June 13-14                               Jersey City, New Jersey

The sky was gray and the wind was about 15 knots when we started through the Manasquan cut into the Atlantic for our journey to Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City, New Jersey, a seven minute ferry ride from Lower Manhattan and one of our favorite places.  The waves were cresting at two-three feet but the boat held steady.  The four hour trip to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at the mouth of New York Harbor was uneventful although we encountered rain and fog.  As we passed beneath the bridge, the clouds lifted and the sun came through.  We entered the marina in sunshine and blue skies.

We had requested to dock again next to the walkway for Liberty Park, giving us a lovely view of the Statue of Liberty.  The wind was blowing against us and the parallel docking in a narrow space was difficult but David gradually moved in position with the aid of the bow thruster and excellent dock help.  An adjacent boat owner was awed by David’s ability to move a boat the size of The Bottom Line with such agility.  He told me, “Your husband is really good.  I could never do that.”  The dock hand also complimented him by saying he was as good “as a professional captain.”  David was insufferable the remainder of the day!

To my delight, a brief but heavy thunderstorm suddenly emerged from the blue sky and thoroughly washed the salt residue from the boat, saving me from performing that chore.  Dinner was on the boat.  We were pleased we had persisted in coming in on Thursday.  We would avoid the predicted bad weather for Friday and would easily make our theater plans for Saturday and Sunday.