Pics can not possibly do this justice!
Yesterday I wrote about how we thought the Pollepel Island anchorage was peachy keen. I have to put a huge disclaimer on that post and say that I wrote it early in the morning before ever leaving the salon. Had I ventured out on deck, the post might have had a slightly different slant.
What do you think TowBoat US would have said if we called them and said that we were stuck in weeds, in 12′ of water? Over the course of the night our boat was covered, wrapped up, surrounded and just about encased in weeds. Thick, need-to-be-cut-with-a-large-serrated-knife type weeds (we were doing just that). We took a bunch of pics but I swear there is no way on earth they could do this justice. It took us at least 2 hours of hard work to free ourselves and in my mind, the situation bordered on dangerous. Our engines, which we left down for the evening, were covered and thus inoperable. Had we actually been able to move (we couldn’t) and our anchor had dragged (it couldn’t) we might have ended up on the shallow ruins around the island. All in all, NOT a fun experience. As our friends Susan and Jeff might say, that was not what we signed up for.
But, it does give us a fun story to tell. Doesn’t it?
Below the pics would be my dialogue…
First sight, looking aft: Oh, this is sort of gross.
Second sight: Oh my god. haha
Third sight: OH MY GOD!
Fourth sight (looking under boat from bow towards stern: REBECCA!!!! Come and see this!!!!
%#^&%^#^!
We’re going to be stuck here forever. The haunted castle has entrapped us!
That’s right Rebecca… do it just like that. Now I’m going to go have some breakfast. 🙂
We ultimately did escape, what I now think is haunted, Bannerman’s Island. We headed off to Haverstraw and anchored behind Croton’s Point. While we were chilling a bit (this means that I was enjoying a beer, playing on the computer while Rebecca was doing a TRX workout – psycho) we were visited by the Rockland County Sheriff’s Dept. A routine check of paperwork and safety stuff, we received their stamp of approval. They did tell us though that we need to be calling in to the Dept. of Homeland Security at each port to let them know our whereabouts. I had heard this before but because we weren’t told this officially when we checked into the states, we didn’t push it. Now that we have been officially informed though, we’ll have to play along.
Today we’re up early and off to New York City. We have both the West 79th St. Boat Basin and an anchorage near Liberty Island programmed in our plotter. The weather looks good for the trip so unless we’re surrounded by weeds again, it should be a good day.
Looks like Spinach….We can now call you Popeye (Mike) & Olive Oil (Rebecca)!
My forearms are almost that big. (NOT!) 🙂
Wow…..If those Pictures do not do the site justice….Wow, Wow and Wow…..What a freaky thing…..Was that in your cruising book…..A friend once told me (and I only have one) that if everything went perfect while cruising and when you meet up with other cruisers at Foxy’s on jost and stories start to flow, you will have none….Good cruising stories (or good life stories) are about mishaps….Now you have a great story to tell.
It was not in the cruising book. Perhaps it should be?
Did you guys use the seaweed for salad, or smoked any, or seaweed facials?
Seaweed salad…. MMMMmmmm
Interestingly some of the weeds did look like vegetables. They had roots like tiny tubers (I think that is the correct word).
I’m thinking The African Queen, Bogart and Hepburn.
Whoa!!? Is it like that there all the time? Glad you got out. Wow, New York! Have fun in the city.
Ok that is just insane. I guess you now know why Tom had misgivings. Too bad he didn’t elaborate!!!
As for having to tell HOMELAND SECURITY (I hate that title) where you are every step of the way…. talk about Big Brother watching. One more reason I don’t care to ever spend much time in the states and why I’d ‘pass Go, don’t stop to collect $2,000’ and get the heck outta there and on my way to the Caribbean.
Amen girl
Eeewww
Does Zero to Cruising have Canada on the back? If not I’d keep on cruising. I’m not sure Big Brother would remember who you are or they may assume you are lost. When we’ve been out on the coast of North Carolina (ICW) the coast guard has never approached us . . . . Then in N.C. if there is a woman in a bikini, they are sure to stop.
you’ll be fine, love all the pics and we’re loving your adventure.
Ick! You guys have a great attitude ab0ut things, I am glad it was a minor setback for you. Did you have to inspect the bottom of the boat to see if your motors were gunked up?
I love NYC *sigh* someday I’ll be there by boat as well.
Now you know why I have a rake aboard my boat! Very handy in case of weeds. I can rake them off and past the boat As for the so-called “Homeland Security” it’s just another excuse to meddle in one’s business and keep track of people. Sort of reminds me of when people in South Africa had to carry passes, and when, during slavery times, all black people, slave or free, had to carry proof that they had permission from “Massa” to be where they were and doing what they were doing. BAH HUMBUG!!!!!!!! It does nothing to increase safety, only to harrass citizen and non-citizen alike.
The thing about the weeds is that they were all interconnected. Much of it was like hair while other parts looked like roots. It was impossible to just move the weeds away from the boat as it was all connected and wrapped around the keels, rudders and props. There was a strong current flowing which was keeping pressure on the weeds and thus on the boat. We seriously had to use a boat hook to pull a 20lb chunk up, slice it off with a serrated knife and then throw or carry it to the stern to let the current carry it away.
From time to time we would try to motor forward or back, paying our rode or bringing it in as we did so. We had to be careful though as I was afraid we would dislodge our anchor and then have the current push us back onto the rocks!
We would try to rotate the boat one way and then the other to see if the current would help. All of this was seriously over 2 hours of very physical work. CRAZY! After we finally got free and out into deeper water, I put on my mask and dove on the boat. It then took another 15 minutes to clear the rudders and props as they were all seriously tangled with the hairlike weeds. What a work out!
As for the Homeland Security thing, now that we have been stopped we’ll have to play along. The confusing part is that we need to check in at each “port.” Right now we are in the port of NY. The next one, we were told, is after we pass Manasquan apparently. I don’t see a list of these ports though so it’s hard to know when we are supposed to call in.
Crazy weeds! We have anchored there many times in the past and I have never seen anything like it! Not even close. I don’t ever remember weeds actually. I do remember a bunch of logs when the big floods happened a couple of years ago. You seem to be having a bit of ‘luck’. How did you like the trains going by? I always thought the sound was cool in the middle of the night. My wife thought it sounded like ghosts shrieking through the wreckage after we smashed onto the rocks, at least that is what she screamed when she woke up from a nightmare around 3AM one night. Scared the heck out of me and I jumped out of the hatch naked to make sure it wasn’t true.
Did you get over to the island? It’s a pretty cool place.
79th street boat basin is a bit rocky. There is a lot to do in the surrounding neighborhood. It has a good nyc feel.
Behind the statue is very nice. You almost forget you are near the city.
Sadly we didn’t get to Bannerman’s island. There were no weeds in the water that we saw. These came from some mystery place while we were sleeping.