Beez Neez now Chy Whella - To New York, NY

To New York, NY

Beez Neez now Chy Whella

Big Bear and Pepe Millard

Fri 24 Jun 2011 21:34

To New York, New York

As the sun set on the 23rd of June, there was a great deal of excitement on Beez Neez, she would be entering New York tomorrow

Nimue came on the radio and had a chat, smashing, then we settled down for the nightshift. I had thick fog all night with the odd gusts of twenty six knots; the radar was a huge comfort. At one point the screen had a solid circle of blanket fog a half a mile off. I heard on the radio "I'll pass you red to red". "Does that mean you will go past my starboard side???". "I can only see your masthead light showing white, I cannot see any navigation lights". "Oops, sorry, forgot to put them on". "Which way are you going - North or South???". "North.............I think". This was all going on about three miles offshore. I am always the one who wants to be OUT at sea and was VERY happy I was indeed fifteen miles off; away from Muppets, lobster / crab pots and anchored chums. Me coming off at six am and Bear taking over. I was damp with the foggy air but full of beans as I tucked myself down for a few hours kip.

Bear passed Atlantic City at around half nine; visibility up to about four miles. I got up at ten and found myself paddling through hundreds if not thousands of 'houseflies'. Apparently they all live on the beach and had come out to see if Beez had anything to offer them. I went mad with the Baygon and soon the dead and dying were creating a new pattern on the floor. I put up a sticky fly paper and within minutes the tee-tale buzzing as tiny feet were getting stuck.

Our first look at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, came with getting out of a chums way and a few fishermen

Beez Neez going under at eleven o'clock. Big cheers as we entered New York proper

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge that connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City at The Narrows, the reach connecting the relatively protected upper bay with the larger lower bay. The bridge is named for both the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first known European navigator to enter New York Harbour and the Hudson River, and for the body of water it spans: The Narrows. It has a centre span of 4,260 feet and was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its completion in 1964, it was surpassed in 1981 by the Humber Bridge (UK). It now has the eighth longest center span in the world, and is still the longest bridge span in the Americas. Its massive towers can be seen throughout a good part of the New York metropolitan area, including from spots in all five boroughs of New York City. The bridge provides a critical link in the local and regional highway system. Since 1976, it has been the starting point of the New York City Marathon. The bridge marks the gateway to New York Harbour; all cruise ships and most container ships arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey must pass underneath the bridge and thus must be built to accommodate the clearance under the bridge. This is most notable in the case of the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary 2; she was designed with a flatter funnel to pass under the bridge, and has 13 feet of clearance under the bridge during high tide. In 2009, all 262 of the mercury vapor fixtures in the bridge's necklace lighting were replaced with energy efficient light-emitting diodes. The bridge is affected by weather more than any other bridge in the city because of its size and isolated location close to the open ocean. It is occasionally closed (either partially or entirely) during strong wind and snow storms.

Each of the two towers contains 1,000,000 bolts and 3,000,000 rivets.
The diameter of each of the four suspension cables is 36 inches. Each cable is composed of 26,108 wires amounting to a total of 143,000 miles in length
Because of the height of the towers 693 feet and their distance apart 4,260 feet, the curvature of the Earth's surface had to be taken into account when designing the bridge - the towers are 1+⁵⁄₈ inches farther apart at their tops than at their bases.
Because of thermal expansion and contraction of the steel cables, the bridge roadway is 12 feet lower in summer than its winter elevation.

I cannot stop clapping, the first thing to wave to me was the Staten Island Ferry, soon followed by loads of tugs and commercial traffic

The next thing to focus on is the Statue of Liberty (map middle near the top) and seen from Beez in the fog

We pass many huge vessels at anchor, this one complete with crew on morning exercise, he stopped and waved, then carried on jogging round the deck !!!!!

At midday it happens, we fulfill the dream to have a cup of tea - UNDER the Statue of Liberty - no way any fog will dim this feeling

A barge advertising Macy's passes as does a Gay Rights flag (march this coming Sunday). I wave my camera strap in support - bought as the colours of Cuzco, Peru, but as it happens the very same colours as on this boats flag. Only found that out when someone told me in the Kennedy Space Centre "Are you gay AND married to a man". Took a little while to explain that one to me. Reaffirmed in Disneyworld.

The Manhattan skyline on or starboard - more cheesy grins all round

We passed many interesting buildings and sights going up the Hudson River; including USS Intrepid and right next to her was one of the Concorde airplanes, made for a good panorama shot

At last, tired and emotional, we arrive at the famous 79th Street Boat Basin Marina. Welcomed by the dock master with big hugs all round, settled at 14:00