At our dock tonight!

Secured at S-Dock at 9:15pm.

I don’t want to bore you with another sunset pic. So here is a pic looking in the opposite direction during tonight’s sunset cruise.

Nice to jump in and shave my face.

One of our favorite spots, The Seagull at Bergen Point.

Char Broiled Oysters! Look at the size of that one!

Off Fox Island this time. Soaking in the beauty around us.

Now here is a bird that makes a lot of noise. It is a very distinctive call and there are dozens of them around Cedar Beach this year. It took me several hours today to figure out what species they are.

The Audubon Society Field Guide is concise and spot on. This is a pretty boring bird on the ground but it is very entertaining in flight… both by how it looks and how it sounds. It was the first thing we heard out here on the hook this morning.

We saw a pair of these odd looking birds this morning at Cedar Beach.

This very graceful bird was harvesting some of the millions of 1″ fish that have been all over the place. This was only the second time I’ve seen a Black Skimmer, and it’s the first time I’ve been able to capture one on film.

from Cedar Beach

9:00 pm and the sky is still giving us light to make our slip. Such a wonderful month. Supper was great tonight before pushing off. Shelly’s home made Crabcakes.

It started to blow around 4:00am, and Sailors Haven isn’t that protected especially with the wind out of the NE. So we came up with a plan for a graceful exit and pushed off around 6:00am.

It can get “exciting” leaving a slip when it is blowing hard. But if you work together, and take things one step at a time, strategically planning the untying and release of lines, it can be a well orchestrated excercise in seamanship.

Once underway, we decided to keep the speed to a relaxing 7.5mph for the 14 mile ride home.

Tough to know what the weather will be today as there are some conflicting signs. Some intermittent light rain.

We anchored at our familiar Cedar Beach, but this time on the east end because of the wind’s direction. The slips are about 75% occupied, a sure sign that summer is here finally!

No sign of the white caps here like we saw early this morning at Sailors Haven. I wonder if it calmed down there?

Shelly is in the galley preparing some breakfast sandwiches. Smells great!

The sun is trying hard to poke through.

The sourdough bread breakfast sandwich was the second most aesthetic thing I experienced this whole vacation!

1:00pm Report: First time jumping in this season! 69.5F water here at Cedar Beach. Shaved my face. Very refreshing.

What a great day it turned out to be!A little buggy though. The No-see-ums were getting to Shell.That didn’t stop her from working her magic in the galley!Steve Connor is the new General Manager here at Sailors Haven. He is amazing! His staff thinks the world of him, and he thinks the world of them. I have learned a lot from him and them. Their customer service attitude is outstanding. Sailors Haven is the place to go in 2018, and hopefully for many years to come.

Sailors Haven is one of the favorite places for boaters to go for the day or overnight on the Fire Island National Seashore. It features a wheelchair accessible boardwalk for about a mile through the woods and along the shore of Great South Bay.

We explored Shell Bank Creek this morning. Fueled up at Tamaqua Marine, pumped out, then headed out of Rockaway Inlet. There are tons of boats in Shell Bank Creek. All this natural beauty less than 10 miles away from Battery Park, lower Manhattan.

By 1:00pm we made it into East Rockaway Inlet.

A famous place… at least we can now say we’ve been there. …Had the best hot dog ever! <wink>

The NY Aquarium was more like a ZOO with lots of juvenile humans trucked in by a dozen or more yellow school busses.

Back at Emmon Ave across the street from Sheepshead Yacht Club, the newest addition to the neighborhood deserves a try, don’t you think?

Maybe not this trip:

Shelly just got started on her latest inspiration. “Heaven” has some competition right here aboard the Shellerina.

Gotta love it: “Heaven can wait” until next time Shellerina visits Sheepshead Bay.

OK, so I just had a bowl of this chili, and the only thing wrong with this meal is that there isn’t a dozen other people on board to enjoy it with us!

Soooo tasty. Thank you Honey! I wish a picture or my words could tell everyone how good this creation tastes. Meet us at the dock for left overs when we get back!!!

Again: neither words nor a pic can describe how good tonight’s meal was.

Enjoying our coffee and tea at the mooring – beautiful day.

The Admiral says we are going to stay here for the day, and explore this Coney Island area. The NY Aquarium and other attractions are all very close to us, and we’ve never seen any of them. The orders are to “Relax!”

The captain obeys! We do like this place. Exploring a new place trumps re-visiting a previously navigated port. The Aquarium opens in ten minutes; time to call Tommy for a ride ashore on the SBYC launch. Then Uber to https://nyaquarium.com

6:30am push off from Lindenhurst

7:15am Jones Beach

7:30am Jones Inlet

9:00am Rockaway Point

9:30am Sheepshead Bay

It was starting to get choppy as we came upon Rockaway Point. So we pulled into Rockaway Inlet and this nice harbor called Sheepshead Bay to the north. Marc tells us that this Emmons Ave area is one of Brooklyn’s thriving restaurant neighborhoods; so we hope to get ashore and explore.

12:15pm secured for the night, on a mooring with launch service by “Tommy” and “Jessica” till 9:00pm.

Sheepshead Bay Yacht Club CH68

We had several hours of great conversation with Tommy and Charlie back at Sheepshead Bay Yacht Club. We are definitely coming back here this season.

We will make another attempt for heading north for http://www.HaverstrawMarina.com tomorrow morning. Early morning starts are the trick for cruising by motorboat. That’s when the sea is most calm.

The boat is packed for this week’s trip up the Hudson River. Most of the gear is packed in the aft cabin so there is room for us up forward.

The Seagull at Bergen Point.

Ray, Shelly, Russell Sirois visiting Lon Gisland from Edgecomb Maine. His son, Adam 15, is also visiting. He and our son Nick went into the city today.

Russ took this pic of Shelly and Ray today walking back to the boat after lunch. The mussels were a hit at the new Salt Shack restaurant at Cedar Beach.