New York - What an amazing arrival

Our sail into New York City was amazing, we left Atlantic Highland with a light breeze on the nose but as we manoeuvred around the shallow patches we were able pull the sail out but with only limited wind all it really did was obscure the view. It seemed to take forever to reach the Veranzzano Bridge and Manhattan was still looming in the distance.

Veranzzano Bridge and NYC in the distance

In the distance on the east side of the river we could see Coney Island and the rides on the seafront.

The seafront at Coney Island - spot the big wheel

The boat traffic was quite busy mainly with tankers and container ships entering the harbour but we are used to busy from Portsmouth harbour at home.  But as we neared Manhattan the volume of sightseeing boats, water taxis and ferries rapidly increased and we were constantly getting bobbed around on their washes as we frantically tried to take photos of the amazing views.  It was nice to see the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship was in port, always a reminder of home.

Manhattan - look to the right and see Queen Mary 2

Queen Mary 2 docked in NYC

It was a spectacular experience to be on our own boat sailing (actually motoring) into New York City, something we never thought we would be doing.  Seeing that famous Skyline, the Statue Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge it is like you just stepped into a movie (as the Americans would say), very exciting. As we approached we celebrated our arrival with a hot chocolate and rum - too early and too chilly for anything else.

Such a striking skyline

Statue of Liberty  - if you look closely you can see a queue of tiny people around base of Statue

Lady Liberty - spot the plane

Amanda looking excited on a sunny but chilly day

Brooklyn Bridge and the Staten Island Ferry

Getting closer

Mark able to relax slightly as Statue of Liberty fade into the distance

We headed up the Hudson River taking in the sights, passing the financial district of lower Manhattan and then onto the various piers which moor the tripper boats and ferries and even the cruise ship dock, we were also surprised to see Concorde.

The World Trade Centre/ Freedom Tower

The Empire State Building

Yep it is Concorde

Our home for the next few days was the Boat Basin at 79th street, here they have a number of buoys in the river,this is the only possible place we can afford in Manhattan were marinas would charge us $150-250 a night and here we pay $30 which is great . The only down side is that it is a bit folly due to the passing traffic but luckily this usually subsides by the time we go to bed and most of the day we are out.

79th Yacht Basin approaching in the Starboard side