Pix Up The East River, plus Oyster Bay

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Location:Brooklyn Bridge, United Nations, Oyster Bay

Yes, Hellgate is Hellish

Bel Sito slurped 80 gallons of diesel fuel at the Liberty Landing Marina before we freed the lines at 8:45 a.m. and headed out of town. She used that much fuel on our run from Atlantic City to New York Harbor, so approximately 1.5 miles to the gallon.

It was nice and quiet at that hour on a Sunday morning so we had the Hudson and East River to ourselves, relatively speaking.  I don’t think I’ve seen NY from the East River vantage point, other than in postcards, so yet another thrill of a lifetime to see those enormous buildings wedged in together as we chugged upstream. There we were in little Bel Sito inching our way past the United Nations and Empire State Building and those grand, old apartment complexes mixed in with  newer towering structures. 

All the while we are anxiously awaiting the place on our route where our good buddy Alix Pelletier Paul says is a favored place to 'dump bodies': Hellgate.

Bel Sito's Route today

Richard had studied the tide tables and conferred with local boaters about the best time to take this stretch of our trip because currents in Hellgate can be - well -  hellish.  Imagine the Raccoon River at springflood-stage, fellow Iowans. Brown, swirling, frothy stuff you do NOT want to find yourself in.

Ada and Jon (fellow boaters we met up with Friday night) said all that stuff you hear about Hellgate is over-hyped.  They regularly take their 1941 40’ wooden Chris Craft Cruiser, originally owned by owners of Kimberly Clark, through Hellgate and don’t even pay attention to the tides.

Skipper G winces when he hears them say that.

Well, I’m not sure Hellgate stories are over-hyped. I shot some video of it going through although it was taken after the worst of the churn had passed so you don’t get the FULL effect  (I was hanging on with both hands).

Hellgate - Click to watch video

When we hit the brunt of the current it picked up little BelSito and pushed her forward an extra 7 knots., so we were doing about 17 knots going through there, twice our normal cruising speed.  This is why we wanted it behind us. If we’d tried to plunge into the current her engines would be groaning to  pushagainst the force of the water head-on.

A loyal blog reader and forever sailing buddy, Jim Shaffer, writes:

“Looks like Knapps Narrows on steroids.” [This is a tight spot on the Chesapeake]

“RWG, what's the trick?  "Keep your eye on the middle of the bridge,

keep pushing the bow to that point while countering sideways stern movement

(yaw) so it doesn't come around on you? That's the trained and instinctive

thing to do, but does it work there?"  

“It does not look easy!  Give me another lesson.”

To which Captain Gilbert responds:

“I just put the hammer down, kept it between the rocks, and aimed the pointy end toward Long Island Sound.”

From then on it was easy-peasy to Oyster Bay, off of Long Island Sound. 

This is the kind of spot where folks with the means to build private residences larger than hotel complexes, come to summer.

Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay is also the spot where tragedy beyond imagining hit this past Fourth of July. We remember reading about the 1984 34’ Silverton overloaded with 10 children and 17 adults that tipped and sank drowning three children trapped in the main cabin. The details of the accident remain murky, but anyone who has been in a swarm of boats dispersing after a fireworks display knows there are too many boats, in too small a space, with too many people, many of whom have had too much to drink and all of whom are trying to move at the same time.  An inconsiderate captain in a big power boat can rock a smaller boat that ISN'T top heavy, let alone a 34' with 27 souls aboard.

 My heart goes out to that father/uncle who will have to live with this mistake the rest of his life.  We learn a lot of lessons about boating the hard way. This man sure did.

I sometimes chafe at RWG's life-jacket-at-night obsession but he works very hard at not having to learn too many more lessons the hard way.

Happiness is an outboard that starts!

Bel Sito, Oyster Bay, NY

And, We're Off. Going Through Hellgate This A.M

After a terrific day in NYC capped off by delightful repast set out by daughter Liz Gilbert in the magical garden courtyard of her West 57th St apartment.

Stalling

Since we're starting to get emails from folks about why they can't find us on AIS or if we made it through Hellgate, I best confess we are stalling a day.

:)

Had a great meet-up last night (love Facebook connections) with a fascinating couple we met due to our mutual affection for old wooden boats. They own a fascinating video production company whose work we have all seen at least parts of in every day television viewing. We really hit it off when we met four years ago and last night confirmed why we like them so.

See below for a photo of Jon Vesey and his wife, Ada Whitney.

Ellis Island, World Trade Center, construction of Freedom Tower are huge reminders of how lucky we are to live here and what a nation of immigrants we have been and are today. And it wasn't that long ago people banned together to keep the Irish Catholics out. Same song different verse today.

Isn't Bel Sito pretty with her courtesy lights on and the Manhattan skyline as a back drop?

Pix NY Harbor

Click for video


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Posted by Julie Gammack using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Liberty Landing Marina

As is true of much in life, the anticipation and fear of the unknown of this dreaded entry into New York Harbor was far worse than the actual trip itself.

That said, it WAS stressful.

Funny thing is, it wasn't the big ships that threw us off....it was the sailboat race taking place in the middle of the channel. Sailboats can tack right in front of you and they have the right-of-way so to be in the midst of a swarm of them was like being attacked by no-see-ums flying insects.


Click here for video entering NY Harbor  I'll post lots of pix in another update.

We have an electronic gadget called an AIS (automatic identification system) installed.  Ships over 300 tons are required to have one and more and more pleasure craft are finding them quite helpful. There are more than 40,000 AIS systems active throughout the world, and Bel Sito has one of them. This is what enables some of you to monitor our progress on Ship Finder or Marine Tracker, although the real deal at the helm is far more reliable.

The AIS sounds an alarm when a 'dangerous target' is within range. That alarm was going off every two seconds this morning until we simply turned off the sound.

Speaking of electronics, the system installed on Bel Sito we figure was state-of-the art in 2008 when the previous owner had it installed. It's a Raymarine rig, that we upgraded with the AIS card before leaving on this trip. Technology years are like dog years - for every one year, multiply by at least seven because it changes so fast. I truly find my new iPad, with the Navionics app installed and GPS enabled, to be much easier to use navigating than the cumbersome Raymarine because with the iPad, I can zoom in and out of the chart with a pinch of the finger. I would not go so far as to say you can do without an installed system, because of accuracy and for sending out an AIS signal, still for most purposes the latest version of iPad with 3G capability does the job.  I have the Navionics app installed on my iPad and iPhone and it actually navigated us through a harrowing, fast-moving storm in Florida when the electronics on our speedboat disconnected due to the ferocity of the waves.

This approach to New York, NY is beyond superlative. As many times as I've come into the city by car, train, plane and even cruise liner, absolutely nothing compares to being aboard our own 38' vessel and threading through the shipping lanes while dodging the Staten Island Ferry and Lady Liberty Viewing sight-seeing boats. And, oh the sight of Lady Liberty...how anyone can be opposed to what she stands for brings tears to my eyes...so does seeing in person and up close the re-building of the World Trade Center.

This ranks right up there as one of the most impactful trips of my life time.

All this, plus a friendly marina and welcoming dock hands, a rub-rail on the pier, clean restrooms, a spectacular view of the NY skyline and a WASHER DRYER within walking distance - I am in cruiser heaven.

A greeting by a knowledgable marina dock hand sets the tone of the entire experience. After all, we're basically using a sidewalk by the water when it comes right down to it, but the first impression will stay with us and forever be associated with the business. Liberty Landing Marina gets five stars from Bel Sito's crew.

We're here tonight (Friday) and tomorrow night. Stop by D Dock if you're in the 'hood. There's a Saber 36' for sale in the slip next to us.

Her name is Lucky Charm.

Bel Sito berthed at Liberty Landing Marina

Yikes

- Posted by Julie Gammack using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Beach 46th St,Brooklyn,United States

Bel Sito and Hell Gate

Today is a white-knuckle day as we travel 15 miles in some of the most heavily trafficked waters in the world with currents strong enough to push us right into big ships.

Scare, scare, scare.

Then tomorrow it gets even scarier as we get out of New York through a narrow tidal straight with currents flowing 5 knots into Long Island Sound. Skipper G is studying the tide table at the moment.

We hope to see Manhattan daughter Liz and two boat-buddies Jon Vesey and Ada Whitney. Anyone else in the area, come on down to Liberty Landing Marina for a 'Docktail'.

Here's what RWG just wrote to a friend:

There's a slack tide at Hell Gate tomorrow at 11 a.m. then the current will turn against us. So my strategy is an 0800 start from Liberty to catch a favorable current on the East River riding it through Hell Gate before it turns. We'll see. Hell Gate, by the way, is a corruption of the Dutch word "Hellegat" which roughly translated means (are you ready?) "Hell Gate".

This brings new meaning to 'current planning'.

Location:Atlantic Highlands, United States

NY Skyline Click to see a video of the NY skyline

This was a long, long day. We cleared the Abescon Inlet (Atlantic City) around 7:30 a.m and didn't get situated in a slip until around 8 p.m.

This is all new stuff for both of us, and I like that. Joining the sailing life relatively late I was always way behind my partner's 40-year learning curve and so I was constantly feeling like a dummy. RWG still knows a whole lot more about this stuff than I do but there's still a lot we are learning together.

Example, we interviewed trawler folks about whether they prefer heading into the wind or have it behind you? The advantage of having the wind behind is that it pushes you forward and saves fuel. The downside is the seas are a bit rougher. And now we know first-hand how true that is. I described the confused rocking motion when Bel Sito entered the Atlantic for the first time  but today, heading into the north wind, it was much smoother.

We also  need to get into a pattern of who does what...I'm gong to take over researching marinas now that I have a better sense of what to look for. Floaitng docks, pump out, water, trash, and laundry. Or better yet most days: a nice, free anchorage. 

Richard does all mechanical stuff...you should see the engine room! Talk about intimidating!

Today's numbers report: 72 mile run in 9 hours...averaging 8 kts

Safely in Sandy Hook after a very long day

More to come. It's 8:15 and we just got the boat in a slip. More to come, including video approach with NY skyline in the back ground. Learning a lot about this cruising thing.

Very tired. See below.