Leaving a hazy NYC around 9:00a.m., we played chicken with the ferry boats on our way up to the Hudson River. We tried to time our departure so the 4 ft. tidal swing was in our favor but failed to for some reason. The tide and current was against our bow and that took about 4 1/2 m.p.h. off our usual 10 1/2 m.p.h. cruising speed. That plus the wakes from all the ferry boats made for a bumpy ride. Still we trudged on past 5th Avenue under the George Washington Bridge and the Upper East Side.
Upper East Side = old money
Lower East Side = new money
Harlem = No money
The frantic ferry chaos thinned out the farther north we went.
Dave wants me to mention how well Blue Moon has performed on this multi year odyssey. When we first got her I had about zero faith in her and wanted to name her "The Dumb Blonde" because I though the boat, while very beautiful was somewhat stupid because there were many worrisome (to me anyway) details about this unique boat to clear up. Dave persevered, as he always does, and got them all rectified and then some. I must say that I am happily amazed with this oddball of a boat and so glad we chose her to do the Loop.
Dave has been diligent about maintenance such as oil changes, filter changes, ya-da-ya-da, but it has paid off. There have been zero issues with the boat to date. I hope I am not jinxing us by writing this because we aren't home yet and it seems things go awry on boats for no particular reason. Enough kudos about this boat. She's been a very good girl and a good choice for us.
We arrived at Half Moon Bay on Croton on the Hudson around 1:00p.m. One of our shortest travel days. It's a marina at the base of condos and all the docks are privately owned. Steve, the dock master, rents slips out to transients for the owners. He helped us into our dock in a very windy situation. Blue Moon does not like to bend around corners to get into a dock and since we always stern in, it is a challenge. Not, however, for Captain Dave, the docking legend that he is. He slipped this boat into that slip with the wind blowing against us just like Prince Charming sliding the tiny glass slipper onto Cindarella's foot.
Steve is a bit hyper. I think he needs to cut out the espresso. He has a three year old and newborn twin girls so I guess he is a bit sleep deprived. Super nice guy.
A few other transients pulled in behind us. Not a lovely day on the Hudson and worse weather predicted. I am glad, as always to be tied securely to a dock and not on the hook when the winds blow.
Dave had some boating fun this afternoon. The hinge on the head (toilet) seat has been coming loose and since we have free time he thought he would take it off, clean it out and epoxy the hinge back on. No big deal huh? Big Deal after all when the hinge dropped into the toilet and got so stuck he couldn't reach it or pry it out with needle nose pliers. Sooo, Steve drove Dave to Tiffany's Hardware store. Not the real name but they call it that because we are in wealthy Westchester County (an hour's commute to NYC) and everything costs more here. He picked up a flexible magnetic retriever tool but that didn't work. He had to remove the whole toilet (head) and put it on the back deck and do surgery to get the hinge out. So a 1/2 hour job turned into a half day job.
The Lopper boat next to us is a couple from San Diego. They bought their boat in Mackinaw Island and have been doing the loop with it. The are now heading up the Hudson to the Canal and onto the Trent-Severn and Georgian Bay. They fly home for weeks at a time and come back to their boat. Fellow crazies.
Tomorrow will be maintenance and cleaning day on Blue Moon. She needs a good cleaning from all the salt pounding we took last week. It will be nice to get up and not have to rush outa-here for a change.
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