Salt Shaker on the Loop: Day 70 - Day 77 Liberty Landing to Greenport, LI on the north fork

For the golfers amongst us. This is the party barge owned by the Bayonne Golf Club at the Liberty Landing fuel dock as we were departing.

Notice the "Colgate Clock" at the entrance to the canal that took us to the Liberty Landing Marina. This is the landmark that is used on all radio calls to guide unfamiliar boats to the canal entrance.

Replica Square riggers along the south shore of Manhattan. There were several such vessels, at various places. Our route took us from Liberty Landing on the Jersey side of the Hudson, south and around the lower end of Manhattan and then north on the East River. The East River meanders back and forth and leads into the Long Island Sound that took us up to the North Fork at the eastern end of Long Island.

The Manhattan Bridge with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. This is looking south on the East River.

View of the "Midtown Manhattan" skyline with a view of the Empire State building. It was started just as the great depression started. The jobs that were available to build this were prized as you can imagine. It was built under budget and ahead of schedule and was completed just as the depression was at its worst. For a number of years it was referred to as the "Empty State Building" due to a lack of tenants. It took years for the building to reach anything near full occupancy.

There was one building I was sure we had a picture of and of course we did not. This was the United Nations Building. It was notable because it is in an extreme state of disrepair. On one of the lower buildings in the complex, a window is skewed at a 45 degree angle because it had slipped out of its frame. This building had all the trappings of an abandoned skyscraper in a third world county. The building has been cited for code violations and out of service and leaking mechanicals, but to see it from the outside was a shock.

This is for Grandpa Joe. We think this is the Astoria power plant where he spent almost his entire working life. He is getting pension checks processed by people who I am sure were not yet born when Grandpa Joe retired.

This is how LaGuardia Airport looks from the East River. There is a sign along the way warning ships of a certain height and above to get clearance from Air Traffic Control before passing. I think that height was about 100 feet. Not too many ships need to get cleared by Air Traffic Control.

A light house we passed as we went up the Long Island Sound. The sound was very pleasant to cruise this day. The waves were only at the level of a small chop. Smooth sailing although it was a bit hazy.

This is the Orient Point Lighthouse that is at the tip of the North Fork of Long

Island. It comes into view as you round the end of the fork and pass between it and Plum Island thru Plum Cut. This cut can be very rough when the tidal current and wind are strong and opposing. Today it was quiet. The lighthouse can be seen from the front deck of Jay's (Pat's brother) and Joanie's beach house on Peconic Bay that separates the north fork from the south fork.

Jay and Joanie's beach house that they recently renovated after years of use in it's original makeup. I believe that is Pat's niece, Kathy, taking a picture of us taking a picture of them. We were hoping to get in close enough to anchor but the water shallowed up way out so we took the easy way and motored up to Greenport where we had a nice 8 day stay at Mitchell's Park Marina.

We took the 8 day opportunity to use 3 of them to fly back to Orlando/Palmetto to see Rachel, Jeff and the newest, Lia, and then to go see Grandpa Joe for Father's Day. It was at Islip airport security that Pat discovered her driver's license had expired. They did not have to, as it turns out, but they let her on the plane. Getting it renewed once we were back in Florida was a barrel of fun because our passports were on the boat in New York and with an expired license, you must start the paperwork process as if they did not know you. Ask Pat. This was real fun.

On return to Long Island, Pat's daughter Amanda and all the New York area nieces and families were on hand for a Father's day celebration for Pat's brother, Jay.

Just at the outside of Mitchel's Park Marina, was the Indiscretion, a boat that had passed us weeks earlier in one of the Florida or Georgia intracoastal waterways. Here they seemed to be working out a bit of engine difficulty. They were in no trouble but they were having a mechanical problem of some sort. It is gold in color and is a real macho looking boat.

4 were on hand to help us dock. Were they telling us something? Was the dockmaster calling for additional help?

We found this short sale while riding around Greenport. $279,000.00 takes it.

Jay and Joanie at the marina to have dinner with us on the boat.

Ellie, Pat, Ethan and Amanda aboard the Salt Shaker.

Pat and me.

I failed to get any pictures of the "big stick" sail boats in the marina. There were 7 of them who were staging at Mitchell's Park Marina for the Bermuda Cruisers Rally that began from Greenport on Sunday the 20th. Details can be found on http://www.iboattrack.com/. One of them the "Avocation" was captained by Tania Aebi, who is one of small number of ladies who have circumnavigated the world solo. She did this a couple of years back.

I got up at 6 to watch these boats leave for their trek to Bermuda. All crews were very "matter of fact" and had a group "good luck high five" just prior to cast off.