Crew Log for May 17th – 19th, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Staten Island to Port Washington
• Trip Distance of 42.1 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 4,740.9 NM
We quickly retuned to life at the Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island. The place had a familiar feel to it, from the guys sitting around an open air gazebo sharing a bottle of Irish whiskey and retelling stories of their day's fishing adventures to the friendly greetings from our dock mates and of course, getting back to our “home”, Elizabeth M, who was sitting just as we left her.
We had a date with Rob and BettyAnn, who were doing day trips in and out of the city. They were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their 2 sons from Nova Scotia, who were coming to help deliver sv Beyond, back to Nova Scotia. Their plan was to do a nonstop multiday passage from Great Kills, up through the Long Island Sound, past Block Island and head straight for Halifax. It was an ambitious plan, that would be extra challenging given the high winds in the forecast. As eager as we were to get back to Nova Scotia, our tiny floating home, or maybe more so her crew, weren’t up for the challenge.
We gathered at the bar at the Great Kills Yacht Club, where we met Stacey. Think of any stereotype that would describe a middle aged, working class New York Italian woman from Staten Island, and you’ll have an appreciation of Stacey. She was confident, friendly and seemed to have a compulsion of filling your glass before it was emptied, which impaired our ability to coherently develop a passage plan through New York.
Aside from her bartending duties, Stacey was also a hairdresser. When I asked for her professional opinion of my new “Mike’s” haircut, she asked to see a picture before I cut it. “My gawd, you looked like a rock star or something…oh I love it”. My confidence with my new “do” was once again shaken, although Judy quickly added, “but he looks so much better”. Confidence restored.
We had allowed for an extra day at Great Kills to prep the boat, reprovision and prepare ourselves mentally for an aggressive plan to get up Long Island Sound. Rob and BettyAnn received news that the boys were delayed in Toronto and won’t be arriving until early the following day, so we agreed to get together again, this time without Stacey, to talk about our plans.
The weather for the day of our departure was sunny, cool, breezy north winds. Our plan was to be at the Battery, adjacent to lower Manhattan, 2 hours after low tide to take advantage of the currents to get up the East River. We didn’t want to arrive much later than that, since we’d have in excess of 3.5 knots pushing us through Hells Gate, which was more than we were comfortable with.
We travel a lot slower than Rob and BettyAnn, so we decided to leave several hours ahead of them. They were waiting for their crew to arrive anyway, so we said our goodbyes and agreed to reconvene once we reached Armdale Yacht Club in Halifax.
We carefully made our way out of the Yacht Club and towards the entrance to Great Kills Harbor, enjoying a great push, from the rapidly receding tide. The entrance is narrow and well marked, although there was a left over range buoy that had a green navigation marker on it. Confused and wanting to avoid getting too close to the sand bank on the port side, I favored the green markers. The boat came to an abrupt stop. Nothing menacing, but a solid smack into a sandy shoal. We had hit a few shoals before and had always managed to wiggle the boat off, but we were either firmly stuck, or the receding tide was pushing us further onto the shoal.
We immediately called TowBoat US, the CAA for boaters and requested assistance. They agreed to dispatch a boat from Atlantic Highlands, but it would take an hour for them to reach us. Given the rate the tide was falling, neither of us was optimistic we’d be getting off the shoal anytime soon.
A rescue boat from the NYFD came out to check on us. They explained that they really weren’t equipped to pull us off, explaining their main priority was to make sure we were safe. Shortly afterwards, we also heard a voice calling from the shore. Two NYPD officers yelled over and asked if we were OK.
When TowBoat US finally showed up, Elizabeth M was already starting to list. The TowBoat captain explained that he was uncomfortable with any attempt to try and pull the boat off, fearing he would damage the boat. We’d simply have to wait for the tide to return. My best estimate, given tide levels when we hit, was in 6 hours. We agreed to wait, and asked him to take our anchor out into the channel and drop it, so when it did come back up, we wouldn’t get pushed any further on to the shoal.
We waited.
Any movement around the boat was challenging so we both remained on the high side. Given the lean we were on, we were laying more on the walls of the cabin than the deck. As we laid in the sun, we listened to CBC radio and dreamt about life back in Nova Scotia. A few curious boaters passed by and a few asked if we were OK. The NYFD called to check on us, and agreed to check back later that day.
We waited.
Finally, we felt that familiar motion of a boat floating on the water and we slowly started to pull the anchor in, kedging ourselves off the shoal. Fortunately for us, the timing was perfect given the winds picked up, just as we freed ourselves. We headed back to the Great Kills Yacht Club.
I had called John C., the dockmaster at Great Kills earlier in the day and told him we might need to stay another day. His immediate reaction was unforgettable. First, he apologized for not warning us of the confusion the range marker with the green mark creates for people unfamiliar with the channel. He said we were by all means welcomed back to stay as long as we wanted, for no extra charge.
When we reached the dock, he immediately gave Judy a giant hug and a peck on both cheeks. As he grabbed my hand, he said, “…it’s just like Sampson, you cut off your hair and now you’re a mere mortal…”. I’m not sure if was John’s embrace or the countless other acts of kindness extended towards us, but Judy at one point said, “…people are so nice here, we should just move here…”. It wasn’t a serious thought, but a heart felt one.
We received another call from NYFD who noticed we had gotten off. Their advice, “go to dinner, enjoy a nice meal together and have a drink”. Which we did. John insisted we go to the bar and have a couple of drinks on him. Which we did not do, but were grateful for his generosity.
We had dinner at “Goodfellows” and Italian restaurant a short walk from the marina. Andrew, the co-owner dropped by to say hello and welcome us. He had overheard a comment we made to the receptionist that we had had a bad day. Andrew explained that he started working the restaurant as a bus boy and worked his way up to co-owner. He wanted to improve our day and offered us free dessert and coffee, which was very kind.
The generosity extended well beyond our temporary community of Great Kills. A former work colleague, watching our progress from his home in Fredericton New Brunswick, texted us throughout the day with weather updates, tide predictions and most importantly, encouragement. He continued to be an invaluable resource in the days to come. Aside from his flawless prediction of when we would get off the shoal, he deserves the award for the best line of the day. “A bad day grounding, tops a good day of raking”.
Act 2
The weather the following morning was sunny and cool. Several of our new friends at the Great Kills Yacht Club dropped by to see us off. The other John, provided us with some invaluable navigation advice which likely helped us avoid another disaster. Judy got another hug from John C. I was seeing trend.
I thought we timed things pretty well, but the winds picked up and we made better progress than I anticipated, which meant we’d be at the Battery ahead of schedule. Making our way past Governor’s Island and into the East River, we were facing a fairly strong current. Given the receding current was meeting the incoming tide, the waves tended to stack up.
The “trick” to the East River is all in the timing. While you want the benefit of the current in your favor, the narrowest section is Hells Gate. If you get too greedy riding the current, by the time you hit the Gate, the strength of the current is unpredictable, particularly for a small horsepower boat like Elizabeth M. We always take the cautious approach which meant we’d battle a bit of current and enjoy a benign trip through the most challenging sections.
As you might expect, the waters around New York City are no different than the streets of New York City. They are busy with boats, ferries and a constant stream of helicopters over head. We also heard on the radio reports of people in the channels and one report of bodies floating in the water.
Everything went well, albeit, slowly, and we arrived at Port Washington by 1830 hours and exhaled. It took 2 attempts, but we had reached Long Island Sound. Our stop here would be brief, since our plan was to move as quickly as possible up the Sound.
As we would find out, things can be just as challenging on the Sound.
But more about that, next time.
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