Mothers Day Down The Bay

Have you seen that aluminum 26 foot vessel cruising around the bay?  That is the Army Engineers seeing what has changed in the bay from hurricane Sandy.  They are checking the channels and updating all the maps. It will be important to purchase on of these updated maps when they are released.  Another benefit is the debris they find and document the location.

They are still finding boats and other large articles sitting on the bottom.  If you find or see anything on your trips out, be sure to log the GPS coordinates and report them.

This may be a banner year for fishing.  While out clamming for stripers large blackfish are being caught.  Most are females and they must be let go anyway, but the size of these fish are unbelievable.  The stripers are here with hogs being caught on a regular basis.  Fluke have already started their migration into the bay. Bunker are swarming into the bay and believe it or not this may be a bigger bunker year than last year.

Down in Keyport John Olsen and the guys have been busy setting up the mooring field.  The harbor is full of the white balls with only a few vessels moored.  Within the next couple weeks the mooring field should be getting pretty full, including our vessel Lil Provo.  By Memorial Day the field will be packed with boats.  Keyport still needs to get to work on the fishing pier and bulkhead along the waterfront parking lot.

Most of the Bay Area marina and boat yards have bounced back.  I did hear Viking Marina was sold and that may be why it seems the building is still in need of repair.  Even Atlantic Highlands Marina is looking pretty normal considering what it looked like in October of 2012.   Things did not happen for a while, but all of a sudden things took a change and work began. We do bounce back pretty good here in New Jersey.

I have been monitoring by friend Byron's blog down in Turks and Caicos.  If you want to know what true island life is all about, you have to visit his blog.  They recently purchased a nice catamaran and have had it on the dry getting it reworked.  They bought it in Florida and sailed it back through the Bahamas and south to Turks and Caicos.  That takes big ones when you don't know the boat or what is on the verge of disrepair.  They did make it home with some problems along the way, but Byron is a pretty resourceful guy as you see if you visit his blog - http://2gringos.blogspot.com

I decided to take a run down to the bay early on Mother's Day as to not disrupt the planned events for the day.  Got to the gym early to get my 2 mile swim in and off I go before most are out of bed.  Traffic was nil at 7:45am and I made I'd down to Keyport in a little more than 20 minutes.  Just need to see what the scoop is at Olsen's for when we have Lil Provo delivered. My the way the name comes from an island in Turks and Caicos, not Utah.  With well over 200 dives there I consider our boat my northern escape and she puts my mind in that special place. Okay enough with the boat name.

As we cross the route 35 draw bridge we can see there are a number of boats still on the hard. Though nothing in the water.  As we take the curve on Amboy Road we begin to see boats, boats, and more boats.  It seems either more people are coming here or there have been a lot of new boats picked up. I roll through town and make my left down toward the ramp and see there are a number of empty trailers parked there, meaning many fisherman on the water.  Making the right to head up to KYC and Olsen's I notice more boats on the water.  Love it!

As I pull into Olsen's boat yard I can see the place has thinned out more with more boats missing.  But there are still plenty more still on the hard.  Mooring balls are still in piles for future additions and half links of chain lay scattered along the ramp.  I walk around and take a few pictures to document the current status.  Not much more to see so I swing over to KYC to see how they are coming on the dock.  They are still at work and it should be nice when the repairs are finished.

At Olsen's they have all the pendants and flats ready as they start moving boats into the mooring field.  The sailboat "Blown Away" still sits at the bottom of the ramp. Why not get rid of this piece of scrap?it does it no good filling with water on high tide and draining on low tide.....

Time to head home. I ride along American Legion Way to see what Keyport has done, if anything, over the past week. Wow, Ye Cottage Inn is. Giant sand box.  Does this mean they will not rebuild?  I checked online and there is nothing related to them rebuilding or not.

Some places are all rebuilt and filling those slips fast.

Work continues on KYC.

As you look out onto the bay you will see barges with cranes.  I can only assume they are clearing the channels of debris or sunken boats.  From the Keyport ramp you could three rigs out on the bay and all appeared to be in the channels.

Our closing pic as the sun moves up from the horizon.

Quickie Update

We have been busy with work and working on the boat.  The trip to the bay has been a regular thing at least every two weeks.  We even tried fishing from the shore with little interest on the part of the fish.  Over the past few weeks changes have come to the shores of the bay. Jakeobob's has been knocked down and made into a pile of rumble.  The same took place to Ye Cottage Inn in Keyport.

I have no idea of what the future of this landmark bares. It think it would be nice to see it come back.  The fishing areas of Keyport waterfront still sit in disrepair, and the fishing pier remains closed.  The season is here and those thinking about fishing Keyport will have to find another spot.  Those interested trying the Keansburg pier will be in luck shortly, they have been moving along and have a good area of decking replaced.  Not much going on in Union Beach where the beach rail fence is still not fixed or replaced.

With the water temperatures in the bay hovering in the low fifties, it is time to start fishing. Over the past week the striper fishing has opened up, bunker are coming into the bay, and blues are close behind. Maybe the weakfish will follow....  The evidence of fishing picking up is the lack of parking spaces at the Keyport ramp.  One spot available!

Down the road piece there are some noticeable changes.  The old building along Amboy Road, in front of Browns, has been knocked down.  Up The Creek Tavern seems to be something in our past.  The site's only evidence of the Tavern is the sign along Amboy Road and the satellite dish looking over the boat slips.

There will be more to come over the next few weeks.  The boat will be in the water within the next two weeks. This will give us a chance to scout around and see first hand how the bay is recovering, plus if the fish are biting.

Cautions for 2013 Boating Season

This is the first in our series of the cautions of Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, and Lower New York Bay.  You can just read this blog and get a lot of information that I have searched the web for.

To get things started, I think most of you will enjoy this link to the the post hurricane Sandy Google Earth page.  It has most of the bay via satellite pictures.  The map in the link to various satellite maps post Sandy.  The one covering the most area is the October 31, 2012 map.  Just check the box for Post-Sandy Imagery and the October 31, 2013 map box.  http://google.org/crisismap/2012-sandy

You are sure to have a great time searching through the maps and see the damage left behind my Sandy.  To look at an area before the hurricane and then after is very surprising.  I have no idea of how long they will leave these maps up, so look at them now before they are gone for ever.

A warning was issued by NOAA for the coming boating season.  It is something most of us already figured out, but I thought I would share their release with you.


POST SANDY NOAA WARNING:
Hurricanes, tropical storms and other major storms may cause considerable damage to marine structures, aids to navigation and moored vessels, resulting in submerged debris in unknown locations. Charted soundings, channel depths and shoreline may not reflect actual conditions following these storms. Fixed aids to navigation may have been damaged or destroyed. Buoys may have been moved from their charted positions, damaged, sunk, extinguished or otherwise made inoperative. Mariners should not rely upon the position or operation of an aid to navigation. Wrecks and submerged obstructions may have been displaced from charted locations. Pipelines may have become uncovered or moved. Mariners are urged to exercise extreme caution and are requested to report aids to navigation discrepancies and hazards to navigation to the nearest United States Coast Guard unit.

Raritan Bay Chart can be viewed at http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/12331.shtml   
  
Back a few months ago we were told they cleanup of all the boats and debris would be done by Memorial Day.  Now the latest scoop is that it will not be done in time.  The state hire Ashbrit to clean up the state after being clobbered by hurricane Sandy.  Ashbrit is a Florida based company with many years experience in cleaning up after disasters.  They do hire local companies and do very little of the work themselves. Their vast experience is suppose to help keep the costs down, but many local companies have submitted bids lower than Ashbrit and get no response as to why Ashbrit continues the cleanup at higher costs.  We will surely be hearing more on this subject.
Following are some links to missing boats in various areas, Monmouth, Ocean, and Point Pleasant.


http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/wobm.com/files/2012/11/Press-Release-Submerged-Vessels-Monmouth-Station-11-15_3.pdf

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/wobm.com/files/2012/11/Press-Release-Submerged-Vessels-Ocean-Station-11-15.pdf 

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/wobm.com/files/2012/11/Press-Release-Submerged-Vessels-Point-Pleasant-11-15_1.pdf

There is some progress moving ahead at some of the marinas. Most have begun the rebuilding process and are diligently building docks. Today I visited Keyport marina and they were busy build new floating docks and getting them in place.

What happened to all of those missing docks? It is just more stuff we have to watch for. Fortunately a lot of the floating debris will end up on the shore lines and out of the waterway for a while. It will eventually return to the water during storms and moon tides. The only way to get rid of it is to pick it up and get it off the beach.

As I stop and talk with people along the bay it is all the same story for those with boats. They worry about the junk on the bottom. Boats, cars, lawn furniture, coolers, logs, boards, and so on all be something to watch for.

As I worked my way along the shore I noticed that Pendersen Hans is not working as much on the docks as all the others appear to have done by now. I did see activity there so I believe they are still in clean up mode. Browns has done a good job on getting things to look a lot closer to normal. They even have boats in the water. As you work your way along I get to the Keyport ramp where it looks the same as weeks ago. The floating docks are still sitting in the parking lot.

My next stop was to see what was going on at Keyport Yacht Club. I get there too early for anyone to be hanging out and take a walk around. It seems like all the dinghy a are stored nicely for the winter. They have removed their floating docks and only the main pier remains. Otherwise it looks ready for the new season.

With all the repair business going on, that is most likely the reason there is no room left in the yard. The parking lot is filled with boats on stands and waiting to see the water this new season. Other yards also have so much damage they can't store all the boats they normally did. Olsen's was one of the very few that does not have to worry about rebuilding and can concentrate on fixing the boats damaged by Sandy.

The past week we have had some good winds blowing any floating debris to shore. Taking a trip to the south shore of the bay you find the shores full of junk. There are large timbers, floatation, bumpers, lots of plastic, and garbage washed onto the shore. Now is the time when volunteer organizations should pool together to pickup the junk so it doesn't wash back I to the water. I feel very strongly about this and would love to see this being done.

I thought about grabbing this bumper sitting in front of me but would get shot if I bring home more boating stuff. I turn around and look down in the other direction and see lots of debris and a couple fishermen trying their luck.

The garbage makes itself pretty easy to clean up as it creates a water line along the shore. With a bucket loader each town could quickly clean the shores of larger debri. You have to wonder why they don't do it.

The following picture was thanks to Google Earth Crisis. It is Viking Marina at the Route 35 draw bridge two days after Sandy.

Union Beach Update

I would have had a new post this past week, but somehow deleted the draft causing us to rewrite it.

This trip took place on 2/17/2013 and it was frigidly cold with high gusty winds.  Though the sky was pretty clear with some light clouds, it was a wintery day.  We passed by Ye Cottage Inn to see they look like they are gettig ready to begin working on the building.  It is now all fenced off so keep people away.   Here is our first stop to the west of the Keyport Boat Ramp. Listen to the wind!

We drove through our regular spots in Keyport and headed for Union Beach to see how the recovery from hurricane Sandy was progressing.  As we came to the bay we took a turn to our right or east and travel with the windy winter bay off to our left.  The first thing you notice Jakeobob's is untouched. Still sitting there without any sign of rebuilding.  There seems to be a consolidation of bar stools near the front of the building.

As we past by I took a turn into the parking lot.  You immediately notice the entire railing along the parking lot to the bay is down.  The restaurant is sitting there with the entire back open to the bay.  As we get close we see that there was no progress or attempt to rebuild yet. Does this mean they will not rebuild?  We hope not.  This was one of the few places left where you could stop and eat lunch while boating.  

As we cruise along the bay we take a turn into the neighborhood and are surprised of what we saw.  Streets of slabs, no homes, no debris, just sand and concrete, with the exception of a boat on the hard. I was really amazed to see houses being raised a good 10 feet above where the house use to sit.  This has to also benefit you on the new cost of flood insurance.

The neighborhood seems deserted. Very few cars, no people out side, and piles of debris here and there.  Some rebuilds have begun and one home we saw was raised about ten feet. A couple others appear to be following suit and raising their homes.

On the way home we took a cruise to one of my fishing beaches in Cliffwood Beach to see if anything had changed. We pulled into the parking area and the wind was really blowing, the sand was hurting any part of exposed skin as it blew down the beach.  We took a quick look around, a quick video, and returned to the truck.  As we got near the truck there was a SUV pulled in alongside the truck.  As we got close the window went down and the gentleman inside said, "We'll that didn't take long."  I told him it was too damn windy and cold to be hanging on the beach. It seems he was waiting to see how we did before he got out to check out the beach. He decided not to take a walk after watching us. The following video doesn't show too much sand blowing, but it was.  You can hear the wind as it hits the camera microphone. One quick pan up and down the beach and we were out of there!

The following picture is after we left the parking lot and there was this sand blowing all over the street.  It had been piled on both sides of the street and it appears they had come in with a grader or backhoe and cleaned the streets of sand as there is a distinct edge along the side of the road.

You can see the car in front of me is in a sand blown area as I snapped the picture. You can also notice the pile of sand pushed up along the side of the road by a grader or backhoe blade. We headed back home and will be back in couple weeks to check on the recovery of water debris throughout the bay.

We will end today's blog with the following picture.

Winter Trip to Raritan Bay

A trip down to the bay is an attempt to get rid of those winter blues.  This morning (2/3/2013) I went down to Keyport and Union Beach to see how things were rebounding from Sandy.  As you cross the route 35 drawbridge you begin to see the remnants of hurricane Sandy. Looking down from route 35 you can see Viking Marina.  Though desolate this time of year, you can still see the building heavily damaged, boats still scattered around the marsh and banks just where Sandy left them, and there is still a boat lying in the Old Bridge Police lot. Otherwise, many boats looked perfectly normal, wrapped and blocked, in the marina for the winter. 

The next area that lets you know there was a problem is as you cruise down route 35 looking out into the marshes and seeing boats still stuck out in the reeds and grasses.  I immediately think, how do you get a boat out of the marsh?  You would need a crane to pick them up, but how would you get a crane there, if you can't get a boat there? Does this mean these boats will be there forever?  What's the life of fiberglass? 

As you turn off route 35 onto Amboy Road and drive just a half mile there are many reminders of Sandy.  Boats are still all over the Blue Rock Cafe parking lot.  The catamaran sailboat is now blocked up in the parking lot along with a few others.  Crossing the bridge you immediately notice Up The Creek Tavern is no more.  The building has been demo'ed to the only evidence there was a building there is the power wires hanging from the pole. I wonder if they will rebuild?  From my understanding the flood insurance for many of these businesses will be outrageously expensive.

As you get near town there is work beginning at Ye Cottage Inn.  There is now a fence surrounding the property. It appears demolition or rebuilding will begin shortly. Just across the parking lot sits the new Mike's Subs building which is very similar to the old building, but is all brand new.  This will be the first new building since Sandy.  Up the street I make a left and head down to the boat ramp.

I find it a little funny that there are other people just like me, taking a ride along the bay stopping and watching the bay for a little while and moving onto the next spot.  Today there were about eight cars sitting there with people just staring out at the water.  The parking lot for the ramp has sections of rail missing, but it appears they are missing so they could pull the floating dock up and into the parking lot.

It was just a little after sunrise and you can see the factories on the horizon contributing to our global warming. The cloud layer was low and it felt like we were going to get more snow.

I headed over the Olsen's Boat Works to see how things were.  Olsen's was one of the lucky ones during Sandy.  Most of the yard was saved and being they are up so high, the water had only made it to the top of the ramp.  The place is packed with boats.  The most I have seen there! Being the other marinas were hurt in some manner from the storm, he was able to take in a few more boats. Plus, many must be there for repair from Sandy.  I didn't even try to pull in as it looked like I would have to back up to get out of there.  I headed back toward town and went to the waterfront.  Things are pretty much the same with little progress.

The museum and bar look just like the week after Sandy.  You have to wonder why some places can be totally rebuilt and others don't seem to be making any headway.  Is it the insurance or is it the finance? 

Heading on to Union Beach I see some progress.  With most of the debris cleaned up and some organized work on buildings and homes.  While stopped and looking out toward New York I was able to see the new Freedom Tower reflecting the rising sun.  I tried to take a picture but it just didn't show the glow I saw.   It was still heavily overcast so I headed on back home to get things ready for our annual Super Bowl party.  Just before I got to the route 35 drawbridge I took the right and went down to the channel and saw about a half dozen people fishing under the bridge.  What they were fishing for I have no idea.  I continued home and wrote this blog.

Hope to have some interesting blogs this season. Keep in touch.

Rare Creatures of Raritan Bay

Raritan Bay is the home to a variety of animals.  If you are lucky, you may run into them during your sailing in the bay.  I have had encounters with each of the below and are always looking for a new one.  Seeing something different while on the bay is what it is all about.  The bay is not anything like your neighborhood and it changes all the time with the seasons and even the ever lurking thought of what can come from the ocean into the bay.  

The first interesting thing that comes to mind is the seal population in the bay.  Seals are really uncommon to most of us as they tend to be in our waters when we are not.  I was able to see my first seal four years ago on a my first sailing trip of the season.  We sailed out of Keyport and sailed across to Staten Island and there it was up on some rocks around a light tower just off the shore.  The seal was a grey color with black spots and did not seem alarmed at us sailing by.  The other was the following year while on a winter ride and walk along the shore of Sandy Hook. Just a little north of Horseshoe Cove was a small seal lying on the beach getting some nice warm sun.  Seals stopping in the bay are usually just stopping here on their way south or north, depending on the time of year.  Though more popular in mid-winter, seals can be seen from January through April.  There will be some sightings each side of those months and even more on the rare few that never leave the bay making it their year round home. Still the seals remain elusive to those only visiting the bay during the warmer months.  

Another odd occurrence is a Sunfish.  A one time encounter that stuck with me.  Single handing a nice sunny day I was sailing along just northeast of Can 1 and saw what I thought was a shark fin sticking out of the water.  I came hard to port to try to get a closer look and was able to get within fifteen feet of this strange looking fish that seemed to be looking at me and waiving it's fin saying hello.  It was almost erie and I think the eye contact got me the most.  Well, the waiving kind of sticks too.  It was strange... I saw another one of these while fishing off shore last year.  

While we are on the subject of fins sticking out of the water we will talk about sharks in Raritan Bay.  Do you think there are?  I don't mean these little sand shark type, I mean something substantial that could do damage if encountered.  And what size would you consider big enough to cause damage?  There are old stories about large sharks caught in Raritan Bay, even one from 1916 were we had a killer shark visiting Matawan Creek and eating swimmers.  In a body of water of this size the water clarity improving every year and bringing more fish into the bay, sharks will be a natural byproduct.  However, they are here already.  One day this past season of 2012 we were sailing back from Great Beds and saw to shark fins swimming together and than another just outside Keyport Harbor.  Three sharks in one day!  Size was about the four to five foot range and trying to identify was impossible. Just the fact they were four to five feet is a substantial predator in my book.  Being this was the first time I ran into this, I came home and checked the internet and immediately found a video from a kayaker with exactly what we had seen this day.  It just confirmed that others have seen sharks in the bay.  Not be to long winded, I'll move on leaving the thought of these large fish while fishing, swimming, or just wading.  Something I do....now.

Another, what I consider beautiful, is the Osprey, and I've seen more of these birds in the past couple years than before.  

http://youtu.be/Y3owk09igM8 

I sat and watched this bird dive for fish which most likely weighed more than the bird.  There was one case where the Osprey could not pick up the fish because of its size.  It tried two or three times to get the fish into the air, but it just couldn't happen. After this fight, it took off out of the mooring field and did not see it again for a couple weeks.  My understanding is they come to our area in early spring to build their new nest and spend the entire summer here and leaving in the fall.   They share the same seasons on the bay we do, watch for them.

I have many disbelievers, but I have had big, I mean big, sea turtles.  I would consider them loggerheads, but I know little about turtles.  These turtles are in the three foot length.  They seem to come around on a light breeze and only when the stereo has got some bass playing from down in the cabin.  This isn't something that has happened once or twice, it has happened to us on numerous occasions. I have seen smaller ones, but they will not come close to the boat like these big ones.  I'd like to hear if others have been lucky enough to have had this happen.  

I've only touched upon the visitors to the bay.  There are many more that can be added to the ones above and maybe we can touch on them in the future. I'll stop here for now as I tend to get long winded.

Sailing Raritan Bay Lighthouses

At least a couple times during the season we seem to have visitors that are looking for a nice sail on the bay.  For these times we do a great sail to take in all the lighthouses.  This ride takes a good part of the day and you can get in some great sight seeing of the Staten Island South shore mansions.  The typical trip is to leave our mooring in Keyport Harbor and head for Romer Shoals Lighthouse.  This lighthouse sits off of Sandy Hook and is at the entrance to Raritan Bay and Lower New York Bay.  Lower New York Bay being the northern section near the Verrazanno Narrows Bridge and south and west of this area is Raritan Bay.

Starting with Romer Shoals Lighthouse is just a personal pick so that we can see all three lighthouses in this area of the bay. It is the furthest lighthouse from Keyport Harbor and the most easterly lighthouse in this cruise.  As I review this great cruise I will try to give you a little history of each lighthouse.

Romer Shoals Lighthouse became active in 1898, was taken over by the Navy in 1920 and finally taken over by the Coast Guard in 1939.  This 54' lighthouse was experimental in it's early days and was the testing home for various lamps and lenses.  In 1966 this lighthouse was automated and no longer needed human presence to keep her running. After a storm in 1992 she became inoperable and was destined to be scrapped, but Joe Esposito who was the caretaker of the Staten Island Lighthouse fought to keep this piece of history.   In 2010 she was put on the auction block and was purchased by  person from Staten Island for $90,000.00.  There are hopes of a restoration with tours from Staten Island.

 

As you round the south side of Romer Shoals Lighthouse you will turn towards the north and then north northwest to the West Bank Lighthouse.  This is a short leg of the trip!

West Bank Lighthouse was built in 1901 and it's original height was 55', but in 1907 two floors were added to make it 70'.  It was automated in 1998 working off solar power.  In 2007 the Coast Guard offered the lighthouse at no cost, but had no takers.  Finally in an auction in 2008 it was sold for $245,000.00 and again auctioned off in 2010 to Sheridan Reilly $195,000.00.  Expectations are to restore her to your original condition.

Rounding her on your port side you will turn and head southwest to the Old Orchard Lighthouse.  The distance is about the same as it was from Roamer Shoals Lighthouse to the West Bank Lighthouse.

Old Orchard Lighthouse became active in 1893 and was built at 51' tall.  She gave many years of service before the Coast Guard offered her at no cost in 2007.  There were no takers and in 2008 she was put up for auction.  The winning bid was $235,000.00 and in 2010 she was back on the auction block and sold for $95,000.00.  To the dismay of myself and many others Old Orchard Lighthouse was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. 

After we pass Old Orchard Lighthouse to our starboard side we turn northwest and head for the Staten Island shore and Great Kills Harbor. Once we get close enough to the shoreline we run along the shore headed toward Perth Amboy.  There are many nice homes along the shore and we just cruise along enjoying the nice scenery.  Once we get to close enough to where we can see the Great Beds Lighthouse we start to pull away from the shore and head directly for the lighthouse.

Great Beds Lighthouse is located where the Raritan River and Arthur Kill join together in what is known as the back bay.  This lighthouse was placed in this location because of the oyster beds and that is where it got its name.  Before the lighthouse was built New York dedicated some underwater property for the lighthose, only to find out the property was in New Jersey waters.  After some litigation it was settled and the 42' lighthouse became operational in 1880.  The Coast Guard offered out the lighthouse at no charge in 2010 and eventually put it out for auction in 2011 where it was purchased for $90,000.00.  

Once we round Great Beds Lighthouse we head back to Keyport Harbor.  This has taken most of the day and everyone is pleased with the wonderful tour of the bay.  It is disheartening that all of these lighthouses will one day be only seen in pictures.  Most are a hundred years old or older and have long histories of why they were placed where they stand today.  If you take this cruise, please take lots of pictures to make sure you save that piece of history.

Hoping you enjoyed.