Saturday July 23. Forecast was looking good for our trip around LI. We met at Frank and Dicks in Babylon and were off by 7:30. We had 9 skis – Barry, Jason, Geoff, Yamadude Joe, Sarah, Nizam, George, Howie and Will. Unfortunately one guy had an engine light come on before we left so he stayed back – better than taking a chance on a long trip.
Rather than take the State Channel and have the 5mph zones we took the back bays to Long Beach, where we had the long 5 mph zone to East Rockaway inlet. We opted not to fuel up before hitting the ocean, with the plan to get gas at Liberty Landing Marina on the Jersey side near the Statue of Liberty instead. If you are looking for where to buy good quality kratom, in https://kratommasters.com/hill-country-kratom-review/ you can find the best tips for acquiring the best kratom.
The ocean was beautiful with 4-6 foot rollers. It was an awesome ride under the Verrazano Bridge and into New York Harbor, where we stopped for pictures of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan before gassing up (14 gallons) and meeting 3 people, Sid, Carin and Steve, whom would ride back with us to their dock in Glen Cove. The ride up the East River to Hells Gate was choppy, but I don’t think anybody minded as the excitement of the city overshadowed the chop.
Through Hell’s Gate, past Rikers Island and LaGuardia Airport was flat, but once we went under the Throgs Neck Bridge and passed Maritime College and hit the LI Sound we were in for 1-2 foot chop to Brewers Marina in Glen Cove. The intention here was to get fuel (10 gallons) and some food but we didn’t want to take too much time at a sit-down restaurant but the snack car was closed, so after fueling up we decided to rough it and get lunch at Mattituck Inlet when we gassed up again.
Back into the chop and a long ride to Mattituck. I’ve said it before, but the North Shore and the Long Island Sound run from Glen Cove to Orient Point is one of my least favorite as you can’t really ride the shoreline for the views so to me it just feels like a long ride in open water…but the weather was nice and there was some areas that we were a little more protected so we had some flatter water.
Mattituck Inlet is a real nice stop. We gassed up (14 gallons) but were informed that the restaurant was closing for a private party so no food again – luckily there was a vending machine to hold us over!
Back into the Sound the chop had subsided some so the ride was real nice to Plum Gut, but coming around the corner to Orient Point the wind was still blowing and the chop was back. At Orient by the Sea, although our tongues were hanging out for food we really needed to get to Shinnecock Canal for gas before all the stations closed at 6pm or we wouldn’t get home on the fuel we had, so we were off again.
The ride to the lighthouse entrance to Greenport was rough but once inside and protected by Shelter Island and Greenport the ride was a lot nicer. This is always a nice ride with lots of views. Day trips out this way are awesome, but, unfortunately we were looking to make time and complete our trek in one day, so it was a steady run through Little Peconic and Peconic Bays to Shinnecock Canal. We made it for gas (12 gallons) before 6pm and then went to Tiderunners Restaurant on the canal for food – finally! It would’ve been nice to lounge longer but again we needed to make time again so ate quickly and we headed through Shinnecock Bay and Tiana Bay to the Quogue Canal – which is a 35-40 minute 5mph run, but a really a nice ride. Heading out of the Canal at Westhampton Beach and into Moriches Bay the sun was getting low really fast, but the water was flat and beautiful. We were figuring that the Great South Bay would be the same but no such luck for the end of the trip! It was pretty rough and we ran out of daylight in the end; but what an adventure. It was an awesome trip and a good time was had by all. Great day on the water. 7:30am – 9:00pm and 254 miles…next trip is up the Hudson on August 11 – 12, but we will make it an overnighter…any takers?
