It's Fleet Week and the nautical event of the day was the Parade of Ships, led by the USS New York - the warship with salvaged World Trade Center steel in its bow.
Starting at 8:30am, the ships were to pass the Statue of Liberty, continue up the Hudson, turn around at the George Washington Bridge and get back to port by noon.
The only viewing location near the GWB mentioned by The Record was Fort Lee Historic Park, but that really doesn't have a good southern view, which might be a problem if the turning point was short of the GWB.
Ross Dock might have been an option, but I wanted a higher angle to shoot from (less bright sky in the frame would mean fewer dark shots from the auto setting), so the only place that made any sense to shoot from was on the bridge itself.
I guessed that the ships wouldn't get that far north until at least 9:30-10:00, so I got there at 9:15. I figured it would be crowded................nothing. I walked across the bridge looking for signs of the parade..............nothing.
I walked over to the 178th St bus terminal, went in and took GWB pictures from the upstairs bus platform exit and sat in the Platform 21 waiting area for a half-hour while taking cellphone shots before heading back to the bridge.
Back on the GWB, I still saw no sign of a parade of mighty ships. I DID see bridge flyovers by military jets, helicopters, and those goofy-looking Ospreys, but no big ships.
FINALLY, at about 11:15, I saw a distant lump on the water that wasn't there before. It was the New York. Ten minutes later, while it was still at least a mile away, it started turning around! And there were no big ships behind it!
By 11:35, it was all over, so I walked back to Fort Lee. I passed the exit for Fort Lee Historic Park and saw a line of cars leaving. I asked one driver if he saw the New York. Our Editor would not be happy if I printed the driver's response.
So at least I made the right decision and got a couple of halfway-decent shots from far away, but nothing like what I was expecting to get if the ship had turned around where it was supposed to (notice the good color in the closer shots).
The pictures:
1-3. The Flyovers (jets, helicopter, Ospreys). I'm pretty sure the helicopter is commercial, but it's the only aircraft flyover photo I got where part of the GWB is visible.
4. Crane barge. This colorful Italian-flavored barge came from the north and wound up right at the New York's turning point.............best seat in the house.
5. The USS New York starts turning. This was as tight a shot with the Empire State Building as I could get because I was too far on the NY side of the bridge.
6-7. My best shot of the New York. Blown up, you can see all the sailors on deck fairly clearly (remember, it's over a mile away).
8. The wide shot: included are the Empire State Building, a seagull, the USS New York, the Italian crane barge, New Jersey, and the only boat that actually turned around at the GWB (next pic).
9. The Three Forty Three - a FDNY fireboat - makes the turn at the GWB.
Imagine the pictures I could have gotten if the New York had done the same. Of course, the river is at its least widest point at the GWB - that's why it was built there - but with all the barges pushing the New York into its turn with lots of room to spare, it could have made it.
Anyway, thanks to the FDNY for getting it right.
