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The Shipyard Marina is unique. It’s small and well contained. There’s an active sailing club on site as well as a group giving jet ski tours of the NY waterfront. The place was bustling all day. Pier 13, on which the marina is located, is home to an ongoing food truck festival as well as a busy and popular bar the occupies more than half the pier. The view of midtown Manhattan across the River is enough to occupy your interest for a long time. The lights at night are amazing.
The next pier over (Pier 14) is home to a ferry terminal with routes to both Midtown and Downtown Manhattan.
The main piers at the marina are modern floating concrete docks. Our boat was too big for their slips so we were tied up (with outstanding help from an eager dockhand) on a woodenv extension of the concrete dock. It was parallel to Pier 13 and below the back of the bar buildings. The buildings kept the noise from the bar to a very low level. After the bar closed, all was very quiet.
As is inevitable on the Hudson across from NYC, the water is busy and our boat moved around quite a bit. This too settled down after dark.
There is a wide selection of restaurants within easy walking distance of the marina if you’re not into food trucks. There is a decent market and a Walgreens drug store just 2 blocks away.
The best thing about this stay was the attitude of the staff. Everybody we met was eager to help and just as eager to engage in long conversations. They were all wonderful!
UPDATED: 07/29/2024 (The above was written 3 years ago.)
The staff attitude and helpfulness remain at a high level. That’s still one of the great things about this marina.
On the other hand, the price has gone up significantly over the last 3 years (as it has across marinas in the New York City area). However, the amenities have not increased. There are no showers, for example.
The worst thing about this stay, however, was the rambunctious water conditions. We were assigned space at the end of a T dock facing the brunt of the wave action coming through the marina entrance. We weren’t protected by the pier structure like last time. The rolling and pitching of our 42 foot, 40,000 pound boat was excessive and constant until well after dark. The motion was so great that my mate would not risk trying to get off the boat and onto the pier. When the motion was at its worst during the evening rush hour, I could not get off the boat either. It’s not good feeling trapped on your boat when there are so many good things to do once you get ashore.
Let me say again that the staff support was really good and they weren’t responsible for the seas and the weather. It was just a very uncomfortable day for us. I ended my review of my previous stay by stating that Shipyard Marina would be our “go to” stopping place in the NYC area. That’s no longer the case. We will probably stay at some place even more expensive, but more pleasant and secure.