God Forbid we use our Lectra San - The downside of New York City marinas

Pamlicotraveler · #1 (**permalink**) 07-05-2008

We have been in NYC at the 79th St. Boat Basin for a week. It is on the west side of the Island - on the Hudson. It is very convenient to Manhattan and has a lot of great things. It's beautiful but also gets disgusting at times. First the disgusting:

Not to mention that we are resting on 2 feet of soft mud at low tide. We don't run the AC or pump in water for the heads. We are using the shower head to pump in fresh water rarther than pull the muddy stuff into the toilet bowl. We don't want dirty our holding tanks

We have a Lectra San (Lectra/San waste treatment system kills coliform bacteria in sewage meeting U.S.C.G./EPA Type I standards for legal overboard discharge) which we are sending to our holding tank since this is a no-discharge area. But for the good of the environment they should PAY US to use our lectra san here. There is no question we would be cleaning their waters. That is the obsurdity of the laws regarding discharge of a type 1 (Lectra San etc).

Now for the good side of a New York Marina:

The good outweighs the bad, but I really wish New York City would clean up its waters.

wind_magic · #2 (**permalink**) 07-05-2008

Nice view!

What's it like being on a boat there, in general ? Are there a lot of things nearby to go and see, museums or shows or anything like that ? Do you have a subway stop near you ?

Must be fun being there in NYC. I have not ever been there any great length of time and always thought it would be a fun place to visit.

bubb2 · #3 (**permalink**) 07-05-2008

Dear Pam, Yonkers's NY is just 15 miles up river from you. Anytime there is a rain fall over 2 inches they start discharging raw sewage in to the river. "can't handle the over flow" a million gallons a day. Thought you should know!

Danny33 · #4 (**permalink**) 07-05-2008

Old Old Home Sweet Home !

Way too many in one place .....mother nature will always have to take a back seat !

Sad but the truth of the matter.

hellosailor · #5 (**permalink**) 07-05-2008

Pamlico, you must be a youngster, or come from a very far away place. The fact is, NYC HAS CLEANED UP ITS WATERS. In fact, they have been cleaned up so well in the past 40 years or so, that we now have major problems with teredo or similar infestations that have destroyed many wooden pier pilings. Parts of the East Side Drive had to be re-piled, Hudson piers have needed major repairs...and walking on the water has become much harder than it used to be.

Are there still problems, sure. The runoff from storms still cascades into the sewage system and overflows things, and the whole Hudson washes things down, but they are still working on improving things. There are triathalons and swims encircling Manhattan Island, and even the folks who haven't gotten shots have survived.

Don't knock that mud, it is the only thing that keeps some of the oldtimers at 79th street from sinking! (sigh)

bubb2 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-05-2008

Every thing that Hello says is correct. I am active in the river keepers program. There are oysters on piles in the harbor. We were surprised to see them. They would not have been there just a few years ago. They are a indicator species. Things are getting better. But the sooner, the better!

Pamlicotraveler · #7 (**permalink**) 07-06-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by hellosailor

There are triathalons and swims encircling Manhattan Island, and even the folks who haven't gotten shots have survived.

Don't knock that mud, it is the only thing that keeps some of the oldtimers at 79th street from sinking! (sigh)

I saw a guy windsurfing right here at the marina yesterday. He wasn't a very good windsurfer either, which made it even more disgusting. He fell in several times and if he doesn't get hepatitis I'd be shocked. He was windsurfing in a marina with liveaboard boats and no pump out facilities. That's no place for windsurfing.

I know NYC has been cleaned up, and I never sailed here in the 70's. I have no doubt the water is better, but I promise you there is a tremendous amount of debris coming and going with the tide. When you have pilings floating up and down the river it's a problem. And as you see in my pictures, the accumulated garbage is really nasty. It'll never be the Pamlico Sound, but it could be much improved.There really should be some active cleanup patrol with nets or scoops to get up the debris. A few boats cleaning the Hudson and East Rivers 24 hours a day could do wonders for the water.

Another pollution issue we noticed in the Long Island Sound and even in the Atlantic is mylar helium party balloons. They are a real hazard to boaters - I was concerned if we missed going around one of these it could be sucked into the intake. We saw them way offshore and sometimes the radar would pick them up. But there were alot of these and they are a danger to the wildlife. People don't realize they can travel 100 miles or more.

Pamlicotraveler · #8 (**permalink**) 07-06-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by wind_magic

Nice view!

What's it like being on a boat there, in general ? Are there a lot of things nearby to go and see, museums or shows or anything like that ? Do you have a subway stop near you ?

Must be fun being there in NYC. I have not ever been there any great length of time and always thought it would be a fun place to visit.

Wind Magic...despite the caveats about the water quality, NYC is the coolest place to sail. Our boat is going to need a good cleaning when we get out of here, but it will be totally worth it. Where we are there is a subway stop about 3 blocks away, and so we have been enjoying the sights and shows and of course the restaurants. We saw the great Macy's fireworks show on the East River for the 4th (we were at the UN).

I think New York is an exciting cruising spot. Just watch the water while you're in it.

Sailing by the Statue of Liberty a few days ago was probably an all time sailing highlight. It says something about our country that we are free to do something like that. We were heading North on a downwind (wind from the south) run from Staten Island and right by the Statue of Liberty. There were helicopters, ferries, freighters, barges, tugs - all of this noise and energy all together, and we were sailing with jib only, right by Liberty Island. I was prepared to start the engine at any time, but I never had to.

It was a special day.

hellosailor · #9 (**permalink**) 07-06-2008

"There really should be some active cleanup patrol with nets or scoops to get up the debris. "
They've been here for something like 20-25 years. Two or three special boats, IIRC from the US Army Corp of Engineers, that look like catamaran fishing trawlers with a huge scoop/net up front. All they do is scoop up debris.
The problem is, we've got the street debris from 8-10 million locals plus another 5-10 million shore-dwellers in the same watershed, and every time it rains or the wind kicks up, every bit of trash blows into the harbor. After heavy storms, we'll get trees and houses coming down the Hudson--just like Huck Finn, except *whole* houses are a bit rarer for us.

No pump-out at 79th street? And it is a zero discharge area? I never looked into it that closely but can't see how that adds up. The waiting list for residential dockage there is, literally, decades long if they haven't simply closed it by now.

Pamlicotraveler · #10 (**permalink**) 07-06-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by hellosailor

No pump-out at 79th street? And it is a zero discharge area? I never looked into it that closely but can't see how that adds up.

Their price list says "Sanitation Waste System Pump Out - Commercial vessels only." So I'm not sure what that means. I assumed that meant they would bring in a boat for the pumpout of a commercial vessel. The Hudson River is an EPA designated ―No Discharge Area. The only New York State pumpout is at Dyckman Marina which is in the 200's block. So it makes me wonder how those houseboats that look like they have never moved handle it.