Sailing Into New York Harbor

7/26/07 – Paul and I woke up this morning and got going early so we would have a fair current when we reached New York Harbor. We motored through a canal and under several bridges to the Manasquan inlet where we left the Intracoastal Waterway and continued northwards. The wind was nearly dead calm so we were forced to motor most of the way to New York. Entering the harbor through the Verranzo Narrows Bridge was one of the greatest feelings I have ever had. We motored up the harbor and dropped the anchor directly between Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, just outside the security zones surrounding each. I had called the Coast Guard and the state police the previous day to make sure that I would not be breaching any laws by anchoring here and both of them told me that they were not aware of any regulations that I would break before telling me to call the other agency for the definitive answer. The view was spectacular but the wind and passing boats made the surface a bit choppy so we decided to move so that we would be in the lee of an island. I checked my charts to make sure that the water was not too shallow and that I would not breach any of the numerous security zones in the area before we motored over there. Less than 60 seconds after we dropped the anchor in our new location, a large and fast police boat came screaming towards us with its lights flashing. They were not happy because I was apparently in a prohibited area. I decided that no good could come from debating my position so I just weighed anchor and went back to our original spot. We stayed there enjoying the scenery until evening when we decided to move to a protected basin right behind the Statue of Liberty. As we were motoring in, a different police boat came speeding down the channel right towards me with his lights flashing. I was even more certain than before that I was not breaking any laws so I was beginning to get upset. Luckily, he sped right past me and went to the end of the basin where a NYPD helicopter and a CBS news helicopter were circling. We never figured out what was going on. We ate a dinner of pasta and then sat and looked at the city for a while before going to bed.