Haulin' Land Over Water

Part of Brooklyn's offshore appeal for recreational boaters is the fact that in certain areas there is very little commercial activity. That doesn't mean that commercial traffic is non existent. Recently, we saw this very large barge hauling, what appeared to be a massive mound of earth off of Breezy Point heading toward Jamaica Bay.

These large vessels are surprisingly fast and quiet. This particular barge approached us in a fairly narrow channel and signaled us with two short blasts of the horn. That indicated to us, the barge intended to alter her course to port. We tacked starboard to give her ample room. As the barge crossed, we were overwhelmed by the sheer size of the barge and its cargo. Its like a large floating steel warehouse, at least a block long. Truly a modern marvel when you think abut it.

We had no idea where it was going. Our hypothesis, based on nothing but a pure guess, is that excavated land (from somewhere in Brooklyn or Queens) was headed to JFK Airport.