Island Heights NJ - Manhattan - Hudson River

 June 2

WOW, WOW, WOW!!!  The overwhelming support, love and kindness of friends and family has been amazing.  From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.  Writing this blog has been difficult because we have been so busy with everyone.  

Island Heights NJ

So let's back up to Island Heights NJ ... where you say??? I never knew this town existed.  It was spectacular.  Dillion's Creek Marina was fantastic.  The showers were twice the size we have at home.  The other services were equally as nice.

As I said in the previous blog, Marilyn and Jim joined us Monday.  Karen and Rob Helfgott, also UofD friends, wanted to get together Tuesday night.  Karen and Marilyn are members of a very exclusive club called MMM or Mealy Minded Midgets.  I personally think this is an awful name but they seam to prefer it....  :)  So Tuesday night the six of us (Karen, Rob, Jim Marilyn, Terri and I) went to dinner together.  Before dinner we had cocktails and appetizers on the boat.  It turns out the marketing was correct, the table does sit six! (Five in the pic because I am behind the camera.)

Dinner was a blast.  Rob simply couldn't get his head around this trip taking a year.  It was not clear if his befuddlement was from the time it takes to complete or the idea of two people on a boat for that long and not killing each other. Either way, he was hilarious.

Wednesday came and the Hauensteins totally rocked our world.  First,  Jim took the AM and chauffeured us to the store to provision.  THEN, he and Marilyn had us to their home for dinner (which was delicious).  The richness of the friendship, love and compassion humbled us and we are so grateful for all they did.  In the afternoon Terri's brother also Mike came to the boat and we had a nice visit.

But the fun didn't end there.  We were scheduled to push off Thursday AM.  Richard, Amy and Pete Costello had just arrived from Ireland Wednesday evening yet they were at our boat by 8:00am with fresh Jersey bagels and cream cheese.  YEA!!! We had breakfast together on the boat.  Rich and I go back to 1975 and is an absolute brother to me.  We were SO glad to see them.  

Again, the boat parties really well ... even for breakfast.

Rich then tracked us out of Barnegat bay and through Manesquan inlet taking pics at various points.  Here is the video he took of us going through the Inlet.  That is his voice you hear at the end (right after I honked the horn at him).  It is a cool video.   Thanks Rich!  (ttps://youtu.be/uJmXcgAGA_0)

For those that are wondering about the trip, here is the Nebo log.  You can see that we actually did not go directly to the marina but instead took a little detour up into the city.

AND, as a special treat for any geeks in the group, Nebo sends me a monthly summary.  Here is what we did in the month of May (584 miles!).

Manhattan

After Manesquan, it was a short run to New York harbor.  This was a segment of great concern for me just given the busyness of the harbor.  It turned out to be easy.  The secret was to just give everyone right of way an aways assume I was doing something wrong.  

We stayed at the Great Kills Yacht Club where the organization was very welcoming to Loopers.  It is a 120+ year old organization with impeccable facilities, great rates and nice people.  I took this picture of a painting they had on the wall of the building in the late 1800s.  

Last night we had yet another great visit.  Dianne, Terri's quadmate from UoD (and dear friend) and her husband, John, came to Great Kills and took us out to dinner.  It was a fantastic time.  (Selfie shot).  Nothing beats a great NY Italian restaurant with great friends. 

We were going to stay at Great Kills for several days but today (Friday 6/2) was beautiful and the forecast for the next few was not so we decided to do the run through Manhattan in the sunshine.  We did get the "money shot"!!! (This one I really wanted.).  And of course we streamed some classic NY songs to cruise by.  We were in a NY State of Mind. 

Here are a bunch of pics heading through Manhattan.

And on up the Hudson we went to Half Moon Bay Marina.  Beautiful cruise on a beautiful day. 

 A loopers day is not complete without Docktails and that is how we finished up.  Everyone met on the dock and chatted for ~2 hours in a BYOB fashion.  Good people and good fun.

Here is the Nebo log for today. (New month, new report.)

Until next time, be safe everyone and find your happy place.

With love, Terri and Aubrey