DAY 39 -- WARETOWN, NJ TO BROOKLYN, NY

                                DAY 39 -- WARETOWN, NJ TO BROOKLYN, NY 

              This was the last day of phase one of our trip -- Naples to New York -- the day we had to say goodbye to Craunological II until August -- when we will start again and continue on to Maine. We are pleased to have accomplished all this boating safely and happily but are kind of sad to be leaving our little aquatic home. I figure we ran 665 miles since we left Norfolk, giving us a total of about 1,850 miles since we left Naples (including a few extra miles for going out of the way for anchorages while cruising the Intracoastal). 

            We got underway at 0815 and pulled into the Mill Basin marina four and a half hours later. The Atlantic was much calmer today, with a light wind out of the west and gentle swells from the south. We ran close along the shore all the way to the start of Sandy Hook, at which point we headed across the approach to NY harbor to Rockaway Inlet, then a hard left after going under the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge into East Mill Basin. It was a beautiful sunny day on the water, with lots of pleasure boats out fishing from Barnegat Inlet all the way to Brooklyn. I figure we ran about 69 miles today. 

            Noteworthy sights along the way included the Asbury, NJ skyline (included here for Springsteen fans)...

this training ship for the Dominican Navy (the Juan Bautista Cambiaso) anchored out in the approach to NY harbor...

 

and, of course, the NYC skyline (about 12-15 miles away in this picture, looking across the Belt Parkway as we enter Rockaway Inlet).

            The guys at the Mill Basin Marina seem very capable (their grandfather started the marina back in the 30s), and I'm comfortable that they will take good care of Craunological II while we are gone. They will haul her out and store her on blocks, clean the bottom, wash and wax the hull, and perform the scheduled 250-hour service for the engine. After getting everything organized, we took an Uber to Zach and June's apartment, then got their car and took it back to the marina to get all our stuff off the boat.

            We will stop this blog until we start cruising again in August. We appreciate the comments that we have received -- and also the discipline that this blog has imposed on us to record our impressions in a reasonably timely fashion. But blogging doesn't necessarily require reflection (or at least not for me), which was required when Zach asked us at dinner the best three things that happened during our trip. Janet said they were snuggling up on the flybridge while watching sunsets when anchored out, the trip through Norfolk harbor, and our stay in St. Michaels, MD. My list was our night anchored out in the Wahoo River in GA, our arrival at Norfolk, and our lunch at the Pink House in Savannah. But on reflection, in addition to these particular events, we would also add the following process results from our many days on the water -- developing our daily rhythms and routines for living on the boat, improving how we manage the boat, and learning how much we both enjoy the cruising life. And also, the always special parts of every day that we were on the water -- first getting underway for a new day, pulling into a new harbor at the end of that day, and ending that day in our cozy little cabin.