Annapolis : The Navy town: "Go Navy beat Army!"
The sailing town of Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay was our next destination and, being 230 miles south from New York, we decided to break the trip into daytime hops over the next four days. Our first leg would take us from New York to Atlantic City, the gambling capital of New Jersey.

Just like Las Vegas all the casinos have a theme, Wild West, Far East etc with the common denominator being card tables and poker machines.
Now cold is something that we really aren’t that partial to, having said that we did sail up to Maine where it can get very cold , but the day we poked our noses back out into the Atlantic Ocean to head south we foolishly thought that it would start to get warmer. Wrong. Our top temp that day was only 13c and that was without the wind chill factor. We were rugged up  like a couple of bears for the seventy mile trip. Beanies, gloves, scarves, thermals and whatever else that looked remotely warm was the wardrobe of the day. The weather might have been cold but the fast, flat water sailing took our minds off it. With one reef in the main and a full jib, we made good time sitting on 8 – 10 knots all day and getting to the anchorage in  Atlantic City  just before dark. We resisted the temptation of going ashore and throwing money away in one of the fancy establishments and simply stayed on board for the night.
                  
Sometime during the day we noticed that we’d acquired a third crew member, a small bird had landed on the back of the boat and was  hitchhiking  a ride with us down the coast, mind you he could have found a better place to perch than on the transom grab rail. Sure hope he enjoyed his new destination.

The next day was a mirror image, fresh nor’westers  again gave us flat seas and a lovely brisk reaching breeze and with less than 40 miles to Cape May we were there just after lunch. Cape May was a cosy little harbour and we anchored just outside the Coast Guard station. For such a small waterway we amazed at the number of marinas and sports fishing boats that called the place home.
Having checked the forecast we had a feeling that we might have to use the iron sails over the next few days so  we filled up the diesel tanks, had a nice meal ashore at a restaurant  that had come with a good recommendation and  hit the hay early so we’d be bright eyed and bushy tailed for our next leg up the Delaware Bay.

It was just on eight the following morning when suddenly the air was filled with the unmistakable tune of the Star Spangled Banner ringing out across the anchorage from the Coast Guard stations’ loud speakers. It was a lovely  way to start to the day and seeing the USCG officers standing to attention on the deck of their cutter was a great example of the patriotism in this country. Our trip up the Delaware bay was about as exciting as watching grass grow, the highlight…. one passing ship and  a nuclear power plant on the northern shore.
  
Sadly, the wind gods no longer favoured us and we motored the entire 80 miles up the bay and into the C & D Canal. It was just on dark, as it  so often seems to be, when we pulled in to the small town anchorage of Chesapeake City about half way along the canal. The fog had started to roll in and we didn’t feel much like going ashore, so after a bite to eat we fell into bed after what was a very long and boring day. The C&D canal is a man made canal which joins the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. It’s nearly sixteen miles long and provides a shortcut for the likes of us destined for the upper reaches of the Chesapeake and for the many of the large ships that service the cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Day three was yet another motoring day finally making it into Annapolis mid afternoon. We dropped the hook amongst about fifty other boats who were also there for the  the same reason  that we had come all this way, to see the Annapolis Sail Boat Show. Regarded as one of the biggest and best boat shows in the USA we spent the next couple of days crawling over and ogling at the immaculate new breed of boats that  were on offer, not that we were in the market to buy, but it never hurts to stay on top of the game. It was a fabulous in-the-water exhibition with lots of catamarans, charter boats and monohulls, the majority being straight out of the box.
  
  
As with most boat shows there were some very good deals to be had and we did our bit for the economy snapping up boat gear at extremely good prices. At times in some of the display tents it looked like a feeding frenzy as the bargains literally walked out the doors. There was something for everyone and the size of the crowds attested to the popularity of the event. We also got to catch up with our good  friends from Deltaville, Donny and Judy. They had just taken delivery of their their brand new Passport 55 which was on display ay the show. She was a beautiful boat and was attracting her fair share of attention from potential buyers.
Annapolis is not just famous for the boat show, the city is also home to the prestigious United States Naval Academy, and this institution is really something special. We spent nearly two days,one on a guided tour, wandering through the immense grounds and seeing pretty much all there was to see including the spectacular Noon Formation of  the 4,000 mid shipmen, both women and men who attend the academy.
  
            
The Academy grounds, buildings, museums and chapels were all beautiful. But in keeping with Navy traditions, life as a midshipman is not always fun as the fellow alongside the statue in the centre picture above found out the hard way. He had lost a football bet and was told by his superiors to stand alongside this statue for a couple of hours and pose for photos with the tourists. Another young woman we saw had to recite the mess hall lunch menu by heart at the top of her voice every minute for the half hour preceding the Noon Formation. She had an excellent memory and was nearly hoarse by parade time and she copped  lot of wisecracks and laughs from her passing colleagues. We wondered what bet that she, too, had lost  to deserve such punishment.
 
This parade was spectacular, my photos just couldn’t do it justice.There was lots of tradition, officers yelling commands and  a large noisy brass band playing marching tunes.The precise  movements of such a vast number of people flowed seamlessly. They Navy are really good at this stuff and the hundred or so spectators, like us, were mighty impressed.
It’s not an easy road to be accepted into the academy, the qualifications for entry are daunting. For starters you need to be in the top 20% of academic achievers at your school, you must be extremely athletic as it is mandatory to participate in sport ( they take sport very, very seriously), you must demonstrate a record of community service, you need a personal recommendation from your local Senator or Congressman and you then you are eligible to  to apply.
  Of around 20,000 applicants each year only 1,400 make the cut, it’s that tough to get in. Once accepted the students, or Plebes as they are called, have in front of them 4 years of grueling work, their day starts at 5 am and finishes at around 9-10 pm, there is very little down time. The discipline is amazing and at times it seems over the top, but those that last the distance come out with an officer’s ranking and an ability to lead people into battle. We were lucky enough to chat to a few of the Plebes and  could not fail to be impressed with their courtesy, maturity, confidence and sense of purpose. These young people were at the academy for all the right reasons and  they knew, that for each of them, they were in the right place.
  
The academy has produced a ton of outstanding achievers -  1 President, 2 Nobel prize winners, 24 Members of Congress, 46 Rhodes Scholars and 52 astronauts. There are 32 inter-college sports to choose from, but the one that unifies the Academy more than anything else is college football, the passion here has to be seen to be appreciated. The Navy’s football mascot is Bill the goat and there are a couple of them, all kept at an undisclosed location for fear of being abducted and yes, there have been previous kidnaps. Bill attends every game, as do thousands of students, all decked out in their finest uniforms, it’s a very stirring sight. Not surprisingly, the mortal enemy are the Army, and Annapolis is adorned with “Go Navy – Beat Army” signs just about everywhere you look, they live for these games.
                                                                                                                                                                                    
While we didn’t get to see a game live, we were lucky enough to catch the second half of one game on the TV, it was a huge occasion with Navy and Army students in regimental uniform filling the stadium to capacity. Such is the significance of these matches that President Barack Obama was in attendance, and he sportingly shared his time and seating evenly, first half of the game in the Army ranks and the second with Navy. Naturally we were rooting for the Navy guys, and they won a hard fought contest. It was really neat to watch it and we almost feel like we were part of the Navy gang. Go Navy – Beat Army!!!
                            
Annapolis is also the home of some cruising buddies, Greg and Vicky off Erin Brie.

We had last seen them in Thailand in 2008 and bumped into them again this year up in Maine. Knowing that sooner or later we would be in their neck of the woods we organised to see them while we were in town and It was great to catch up and relive tales from our collective cruising adventures over a meal at their local Italian pizza place. They have decided to retire from cruising and are  now looking to get a power launch, it would certainly be a perfect coastal craft around these parts.
The town of Annapolis had a lot of walking appeal, not real big and mostly flat. With a huge variety of pub-type restaurants there was no shortage of places to have a feed. And the bonus was that it’s all right there down by the waterfront.
  
So if you are up this way in October be sure to put both the boat show and the Academy on your list of things to do. You sure won’t be disappointed.
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Cruising Notes. Formalities: Call CPB Maryland  on # 4189622886. Supermarkets:The big ones are out of town and you will need a car, but in the main street there is a CVS/Pharmacy that sells all the basic needs except for fresh meat & veg.

NEW YORK : Where anything goes.

Sitting just one mile off the top of Long Island is the infamous Plum Island which is home to the Centre for Infectious Disease Control in the USA. It is famous not only because author Nelson DeMille wrote a book about the place but because of the secrecy surrounding the experiments which are conducted on animals in the facility We thought it strange that this sort of activity goes on so close to one of the most well heeled areas on the east coast. The other reason that this area is famous is because the treacherous body of water between the two Islands.The currents of Plum Gut rip through at unbelievable speeds, we came hurtling through here with the tide race doing over 12 knots, that’s on hell of a fast ride!

Leaving the somewhat laid-back atmosphere of The Hamptons and swapping it for  the frenetic pace of New York City was  quite a change and takes some adjustment, but we were certainly up to it and really looking forward to a few days checking out the Big Apple. Port Washington, a bay on the outskirts of the city, about 40 minutes from the city centre by train, would be our base. Other cruising friends had visited New York this way, so we had some tracks to follow, so to speak. Port Washington itself is a nice enough place, though as our focus was on NYC, we would  be catching  an early morning train  each day and returning in the dark, a bit like the rest of the commuters, so we didn’t really see a lot of Port Washington. That said, the town’s facilities were excellent and the locals, as they seem to be everywhere, were very helpful.

The train station at Port Washington was a good 20 minutes walk from the dock. As it was the end and start of the line it was pretty hard to get on or off  at the wrong stop and like a Swiss watch the trains  always ran on time. Conveniently, right near the station was a guy with a van, selling everything from juice to coffee and bagels, to assorted munchies. He did a good trade with the morning commuters who never seemed to have time to have  breakfast before they walked out the door, and it was ditto for us too as we couldn’t seem to get our breaky act together  before catching the 8am train.The major hub downtown was Penn Station and that’s where we got off in the morning and back on in the afternoon, it worked well but boy, was it busy. Once you got  to Penn station most people then take the subway to their final destination, this looked pretty daunting to us sailing folk, so we elected to walk, and walk, and walk. But it’s the best way to see things, take in the buzz of the place, people-watch and generally get the feel of what’s going on.

                          

So, where did we go? We started out by mooching down Fifth Avenue with it’s designer label stores,Saks,Bloomingdales,Hugo Boss, Armani, Cartier ,Tiffany & Co, just to name a few and they are all pretty big and impressive to say the least.Then it was a quick dash over to see the NBC studios , which was a popular attraction. People line up outside the studio where the Today show is filmed hoping to get on the TV in the background. Along  the way we had a gander at  the Rockefeller Centre and Radio City music hall. The timing worked out well as we also had to pick up a parcel of boat parts that Pete our friend back in Oz  had sent for us and they just happened to have been delivered to an office close by.

                

  

No visit to NYC would be complete without taking in Central Park and also Times Square, vastly different experiences and  must-do items on the old bucket list. Central Park is large, it covers several blocks and  has it’s own zoo, not a very big  one mind you as it’s really more for the kids than the adults.The park has lots of pathways, several lakes, ice skating in winter, horse and carriage rides, row boats and about a million squirrels. To really see all of the park would take several hours, maybe a whole day, we  only spent a couple of hours there and  really enjoyed the open space atmosphere, along  with the hundreds of other people ambling  the tree lined paths or just lounging around on the grass. The park certainly has a relaxing feel to it and it’s a striking contrast to the frenetic pace and noise of the city.

  

  

     

Next stop was Times Square, now what can we say about that? Well, it too has a zoo, only the inhabitants are humans, you sure see some weird sights and there is a constant ebb and flow of lots of people, many of them tourists, just soaking up the sights and sounds. There are just so many huge neon billboards, it’s difficult at times to comprehend all the messages being conveyed by the myriad of flashing signs, it’s almost like they are competing with each other to get your attention, and they cover a big area and adorn dozens of buildings.

  

There is also a human element to the sights and sounds…enter the “Naked Cowboy”! We were feasting on a terrific sushi meal, people-watching through the full length windows of the Blue Fin restaurant, when out of nowhere comes this tall, good looking guy strumming a guitar, wearing a 10 gallon hat, riding boots and white briefs with “Naked Cowboy” emblazoned on his rump. Boy, did he get some attention, especially from the ladies. The Asian women in particular were lining up for photos with the “Cowboy” and he was gratefully accepting tips at a rapid rate. In between photos he would play his guitar and sing something loudly, we had no idea if he was talented or not as he was constantly interrupted by photo-seeking women, good work if you can get it!

                                        

             

 

 

 

And just to prove that this was not an urban myth Annie  had her photo taken with him too.                   

                

After taking all this in for a while we headed downtown a few streets, only to bump into the “Naked Cowgirl”. Sadly, she was a little past her prime, didn’t appear to be invited to pose for photos and generally looked like she was out there just for something to do. In reality, she had a pretty tough act to follow after the “Cowboy”.

 

Later that evening we caught up with Joe, who we’d met in Block Island on our way north a few months earlier, he and his brother had given  us a lift when we were hitching from town back to the boat on a rather inclement arvo.  Our rendezvous with him was to be at Grand Central Station…now that is a real railway station! Bordering on chaotic at times, it’s impressive to see the volume of human traffic the station and it’s buildings can handle. We  really enjoyed catching up and shooting the breeze with Joe at one of his favorite bars across the street.

 

  

Earlier in the day he had kindly arranged  tickets for us  to visit the 911 memorial site. Our previous visit to this site many years ago, saw us over 100 stories up on the observation deck of one of the towers, this time would it be a vastly different experience. Joe is very well connected in NYC. Tickets usually have to be  booked online at least a month in advance for a nominated entry time, so we were very lucky indeed. Joe directed us to the subway line to get us to the 911 site and after waiting a little while at the memorial entrance, our allocated time was 6pm, we were escorted into what is a brilliant memorial to the more than 3,000 lives lost on that fateful day. The footprint of each of the fallen towers is now a reflecting pool, each with a pool within a pool in the centre and with a continuous cascade of water around the edges.

                 

                                

The name of every victim is inscribed on  the plaques which surround each pool’s edge. It was very emotional and honestly you would have to have ice in your veins not to get a lump in your throat and feel the hairs tingle on  the back of your your neck, it was that touching. Alongside the memorials we saw the new Freedom Tower taking shape. It’s  an amazing, stunning piece of architecture  sporting the biggest USA flag you can imagine. By the time we left darkness was falling across the city of New York  and the lighting effect on the site was brilliant and added to the moment. It is actually a little emotional recalling the visit as I write this, so be sure you make the effort to  go there if you ever have the chance.

On our next day in the city we headed to the bottom end of Manhattan and wandered along the sea front, past the buildings of Wall Street and through the South Street Seaport, which is full of eateries and humming with tour ferries and tourists. Annie was on  a  bit of a mission that day to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, it’s a classic structure, pretty old but brilliantly designed, there  were even signs up by the pylons explaining about the fascinating construction of this well known landmark. We were not the only ones keen to walk the bridge, there were probably a couple of thousand overall, joggers, mums and dads and plenty of groups walking for cause and even as the rain began to tumble down it was still worth the effort. Annie walked more than halfway across, a fair trek really considering that the heavens had opened, and she had no raincoat.

  

With our tummies grumbling at a low roar from the bridge,  we headed towards Chinatown, it was way past nosebag time.The place was really pumping when we got there and just like Chinatowns the world over, there were people scurrying in every direction. After asking for some directions to a good restaurant we headed to a popular place that specialized in Yum Cha, and that was exactly what we had had in mind. It was a big restaurant, like real big, and things happened fast. We were seated, offered hot towels, Chinese tea, food from the buffet, food from the  trolleys and then the trolleys just kept coming, it was like the wagons were circling. More food, more tea and finally the bill, and it all happened in  an almost record breaking  45 minutes. That was exactly what we were looking for as the day was getting on and there was more to see.. The food was very authentic, after all there are a lot of Chinese living in New York these days. It was tasty and well prepared. Next time we’re in the neighborhood we will  most definitely go back.

  

Next stop was Little Italy. Yes, we were rather hungry that day (we’d done an awful lot of walking) and hey what a combo, a Chinese appetizer and  then an Italian main course, does it get any better?? Finding just the right restaurant proved to be an elusive goal, there were just so many of them. After cruising up and down, and up and down again, we finally settled on a busy little place that spilled out on to the sidewalk. I can’t recall exactly what we ate, but I’d put money on it that Annie had some sort of veal dish and Liam, spaghetti marinara, but whatever it was it was very Italian especially the Tiramisu that I  remember  we scoffed down for dessert. There was lots of noise, loud Italian voices and attentive waiters dashing about. At the end of our meal the waiters even gave Liam a lovely Peroni beer glass which he had so been admiring the whole time. He loves his beer glasses. After  having spent time recently in the quieter places like The Hamptons, New York City, Chinatown and Little Italy provided us with precisely what we were looking for, some terrific dining amongst vibrant settings, we loved it there.

We spent 3 days commuting by train from Port Washington and were really quite exhausted after that. No doubt there was more to see but we felt we had taken in enough of the Big Apple to truly get a sense of the place. It was not our first visit to New York, on our previous visit many years before we’d  been to both the Chrysler and the Empire State Buildings and many  of the other famous landmarks, so we didn’t feel the need to see and do everything again, but what we did see and do was tremendous, definitely one of the highlights of the USA east coast.

As we left the New York area and sailed for one last time along the East River we looked fondly at the lights of this great city and the beautiful lady who watches over it, the Stature of Liberty. We were now ready to head south to the Chesapeake Bay area, Annapolis in particular, so it was time to start checking the weather forecasts and get ready for the 3 day trip ahead, and it was looking like the ride south would be a good one.

  

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Cruising notes: Formalities: Once you have checked in with New York CBP you don’t need to each time you move. Supermarkets: Port Washington has an excellent Stop & Shop and there is a West Marine just near the supermarket. There is a dinghy dock across from the supermarket,  it’s to the left of the main town dock.Transport : Trains run from Port Washington every half hour to Penn Station, $10 each way.