The morning was spectacular as we both slept well and so happy to be on the other end of the storm… like a bad case of the flu!
It felt good to get on our way. Even though Stew and I had a rough few days our little basil plant was blooming. Perhaps a good sign for us. We moved it out into the sun…
We headed across the sound to Safe Harbor capri for some diesel and to fill the water tanks. While we were sitting at the fuel dock we decided to deal with the composting toilet … trying to be transparent here… boats know that no matter what your choice for the bathroom situation you always have to deal with it at some point.
We love our composting toilet – it is an “Airhead” – chosen because it has rubber seals on the lid and the seat. Better to keep out unwanted water and flies. The liquid tank we empty about every other day by taking it into the marina (or a bathroom at a fuel dock) and dumping it in the toilet. Although the tank is opaque we have found it to be more discreet if we put it in a reusable grocery bag and have one dedicated just for this process. The solid tank needs to be emptied about every 3 weeks. It is really not what you would think. The empty tank is filled about 1/4 with coconut husk and then as it is being used we sometimes add a little more husk. We turn a crank to keep it “composting” and there is a small fan the pulls air from the solid tank and releases it outside the boat. We rarely smell it at all.
After a few weeks of regular use the handle becomes more difficult to turn and we begin to plan to empty it. Emptying it is simply taking the top part (seat and lid off) and turning it over into a garbage bag. I know you will not believe me but there is no smell when you do this. It is really quite unbelievable. Now I suppose if you let it go too long that might not be true. But we are pretty responsible and don’t put it off – why would you when you really depend on it functioning correctly… like when you are trapped on board for 2 days!!
That’s it! Then you just tie the garbage bag and put it in the trash can!! refill it with the coconut husk and you are set for the next 3 weeks. I should also disclose that the coconut husk comes in a solid brick. Theses bricks need to be crumbled. So I usually have a few gallon size bags with pieces of the bricks in them and over the next 3 weeks I will be sure to break them up in prep for the next solid tank adventure!
Once we had taken care of fuel, water, and the toilet we were ready to face the East River. There is quite a current in the East River and we timed it so that we would be heading down at “ebb” tide. This can increase your speed dramatically! We actually ended up going 11.4 K/h!
We made very good time and had an awesome view of the statue and Manhattan today.
By early afternoon we made it to Sandy Hook, NJ but had to wait until at least 5PM (closer to high tide) to enter the Sandy Hook Marina. Our original plan was to anchor tonight but according to our apps there are high winds beginning at 4am Thursday and we were just a little tired of being thrown around. So we booked two nights at Sandy Hook Bay Marina… rather expensive! But as I did further investigation I guess this is the price you pay around NY/NJ area. We are spoiled in the Great Lakes with our cost per foot being $1.50. Most of the marinas are about $4.00/ft (you are charged by the length of your boat). They wanted to actually charge us additional because we were dragging a dinghy!
While we waited to high tide we did some sailing. The middle batten had been twisted to Stew just pulled it out for the time being and we will reinsert it once we get settled at the dock.
Sandy Hook Bay Marina is gorgeous. So at least if we are paying this high transient fee we are in an awesome area. There is a nice 3 tier building to hangout, they have a firepit, laundry, store, wifi, and a restaurant right next door. Just beyond the marina is a walking trail that wraps around the Sandy Hook bay. We enjoyed our evening and used the wifi to facetime with family and friends. I also spent the time getting the blog caught up!!
