Staten Island and NYC Harbor, July 9 - 11

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.

Staten Island Ferry - it's a job to avoid them all while going through NY Harbor!

The Lady Liberty - always impressive

Ellis Island

lovely statue on the New Jersey shore

different aspect

Ellis Island

part of Manhattan Island

Bridge as we passed Manhattan

 

Four days, Four stops on the Atlantic Ocean

 

Four days, Four locations – Leaving the Chesapeake Bay and entering the Atlantic Ocean!

July 5, we traveled from Baltimore, north and east to the East River which leads to the Delaware Bay, which leads to the Atlantic Ocean. We have traveled these waters before, so felt no need to linger at any one place.

First up, Chesapeake City, Maryland. We stopped at a marina/restaurant along the river. It was so hot and humid! As we were finishing securing the boat, a nice younger couple came by and commented on our Looper flag. We love to talk about the Loop, so I just said that we were on our way to the air conditioned bar, and would they like to come have a drink with us?! They did, and we had a fun 2 hour conversation! They plan to buy a boat and do the Loop in 2 years, so they had lots of questions.

We decided to just have dinner on the boat and relax for the evening.

Next, Cape May, New Jersey (July 6)! Since it is quite a distance, we got an early start at 8:00 next morning. We had heavy fog until about 8:45, but, since we were in a channel and could see what we needed to see, we just carefully left. Twelve miles until we entered the Delaware Bay, and visibility was great. Uneventful trip down the bay to Cape May. It is a lovely tourist town, with lots of beautifully maintained Victorian homes. Once again, though, we were anxious to keep moving, so we just walked to a restaurant that was close by for a quick dinner. Then, back to our home on the water for relaxing and early bedtime.

Atlantic City, NJ was next. Not our favorite place – we don’t gamble and their restaurants were very expensive! We went to the bar by the marina, had a simple dinner and a drink – back to the boat for the night.

Next stop was inside Manasquan Inlet, at a single dock called “Captain Bill’s Dock”. Other marinas in the area were charging $5 per foot!! Cap. Bill only charged $2….but, you do get what you pay for! No electricity, no facilities, and a pretty rough dock. It was fixed, so with the tides being around 4 feet, there were a couple of times we had a bit of trouble getting on and off the boat! Plus, it is mostly a gas dock,and all the sports fishermen came in there to fill up their tanks...and, believe me, those guys don’t watch their wakes! Yikes. But, we were happy to pay “only” $2. We are spoiled in Michigan. All our state-run marinas charge less than $2 per foot and are well equipped, clean, well run. Oh well, continuing on.

We made a very upsetting discovery while at Cap. Bill’s place. Our wonderful, newly installed dinghy butler has been working great. So enjoyable to be able to so easily use our dinghy. The motor, to raise and lower the dinghy, was installed on the transom of the boat. Problem #1 – it is a real pain to get on and off the boat if we have to go under those cables. Problem #2, and this is a huge one, the weight of the boat and dinghy butler had started to damage the transom. We cannot let that continue. So, the only solution, for now, is to put the dinghy back up on top of the boat until we can get the issue resolved. Sooo frustrating! We’ve decided we can leave matters where they are for this season, and get the issue with the dinghy butler fixed over the winter (more boat bucks!!).

First thing the next morning before leaving, we had to move the dinghy back to its original perch. Without going into details, that involved quite a few steps and some time. But, we got it done and were ready to continue on.

These days of travel are interesting, in that we are simply going out from shore about 3 miles and paralleling the shore as we go north! We could see the beaches, some amusement parks, LOTS of shore vacation homes. Our next stop is on Staten Island, in the New York Harbor! After we get through the harbor, which is HUGE, we will be traveling on the Hudson River for a few days.

Baltimore, Fells Point, July 2 thru 5, 2023

 

July 5, 2023

We spent the past few days in Baltimore. As when we were here in 2018, we chose to stay at Henderson’s Wharf Marina in Fells Point. We thoroughly enjoy that historic area, with its pretty townhomes, and plenty of eateries...plus, there’s a Safeway within easy distance! While there, it was truly hot and humid, so we did some relaxing, some chores, some reading. Our first night, we walked about .8 miles to a diner for a simple dinner. Since it was raining when we were ready to leave, we used an Uber to get back to the boat.

Next day, I decided to get some groceries. I walked the mile or so to the Safeway, taking it slow since it was so hot. I stopped in a delightful bakery/coffee shop for a muffin and coffee. I took pictures all along the way, thoroughly enjoying myself! I bought almost $300 of groceries, since I wasn’t sure when I’d have this opportunity again.

I was so impressed with the cashier! Lovely young woman, named Dime (?!) I had my own bags, and she loaded them like she was playing a Tetris game. I had told her I was living on a boat and needed to be careful.

Waiting for my Uber ride outside the store, I talked to an older gentleman who was sitting in his electric wheelchair. He had a bag of groceries on his handlebars, one between his feet, and a carton of cut watermelon in his lap. I told him I’d thought about buying some of the melon, but I thought they were asking a lot for it. I told him that when I was a kid, my mother and I could KILL a watermelon! My dad didn’t like to eat the melon, since it was too much trouble to remove the seeds! He offered me a piece, which I enjoyed very much.

The Uber ride came, and I started to load my 6 or so bags into the car trunk. The security officer at the store came out and finished loading the bags for me! Very nice.

Had a nice conversation with the nice Uber driver, from Nigeria, on the way. Arriving at the marina, I stepped away to get a dock wagon. The Uber driver put all the groceries in the cart for me!

All this is probably more than I needed to say about a simple trip to the grocery store. But, I was just struck by the kindness of three strangers in Baltimore!

On the 4^th, we decided to take the dinghy for a ride into the Inner Harbor, right downtown Baltimore. I loved zipping across the water! We weren’t sure where we wanted to go, so we pulled up to ask a gentleman who was outside his boat at a marina. We wanted to know where we could tie up the dinghy for a while. He put us on to a young dock attendant, who said the marina charges $60 for boats to tie up and go into town! “But, he said, as far as I’m concerned, you can tie up here, no charge, for a couple of hours or so.. My manager isn’t here right now!” So, we took him up on it. The restaurant/bar that was closest looked pretty good, so we entered. We were thinking some oysters and a beer would taste really good. No problem, except their oysters started at $3.50 each!! Two days ago, we had 2 dozen oysters in Annapolis for $24! So, we settled for a beer, and left! We stopped at an ice cream store, had a scoop, and decided to return to our boat!

We had the best spot for the fireworks show at 9:30 p.m. Lots of people came into the marina to party and watch the show – at one point, we were concerned that one crowded dock might start taking on water! There were lots of boats that came in and anchored in the harbor. The show was pretty good, lasted only about 15 minutes. Watching all the boats leaving afterwards was like seeing L.A. at rush hour! We were happy to be tied up securely.

Next day, we said goodbye to Baltimore, and headed for Chesapeake City, which is on a canal that leads to the Delaware Bay….which leads to the Atlantic Ocean!

cool place on my walk in Fells Point

It was HOT, so I hatted up and stopped for a cooling drink..

little visitor

The best pastries and coffee!

the right foot wear is very important!!

another cute place

fun place

love the name!

ya gotta love it!

when we arrived, this was the one place that was still open for eating!

tree is making herself known!

pretty space for some residences

setting the July 4 tone!

interesting sculpture near the harbor

buildings near the harbor

named "Mr. Trash Wheel", takes in all the trash that floats around the harbor...

interesting looking buildings - wish we had time to explore!

views from the harbor

fireworks from our boat - we were very glad to be in place - traffic coming and going on the water 

- wow!

Annapolis, Part 2

 

July 2, 2023

Annapolis, continued!

Yesterday, we had a delightful day. First, got a couple of ‘Dan tasks’ done. Lunch, then a nap for Dan, book for me. We were contacted by Foster Schucker, a legendary Harbor Host for the Loopers. He and Susan were coming into Annapolis, so we arranged to meet. They have basically the same boat as ours, so that is always fun to compare notes as to repairs, leaks, etc. We met them at the dock when they first arrived, visited for an hour or so, made reservations for dinner, about 2 hours later.

Dan and I took advantage of the two hours….first up, a beer and some delicious oysters! Next a wander around the historic neighborhood around the harbor. I love the architecture. Dinner was enjoyable.

We parted for the night, jumped in our dinghy and started for the boat. As we entered the mooring field, we saw another Bayliner just like ours! Four folks were on their fly bridge deck enjoying the evening. We cruised by, said “We love your boat! We have the same one!” So, of course, we were invited aboard! Delightful folks, Cindy and Kevin, owners of the boat, and Dustin and Becky from Grand Haven, Michigan! Fun visit, comparing our boats, places we’ve been. Kevin and Cindy have made an interesting change to the boat. They eliminated the ladder from the cock pit into the fly bridge, fiber glassed over the opening, so that they have a much bigger space to entertain up top. We were given a tour of their boat – a few differences were noted, but otherwise, it all looked familiar!

Dustin and Becky are much younger, early 40’s. They have been traveling on their catamaran, and are looking for a place to spend some time, possibly winter over. They had called Olverson’s, and were amazed how inexpensive they are! We gave them the lowdown on Olverson’s, and they were happy to hear our positive reviews.

We left as some rain was moving in – what a fun time!

Next, we are traveling to Baltimore, to stay at a marina on Fells Point, a very old part of Boston.

mooring field in Annapolis

view from our boat in the mooring field

shows our journey up the coast

charming bar to stop for a while!

love the old streets and homes

pretty

pretty and secluded entrance

love the glimpse into a courtyard

lovely older home

lovely

another street view

view of the Naval Academy (I think!)