The bridge replacing the Tappan Zee impressed Rowan no end

Hi I’m Natalie and I have been spending time on the boat with my grandparents and cousins having the time of my life. This week we went down the Hudson River using the diesel. Yesterday we spent a nice part of are day going down the Hudson on are sailboat and we had the most prettiest trip. Today we went through New York City and it definitely was rocky! We saw water taxis, ferries, and cruise ships and it was beautiful seeing the city side. On are way through New York City, we saw the Empire State Building, the Freedom Tower, and the beautiful Lady Liberty given to us from France! There was so many barges going by and the New York Harbor was so rocky that all 4 of us kids had to wear life vests! We’re in the beautiful mooring field of Port Washington and tomorrow we’ll be headed to Northport. We will have a lovely ride down the sound tomorrow and maybe we’ll be able to sail tomorrow! Wish us luck on our journey, Bon Voyage! Oh before I forget, the answer to the riddle Finn had yesterday is: Nothing, Nothing is greater than god, Nothing is more evil than the devil, the poor have Nothing, the rich need Nothing, and if you eat Nothing you will die!    

This elicited a big "Whoa!" from Rowan

Well we had quite a day today going down the Hudson River, around the Battery, and through Hell Gate. Our timing was not ideal with slack tide due to Hell Gate not until 3:30 pm! We left around 10:00 from Croton Point and the tide was against us about 1/2 the way. At the end we were doing 10 kts! From past experience I was expecting a fierce tide against me towards Hell Gate and I had one at first but it lessened and even though the current tables predicted a 2.5 kt tide against me, it was actually slack at Hell Gate. It was a rather smooth trip compared to our past trips through the area.

Everybody rushed out to see the Statue of Liberty

That's not to say there wasn't a lot of rocking and rolling! The water taxis ensured our ride was not smooth all the way. All the kids had lifejackets while up in the cockpit south of the George Washington bridge until past Hell Gate. What could be heard the loudest was, "Whoa!" from the youngest, Rowan, whenever he saw a barge or large ship. There were a lot of "Whoa's."

Who designed this!? Everyone thought it was weird

One "Whoa" was reserved for the Statue of Liberty that everyone recognized in the distance. The kids took pictures but with all the rocking and rolling, I'm not sure how well they turned out. Another great attraction is steering the dinghy. They all take turns including Rowan but the big challenge is docking to the aft of Fleetwing. Some come in too fast, some too far away, but they are learning. We do riddles during the quiet moments while motoring down the river. Finn and Natalie are great riddle fans.

All the kids piled into the dinghy for a ride to shore and a chance to drive the dinghy, a very big thing here

We'll just spend one night here and head out for Northport on Friday. There's a sandy beach there for exercising the kids. It's not so far so we should be able to sail at least part of the way. We have tentative plans for Sunday night at Branford if the weather holds.