Fogged in at NYC!

Jersey City, actually, just across the river from Manhattan. We arrived here yesterday, fully expecting to leave this morning, to catch the slack tide to pass through Hell Gate and into Long Island Sound. But we awoke this morning to heavy, dense fog (you could hardly see any buildings across the river) and a forecast for severe thunderstorms in Long Island Sound. So we opted for an extra day here, at Liberty Landing Marina, which has state of the art facilities. The air conditioned showers and transient lounge are most appreciated! The extra day gave us time to clean the boat and work on charting our route into Long Island Sound. It has been a busy week. We left Waterford Sunday AM, after a nice visit with Larry on Saturday evening. On to Catskill, where we once again had our mast stepped at Riverview Marine Services. The marina sustained heavy damage after Hurricane Irene hit last fall, but all has been repaired, with some nice improvements. The staff here is excellent, friendly and skilled. Two days here to rig, put on sails, and get the boat ready for the trip down the Hudson. It was difficult to keep working in the heat (low 90's) and humidity. We enjoyed the company here of Alex and Charlotte, a young couple from France, who traveled down the west coast of France, to the Canary Islands, crossed the Atlantic, traveled through the Caribbean, up the East Coast of the US, and are now on their way to Montreal. Wednesday AM, we started south, and decided to anchor by Bannerman's Castle, by Pollopel Island, just south of Newburgh. This was our first time in this anchorage, and aside from the frequent and loud train traffic, it was a good anchorage. A bit diffficult to get the dog ashore, however, and he only got one trip. About 4:00 AM, Jonah decided he really had to "go," and finally became a real "boat dog." Breezy and showers the next AM, with forecast for severe thunderstorms, so on to Haverstraw, only a 3 houur trip, where we would have good protection from the storm. As it turned out, the storm didn't happen until about 7:00 PM, but when it came, it was amazing! Winds in excess of 60 mph, heavy rain, black, black sky, and then several more hours of rain. On down the Hudson to the NYC area the next day. We wanted to get some good local knowledge about the infamous Hell Gate, so we opted for Liberty Landing Marina instead of anchoring behind the Statue of Liberty. It has been 4 years since we were here, and the improvements are exceptional! Tomorrow, on to Long Island Sound!