Day 281 - Scott and Selena — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased $18 for the dingy, slip fee $100, daily high temperature 80°f

All the boats at the Great Kills Yacht Club (GKYC) on Staten Island, NY were demolished by hurricane Sandy. Every boat on a mooring, every boat on the docks and every boat on the hard was damaged or destroyed.

This sailboat was owned by a Canadian transient. The bow was broken off. He just flew home to Toronto and abandoned the boat. A reminder of what was.

There are six Loopers at GKYC. The yacht club members are very welcoming. We went to the YC bar and everyone was happy to see us. The beers are $2.00 – $2.75 and the mixed drinks are $3.00

The GLYC has an amazing business model. They have 150 paid members at $400 per year and 25 legacy members (free after 25 years of paid membership) and 300 members on the waiting list. They could have many more than 300 on the waiting list but that would be too much paper work. When the YC flag is at half mast the potential members do not ask who passed away, they ask did the deceased have a boat slip? The cost for a 40′ slip at the YC is $750 per year. At the marina next door the cost for a 40′ slip is $7,000 per year. The top 30 potential members are allowed access to the GKYC bar until they become full members.

We were visited on Changing Latitudes by my cousin Scott and his fiancé Selena from Perkasie, PA. This is a very auspicious day for them. Today is Scott’s first day of retirement from Nationwide Insurance after 32 years and they announced that they have set their wedding date for November 26. I am honored to advise that Captain Father John aka Captain Grandfather John has been selected as the wedding officiant. Scott and Selena will spend the night onboard CL and tomorrow we will cruise up the Hudson River to the Statue of Liberty.

We went for a dingy ride and picked up a plastic bag on our prop. First time that happened.

Great Kills Harbor is not the most hygienic.

Bonus photo – if you are concerned that your mooring might drag just tie up to the channel marker.

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day. “The sail, the play of its pulse so like our own lives: so thin and yet so full of life, so noiseless when it labors hardest, so noisy and impatient when least effective.” Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian. A leading transcendentalist,[2] Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings.