I emailed a photo of our sailing trip in the Hudson River off Manhattan to a good friend.  She wrote back, “Now that’s a first.”

Hmmmm. Yep.  It was for me.

But it is something I’ve always dreamed of.  I love sailing and I love New York.  Wouldn’t it be fun to combine the two?

And it was in spite of the fact there was no wind and no sun.  I just love being on a sailboat and looking at the New York skyline. And  getting up close to the iconic Statue of Liberty was a real hoot.

The boat was Shearwater, a 82-foot sailboat built in the 1920s for a Jay Gatsby type guy, who, yes, lived on Long Island.  It’s history includes several around the world trips, time on the west coast as a charter sailboat, working as a submarine hunter off the Chesapeake during WWII  and some trips through the Panama Canal.

We enjoyed going below and seeing the original cabins, galley and crew areas.  While needing a lot of work, it exudes the elegance of an earlier era.

We cruised  by the Green Lady, enjoying her and the many  tourist tour boats, taxi’s and ferry’s that made a trek around this end of the island part of their sea worthy plan.

The other water focused experience we had on a recent trip to New York was an evening concert on the BargeMusic.

What is this?  It’s an old barge, moored at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge where one can attend chamber music concerts several nights a week.

What an adventure.  While the barge rocked and banged against the dock a bit, we heard a performance by the head of Piano for Juilliard.  He was absolutely amazing, only topped by the view of the city beyond.

The boat itself  needs some repair, but that didn’t matter when the performance began.  We were transported.

Outside folks gathered on the dock for dancing and what appeared to be an impromptu party.  I don’t know. They sure looked like they were having fun.  Later, after the concert we enjoyed a stunning view of the Manhattan skyline.

Next water adventure in  New York?   I want to rent one of those cute row boats in Central Park and paddle about.  On a perfect afternoon, it looks like a lovely thing to do.