Our last day -- run down the Hudson to South Amboy, NJ

Monday, September 4 -- Newburgh, NY to South Amboy, NJ -- 83 miles

This was our last day on our cruise. We dropped off Zach, June and Avery at the North Cove Marina near the One World Trade Center, then proceeded out under the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge and ran along the south side of Staten Island to South Amboy, NJ where we tied up for the night at Lockwood Boat Works. We flew back to Naples the next morning (Newark airport was less than half an hour by Uber), and Captain Dan came the day after to have the marina put Craunological II on his trailer so he could drive it back to Florida. We were still smiling at the end of a long day. What a great cruise we had!

Of course we had wonderful sights along the way today. Here's West Point from the water,

the Bear Mountain suspension bridge for US Route 6 (opened in 1924),

Sing Sing Prison at Ossining, NY, which goes back to 1826 (though not these buildings),

the underside of the I-87 Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge (opened in 2017), which crosses the Tappan Zee about ten miles north of Manhattan,

the Palisades across from Hastings-on-Hudson,

and the handsome remains of an old power plant in Northwest Yonkers.

Once we reached Manhattan it was non-stop landmarks and photos, with Zach and June providing a running commentary. Highlights included the little red lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge (who else read that book as a kid?),

Grant's Tomb with the spire of Riverside Church in scaffolding behind it,

the Upper West Side neighborhood where Zach and June lived before Avery came along (one block west from Riverside Park and a couple blocks south of the building to the left with the tiered terraces),

and the building where they live now in the Lincoln Towers complex. Their building is the one in the middle whose lower floors can be seen in the gap between the two buildings that front on Riverside Park South. They look out this gap from their 24th floor co-op in the evening to see the sunset over New Jersey. 

Here's the new Little Island Park with the Whitney Museum on the right,

the skyline of lower Manhattan, with the 104-story One World Trade Center in the middle,

and two views of a building in lower Manhattan on which Zach was the lead architect and project manager -- 100 Vandam. It's the building in the middle of the left photo with dark glass. It's a luxury condo tower. 

Here's a cruise ship leaving New York harbor under the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, and the last "going under the bridge" photo for this cruise. Bridges are very impressive when viewed from below, and one doesn't often get the opportunity for bridges that cross water.

Our dock for the evening was a major contrast to our sights during the day -- a marina on the edge of the salt flats of Cheesequake State Park just outside of South Amboy, NJ. A final example of the many contrasts we encountered during our trip down the Hudson -- old structures and new ones, natural beauty and man-made beauty, recreational and industrial boats and buildings, little towns and The Big Apple to finish it all off. 

Summary Stats 

Our Cruising Log says that we covered 3,012 miles and went through 56 locks on this trip. Two locks were going up and down at the Soo, twenty-one were on the Erie and Oswego Canals, eleven on the St. Lawrence Seaway (including having to go through the two Beauharnois Locks three times instead of once because of our failure to report promptly to Canadian Customs), ten on the Chambly Canal, and twelve on the Champlain Canal. We also traveled six major rivers -- St. Marys, St. Clair, Detroit, St. Lawrence, Richelieu, and Hudson.

We spent 63 days on the cruise, with only four nights spent ashore (Silver Lake and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Owen Sound, Ontario and West Point, New York) and eight nights anchored out (including our night tied up at the wall at Lock 25 on the Erie Canal). The rest of the nights we slept aboard at a marina of one sort or another. We didn't have 63 continuous days of cruising, as we had extended shore breaks every month. In June we took nine days to visit friends in Holland, MI and family in NYC; in July it was nine days visiting family and friends in the Cleveland area and Lake Maxinkuckee, Indiana; and in August it was fifteen days for our regular week on MacMahan Island, Maine, some time at Ashley's house in Lexington, MA, and time in Burlington and Vergennes, Vermont for business meetings. Plus we had two trips down to Naples to clean out our condo and to move into our new house. We covered a lot of ground -- and water -- this summer!

It took us thirteen days to go from Chicago to the Soo (619 miles), eight days going out and back on Lake Superior (344 miles) from the Soo, nine days from the Soo to the Vermilion Yacht Club (704 miles), seventeen days from VYC to Montreal (830 miles), and sixteen days from Montreal to South Amboy (515 miles). 

Our highlights from the cruise were:

> our time on Lake Superior (even though it was cold),

> going from a lovely anchorage in the Pointe au Baril Islands to Owen Sound to a hotel at the Toronto airport all in one day,

> spending Canada Day in Sarnia, Ontario,

> the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York,

> going through the pair of 42-foot lift Beauharnois Locks three times because of our failure to report timely to Canadian Customs,

> the Chambly Canal, and

> and the Lake Champlain/Hudson River leg.

Thanks to those who have commented on the blog this summer. It was much appreciated.