Sunday, October 11th

New York City

Apartment hunting with Natasha - I tagged along with Natasha and her broker Jillian today through the Upper East Side and Brooklyn to see some apartments for sale. It was interesting to see what people are offering for what in other parts of the country would buy a big house. This is the downside of NYC. Housing is in short supply and the prices are ridiculous. Other things, like for example food, are no more than what you pay in Chicago. Same with beer and restaurant prices. The number of those places is gigantic and competition is fierce.

I'm glad I have no need to buy a place and leave the rat race to others. And they can be happy that I'm not competing. :-)

Monday, October 12th

New York City

Track on Viewranger

The day looked as gorgeous as yesterday. I'm really very lucky with the weather, it's much warmer than usual in the season and clear blue skies brought out hordes of people.
I met another single handed cruiser at the dinghy dock, John, who will sail his Pearson 365 down the coast on Wednesday, same as I'm planning. Maybe we can stay in contact and he can give me some moral support. I hope I won't need technical support... I walked south through Riverside Park and enjoyed the views.

Plenty of residential and commercial development in evidence

Spot the difference!

Can you see it? Two identical ships, but not the same. The second ship had lots of passengers on deck, and the reason for that was that it was about to depart. I watched that leviathan reverse out of the pier with the aid of its bow thrusters and 36000 horse powers. By the way, Caprice has 18 horse powers.

Here is the wikipedia info aboout AIDA:

AIDA Cruises is a British/American owned German cruise line based in Rostock, Germany. Originally founded as Deutsche Seereederei with a ship called Völkerfreundschaft("Friendship Between Peoples"), the company entered the cruise industry in the 1960s.^[1]

The company was acquired by P&O Princess Cruises in 2000.^[1][2] In 2003, P&O Princess merged with Carnival Corporation, to form Carnival Corporation & plc, the worlds largest cruise holiday company. Following the merger, executive control of AIDA Cruises transferred to Costa Cruises Group,^[3][4] one of the main operating companies of the Carnival Group, with responsibility for the group's European brands.

AIDA Cruises is now one of eleven brands operated by the Carnival Group accounting for 6.5% of its share of revenue^[5] and has its own executive team, led by company President Felix Eichhorn.^[6][7] AIDA ships cater to the German-speaking market. As seagoing "club resorts", AIDA ships have on-board amenities and facilities designed to attract younger, more active vacationers.^[8]

Next door was the USS Intrepid (CV-11):

Wikipedia: Also known as The Fighting "I", she is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. Because of her prominent role in battle, she was nicknamed "the Fighting I", while her often ill-luck and the time spent in dry dock for repairs earned her the nicknames "Decrepit" and "the Dry I"

My destination was West Marine close to Broadway to buy some Hypalon glue for the freshwater tank that's leaking, so I turned east away from shore. The city is a anthill of activity, with people of all races, classes and ages milling about. I love this city, I think it's all what makes a city put in concentration. I found the glue and next walked north past Times Square and to a Sushi takeaway. I munched it at Columbus Circle, the SW corner of central park and then walked a bit through the park before turning into 72 Street and Trader Joe's for provisions.