Road To Hatteras (Part II): Long Island Ferry
by Dee Dee
I felt mighty honored that Todd had entrusted me with transporting his "Big Ass Bad Boy" 10 footer board
down to Hatteras. So, when I finally got myself out the door & on the road, my first stop was to his
house in Fall River, MA. I did not feel fully confident about my ability to secure his board safely on surf racks
& was concerned about his board flying off onto the interstate.So, I came up with an alternate plan of taking the front passenger seat out of my car (with the help of a couple of
guys in my hood). My car (which used to be my Pa's) has fold down back seats, so that there is enough space from
the end of the trunk, to the dashboard, to transport stuff. I wasn't completely sure it could hold a ten foot board....
so I got two 6 foot wooden tomato stakes & extended them from trunk to dashboard & found it was just 8 inches
shy of 10 feet...so good chance that Todd's board could fit diagonally. If not, Todd & I both agreed that we'd find
a way to make sure it all worked out.I got to Todd's a little after 5PM....and bless his heart, he greeted me with a birthday card (thanks, Todd!).
We both rejoiced when we found how easily his classic board slid into the car & fit just right....so we
packed all the other stuff I was bringing around & under the board....and I made sure to position my
mini boombox right under the board so that I could hear it great on the ride down (I brought a number of
CD's for the ride down...as I was trying to memorise words to a few songs I wanted to sing in honor of
fellow GP attendees).He then escorted me to the freeway entrance. We waved at each other from our cars & I headed on
southward to New London, CT., where I had made a 7:00PM reservation to take the ferry to Long Island,
NY. I was cutting it pretty close, time wise...but, still could've made it, if only I had not gotten lost...
('How Like Her!'...to paraphrase a quote by Eeyore).I didn't know the exact exit to the ferry....I just figured I'd easily find it. There were 3 New London exits &
one of them was 'Gale's Ferry'....that sounded hopeful. After traveling about 5 miles...I realized I was in the
town of 'Gale's Ferry', where there appeared to be casino boats & I seemed to be headed to a big ol'
casino that I hear advertised in these parts called 'Mohegan Sun'.** That's what I get for being over
confident about my freeway navigating abilities!!With the good help of some Wendy's employees, I eventually found my way to the actual Long Island
Ferry. I had missed the 7PM....but there were still openings for the last one of the night (8:45)....I took
my place in line & immediately fell asleep in my car, ...but the kind attendee knocked on my window &
woke me up just in time to drive my car up the ramp & onto the ferry. Once there I went up on the deck,
grabbed onto the rails & hung my head over into the wind, as I heard that ferry whistle blow.That gust of cold wind felt _so_ good, so I inhaled a bunch of big breaths of fresh salt air. And as
the ferry pulled away from the dock....for the first time I realized, that I was finally on the open road,
in the wind, headed on an adventure....with no more rushing around or places I had to get to on time.And I had a sense of exhilaration & anticipation that I had not felt in a very long time; looking forward
to meeting up with & surfing with some alt.surfers, whose friendship, surf stories & humor I have appreciated so much
thru the ascii. I feel a lot of joy in my life, daily....but, I didn't realize until then, just how long it had been since
I had felt so stoked that there were butterflies in my stomach & my heart was soaring. I had hardly slept the night before & hadn't eaten all day (which is fine...cuz, I really gotta lose weight!).My Dad used to call that 'journey proud', when you can't sleep the night before a voyage. It was _great_ to feel
journey proud again. And just because I'm always thinking to a backdrop of song lyrics & poems and find it hard not
to break into song often....I couldn't help but start humming the song 'Shiver Me Timbers' by Tom Waits (here's a few
lyric excerpts):
Leavin' My Family. Leavin' All My Friends.
My Body's At Home, But My Heart's In The Wind!
Well, The Clouds Are Like Headlines
Upon A New Front Page Sky...
My Tears Are Salt Water
And The Moon's Full And High.Shiver Me Timbers, 'Cause I'm A-Sailin' Away!
[...]
And The Fog's Liftin' & Sand's Shiftin'
I'm Driftin' On Down!
Oh, Captain Ahab...He Ain't Got Nothin' On Me!
So Come On & Swallow Me!...Don't Follow Me,
I'm Travelin' Alone!
Blue Water's My Daughter
And I'm Gonna Skip Like A Stone!And, I'm Leavin' My Family, Leavin' All My Friends
My Body's At Home, But My Heart's In The Wind!
Well The Cloud's Are Like Headlines
Upon A New Front Page Sky...And Shiver Me Timbers..'Cause I'm A-Sailin' Away!
I stayed there on deck, hanging over the railing until the ferry was well away from shore & then headed
inside with the intentions of exploring the different compartments...but, instead, sat down for a second
& ended up zonking out for another 1/2 hour.When I awoke, I ordered a fried egg & tomato sandwich & an orange-ade from the snack bar,
headed back to the 'TV & Arcade' Room.... and sat behind three people who had just gotten
back from filming a nature film in Alaska & I had a great time listening in on their conversation
for the rest of the trip (which they kindly didn't mind me doing). Listening to them talk about
spending the weekend with friends in Long Island with their NY accents, made me realize
I was finally actually in New York...where I had never really ever been before.We docked at Long Island at about 10:15... and I rolled off the ramp of the ferry at about
10:30...hoping there was still time to catch the last ferries to Shelter Island & then, Sag Harbor.
If not, I would either drive the long way to the East Deck Motel...or if too drowsy, would
sleep in my car at the dock, 'til morning & catch the first ferry out in the morning.Next installment (sometime tomorrow):
Montauk & Ditch Plains Beach.Love,
Dee Dee
**[seeing the sign to the 'Mohegan Sun' Casino, whilst trying to find the ferry to New York, brought to mind a
few lines extracted from a song by the Irreplaceable Joni Mitchell about her reflections while going to & from
Staten Island via the Staten Island Ferry, in the 1970's...a song called "A Song For Sharon", from the album entitled
'Hejira']:
"I went to Staten Island To Buy Myself A Mandolin..."
[...]
"Big Boat With A Belly Full Of Cars...."
[...]
"Shine Your Light On Me, Mr. Bertie!
Because As Soon As This Ferry Boat Docks,
I'm Headed To The Church To Play Bingo...
Fleece Me With A Gambler's Flocks!"(I jest had to share...I love that song!!!!)
Posted to the alt.surfing newgroup
From: corrall@mediaone.net (corrall@mediaone.net)
Subject: Road To Hatteras (Part II): Long Island Ferry
Newsgroups: alt.surfing
Date: 2001-10-17 22:42:09 PSTSearch the thread at: http://groups.google.com/groups?as_epq=%22Road%20To%20Hatteras%20Part%20II%20Long%20Island%20Ferry%22&as_ugroup=alt.surfing