A Milestone We've All Been Waiting For...

May 26, 2022

We sang the famous lyrics, "start spreading the news, we're leaving today" from Frank Sinatra's New York, New York song. We were going to be a part of it! Today was an exciting day and we were about to cross off one of the largest milestones of this entire journey.

This morning we lucked out on a great travel day. We had clear skies, smooth water, and very little boat traffic. As we were leaving the Miramar mooring field, we heard a conversation over the VHF about a whale sighting near the bridge we had just travelled passed. Although we didn't get to see it, it was exciting to hear it was so close by.

As we cruised around Lower Bay and made our way to Upper Bay and approached the New Jersey/New York border, the spectacular sight we’d been waiting for came into view. The kids spotted her and were thrilled. We all were. The Statue of Liberty stood in the distance and as we neared and she grew bigger, so did our excitement. To see this historical landmark by our own personal watercraft after making a long journey of our own was spectacular. We had to pinch ourselves to believe that we'd made it here. We discussed the importance of this landmark with the kids and explained it was a gift commemorating the alliance of France and the United States during the American Revolution. We explained what she stood for and what she represented. We talked about the millions of immigrants that entered the United States through New York and how this incredible statue must have been such a remarkable sight to those weary travellers who had safely reached their destination. I was happy we had safely reached this destination! We were the only vessel in the bay with the exception of a few tour boats and commercial barges. We took our time approaching the Lady. This moment was a once in a lifetime moment. We snapped pictures from every angle. Gord was able to leave the helm so we could get this epic shot of our family. So amazing!

We continued our trip up the Hudson River and it was fabulous. For awhile, New Jersey was to our port side and New York was to our starboard and there was so much to see. The landscapes on this adventure are ever changing. A few days ago, we were getting tossed around in the ocean and today we were cruising up a river passed Manhattan and Yonkers. I feel like we were a group of toddlers pointing every which way saying, "what's that, what's that?" For example, what is that?

Well, she is called Water's Soul and she is beautiful. Standing at 80' tall, she is meant to symbolize silent contemplation and self-reflection as she over looks the Hudson towards New York. The artist wanted to invite people to be silent, pay homage to the water, and to listen to their inner thoughts and dreams in this noisy time we are living in today. Water’s Soul just adds to the striking beauty of the city’s skyline.

As we made our way through the city, our destination was a mooring field in Nyack. As we approached our destination, we did not love how exposed the field was. The wind had picked up slightly and it would be a rough night had we tied up there. We decided to head towards an anchorage just a little further up. As we were headed to the anchorage, Gord received and missed a call on his cell phone. He then received a text, all from a number he wasn’t familiar with. It was Steve from the marina just up by the anchorage we were heading to. He saw us on Nebo and wondered if we needed a place to stay for the night. What a great way to run a marina. Reaching out to travelers as they near offering them a place on your docks most certainly drums up more business than leaving it up to chance. We were looking for a place to stay, but this marina was not in the price point we would consider. Gord thanked him but said we would pass on his offer and anchor in the bay just outside of the marina. We were super impressed with this business model and told him we may leave a positive review on his website anyway. A few minutes later, Steve sent Gord a text to tell him to come in for the night and he'd make it worth our while. Which he did. It was nice to tie up, plug in and clean up.

Some exciting news, my dad (Gramps) was joining us at Croton on the Hudson. He had left the day before and was due in the next day by train. His travels had gone pretty smoothly which I was very thankful for. The day of Gramps’ arrival, the kids and I went for a walk along the lovely shoreline trail and picked up a geocache. Gramps arrived at 4:00 that afternoon and the kids could hardly wait to get him on the boat for a tour and to show him the souvenirs they had picked up along the way. Now that we had everyone on board, we planned to leave the marina in the morning and make our way to Kingston NY.

Voyage Log

Miramar NY to Croton on the Hudson