3rd Day Out, 1st Day on the Loop

With a 6am start we were able to time our passage through Hell Gate and down the East River in New York City beautifully.  The current was with us the entire way and we made great time.  All was wonderful until we reached the end of the East River where it flows into the Hudson -- and then all madness struck.  We suddenly found ourselves in the middle of 11 water ferries rushing New Yorkers off to work (yes -- we arrived at 9am).  It was like an amazing game of dodge ball but with a lot higher stakes.  We quickly figured out that there is a pecking order to all of this and the massive Staten Island Ferries were at the top and we were at the bottom!  We dodged and weaved in the rushing flow of wind, waves and machines and made our way across to the lovely Lady -- the Statue of Liberty.  Next year we will finish the Loop at this spot and officially "cross our wake" at the Statue of Liberty.  It was a grand event celebrated by hanging a brand new American flag from our stern and having our picture properly taken.  We then headed north on the Hudson for a lovely cruise to Croton-on-the-Hudson.  Tonight is our last with brother Bob and friend Christer who have been incredibly helpful in getting us set for the trip.  They head down to NYC tomorrow and then home to Annapolis.  They'll be missed.  We've decided to take a "regroup" day tomorrow and do some repacking of supplies and generally get Pearl more buttoned down and ship shape.  We will continue north on Wednesday.  We're celebrating the day with a bottle of Champagne given to us by our dear friend Russ Jones, another owner of a Nordic Tug.  This follows our afternoon snack of ice cream in town.  We've decided ice cream a day sounds lovely -- provided we can walk it off to compensate as we did today!