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| Proud Day |
Our quick trip home to attend Georgina’s
graduation was memorable. The four of us travelled up to Leeds together, had
lunch in town and then in our best bib & tucker headed out to the campus
for the ceremony. When Georgina appeared from the registration tent in her
graduation gown and mortar it proved too much. I was reminded of the little
girl who didn’t speak until she was four, struggled to read and there she was
all grown up and the only graduate of the family, the tears welled up which
started Emma off and then Andrew much to her amusement. We were all so proud
when she went up to receive her degree, many cheers from the Dallas camp. Then
a celebratory dinner, followed by drinks with her friends and their families
before the graduates all went out for a last night on the town, the three of us
heading off to bed as we all had early flights to catch the next morning. A
fabulous day and one we will never forget.
An early train to Manchester, with rather a
sore head, and a flight to JFK upgraded to the front of the Thomson flight as
we apparently had been on standby, which almost caused a melt down at the
airport! Ben and Karen were waiting for us in the arrivals hall and we set off
back to the boat via a supermarket sweep, the look of confusion on Ben’s face
when I set him the task of finding me some chicken breasts was comical, but
hopefully he his not scarred for life.
We had a truly wonderful time with Ben
& Karen as we always do and is evident from her wonderful poem. The
highlights for us were Newport, Martha’s Vineyard and the New York Yacht Club,
a first for us both. Fabulous seeing the
boys all dressed up for dinner in their mess suits and I loved the ceremony of
lowering the flag at sun set with the whole club standing to attention until it
was down. All too soon it was time to say a sad goodbye to our shipmates and we
dropped them of at Sag Harbour for their journey home.
The next day we were back at the same spot
to pick up the graduate, so all smiles again on the good ship Hullabaloo. As
Georgina suffers from seasickness we decided to stay around the fork so that
she could get her sea legs. A quick walk around Sag Harbour culminating in the
purchase of three lobsters for supper produced much excitement and we motored a
short distance to Smiths cove for the night. Out came the Kayak and it soon
became apparent that our daughter is much fitter than us, it set a pattern for
the next few days that she would exercise us both in turn setting off at speed
and for longer distances than we had managed before. The lobster was duly consumed
and out came the Rummy Kub; at least I can beat her at that.
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| Before the rum |
The next morning we motored around to
Derring Harbour, after an abortive stop in Oyster Bay, which was declared a
ghost town by the youngster, and a small incident with a wooden sailboat, the
less said about that the better. A
rainstorm prevented us going ashore that night but the next evening we dressed
up and went to the Shelter Island Yacht Club where the rums were far too strong
and resulted in Andrew having a delicious dinner but with two very giggly
females. We were rather thrilled to find a fleet of Etchells on the hard,
definitely a proper yacht club.
We ventured over to Fishers Island for the
night and to test the sea legs, which proved sturdy. The only disappointment
was that we failed to catch a fish for supper; we did manage to catch a lot of weed,
which was a recurring problem throughout the girl’s trip. A quick tour of the
quaint village and then the next day we headed over to Mystic in search of some
propane gas. Dropping a hook almost in the channel we left the skipper onboard
and ventured forth in the dingy to buy the gas, returning triumphant.
We spent that night at the mouth of the
river and Georgie and I set off on an epic Kayak voyage to conquer Ram Island,
with promises from our support boat to arrive with wine and nibbles to watch
the sunset. We were a little surprised that he was not there on our arrival and
had to wait a good fifteen minutes for our refreshments! We encountered a
rather extrationary dog on the beach who we named Rocky on account of the fact
that he was very insistent that we throw a rather large stone for him to fetch,
that he had dug up by our feet. A habit that can’t be very good for his teeth.
Up early the next morning we set off for
Sag Harbour to await Emma’s arrival that afternoon. Georgie and I bravely went
ashore in a downpour to visit the launderette and provision. Washing on and
half way through the supermarket shop my phone suddenly starts beeping and
telling us that there was a tornado on the way.
Then all the lights went out and we were plunged into darkness. I was
rather put out that they made me leave the store and abandon my trolley, Georgie
thought I had lost the plot and wanted to return to the boat and her Daddy
immediately, maternal control was only regained once I had her safely on a bar
stool with a drink in hand. It was actually all quite scary, the streets
flooded, two houses had electrical fires and one thunderclap was so loud we
thought the bar had been hit. However it all passed, the washing was retrieved,
the provisioning completed and the tornado didn’t materialize. Andrew had a
much scarier time on the boat with lightening surrounding him.
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| Lobster Supper |
Emma then arrived and we were finally all
together on holiday for the first time in several years, what joy! The next day
the girls set off on the kayak to explore whilst Andrew and I did a quick engine
oil change and then with four more lobsters in the fridge we motored to Smith’s
Cove for the night and a very merry evening. After our feast, Lobster is
starting to become a bit of a habit onboard Hullabaloo, we played some silly
games resulting in diving competions in the dark and a very sore head the next
morning. Luckily we had two willing breakfast chefs onboard to provide us with
bacon and eggs and feeling much better we set of to Block Island. A slightly
bumpy ride at the end resulted in some suffering for Georgie, but we were soon
tucked up in the Salt Pond.
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| Every girl must travel with a Lilo |
Having watched the weather closely our
window of opportunity opened for us to sail down the outside of Long Island and
into New York. Leaving at midnight, with Georgie safely tucked up in a bunk to
try and prevent any seasickness, we pretty much motored the hundred and ten
miles arriving the next evening with no mishaps or suffering. We spent the
night at anchor in Sandy Hook ready to set off the next morning for three days
in the Big Apple, much excitement all round.
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| Time to Celebrate |
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| Best Day Ever |
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| Box Ticked |
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| Three lovely ladies |
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| The stuff dreams are made of |
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| The Big Apple |
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| Hullabaloo does NY |
We had decided to splash out and moor the
boat in Manhattan and were thrilled with our berth in the North Cove Marina,
literally under the new Freedom Tower with Lady Liberty viewable from the
cockpit. Somewhat rocky of course in the daytime but not to worry as we were off
on Georgina Tours with not a minute to spare!
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| 9/11 Memorial |
Day One
- Arrival at marina after spectacular
entrance into harbour and photo opportunity with Statue of Liberty – See above.
- Immediate
disembarkation and walk about in search of American Diner – We found one but
the food was disappointing however we were fully fuelled.
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| Central Park |
- Subway
ride to Central Park and three-hour bike ride around the entire park – great
fun despite the heat, which was immense.
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| New York Yankee Fans |
- 23.00 Subway ride home and bed – fully
cooked inside and out, hair an interesting design and texture.
Day Two
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| Morning Tour |
-
Lunch in a restaurant next to the
boat – time to rest the feet.
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| View from the Observatory |
-
The High Line – it took us a while
to find it, but was well worth the walk.
-
Dinner in an Italian Restaurant
in Greenwich Village – Andrew did well in finding us a great place to eat with
memorable food. We went in search of a Jazz Club afterwards but failed, so we settled
for a bar before heading off home to bed.
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| Freedom Tower from below |
- Breakfast ashore
-
Andrew and Georgina morning in
the Museum of Modern Art – a great time was had by both on all accounts
-
Emma and I Brooklyn Bridge – we
caught the tube to Brooklyn and then had a fantastic walk across the bridge
stopping in the middle for a frank discussion on life, the world and the state
of things to come. I hadn’t realised that the bridge is made of brick and is
really very pretty, affording a great view of New York and of course my favorite
statue.
-
3pm Tiffany’s – a little
trinket for the girls.
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Grand Central Station – very
beautiful
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| Taking a stroll on Brooklyn Bridge |
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5th Avenue and
Victoria’s Secret – the skipper left us to it but we only had an hour. After we hotfooted it back to the boat for the
evening’s entertainment. Feet now very sore, Georgina complaining hers were
bleeding…
-
Drinks at the Plaza – all
dressed up and somewhere very special to go. Andrew was sad to find the Oak
Room closed; it didn’t stop him drinking two very large Gin Martinis just like he
used to with Humphrey… a very merry skipper.
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Dinner at the most expensive
Chinese in the world, but quite delicious.
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Girls to Night Club – Wrinklies’
home to bed.
The next morning it was sadly time to
depart. Emma was off to Las Vegas for a ten-day tour of the West coast before
joining us again for a few days, Georgie staying in New York for one more night
and some shopping, before heading home to start her new job. We left two very
hung over girls on the dock with their hastily packed bags and I know we all
had a few tears in our eyes because it was all over; we are becoming a very
emotional family! What a trip though and we certainly packed it all in. Our
family holiday was even better than we imagined it would be and we will never
forget it, nor will our poor feet or our wallets. Certainly the most expensive
three days of our trip, but worth every cent.
We motored up the East river and under the
Brooklyn Bridge, in a hurry to get to Hells Gate before the tide changed. We
now know why that stretch of water has its name; it is turbulent to say the
least and the tide is so strong it would not be possible for us to motor
against it. Then out into Long Island sound and off to Stamford to meet John
and Jane, a quick turn around below decks on route.
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