Deb will talk to anyone...and brought this guy back to the boat with her.
After he explained to Deb all about catching crabs, and how to cook, and eat them. Deb said "the next time I order crabs in a restaurant...I'll think of you". To which he said "I'll think of you...all the time"
Deb...as we were getting ready to leave our dock at Great Kills...without the guy with the crabs!
This was our view, looking NE from Raritan Bay toward NYC. That's the Verranzano Bridge that connects Staten Island to Brooklyn.
Some of our first views of New York Harbor...this shot is looking east towards Port Elizabeth
This is a view looking North...toward Manhattan
This is looking NW, and some of our first views of The Statue of Liberty, with the Staten Island Ferry in front of it.
The closer we get to New York, the more ship traffic
I'm not sure how many pictures we took of The Statue of Liberty
But, it's quite a feeling to be here in your own boat
The closer you get the more you are in "awe"
And...it makes you very proud to be an American
This is the view of lower Manhattan, and what they call The Battery
After a few "issues" getting into our slip, we are docked within a few inches of our neighbor.
Deb is happy to be here...an celebrates with a Cosmo
The skyline is not the same without the twin towers...but still very impressive
Log 161Day 443
Friday, August 07, 2009
8:20 AM EDT
Location: Great Kills Yacht Club; Great Kills Harbor; Staten Island, NY
Weather: 77 degrees with light winds out of the NE...heading for 83 today
A beautiful day here in Great Kills, NY this morning. A cold front went through early Thursday morning, and behind it, the weather has been much cooler, and very nice. The long range forecast calls for nice weather, and light winds...a boaters dream.
There is not a lot to report from our days here at Great Kills Yacht Club. The good news is, we are still allowed to stay at the dock. There has been no issue since the day we got here. Deb and I have been working on boat projects, getting ready for Jeanie and Terry to visit, and doing some odd jobs that you only do when you have the time. The next couple of weeks (with friends aboard) will not be a time for projects, so you work on the to do list as time allows.
One of the things we have been doing is making a few bike trips into town to get groceries, and stops at the hardware store, and liquor store. Without a car, anytime you can find those kind of stores, you take advantage of them. We have also done some exploring of the area, and talked to a few locals. This is a very interesting place, in that, along with all the local New York accents, the main accent you hear is Russian. Deb talked to a local (Russian), who told her “the reason so many Russians are here, is because they like to be near the water...it’s like being near the Black Sea”. Along with the accents, there are Russian stores as well. Deb went in to one grocery store, and came out saying “I have no idea what is in there...I didn’t recognize anything”.
Today is our last day in Great Kills Harbor. Tomorrow we will leave here first thing in the morning, and travel about 14 miles NE to the New York harbor. We will be staying at a marina called Liberty Landing Marina, which is just across the Hudson from New York City’s financial district, and just behind the Statue of Liberty Park. We spent a couple weeks there in 2000, and it is a real cool spot. We will be there for two nights. Jeanie and Terry come tomorrow (Saturday), and then we will explore New York City on Sunday, before heading out to Long Island Sound on Monday morning. For some time now, I have been excited, and looking forward to, exploring Long Island Sound. Everyone you talk to, and all the guide books, say it is very special, and a boaters paradise. What no one has told us, is how expensive it is. I guess I should have “instinctively” known it would be expensive...and I did. But as I have been calling several marinas for slip rates, I have been floored by the prices. The “average” rates are over $4 a foot per night, and one place charges $6.50 @ foot...plus $15 for electric. Yikes!! It took me a couple of days to “adjust” to that kind of expense...but, what the heck, we will only be in the area for a couple of weeks.
Saturday...6:00 AM EDT...Liberty Landing Marina
Just a few minutes after I wrote the log above, we got a visit from John (our host at Great Kills Yacht Club) to ask us if we could move today (Friday), because he had made a mistake and thought we were going to leave on Friday, and had promised the dock we were in, to another boat. So, I stopped writing the log, and made a call to Liberty Landing Marina, in NYC and asked them if they had space...and they did...so we started preparing to leave. We were probably 1/3 of our way into getting ready, and John called me to say he had just gotten a call from the guy who wanted our slip, and he was not coming...so John said we could stay if we wanted. We decided to leave.
After Deb made a trip into town, on her bike, to get some fresh bread, and vegetables, we left the dock at about noon. It was windier than had been forecast, and so, rather than run the main channel up Raritan Bay, I chose to hug the shoreline from Great Kills, up to New York Harbor. It was windy and choppy all the way, but the waves were not uncomfortable. Because we were in no hurry, and because we wanted to “take in” our entry into New York, we only went about 900 rpm all the way. As we were out in Raritan Bay, this meant a speed of almost 9 mph...but as we got close to the Verrazano Bridge, and the Hudson River, our speed was slowed to less than 6 mph, because the tide was heading out to sea.
Describing what it’s like to enter New York Harbor is very hard for me. To know you have come several thousand miles, in your own boat, and you are now in New York, one of the busiest harbors in the world, is very rewarding. There are ships everywhere. More channels than you can count. More boat traffic than you have ever seen. Ferries of every size, and shape, moving fast in all directions, and you are in charge of navigating through this. Very cool. Then...you go right beside the Stature of Liberty, and again you feel a strange sense of pride; wonder; amazement; or some other emotion that I can’t describe. For Deb and me...it is a wonderful feeling, and we feel very fortunate to be able to do this.
We arrived at Liberty Landing about 2:30 pm, and it was fairly windy in the marina. The slip they assigned us was the last slip in a narrow channel, and there was no room to turn around, so I decided to back down the channel, and back in the slip. Not a big deal, but you would not want to do this on your first day. I had no idea at the time I started this move, but the slip they wanted me in had a very strange “bump out” that would cause me a problem, and the slip was so narrow, that the boat next to us had his fenders out, because he was afraid we could not get in without hitting him. It was also so narrow that the boat in front of us was standing on his bow, because he was afraid we would hit him as we backed in. Between a narrow channel; a very narrow slip; a bump out; windy; and backing in, it was quite a challenge. But...with a fair amount of maneuvering...we made it. The real challenge was just beginning. After we got tied up, I noticed that the power pedestal that we were supposed to use, had someone else’s cords in them. When I asked our dock hand, where our power was, he was not quite sure. Then I realized we did not have 50 amp power, but, again, two 30 amp power plugs (like Great Kills Yacht Club). The dock hand said “don’t you have a convertor”? I did not even want to go there, so I just said “no...I told them I needed 50 amp power, and that’s what I need”. So, after some wringing of hands; some “he said...she said”; and a couple of other folks getting involved; we were told there was a slip right in front of us (on the other side of the channel) that had 50 amp power, and we could go there. No big deal (I thought) we would just pull the boat along the dock, to the slip on the other side. Seems simple enough, but we had a dock hand, that wanted to control everything, and kept saying “Ill get this...no problem”. I always worry when someone says this, and in this case I was right, because, the part he was in charge of (the stern) was being blown against the dock (because of the strong winds). I was holding the front out, and as we were moving forward, he was not paying attention, and the stern scraped against the dock (remember the bump out?) and cut a piece of fiberglass out of the boat. Man...was I pissed...and told him so. He said it was no big deal...and he’s right...if it’s not YOUR boat. Anyway...the rest of the day was spent washing, and wiping down the boat, and starting to get organized for Jeanie and Terry. Deb made a great Mexican tortilla type meal, and the movie was the final episode of The Next Food Network Star.
Today...it’s a beautiful morning. A cloudless sky; light winds; and 68 degrees. As I finish this log, it’s still pretty early, and so the marina is just coming to life. The only real activity is the fisherman getting ready to head out. For us, today will be spent doing odd jobs, and preparing for Jeanie and Terry’s arrival...which should be about 4 pm this afternoon. It’s going to be a great day.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bob
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