June 19: Liberty Landing

Debbie started prepping me yesterday for an early curtain call. Apparently 5 am is not early enough for this 106 mile leg. So the alarm went off at 4. At this rate we won’t need any more marinas. We’ll just drive right through. 

The good news is that there isn’t a lot of competing boat traffic when it is freaking DARK!

At 5:40 Debbie took this photo of the sunrise. We were about an hour into our trip.

Sometimes, when the driving is simple, she lets me take the wheel so she can eat or go pee. I take my assignment very seriously or she will not let me ever drive again. So she was eating her breakfast and I was at the wheel diligently steering around debris and being captain of the helm… until she came back and said “You know it’s on autopilot, right?” 

Whenever I feel particularly inferior because of her superior boat handling skills, I remind myself that on land she has trouble finding her bright red Jeep in the Walmart parking lot.  

Around 10 am, the wind picked up and the E-ticket ride began. Peanut stuck it out for a few minutes then retreated to the litter box for the duration of the ride. Gaffer was equally stressed.

By 12:30 we could see the silhouette of NYC on the horizon. But we were HOURS away. When we turned out of the ocean and into the river things got a little better except for the 2 knot current against us and the parade of freighters trying to kill us. Mixed in with all of that were jet skis, pleasure boaters and car ferries.

Just like NSB skyline! 

Then we passed Lady Liberty and our once in a lifetime goal to see her by boat was realized… because we aren’t doing this shit again! 

We arrived at our slip  at Liberty Landing in Jersey City, NJ at 4:00 pm and Debbie had to squeeze us into a slip with only inches to spare! But of course she managed to impress the entire marina. Sometimes I think they do this crap on purpose. 

The GREAT news is that we have to travel on a specific tide tomorrow so we get to sleep in until like 6! Like a VACATION! But we’re gonna need a shoe horn to get out of this slip. 

More fun tomorrow! Milford here we come!