The whole reason for being at Port Imperial Marina was to have "The Best Seats In The House" for the Opsail 2000 Tall Ship Parade and the Fourth of July Fireworks. Port Imperial is in Weehawken, on the New Jersey shore, directly across from central Manhattan. All of the tall ships would pass in review in front of us and many including the JFK would be docked directly across the river at the foot of 42nd Street.

The two Hudson River fireworks barges were located a few hundred yards north and a few hundred yards south of our pier. The network TV cameras covering the event were on the bluffs ashore high above us.  We were in the center of where the action was to be.

All of this comes at a price... Double the normal transient dockage and a required 7 days stay.  The other price of the stay was the unceasing rocking of our boats from the wakes on the river.  And the water at low tide was so shallow that our boats rubbed cavities in the soft muddy bottom to stay afloat. Running Air conditioning at low tide was risky... the mud could clog the water strainers.
 
 

The five TMCA boats, AnnTicipation, Fine Time, Illusions, Taliesen and Remedy were all decked out with Texas flags and patriotic decorations.  Wearing our finest Fourth of July attire, we were the grandest sight in the marina.  We had a TMCA traditional Fourth of July picnic right there on the dock: Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Corn on the Cob, Potato Salad, Chips, Dips and all the fixings, followed by Apple Pie a la mode, mind you.

Our guests for Opsail were: my daughter Mary Beth and her husband, Chris Stip, from Boston, Philip Kropf from Houston, and his friend Carol , from Maine. Also Tom and Sally Curran were in town, on their way to visit friends in Albany later.  We also had a visit before the big day from Marion's niece, Sandy, her husband Mark Jury, and their three children.
 

Who is the Cat in that Hat?

I made friends with Steve, a New Jersey volunteer fireman. He treated me to Barbecued ribs and sausage, and I provided corn on the cob appetizers to his friends.  Needless to say but, "I had a blast."

The weather did not co-operate on the morning of the Fourth.  There was a heavy haze that spoiled the view of the tall ships on parade. That evening,, however the Fireworks were nothing short of spectacular! Being so close to the pair of launch barges, our boats and our bodies reverberated with each blast.

"Pooosh, Pooosh.......  KERWHAM, KERWHAM... ", spoke the dual synchronized rocket launchers as they lit up the sky.

"WOW,"  answered the people as they approved each volley.

This lasted for perhaps a 45 minutes, all synchronized with the patriotic music carried over the FM radio station. Then the finale:

"Pooosh, Pooosh.. Pooosh, Pooosh..  Pooosh, Pooosh.. KERWHAM, KERWHAM.. KERWHAM, KERWHAM.. KERWHAM, KERWHAM..Pooosh, Pooosh.. Pooosh, Pooosh... KERWHAM, KERWHAM.. KERWHAM, KERWHAM..Pooosh, Pooosh.. KERWHAM, Poosh.. KERWHAM.. Pooosh, Pooosh.. KERWHAM, KERWHAM, Pooosh, KERWHAM.. KERWHAM.. Pooosh, Pooosh..  KERWHAM, Pooosh, Pooosh.. KERWHAM.. KERWHAM, KERWHAM.. Pooosh, Pooosh.. KERWHAM, KERWHAM.. Pooosh, Pooosh.. KERWHAM, KERWHAM..... KERWHAM, KERWHAM."

All I could say to that was, "Weeeeeeeeeeee Hawken."

The Morning After

The next morning the JFK came up the Hudson and docked across the river from us.

We went on the ferry to the city for lunch and a FREE BEER at Mr. Biggie Bar on 43rd Street and 10th Avenue.  The food in Manhattan is uniformly great. (otherwise you are out of business). ***$$ for Mr. Biggie.

We headed in three different directions after lunch... Mary Beth and Chris headed to the train for Boston. Sally and Marion went to Fifth Avenue to shop.  Tom, Philip, Carol and I headed for the tall ships and inspected a half a dozen.  The Amerigo Vespuci from Italy was the largest we saw.  It was also my favorite.  Lots of elegant gold leaf ornamentation on the bow and stern.