 11 th

At port

Today was just one big fun day. The weather was still not cooperating—dreary—but not raining. We decided to spend most of the day at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Surprisingly, neither John nor I had ever been to Ellis Island .

From the marina, we could walk over to the spot where you get the ferry to Ellis Island . From Liberty State park the views are just great and you can see both lower Manhattan as well as Jersey City , NJ.

There are many displays to show the number of immigrants and from where they came. These displays show not only the early years but cover the period through 2000.

Over time, as a result of changes in the immigration laws and locations where the processing of immigrants took place, Ellis Island no longer was necessary. Its doors were closed in 1954 and remained so until restoration was begun in the 1980's.

Many of the displays show actual pictures of immigrants or contain quotes from immigrants. It's very moving to spend time at the museum and to see and read all about the immigration process. There was one display that from one angle was a collage of many faces of immigrants having passed through Ellis Island . Seen from a different angle, though, the same display becomes an American Flag. I've tried to capture this in a photo but…..

After hours inside the Museum, we went outside to the Wall of Names. This wall, built in a curved manner, contains the names of many of the immigrants who passed through Ellis Island . The Wall winds its way around some of the Ellis Island grounds. It's very impressive.

After seeing the Wall of Names, we got back on the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty.

The Statue of Liberty is not only a symbol of freedom, but it is also an outstanding piece of artwork. The statue stands 305 feet tall on tiny Liberty Island in the harbor. It faces southeast, welcoming travelers to America 's shores. Created by French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, it is clad in copper over an iron skeleton, which was designed by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, the builder of the Eiffel Tower . The giant goddess was presented to the United States by the people of France to commemorate the 100 th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of independence.

 We needed to get back to Ocean Flyer so that John could get his bags, get to Penn Station in NYC and catch the Acela Express train to Providence . We had a great visit with John and were sad to see him leave. He's a very experienced boater going all the way back to his Coast Guard days. He was a great co-captain every day but especially on Wednesday when I was ‘under the weather”. He even learned to eat Kashi cereal!!!!!

Jean and I walked with John over to Exchange Place in Jersey City and watched as he got on the Path train to Penn Station.

Back on board, we had a marvelous dinner of baked codfish with tomatoes, capers, Kalamata olives and onions, accompanied by a Caesar salad and garlic bread. Yum, Yum.

Friday, May 12

At port

We used today as a ‘catch up' day. The weather report predicted horrible rains with equally bad winds. So, we decided to update the website, do bills, and do some small miscellaneous things around the boat. Of course, the weather turned out to be gorgeous with blue skies and warm temperatures. We stayed around the boat during the day with evening plans for dinner with some friends from Prudential--Rick and Jim and their friends. The evening turned out to be a lot of fun.

Shortly before our friends arrived, Jean and I realized that we had given Rick incorrect directions, via ferry, to our marina. We were thrilled when they arrived, having quickly figured out our error. We had dinner at Liberty State Park at a lovely waterfront restaurant complete with some high school's senior class celebrating their prom night. After we lamented our age and commented on every gown, we ate well but said ‘no' to desserts. It was great to see Rick and Jim (from Cincinnati ) and to meet their friends. It was a perfect way to end a perfect week.

Saturday, May13th

Jersey City , NJ to Kingston , New York

Coming aboard at 0645 in the morning were two good friends, Mary and Marjorie and Mary's cousin, Joe. They will be staying with us just today and tomorrow—leaving by car and train on Sunday from Albany. This short leg would definitely by wonderful—especially due to the richness and beauty of the Hudson and its amazing history.

The Hudson River is 325 miles long from its source on the slopes of Mt. Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains to the Verrazano Narrows , which separate New York City 's upper and lower bays. It drains an area of over 13,000 square miles, a relatively small area when compared to other North American rivers. The river's greatest depths, over 200 feet, are found in the vicinity of West Point where the river narrows to 0.3 of a mile. The Hudson has been compared to a pine tree, a relatively straight trunk with many small but few major branches. This is in contrast to a river like the Mississippi that is more like an oak tree with many branches or tributaries. The Hudson 's single major tributary, The Mohawk, the basis for the Erie Canal , enters north of Albany more than150 miles upstream. Were it not for the canal's dams and locks, passage from the Hudson to the Mohawk would be blocked by rapids and falls.

We were off the dock at 0715 with overcast skies, a temperature of 58 degrees and winds NE at only 6 mph. We got a great picture of the famous Colgate clock in Jersey City just as we left our marina.

We quickly found that leaving lower Manhattan was just as interesting as entering it on Wednesday afternoon. There were fewer boats and ferries about, but we ‘happened' across the Freedom of the Seas . Freedom of the Seas is Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship and currently the world's largest cruise ship. It's bigger than the new Queen Mary !!! Within 15 minutes of our departure, we ‘noticed' this cruise ship in front of us surrounded by many small tugs and Coast Guard boats. This ship is in NYC to conduct a shakedown cruise from NYC to Boston . From Boston it will then take on its first real passengers. We could not believe the size of this ship—it's enormous!!!!! We decided to suspend our journey and to ‘watch' as it docked at some piers in mid-town Manhattan . What a treat!!! We could even see, on the aft deck of the boat, a rock climbing wall

 After resuming our journey at 0815 it was clear that traveling the Hudson would be very enjoyable. As we continued north, both sides of the River were packed with points of interest. Since Mary grew up in NYC and now lives in New Jersey she could identify every building, monument and other landmark. She was familiar with the different neighborhoods, parks and cemeteries. As Ocean Flyer moved along, Mary pointed out things on both shores including the Soldiers and Sailors Monument , Riverside Church and Grant's Tomb on the Manhattan shore and the large American Flag at Edgewater. Mary even pointed out Inwood Park which is where the Indians exchanged Manhattan for the equivalent of only $24. Fortunately, we also had two cruising books about the Hudson which gave us mile-by-mile descriptions of what we were passing.

We passed the decommissioned aircraft carrier Intrepid which is now part of an Air and Space museum. Sitting next to the Intrepid is a Concorde airplane, placed there after the Concorde fleet was retired. There was also a Coast Guard boat sitting right near the Concorde.

 We passed the Empire State Building , of course, and noted that its highest point was fully in the clouds. It looked beautiful from the water.

At different times along the river we saw the Palisades cliffs on the NJ side and the beautiful campus of Mount St Vincent 's College on the NY side. We passed under the George Washington Bridge , another bridge that we know very well by car.

We passed under the Tappan Zee Bridge —another bridge that Jean and I have crossed by car at least one thousand times. From this point onward, the Hudson River is entirely in the State of New York . Also from this point, the Hudson gradually widens to form the Tappan Zee , which translates roughly from the Indian and Dutch as ‘sea of cold springs".

As we made our way along and at many different points, we saw the Amtrak train running along the shore—this has to be a scenic ride. This is the train that Marjorie took to NYC after leaving her car in Troy and the train that Mary and Joe will take back to NYC tomorrow. I also had an opportunity to drive Ocean Flyer —while in NYC Jean had had a partial frontal lobotomy and gave up control of the boat!!!!!!

We also passed Bear Mountain State Park and Bear Mountain Bridge . The Bear Mountain suspension bridge was the world's longest when it was constructed in 1924 and it was the first vehicular bridge across the Hudson . The Georgia to Maine Appalachian Trail crosses the Hudson on this bridge.

Our next highlight was the U.S. Military Academy ( West Point ) and it was truly awesome from the water. Jean and I have been here several times, but always by land. The sight of it from the water is incredible. It looks like both a fortress and a castle and it's definitely huge. The campus stretches for nearly two miles and is then augmented by athletic fields further down the shore. West Point , first fortified in 1779, is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States and is the home of the nation's oldest service academy. In the Spring of 1778 the Continental Army strung a second chain across the Hudson at West Point to protect against British use of the river.

Further along, we came across Pollepel Island . This island stands like a sentinel near the east shore guarding the northern approach to the highlands. The ruins of a Scottish castle and munitions arsenal built by the island's owner are prominent on the island.

Throughout the entire day we passed many, many, many, fisherman. We later found out that today was the Duchess County Striper Fishing Tournament. It sure looked cold out there when the sun wasn't shining. But given the number of boats, we surmised that this tournament must be a BIG thing in this area. We didn't see anyone pulling anything in but……

There were many interesting features to today's journey—but bridges and lighthouses stand out in my mind. We passed under so many bridges and saw so many different structures that I started losing track of what was what. The lighthouses look like real houses and the bridges are testimonies to engineering genius. The white lighthouse in the following pictures is the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse and is unique among the Hudson River lighthouses in that it is made of wood frame construction. Accessible only by boat, family keepers tended the lighthouse until 1939 when the U.S. Coast Guard acquired the lighthouse. Nicknamed the “Maid of the Meadows”, it is listed on the Register of Historic Places.

We easily found our dock— Rondout Creek Yacht Basin and were settled in at 2:35pm . The 88 mile trip had taken us 6 hours and 25 minutes. Not bad given how many times we slowed down for bridges and fishing boats.

Marjorie decided to try the ‘long walk' to town while the rest of us relaxed.

Later, our friend from Cape Cod , Seward came by with his daughter, her husband and their two daughters who live in Rhinebeck , NY —not far from marina.

After the mandatory boat tour, we all went downtown for dinner.

We ate at a fabulous restaurant so that once again you don't have to worry about whether or not Jean and I are starving during this journey. We're eating like queens. I had a grilled salmon meal which was terrific and Jean cleaned her plate of lamb chops. A lemon tart was the perfect dessert. One of these days we need to get on a scale!!!!!!! Back on the boat by 10pm ….we all konked out pretty quickly.

Sunday, May 14 th —Mother's Day

Kingston , NY to Troy , NY

Today would be a short day—only 55 miles, so we all had a leisurely breakfast with no need for an early departure. Marjorie was out the door by 0630 for a healthy walk around the community in search of a New York Times . Instead, she found a marvelous bakery and brought back fresh-from-the-oven scones and muffins!!!!!

We were off the dock at 1010 with overcast skies and a temperature of 58 degrees. The winds were pretty calm at 10mph and blowing from the northeast. The weather report was expected to be dreary—and we definitely were expecting rain.

We passed by Clermont State Park, which includes the Clermont Mansion, home of the Livingston family, which has played an important role in the Hudson region from the late 1600's. The mansion was burned by the British following their raid on Kingston in 1777 and subsequently rebuilt. We could see the Mansion (we think) but it was difficult taking pictures today as the rain finally came and was heavy at times.

This last section of the River is less developed than yesterday's section but equally pretty. We passed through Catskill Creek, Hudson and Athens and Coeymans. All of the villages looked very charming and worthy of a special visit. Maybe next time…..

Along the entire Hudson , there were many creeks, houses built into rock formations and more bridges and lighthouses everywhere. This lighthouse is the Athens-Hudson Lighthouse.

There were more fishermen both in boats and lining the banks of the water. The weather deteriorated as predicted and we were in heavy rains for portions of the trip.

Docking proved to be a challenge in that there was nobody available at the Troy Town Dock Marina to help with the lines. Jean managed to get the boat close enough to the docks for me to ‘jump off' which is no small task on Ocean Flyer . We made a last minute decision on which side to tie up and thus Mary, Marjorie and Joe flew into action also. Of yeah….we did all this in the rain!!!!!!

With little time to spare in order to get their trains back to NYC, Mary, Joe and Marjorie made a quick departure for the train station.

We had a great time and loved the Hudson experience. Once again, I'm finding that there is so much to learn about in every leg of this adventure. While in Troy , I'm sure that I'll find my way to a good bookstore and find great books on the Hudson . How lucky am I?????