Thursday, November 15, 2018

November 9, 2018 Great Kills Harbor, Staten Island, NY

I woke up just before sunrise and froze me butt off going outside to take photos.  I went back to my warm bed and decided these would have to do.  Sometimes predawn are actually better than looking into the sun anyway. 


 
We left our anchorage about 9:30 and headed to Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island.  It was going to be windy and rainy for a couple days, so the harbor would be more protected. 
raising the anchor from our free anchorage in NYC
It was easier to cross the Staten Island Ferry route than I thought it would be.  They are going constantly back and forth.  We passed under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge about 10:45 officially leaving Upper New York Bay for Lower New York Bay.  The shipping traffic wasn’t too bad.  There were several barges at anchor waiting to go in or out of the city.


Our chart plotter with the AIS showing other ships in the bay.  And not all boats have an AIS for them to be identified on our chart.  The top center is the Hudson River, the left branch is the East River,  the bottom is the way to the Verrazzano Narrows bridge.  the white lines outlined in blue are highways.  Our boat is on the left of the bay-white with a brown stern and a yellow line coming off the bow indicating wind direction. The ships light up red if they are considered a dangerous target.  We can move the cursor over the ship and click on it to see that's ship's details-name, type and size, at anchor or motoring, and when we will collide with them if neither of us change course. 
Verrazzano Narrows Bridge with Staten Island Ferry
Fort Wadsworth at the bay entrance. Over 200 years old
We made it to Great Kills Harbor by 12:30 and anchored in the harbor.  I took a quick shower since the engine had heated out water nicely.  It was the first time I took a shower and had a hard time choosing a temperature.  What felt great on my head was burning my hands because they were so cold.  Strange sensation and one of the joys of being up north in November. 

We put on our “foulies”, foul weather gear, and headed to shore.  I have a cousin that lives in Glen Ridge, New Jersey about an hour away from here, Kimberly Zeller, Chris and Annabelle Deas.  They met us at a restaurant near shore.  We had lunch and they joined us for dessert. 

Kimberly is the daughter of my first cousin, Jim and Jane Zeller.  She has lived in the NYC area a long time.  We have met up with her 2 other times in the city.  Annabelle didn’t have school because of a teacher’s conference, so the 2 of them made the trip to see us.  It is difficult to make plans when you are on the water.  At anchor in NYC, there wouldn’t have been a dingy dock convenient for us to go to shore.   And the marinas are really expensive there, as to be expected.  So this worked out good.  They had a pistachio tartufo dessert here, the second time we’ve seen it now. 
Annabelle and Kimberly
Dave, Annabelle, Mary
Dave, Annabelle, Kimberly, Mary
 Pistachio Tartufa
By the time we departed, it was raining pretty good.  Kimberly and Annabelle walked us to the dock so they could see out boat out on the water.  Later Dave sent a text to them apologizing for not walking them to their car.  But I explained to Kimberly that Dave didn’t walk me to the door on our first date because it was raining.  So there you go.  I haven’t been able to teach him much over the years. 
Kimberly and Annabelle saying goodbye

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