Dan and Gena's life - on a boat, in a camper, and wherever else life takes us !!: Staten Island and NYC Harbor, July 9

Great Kills Yacht Club, on Staten Island, NY, and New York Harbor

July 9 thru 11.

A gentleman named John Calicibettia is the harbor host for our cruising group in Staten Island. He will find you a slip in his private yacht club. When we were there 5 years ago, there was no room there. We stayed in the marina next door. They still welcomed us in their club room – the drinks were amazingly cheap! And, the folks welcomed us like family. There was no difference this year, except we did get a spot on the Yacht club docks. In fact, John, another member, Jim, and the Commodore of the club, Chris, all met us at the dock! The bar opened at 3! We took some time to cool off and rest, then went to the bar for a drink or two. Dena, the bartender, is a wonder. I had a couple of cocktails, and Dan had a generous pour of his favorite Jamiesons. Turns out that Commodore Chris and Dena are a couple. They invited us to go out to dinner with them. We had a wonderful dinner and a great time talking and laughing. Chris even took us to his house before Dena got off work. We got to see his yard, which included a chicken house, a pool, several barbeque grills, seating, a swing. I told him he had a little piece of heaven!

We had decided to stay two nights there, so that we could get some things done the next day. I found a laundry 3 doors down from a hair salon! So, we got the laundry done and both of us had a much needed haircut – both tasks finished at the same time! Uber was our friend that day! We got another Uber ride to a grocery store that was next door to a Chase Bank! We needed both. Yippee. Our last Uber for the day took us back to the boat. We spent some time again at the bar, then had dinner and a quiet night on the boat. Next day, we planned a very long cruise, which, of course, started by going through New York harbor! Wow! How exciting! We had decided not to spend time in the big city this time.

As we went through the first bridge, which put us in line with going by the Statue of Liberty. Last time we went by,there was no other boat that we could get to take our picture. This time, though, there was a nice couple on a sailboat heading that way for the same purpose! It was pretty hair-raising, because there was tour boat after tour boat, coming at the ‘Lady’ for the same reason and coming from several different directions, coming fast, and all were much bigger than us! We did manage to avoid a collision, and did manage to get some good shots of the sailboat. We exchanged pictures through smartphone messages and went on our merry way! We also got some good pictures of Ellis Island.

Manhattan is overwhelmingly huge! It took a couple of hours to get past the island! I took lots of pictures! Finally, we were free of the island and on our way up the Hudson River.