7 May 2014

Our goal is New York, NY! Pretty excited about driving up the harbor past the Statue of Liberty!

But first, out of Manasquan and north. A very uneventful trip, water was once again flat and calm. Love that autopilot. We arrived 3 hours later at the Ambrose Channel. Happily there was a freighter 5 miles ahead, and nothing astern so we could take our time and not be in anyones way.

On the way we saw this interesting barge. It has what I think are three legs and a work bay. Not quite sure what it is used for.

We got caught in some pretty swirly currents, slowing our speed and also pushing the boat direction around. It’s caused by the currents from the Hudson River dumping into the Atlantic. Soon we were passing under the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge. I have been over this bridge many times, but it’s more impressive going under it. It is HUGE!!! Once we were past the bridge, the current was less and we were able to keep our course.

Next up was passing the Statue of Liberty. We came as close as the exclusion area would allow and Susan got some great shots. About 20 minutes later we were docking at Liberty Landing Marina, home port for another night!

We closed up the boat and headed for the Ellis Island Ferry. Once aboard we were quickly taken and deposited on Ellis Island. It is a pretty amazing setup, but sadly most of the exhibits on the second and third floor were closed. (When Sandy hit, the basement with all the power was flooded, so they lost all of their environmental systems to keep the artifacts safe). I was impressed with how many people came through there and what an ordeal the trip must have been. I’ll never whine about the customs line at JFK again.

There is a large exhibit on the expansion of the US and how we displaced the native Indians. They graphically display the millions moved and sadly the hundreds of thousands that died in the process.

We then boarded another ferry for the Statue of Liberty. Susan wanted to see the Statue close up, and the ferry ride took care of that. So we hopped onto another ferry and headed across the river to Battery Park.

We walked about 10 blocks to an MTA station to find that we wouldn’t be able to take those trains to Chinatown. So we went back upstairs and got a taxi (Susan has amazing Taxi karma!) to take us to Chinatown.

Our goal was “Soup Dumplings” or Xiao Long Bao that she had read about. They are a dumpling with pork and a liquid broth inside. Look for her food post for details.

After dinner it was a taxi back to a ferry landing and then a short ride across the river to Liberty Landing Marina. We were home after a long but exciting day.

The next morning we did laundry and I worked on the oil pressure gauge (my fix didn’t work) and the port tachometer (which I did fix, there was a bad connection).

At 11AM with laundry done we slid out of our berth and headed north up the Hudson to explore the great north. If we only had beaver hats to wear!

We left Atlantic City at 7AM to catch the last of the outbound tide and to get on flat waters. The ride up was nice and we were making good time. Rather than trying to navigate the shoals at Barnagat Inlet we decided to press on to Manasquan. This would add about another two hours to our trip, but we had music and flat seas, so why not?

If you watch the time lapse movies that Susan creates you can see that there isn’t much going on. We have an autopilot and for these long stretches I really rely on it to drive the boat. We are able to sit and chat, walk around, etc. We just need to keep an eye out for trash, crab pots (too early for that) and other boats.

We arrived at the Manasquan at noon, just about slack tide, but a fair amount of wind. We stopped at the Hoffman’s Marina fuel dock to get directions and to get the holding tank pumped out. We opted for the T-head next to the railroad tracks. After some maneuvering and a docking tip by Larry the owner, we were all tied up for the next few days. With the way the current rips through the river, having two sets of spring lines was an important part.

We opted for naps and hanging out on the boat the first afternoon. Susan made pork cutlets for dinner and we got caught up on the prior week of Mad Men.

Sunday was project/cleaning day. I had two sections of teak that needed some gentle sanding and a new coat of Cetol. Sikkens Cetol Marine varnish is the way to cover wood on a boat. It’s durable, comes in a light gloss and is $45 per quart. But a quart goes a long way. Both sections came out great, can’t tell that they were touched up.

On Sunday we found out about the current for real. With a west wind at 20kts gusting to 25kts the current was running about 5kts. Which made it interesting for boats coming against the current trying to get through the train bridge opening. I checked our lines often to make sure we would be OK. I was worried about the wind creating a super low tide.

By dinner time the winds had died down some so we walked about 10 minutes down to the Union Landing Restaurant. We ate inside, but there is a massive outdoor patio/bar that has a great view of Hoffman’s West Marina. I had the Clams Oreganato, clams stuffed with seasoned bread crumbs and garlic and the appetizer sized Shrimp Scampi. No need to worry about Vampires with all that garlic! Susan had the Union Landing Crab Delight – Lump Crab with Artichoke Hearts, Lemon Butter and Parmesan Cheese since she loves artichokes.

Monday was clear but a little windy. We knew our next stop was New York Harbor, and I wasn’t thrilled trying to dodge boats and 3′ waves. Our plan B was to head into town. We walked the 1.5 mile into town to pick up some items at the drug store. Since it was Cinco de Mayo we had to have Mexican food. We ate at Bubbakoo’s Burritos. I had tacos with the mango sauce, very good with the pork. On the way back we stopped at the local Acme and headed back to the boat for naps.

After napping I went over to Hoffman’s West (just across the railroad tracks) to talk to the crews of Happy Hours II and Whisper. Whisper was heading up to Boston, Happy Hours II is taking the Erie Canal back to Ohio. We had met them at Utsch’s Marina in Cape May. Their plan was to sail at first light for NY. They were successful, as you can see from the photo above.

On Tuesday we slipped away from the dock about 7 AM to head north to the Big Apple!

When water, wind and tides are involved, there is a constant movement of the ocean floor. Same with a marina, silt washes in through the entrance and slowly fill the slips and basin with additional material. A large storm can hasten the flow of material.

Tonight we watched the dredge at work clearing out slips and the basin. The dredge sits on a powered barge. At one end is an A-Frame that has a single beater about 3′ across. The beater is lowered into the water where it stirs up the silt layer. A large pump driven by a two cylinder diesel engine sucks water from next to the beater and up a long 10″ diameter flexible hose. The hose runs about 400′ into a giant catch pit.

The fluid, about 5 parts water to one part material, sprays across the entire pit. The water filters down through the ground and out, back into the marina. They can dredge a 30′ wide path 6 feet down at about 10 feet per hour.

The dredge in the picture was built in 1950 from parts from 1930′s trucks. The builder was self taught, and built the dredge platform and all of the machinery without plans. It’s been used a number of times to dredge the marina.

They started a year ago and have about a third of the marina done. The dredge works a double shift, the night shift there is very little boat traffic to work around. They are hoping to get two more rows done before boating season really takes off.

The silt is sold as topsoil after a year. The first year nothing will grow with the high salt content. Once the rain and snow have a chance to work, the salt flushes away and then the silt with its high nutrient content is left.