Actually, we are in Jersey City, which is on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, just across from Manhattan. We are anchored at a free anchorage near the Statue of Liberty. We can see her torch from our boat! Why are we STILL here, you say? Weren’t we in a big hurry to beat the cold weather and get south?? Well, yes…..but I had the good fortune to get a paid performance booked in New Jersey on Saturday, and it didn’t make much sense to keep traveling south just to have to turn around and go back north for my gig….and we also wanted to practice our sailing skills and get ourselves really set before heading out onto the ocean. So one day we met a guy named Rene on the docks who had a jacket on saying he was a sailing instructor, and so K. talked to him and asked if he would give us a lesson. All the other sailing schools we had talked to charged $150/hour, which was too high for our wee budget. This guy (I think actually he’s an angel) said he’d take us out with his friends on his sailboat the next day. Sure enough, the next day we got to go out on his big 35 foot sailboat and practice sailing in the New York Harbor. THEN, afterwards, he said “oh, by the way, I have an empty apartment with a big clawfoot bathtub in it that you are welcome to use”. Would we like to take a hot bath?? We JUMPED at that idea, as I had been fantasizing madly for a hot bath for weeks now. So we ended up staying there for a few days, while he has been helping us get some more safety rigging for our boat before we hit the ocean. He has been giving us little sailing lessons, tips and knowledge, advice, and a big discount from a sailing supply store that he has connections with. What a blessing!!
We are, however, starting to chomp at the bit to get out of here. As great as it’s been to get ourselves extra set for our ocean journey, we have been “in limbo” for a few days now and it’s starting to feel weird. Right now we are hoping to leave bright and early Monday morning and experience the unparalleled beauty of the New Jersey coast.