Day 380 - 381 July 5 - 6, 2023

 Day 380 Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Farley State Marina, Atlantic City to Great Kills Yacht Club, Staten Island, NY

We left the marina at 6am.  We had traveled to the fuel dock yesterday so we were all set to travel on the outside.    It was going to be an 11 hour day so we were hoping the Atlantic would be our friend.  It was very rolly as we passed through Absecon Inlet.  It was strange to see the lighthouse surrounded by big buildings and casinos.  Our ETA was 5:15.

 Sunrise 

Once through the inlet it was more comfortable with waves 2-3 foot but about 8 seconds apart.  Call Me Curly left the marina later (they can go faster) and caught up with us at 7:35.  We traveled with them, AnnaDee and Hey Schlu!.

It was VERY HOT, VERY HAZY, and VERY HUMID.  It was 95 degrees yesterday and again today. You could really see and feel the effects of the Canadian wildfires.  One year ago today we were beat up by Lake Ontario crossing from Oswego to Clayton, NY.

  

 

We saw lots of dolphins as we passed Long Beach Island; we were only a few miles from shore the entire way.   The best, we saw a WHALE!! It was absolutely amazing.  So much time in the Gulf and our crossings to and from the Bahamas and this was a first.  We were both screaming --- "did you see it?".  Just magic.

 Gong buoy 

Hurricane damage

Great Kills is in Sandy Hook Bay.  You can definitely see the hook created by the land.  We had to be wary of the freighters and wove our way through the narrow and shallow channel.  I talked to the harbor host, John, who helped us.  Call Me Curly arrived an hour before us and helped us tie at the dock. 

 

 

Up to the Yacht Club, we enjoyed 2 Tangs for $7.50 and then headed for delicious Italian at Fiore de Mare.  It was recommended by our friends on Awelon Y Mor.

Mushroom ravioli

 Bolognaise

We suffered a bit in the eat -- our air conditioner could not handle the low voltage power at the marina and kept kicking off.  We only read 87 volts; we should get 120.  It was a very sticky night.

Tomorrow on to an anchorage behind the Statue of Liberty!!

Day 381 Thursday, July 6, 2023

We left the marina late since we only had a 2 hour trip today,  We waited for Call Me Curly to fuel up and then set off.  We dealt with freighters in the shipping channel and dodged all the floating debris.  I'm not sure if high tide had anything to do with it but it was big stuff floating by.  

 

AnnaDee spent the night in Manasquan and reported that their was heavy fog approaching Sandy Hook.  They had their radar on.   We were hearing fog horn bells and gong buoys. Some of the haze could have been attributed to a cargo ship fire in Port Newark.  The fire burned for days, and 2 firefighters lost their lives.

We passed under the Verrazano Bridge, the official mark for the New York Harbor.   Lots of ferry and commercial traffic didn't stop us from making our way to the Statue of Liberty.

  

We took turns with Call Me Curly and took each others pictures in front of the statue.  We  have done this in the past with our other boats but it never gets old! 

 

 

Call Me Curly

 Eric's Inheritance 

We found an anchorage behind the statue, with only 2 other boats there.  There are underground cables that you need to worry about but we didn't have a problem.   AnnaDee would cross their wake at the Statue; we planned to celebrate with them on Call Me Curly.  

 Eric's Inheritance at anchor

Two Harbors was one on the other boats in the anchorage.  They are Loopers.  We invited them to the wake crossing party -- they are actually the new owners of Phil-N-Wild!  Susan and Danny sold their boat when they crossed their wake in Stuart, Florida.  They told us to keep an eye out for Two Harbors.  Deb and Tom were very excited to join us for the celebration.  It was quite rocky in the anchorage; Grant played Uber driver and dinghied everyone to their boat.  

 AnnaDee --their boat is just like ours!

It was so much fun to celebrate with M.E and Tommy for their wake crossing.  Soon it will be our turn.  Hard to believe.  AnnaDee will head home tomorrow.

Front row: Grant, Tommy, Sharon, Peg, Jerry and Deb

Back Row: Tom (Two Harbors) and M.E.

Grant ferrying everyone back to their boats.

We have chosen to travel on to Croton-On-Hudson.  From there we can catch the train to NYC, travel to West Point and visit the Culinary Institute of America.

View of Lady Liberty from our anchorage that night.

Spoiler Alert:  We will cross our wake TODAY, July 20, 2023!

Subsequent posts will fill in the last 2 weeks of our adventure.  Stay tuned.....