Log 161; Day 444; August 8, 2009; Liberty Landing Marina; New York Harbor

This is the main building of the Great Kills Yacht Club...it's over 100 years old

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 161
Day 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

Log 160; Day 440; August 4, 2009; Great Kills Yacht Club; Staten Island, NY

This is a cool shot of all the work boats in the habor at Manasquan Inlet

Here are a couple of pictures of the waves we saw as we were leaving the Manasquan Inlet on Monday morning
This is not fun to go out of an inlet when this is happening


This is an area in NJ they call the Highlands...it is on the very tip of NJ (Sandy Hook)...just before you enter the New York harbor area

This is our first look at Great Kills Harbor

Problem #1...how were we going to fit HQ on the same dock as this boat is sitting

Problem #1 solved...we just put our anchor "inches" from their back deck

Problem #2...we needed 50 amp power...they only had 30 amp, so it took us a while to solve this one

In this picture I have been working on power for over an hour, and I decide to tear the end of my new power cord off to see if something may be wrong. The guy on my left, did not know anything about electrical (according to him) but that did not keep him from telling me what I was doing wrong

With the power finally fixed...our neighbor on this boat came and sat on his back deck. We had a nice conversation...and then came problem #3

This is John...our host...and the guy who set up this slip for us. He is here to ask us what we told our boat neighbor, when he asked what yacht club we belong to. We told him we don't belong to any yacht club...big problem...without belonging to a yacht club, we should not be here

This is the piecefull scene I am seeing as I write this log this morning...and wondering if they'll kick us out today?

Log 160
Day 440
Tuesday, August 04, 2009

7:30 AM EDT
Location: Great Kills Yacht Club; Great Kills Harbor; Staten Island, NY
Weather: 71 degrees with calm winds...heading for 92 today

I’m looking out the boat this morning at a flat calm Great Kills Harbor. If you click (here) you can see on Google Maps exactly where we are. We are about 12 miles to the SW from downtown NYC. We are in an area called Raritan Bay, and just to the west of Sand Hook, NJ (which is a little island that is the northern most tip of NJ that is on the Atlantic Ocean). I have heard of Staten Island, NY, but I never knew where it was, and I never knew it was this big.

Getting here...from the Manasquan Inlet meant dealing with some fairly large (at least to us) rollers (big waves) the were coming out of the SSE. Getting out of the inlet itself was the toughest part, because these big waves were breaking at the inlet, and we had to go out for a ways, in order to make a turn to the north without getting “breeched” in one of these waves. Once we made the turn, it was not a big deal, but every now and then, a BIG roller would pick us up and turn us somewhat sideways. The good news was that our heading was 22 degrees, so the waves were mostly on our stern. Boats coming the other way were having an interesting time of it. Again...not dangerous...just not fun. For folks who boat in the Atlantic every day, this probably was a wonderful day. For us river boaters, it was just “not fun”.

Once we rounded Sandy Hook, the waves were almost zero, and it was beautiful. The only issue we had was an outgoing tide, and that slowed us down a bit, but we were in no hurry, so it was fine. From Sandy Hook to the Great Kills Harbor is about 10 miles, and it was FULL of boats of all shapes and sizes. Most of them were out fishing. It made me wonder what they were fishing for, and (later this week), if I should think about getting my license, and go out in the dinghy and join them.

Side note: We are going to Great Kills Yacht Club for a few reasons. 1...the price of Liberty Landing Marina (the best, and closest marina to NYC) is $4 @ foot, so we did not want to get to New York before we needed to. 2...Jeannie and Terry will arrive on Saturday afternoon, so we need to be at Liberty Landing when they arrive. 3...because the Atlantic will decide when you travel, I wanted to be close to NYC, so we could make the final few miles the day they arrive. 4...a fellow Looper (John...who made the loop in 2003) belongs to the Great Kills Yacht Club, and was so impressed how folks helped him when he made the loop, he talked his yacht club into offering Loopers $1 @ foot to stay at his yacht club. So...that is why we are here.

Once we arrived at Great Kills Yacht Club, the fun (not) began. The first issue we had is that we did not fit on the dock where they had planned to put us. There was another 45 foot boat here, and between the two of us, we stuck out on both ends of the dock. Something that John said would really upset the members of the yacht club. We tied, and re-tied, our boats to the point where they almost are touching, but, still they stick out. John asked me (if the world comes to an end) would I consider taking off my dinghy (which hangs off the back of our boat) and tying it along side my boat. I told him that we did not have bottom paint on our dingy, so I did not want to let it sit in the water for several days, and he understood, so he just said “well...if they get mad, they’ll just get mad”, and we left the boats where they were.

The next issue was power. We need 50 amp power for HQ, but he only had 30 amp at the dock (the first time we have had this issue on the entire trip). The good news was we have a “smart Y” power cord that converts 2 30 amp power outlets to the 50 amp power we need. So, there should not be a problem. But...when we hooked our cords up, we did not have the power we needed. The short version of the story is, it took 2 hours of sweating, and swearing, for us to figure out that our “smart Y” was not so smart. It made no sense, but for some reason, the smart y adaptor had gone bad. So after another while John found another one, and as soon as we hooked that one up...everything was back on track.

Issue 3, was a little more interesting. After all the work, I took a shower, and was relaxing on the back deck, when the guy who owns the boat next to us (a member of the yacht club) came on his boat and was enjoying some ice cream with his granddaughter. He seemed like a real nice guy, and we were having a short conversation back and forth while we both sat on our back decks. At one point during the conversation he asked us “so...what yacht club do you belong to” to which we said “none...we are traveling too much to belong to any club...and besides, we would not want to belong to any club who would have us as members”. We all laughed, and the conversation ended shortly after that. So...about 1 hour later, John comes back to our boat, and asks us “did that guy next door ask you if you were a member of a yacht club”? We said “yes” and then he asked “so what did you tell him” to which I told him exactly what I said. “That’s a problem” he said, “because the way I got this special rate set up for Loopers is that they must also belong to a yacht club, and I assumed you belonged to one”. Big problem. So...again, after a few tense moments, and me agreeing to leave if he wanted us to, John said “don’t worry about it...every club has a few folks who want to cause problems, and his problem is that you are blocking his view of the harbor, so any excuse he can find to not have someone in that slip is good by him”. He asked us (in every way possible) if we belonged to a yacht club; had “ever” belonged to a yacht club; or knew someone who could “say” we were a member of a yacht club. Bingo...option 3 was something we could think about. So...after some more conversation, John, again, said don’t worry, and left the boat. He called 30 minutes later to say “send me an email, saying you would like to come to our dock, and that you belong to the AGLCA, and what yacht club you are a member of...I’ll print that out, and have it just in case someone asks”. So I did...and we are now a member of Shoreline Yacht Club, but I did not list any town, so they will have trouble tracking it down. Also...I’m not sure one exists. There is a boat club in Ottawa, IL, that many of our friends and family belong to, called Shoreline Boat Club...by the way, no affiliation.

So, today, as I type this I am waiting for someone to knock on the boat and tell us to show proof of our yacht club affiliation...or leave. We’ll see what happens.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 159; day 439; August 3, 2009; Brielle Yacht Club; Brielle, NJ.

Although we are in Brielle, NJ. now, I thought I'd share a few more shots of Cape May

First of all...they have lots of beautiful women


Lots of people in the main square

And...lots of cool shops and restaurants

As we left Cape May early on Saturday morning, the people were already out on the beach, and on the water

This is Wildwood, NJ...and a very crowded beach

You can see it was a beautiful day, and the Atlantic was very calm for our 40 mile run from Cape May to Atlantic City

We could see Atlantic City almost 20 miles out, but here is our first picture

Another shot of Atlantic City as we get close to the inlet

If you have ever seen the movie Jaws, and the caos in the channel when they were trying to catch the shark...that is what it was like getting to our harbor

This is a shot of Farley State Marina...where we were on Saturday night. The tall building in the backround is a hotel/casino behind the marina

The whole area was buzzing. Lots of people; lots of boats; 2 bands playing

But instead of going to the casino; or having dinner at the bar; or listening to the bands; we went back to the boat, with some friends we met in Key West (Andy and Susan on Maggie May). It was great catching up with them. They just spent 3 days and 2 nights on the ocean, coming straight from Charleston, SC. to Atlantic City.

This boat was parked right behind us in Atlantic City

The weather looked very "iffy" as we left Atlantic City on Sunday morning

The closer we got to the ocean, the heavier the fog

It was not foggy all the way, but it was hazy, and the sun really never came out

I ran hard the last few miles to make it to the Manasquan Inlet

Pictures never do justice to the sea conditions, but it was getting rough as we entered the inlet

Another shot of the rough water in the inlet...can you imagine hitting these rocks?

Just before the rains came we made it to Brielle, NJ

Another day...another storm. It poured for an hour right after I took this shot.

Log 159
Day 439
Monday, August 03, 2009

5:50 AM EDT
Location: Brielle Yacht Club; Brielle, NJ
Weather: 69 degrees with calm winds and foggy

This morning we are sitting on the Manasquan River, at the Brielle Yacht Club, in Brielle, NJ. If you are reading this on the web page you can click (here) to see the location on Google Maps. It’s a perfectly calm morning, but it is foggy out. It has got to be 100% humidity, because everything is clammy (is that a real word?) in the helm area. As I write this, there are lots of fishing boats headed out to the ocean, and the “no wake” signs that are everywhere, do not seem too mean much. The boat is rockin’ pretty good, and I’m wondering if it will wake Debbie. Probably not. For some reason, when she knows I’m up, rocking, or boat noises do not seem to bother her. I guess she assumes if there is an issue, I’ll deal with it, and she rolls over and goes back to sleep. She’s right you know.

Getting here...has been 1 great day, and 1 ok day of cruising on the Atlantic. We left Cape May on Saturday morning, with calm winds and sunny skies, and that is the way it stayed almost all the way. But, there is a big difference between cruising most anywhere, and cruising the ocean. If you cruise lakes, or big open bays of water, the waves are mostly dependent on the wind. As soon as the wind stops...so do the waves. The ocean is different. Even if there is no wind, there are still (generally) waves. Actually, they are more “swells”, than waves, but they can be 2 to 4 feet high, on the calmest of days. And, that is what they were like on Saturday. As you can see from the pictures, the water was almost calm, but what you can’t see is about every 7 seconds there was a 2 to 4 foot swell coming from the SE that would pick us up...and then gently rolls us. It takes a little getting used to, and certainly the direction you are traveling makes all the difference in the world, but on Saturday they were hitting us on our starboard, stern, so they were not bad. After 40 miles in the ocean, we came to the inlet at Atlantic City. Being this was a Saturday, the inlet was VERY busy, with boats going every direction. As we pulled into our slip at Farley State Marina, I noticed a boat called “Maggie May” was tied up not far from us. We had not seen Andy and Susan, since we met them in Key West, last January. When we went to check in, I knocked on the boat, but no one was there, but later, we saw them walking the dock. After some quick “what are you doing here?” comments, we decided to go back to Headquarters and have a cocktail. We spent the next 3 hours telling stories, and catching up on where both of have been for the last 7 months. I won’t bore anyone with the stories, but there is one interesting fact. We (Deb and I) were in Charleston, SC on May 6th, day 350 of our trip. When we got to Atlantic City it was day 437 of our trip. So it took us 87 days to make that portion of the trip. Andy and Susan did it in 3 days. They went out of the harbor at Charleston...turned left...set a point for the inlet at Atlantic City...and two nights, and 3 days later, they were there. That is the way they travel. Their next stop was Buzzards Bay, just south of Boston. They were leaving Atlantic City on Sunday morning, and they would be in Boston some 30 hours later. Certainly a different style of cruising than we do. One other side note about Atlantic City. We stayed in a big fancy marina/resort. With several restaurants, bars, bands playing, and a casino. We did not spend 1 dime there (other than the $4 @ foot they charged us for the slip). We chose to spend the time on the boat with Andy and Susan, and after they left, we had dinner on the boat, and went to bed early. What’s that saying...”to each his own”?

Sunday we left Atlantic City at about 6:15 am, and it was a very different day than Saturday. There was almost no sun, and it was hazy and foggy on the ocean. I wanted to get an early start for two reasons. 1...there was a lot of weather to the west of us, and we wanted to head out (Atlantic City is nice, but the prices are crazy) and beat the weather. 2...I thought if the weather held out long enough, with an early start we might be able to skip Manasquan and make it (about 85 miles) all the way to Staten Island...our next stop. Well, the ocean was not bad, but also not nice. It was in no way uncomfortable (wave wise) but along with the 2 to 4 feet swells, it has a small chop, and the fact that the sun was not out, made it dreary, so just not fun. Also, the further north we went, the closer the weather front got, and I actually had to go fast the last 15 miles (of the 60 mile trip) in order to make sure we would be tied up before the storms hit. By the time we got to Manasquan Inlet, the waves were building, and, although it was not dangerous, it was not a piece of cake to come through the inlet. The Manasquan River is known for it’s swift current, and getting to a slip here can be interesting when the tide is really flowing, but we ended up with a slip on the T-head of a dock, so I just faced my bow into the current, and docking was no issue at all. It only took us a few minutes to get tied up, and by the time Deb went and checked in, and I rinsed the salt off the boat, the storms came. The good news was, there was no big winds with this storm, but it rained hard for a while, then continued to rain for quite a while longer. So we enjoyed a lazy and relaxing afternoon on the boat, and had a frozen pizza for dinner, while watching the movie Antwone Fisher (very good true story, with Denzel Washington).

Today...we have about 30 miles to run to our next stop, which is Great Kills Yacht Club. I’ll write more about this later, but the price at Great Kills is $1 @ foot verses $4 @ foot in NYC, so we will be staying there this week, before heading to NYC on Saturday to meet Jeanine (Deb’s sister) and Terry. It should be a nice run up there this morning...as soon as the fog lifts.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob