ssloop: Hudson River to Long Island, NY

Hudson River here we come! The Hudson River Valley is a scenic, lush, hilly valley with spectacular natural beauty. On June 22, we stopped at Hop-O-Nose Marina (yes, crazy name!) in Catskill, NY. It was a rainy night but that didn’t stop us from donning our rain gear and taking the dinghy up the Catskill Creek to pay for our slip and walk to dinner. The next morning we traveled 73 miles down the Hudson to Safe Harbor Haverstraw where we spent the evening.

Next up 40 miles to New York City! Eleven years ago while on the Great Loop we came thru the New York Harbor and were almost overrun by ferries, freighters and other crazy boaters. This time we knew what to expect and everything went smoothly. We discussed what it would be like to experience the 4th of July, 250th anniversary fireworks here, and decided that would be more chaos than we wanted to experience. We had a quiet evening on anchor behind the Statue of Liberty. Impressive sight!

The next morning we crossed New York Harbor to the East River which really isn’t a river. It’s a 16 mile tidal estuary which connects New York Harbor to Long Island Sound. We got under way early as we knew we would be fighting the tidal currents which would gain strength over the next 4 hours. Two hours later we had put the East River behind us. Long Island Sound lies between Long Island, NY to the south and Connecticut to the north. The sound is roughly 90 miles long and up to 20 wide with numerous ports along each coast. A boaters dream!

We stayed on the Long Island side at Safe Harbor Capri Marina in Manhasset Bay for 2 nights. While here we borrowed the marina bikes to explore the area. We also took advantage of the local dinghy dock to aid us in transporting groceries. The homes…ok, mansions along the bay were impressive!

On Saturday morning we travelled 24 miles to Oyster Bay, NY. Once again we passed many huge mansions, including one owned by the singer Billy Joel. After we set the anchor we once again geared up in our rain coats for a dinghy ride to town. A nice couple offered us a ride into town in their Jeep. While checking out the town, the rains stopped so we could enjoy the rest of the day without our rain gear.

The next morning we took advantage of another boaters dream….the town provides a floating, solar powered, self serve, 24/7, free pump-out barge. Easy squeezy!

We then continued along the south side of the sound 29 miles to Port Jefferson Harbor. What a pretty bay! We anchored out near a beach and took the dinghy around the bay, checking out the many boats and enjoying the beautiful day.