Post #9: So, what are we waiting for??

Monday, September 21, 2020

I spent the morning watching seagulls, cormorants and osprey fishing in the small quiet bay on Staten Island where we are holed up for the next two days, waiting for the winds and waves of hurricane Teddy to pass by, far out to sea.  Although it is calm where we are, it’s a different world Out There so we are staying put.

We arrived here about a 2-hour sail past Lady Liberty. We find these places using charts, cruising guides and an app called AquaMaps that integrates Active Captain which in turn displays boaters’ reviews of harbors and anchorages.  Here in Great Kills, we’re surrounded by land in almost all directions. There’s a beach nearby, a few restaurants, yacht clubs (no guests due to Covid restrictions), a fuel dock, and there’s good holding for setting an anchor. (I wonder if the phrase “all set” (as in, ‘I’m finished’) derives from that marine term?)  

From the anchorage, it would be a bit of a hike to town but our friend, Win, drove over from Manhattan and we had brunch outside with him at Mike’s Place—we had to have bagels and a bit of cheesecake before leaving NY, right?

So, back to the wildlife.  The ospreys won.  They are mighty raptors with wingspans that can reach more than 70” inches. They can often be found perched atop the masts of sailboats, and are known to catch fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives.  According to Cornell’s Ornithology Lab, “The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you cast your line in the water.” 

The problem with having them perch atop your mast is that they also like to bring their catch back to the boat and enjoy their meal.  We splashed our (new-to-us) sailboat for the first time in May 2017. Still in the honeymoon phase, two days later we took the launch out to gush over our purchase.  OMG, it looked like a gangland slaying had occurred! The ospreys in Red Brook Harbor in Bourne, MA, had not only brought their catch back to our boat, they had opened a restaurant and invited the whole neighborhood.  Blood and guts everywhere.  I’ll spare you the photo, but needless to say we quickly set up deterrents to keep them off our mast, spreaders and radar pole!