Jesse Hamerman and Melissa Brown met me on the morning of the 2nd for a trip that I have always wanted to take:
through the Verrazano Narrows.
The forecast said it would be one of the hottest days of the year, and we protected ourselves carefully from the sun.
“I have never been out in a boat before!” announced Jesse happily.
“Well it is amazing that your first experience will be in a tiny boat floating through one of the busiest shipping channels in the world!” I said.
“We’ll try and stick close to land.” I said, and I steered the boat toward the seawall the runs along the Belt Parkway.
I didn’t know what to expect from the Narrows, where the whole harbor pours out into the Atlantic Ocean.
It was a comfort to know that we were under the watchful eye of the Harbor Police.
Jesse grew up on Staten Island,
and as we floated past, he told us stories about his young life in New York’s ‘forgotten borough’.
“The Verrazano was the longest suspension bridge in the world.” said Jesse. It is still the largest in the United States.
The size of it was incredible. I kept waiting for the tiny figures working under the bridge to appear closer as we passed.
They never did.
We slipped through the Narrows into the lower bay.
“The center span of the bridge is so long,” said Jesse, “that the two towers are actually at a slight angle from one another, to account for the curvature of the earth.”
The lower harbor is more open that the upper part, and we decided to take advantage of the wind.
As we passed by the hulls of giant cargo ships, Jesse thought they looked like works of art. “Richard Serra.” he said.
“Mel Bochner.”
“Rodchenko.” said Melissa.
The sail was really whipping us along.
And for the first time in the life of my little boat, we were officially sailing in the ocean.
As we pulled up to the beach on Coney Island, a couple standing by the water said “You made it! You’re in Brooklyn.” We must have looked like we had come a long way. Which, in fact, we had.
10 miles in just about 4 hours.
“Let me take a picture as you guys walk away.” I said.
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