A Trip Around Staten Island and on to New Jersey

       We left Liberty Anchorage just after breakfast and made our way down to the Kill Van Kull river between Bayonne New Jersey and Staten Island.  We weren’t planning to go farther than Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island, so we thought we’d take our time and circumnavigate the island before anchoring for the night.  

Some of the maritime workings behind Staten Island

This is where all the maritime industry is located.  Tugs boats, dry docks, barges, container ports are all in a constant state of busy-ness back here, out of sight from New York Harbor.  Here too are remnants of old steel boats rusting away, ancient dry docks made of wood rotting quietly, and pilings poking up here and there - all testament that this area has always been where the action is.  

Eventually we came around the island to the Atlantic side and made our way into Great Kills Harbor.  Seven years ago when we were here, the effects of Super Storm Sandy were still evident - boats sunk on their moorings, wrecked on the shoreline.  We were dismayed to see that some of them are still here, still marked by their moorings.  

We went ashore for the first time in over a week, and took a long walk to an Italian grocery store for fresh supplies.  Fresh was the key word here - they even had a butcher shop and a fish market.  I stocked up on veggies and fruits, we loaded our handcart and headed back to the boat for the night.

This morning (Monday, Oct 10) we headed down the coast to New Jersey.  We tossed around the question - should we go inside or not?  New Jersey has its own ICW, but it’s known to be quite shallow.  We’ve done part of it before, but our motor-sailer drew a foot less than this Willie Dawes.  After a lot of consideration and some consultation, we decided to go for it.  We arrived at the Manasquan inlet about 1:30 pm and pushed against the current, along with several other boats, around the corner and into the Point Pleasant canal.  On the passage down the coast we’d become radio friends with another trawler - Off Watch - who also decided to come into the NJICW.  

Manasquan Inlet.  Crazy, right?

It is shallow.  It’s important to follow the channel buoys when they deviate from your chart.  We like it because it’s much calmer, much more interesting than being outside, and it’s a lot easier to find an anchorage when you want to stop.  We entered Barnegat Bay around 4:00 pm and chose to go up the Tom’s River to Cocktail Cove for the night.  We’re the only boat here.  This cove is home to a fleet of A-cats, wooden cat boats, and Dan was excited to see them, but they are all hauled for the season and all that is here besides us are moorings.  Another beautiful sunset, another quiet anchorage. 

Cocktail Cove