Rational Exuberance

The Hudson River
41 09.47 N 073 54.09 W

Last night we wanted to take advantage of the tide and sail from Sandy Hook to the anchorage behind Liberty Island after sunset.  We did so, but when we got into the upper bay we changed our minds.  The lights of the city were spectacular, the cool summer temperature of the night was delightful, our sleep schedules were already disrupted, and the river traffic was minimal.  We decided to keep going all the way past New York City.

It was a great decision.  What fun to move stress free and at a leisurely pace between the giant cities of New York and Hoboken.  With time to study the skylines, we discerned for the first time the New York neighborhoods.   The Battery, Downtown, Midtown, Uptown, the Upper West Side, Morningside, Harlem, Washington Heights, and finally Inglewood.  As we wasnt, we educated ourselves by reading the Wikipedia articles on each neighborhood on my Droid.   It was like a self conducted, narrated, guided tour of Manhattan Island.

To better see New York, we sailed up the Jersey side of the river.  That took us right past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.   It also woke a strong memory when I glanced over at the battery.  You see, years ago, in the 1990s, I used to spend evening after evening entertaining myself with Microsoft Flight Simulator.   One of my favorites was to bank a turn around Liberty Island and head for The Battery.  If I did it just right, one of the avenues of NY opened up before me like a long narrow canyon. I think it was 5th Avenue or maybe 8th.  Anyhow, I would fly my Cessna up the canyon, then make a banking turn onto Broadway at Times Square.   It was hard to do without crashing the plane into a building.   Anyhow, last night as we passed Liberty Island I looked over at The Battery and there it was -- the canyon.  It was brilliantly lit and inviting.  If only we could make Tarwathie fly.

The tide continued to increase.  We went under the Verrazano bridge doing 4 knots, the George Washington Bridge at 6.5 knots, and approached the Tappan Zee Bridge at 7.2 knots.   What fun.  That was the end though.  Near the Tappan Zee there are big areas of 10 feet deep water that make great anchorages.  Then we dropped the hook around 0100 and had a great night's sleep.

Sometimes exuberance *is* rational.

p.s. The AIS was very useful.  It allowed us to separate the moving vessels from the dozens of anchored ones.   We were able to avoid ship and barge traffic with a 1-2 mile advance warning of their course and speed.