Boat trip around Brooklyn

[Paul B]

There comes a time in a boaters life when he either dies or gets a larger boat. Last week we bought our fourth and probably last boat. It is a 27' Sea Ray. I got it at a steal and could not pass it up, and being we use the boat three or four times a week, there was no debate. I think my wife wanted it more than I did.
For the last 30 years or so there was never a discussion of what we will be doing on the weekend, we spend it on the boat tied up with our boating friends. I still have the smallest boat in the crowd though.
We bought the boat on the south shore of Long Island and our marina is on the north shore. To get there you have to go around the south shore, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens then to the north shore. The distance is 40 miles and about a third of that is in the ocean.
The day was beautiful and the boat performed flawlessly except for loseing a fan belt on one engine under the Varazzano Bridge. I managed to get the belt back on as my friend drove the boat on the other engine. Thats not the place to get stuck. The area is a mass of oil tankers, cruise ships, high speed hydrofoil ferries, The Staten Island Ferry and cruise ships.
I have made this trip a few times with my various boats or just to take a trip to Fire Island which is out east on the south shore.
I am a lisenced Captain as is my friend who made the trip with me.
Here we are preparing the boat in Seaford Long Island in one of my friends back yards.

The first thing of course was to get gas. Gas is a little cheaper here

After an hour or so you pass Coney Island. That is the famous Parachute Jump which has been closed and made into a historic site many years ago. This was taken with a zoom lenz as we were a few miles out.

An hour later you come up to the Varazzino Bridge which connects
Statin Island with Brooklyn.
I lost a fan belt under here.

This is my other boat

These guys are all over the place.
My Captains Lisence covers driving one of these also

Then of course we come to the Statue Of Liberty, she was a little foggy that day but beautiful as always. Every time I sail by her I am reminded that my Grand Parents also saw the same sight over 100 years ago.

Manhattan is always Manhattan. I worked there for 40 years as a construction electrician and worked on all of those buildings in the picture.

Going up the East River which seperates Brooklyn from Manhattan you see many bridges. There are over 20 bridges to Manhattan and many tunnels. This is approaching Hells Gate a little farther up.

We anchored to eat off of Historic Ft Totten which is not in the picture, then we continued east to my harbor and into my Marina to be greated by my family.

 

[House of Laughter]

I didn't realize brooklyn was surrounded by water

Congrats on the new ride - awesome pictures.

House

 

[cali_reef]

I didn't realize brooklyn was surrounded by water

Congrats on the new ride - awesome pictures.

House

:lol2:

Did a similar trip from Freeport about 15 years ago on a 26' used Searay too (1 day new to me), the prop spun off the hub 1/2 mile short of my marina in College Point :irked:, bad prop repair job.

 

[jackson6745]

I did a run to New Rochelle from brooklyn in January the winter before last. Coming back through Hells Gate I had the tide with me and the boat went 6kts faster than normal. Crazy current there!

Good luck with the new boat Paul and nice pics!

 

[Paul B]

I didn't realize brooklyn was surrounded by water

It is almost all surrounded by water if you take into account, the East River (which is not really a river) on it's north and the Atlantic on it's south.

Cali_Reef, I know that marina well in College point. That used to be the Worlds Fair marina. You can only get in there during high tide.
I also know Freeport well.

I don't know how the East River got it's name. It is an estuary between the Long Island Sound and New York Harbor. It is all saltwater and just connects two bodies of saltwater. All rivers are fresh water and all rivers end at the sea.
The pictures I took with the two bridges is in the East River. It is about 60' deep there and that is right near Gracie Mansion where the Mayor is supposed to live.

This is the South Street Seaport which is also on the East River. Now it is a tourist spot but when I was a kid, my Dad who had a sea food market would take me there to get the fish for the week.
The fishing vessels would dock there and dump the fish right on the sidewalk. I would love to play with the fish. They would also have giant sea turtles alive on the sidewalk up sise down to sell for turtle soup. I use to climb up on them to play. I am so glad they don't do that anymore. At the time I didn't know what they were going to do with them.

 

[Killerdrgn]

:lol2:

Did a similar trip from Freeport about 15 years ago on a 26' used Searay too (1 day new to me), the prop spun off the hub 1/2 mile short of my marina in College Point :irked:, bad prop repair job.

Ugh that marina smells SOOOO bad when the tide is low. The docking fees / rent better be cheap there.

 

[masterswimmer]

Paul, best of luck with your new lady. :biggrin: What's her name?

Nice pix too.

Russ

 

[Paul B]

Ugh that marina smells SOOOO bad when the tide is low. The docking fees / rent better be cheap there.

Yes, it's a terrible place. That is all filled in land, That, Laguardia Airport and Shea Stadium (now Citifield) used to be a large waterway at the turn of the century (the last century, and no, I was not born)
The marina fees are not that cheap but it is cheaper than where I am.

Thanks Masterswimmer

:biggrin: What's her name?

"Euphoria" is her name. Our first boat was also Euphoria. I didn't get the name painted on yet.

 

[cali_reef]

Cali_Reef, I know that marina well in College point. That used to be the Worlds Fair marina. You can only get in there during high tide.
I also know Freeport well.

Nope, I was not down at Shea. It's (was) called College Point Yacht Club :lol:, at the end of 20th ave. I never saw any real "yachts" in there, the bottle beer in the club house was cheaper than a can of soda from the machine outside.

 

[Paul B]

I also know that Yacht club. My friend used to keep his sailboat there.
I think Tropicana had a plant on the same block or the next block.