Day 351 Great Kills, NY to Port Washington Saturday May 4, 2019

Day 351 Great Kills, NY to Port Washington Saturday May 4, 2019

The night was cool and rainy but winds were calm .  The sun was again a no show in the morning but made a brief appearance while we passed NYC.  Rain showers all the way to NYC.  Temperatures started low 50s and warmed to the low 70s and calm all day.

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Today we crossed our wake. This is the term Loopers use to signify that we have made it all the way around the Great Loop. It is a marvelous feeling of accomplishment. We expected it to be a trip of a lifetime and it has been. I will give you some more thoughts on the journey at the end of the post.

Because of fog we didn't leave early in the morning like I had hoped. It rained last night and I had hopes of a morning without fog. But it was not to be. So I went up into the Great Kill Yacht Clubhouse to see photos of the damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

I took this picture of the bar area and have to smile that the photo to the left is Portland Headlight. 

Sorry for the fuzzy photo - but you can tell that the marina docks consist of two main docks held in place by pilings.

Here you can see the damage caused when the storm surge of Sandy lifted the docks up and over the pilings and pushed them all ashore. Notice that some parts of the dock are in the parking lot.

 And John our harbor host came down to see us off.

And here is the Gold Looper flag that we will change tonight that signifies to other loopers that we have completed our Loop. If you recall we have been flying a white flag to indicate that we were Looper in progress.

And if you look closely you will see our destination of our current route is GBM - which is for Great Bay Marina in Newington, NH. Where we started last May and will go back for a short time to get the house in order before continuing to Maine for the summer.

But before we complete the Loop we need to get the boat back to the Statue of Liberty where we officially will cross our wake - no small task in the fog and rain showers.

The Verrazano Bridge from the water. We crossed it yesterday on our bus ride back from our day in NYC.

And the Admiral is not pleased with the idea of extensive photo taking in front of the Statue of Liberty. So I wisely decided to keep it simple.

And this made dodging barges, ships and buoys easier.

And finally it happened. I have two marvelous ladies behind me!! And the most important one is smiling now.

We continued toward the south end of Manhattan - known as the Battery. This is where the Staten Island ferries land - and you can see one here and in the next photo.

Some of the ferries can carry 6000 passengers!!!

A floating billboard

 And as we approached the Battery the sun began to emerge - what a wonderful revelation.

We are now headed back up the East River - we rode the very strong current down the river last year - but because of our delayed start we are fighting it back up - but we are making progress so all is well.

You can see the current on the buoy - and it got worse.

The Brooklyn Bridge - it is amazing to see again.

And then there is the Manhattan Bridge.

Further up we see the Empire State Building

And dodge some more barges - will it even end?

The hazy sun makes the struggle with the tide much easier.

And no there has not been an earthquake. Even though designed this way, it looks like they accidentally started building off center and then decided to "fix it" by leaning it the other way for a while as they built some more.

And here is something that I didn't know about - a gondola across the river - how cool.

And here you can see the full flow of the river coming at us. There are even standing waves in the river.

And I understand that not everyone likes things symmetrical (like the building to the left) but the building to the right is just down right ugly.

And we are getting near the end to the confined river with the large current. The spot is known as Hell Gate and is where the East River and the Harlem River meet.

This is the chart of the current that we are fighting - you can see the maximum speed against us was 5.8 mph!!!!

And we finally made it to Hell Gate and soon the current slowed - yeah!

Bye to the East River

And the East River Railroad bridge - it is a handsome structure - notice the symmetry.

And a last look back.

We have made it to Long Island Sound. Just up to the right is the entrance to Port Washington - our stop for the night.

And the area has a few bucks floating around.

And just up ahead is the mooring field and the free mooring we used last year.

And now dinner is done. We are sitting here with thoughts of a great trip. We are now honestly tired of mostly moving each day on our trip up the east coast - we are ready to get home and not have to be on the go each day. Routine right now sounds good.

But we also are thinking of the trip that we are so glad we made. It was remarkable to see the country from our own boat and from the water. It was always in our minds that this was how much of the travel by early settlers was made - and the history that was created along the shores of the Loop. We stopped in places we would never see by any other means - we met wonderful people that will be friends for ever and we still love each other and Faye still laughs at my jokes and comments. And we are looking forward to getting back to Maine and reconnecting with the magic of boating in Maine.

I will keep posting though our trip home and this summer so feel free to continue to ride along and ....

WOW WE DID IT!!!

So it is time to say

God Blessed Us and Good Night to You All