MANHATTAN, NYC (Aug.4 - 7, 2013)

ALMOST IN NYC !



79TH STREET BASIN, NYC

 As soon as we arrived at the 79th street Boat Basin Marina, friends Vicky, Sasha & Benji were there to greet us. They treated us to lunch and brought us walking 'The High Line' which is a railway turned into an incredible park. I was most impressed with the Chelsea Market which is an enclosed urban food court & shopping mall. The fish selection was incredible ! We passed by the Carrie Bradshaw's apartment ('Sex in the City' TV show). They weren't kidding when they say there's a lineup to the Magnolia bakery where the girls frequented. Crazy tourists ! We were royally treated to an incredible Indian dinner that evening. It was so nice to see my old friends from my years at McGill University.


SUSAN & VICKIE AFTER SEVERAL YEARS

SPICE STORE AT CHELSEA MARKET



CARRIE BRADSHAW'S HOME

BIKING ON THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

The next day, we biked from our boat along the Hudson River's bike path to the World Trade Center Memorial. That's always something not to miss. We went thru Wall street but only saw tourists, not many suits. The Exchange building is heavily guarded.

FREEDOM TOWER

 



EATING DRAGON FRUIT IN CHINA TOWN

OK, then it was rush hour and we biked thru China town, Little Italy then thru the center of the city back to our boat. It is indeed suicidal to bike thru NYC especially without a helmet, YIKES ! Biking thru Central Park was much more safer. That night, we walked thru Time Square & the Empire State building to see all the lights. Our last day brought us to the Statue of Liberty, dinner in Little Italy and a walk thru Central Station. I especially liked walking in China town where I ate a Dragon fruit for the first time. Don't miss going thru a Chinese market, I saw some marinated tongue & live frogs for sale, YUM ! 

 

STATUE OF LIBERTY

We had an awesome time in NYC...time to move onto Atlantic Highland Yacht Club in New Jersey.

LAKE CHAMPLAIN to CATSKILL, NY (July 30 - Aug. 2, 2013)

       

AT LAKE CHAMPLAIN

Busy month of July ! After purchasing our boat in June, we finally boarded her on July 2nd with 200 pounds of tools, galley essentials and a few clothes. On July 4th, while sitting on deck, we saw 7 firework shows around Malletts Bay. As much as we wanted to stay on the boat, we had prior
family commitments so off we went to Montreal & Shediac, New Brunswick to celebrate my Mother's 80th birthday.

Back on the boat in mid July, we set off to stay the night at Spoon Bay on Valcour Island with some friends from Montreal. We were awaken at 1am by 40kt gusts. Oh joy ! Our anchor held however we were too close to shore for comfort. Off we went to the lee side of the island and got some sleep.
My friends did great! I'm sure glad we didn't scare them away.

At the end of July, we took our mast down for our trip south thru the Champlain canal & Hudson River. There were a total of 12 locks we went thru. I was quite impressed thru the first lock as it was my first time ever !



TAKING THE MAST DOWN

Tim & I were very grateful that the previous owner of our boat, Randy, helped us thru the de-masting process, going thru the locks and stepping the mast. Honestly, the whole process went extremely well, only just a very few minor issues.

Our next stop will be New York City !