Day #43: Anchorage in Northport Bay, NY

Being new to any area means having to learn the ropes. Since the marinas here are prohibitively expensive most cruisers either anchor out or pickup a mooring ball. Balls lack the amenities normally associated with docks, like ease of access, electricity, water, showers and heads. But, mooring balls do include launch service, i.e. a water taxi to get you ashore. This somewhat dampens the pain of the $50/night ball fee as a water taxi normally costs $8 per person for a round trip.

This morning we discovered that Northport's municipal dock is free to tie to during daylight hours. So, after breakfast ashore, we moved Nellie from her ball to the dock. It was then that we were told that shore power (electricity) is also free during the day. This is a big deal as Nellie's batteries were down after the night on the mooring.

I'm beginning to think that Long Island may not be any more expensive to cruise than other areas, but it does require learning the ropes.

Eagles Nest, across the bay from Northport, was built by Cornelius Vanderbilt's great great grandson, William K. Vanderbilt II. He was a bon vivant, raconteur and had a damn good time with his family's money.

Nellie may not qualify as a floating place, but her newly replenished wine locker is no slouch.

It was a daunting 2 miles, total, from the mooring ball to the dock and then the dock to our Northport Bay anchorage. 930 miles into 2019 and 9155 from Naples. DBH