New York National Seashores

7/11/1992 Ferry to Fire Island National Seashore at Watch Hill. Walked boardwalk.

Me on the boardwalk

Our ride

9/24/1993 ... headed over to the ocean side of Fire Island. Sat on the beach and had lunch and watched the ocean (which was calm enough to ski on – if only we could have gotten the boat there!). When Mom said it was okay (long enough after lunch like when we were little boys!) Bill donned his wetsuit for a swim in the ocean. Ken followed sans wetsuit for a brisk but pleasant swim. After a quick shower, dumped the supplies back in the boat and followed the boardwalk trails through and around the Sunken Forest where we spotted a few deer – and feral balloons! Reluctantly packed up and pushed off at about 1700 for a pleasant trip back to Heckscher, in at 1745.

Current Sea

The pretty shoreline

Ken and I body surfing

One of the locals

6/23/1998 Since Bill and Ken were finishing up their traverse of the Island on the Greenbelt trail in Heckscher, decided to take CurrentSea out and extend the hike on Fire Island! Drove the boat to Heckscher Park and dropped it off at the boat basin, then took Bill’s car, drove to just north of Sunrise Highway and hiked the Greenbelt back. Launched the boat at 1230 and although we could barely see the shore through the fog, took the south and west channels to Sailors Haven on Fire Island. Despite using new charts, there appeared to be little correlation between the buoys we saw and what was on the map, but with a little help from the GPS we made it safely to shore. On Fire Island, we paid the day fee to park the boat in a slip and had a delicious picnic lunch ashore. After the meal, hiked the trail through the Sunken Forest Preserve (as if we hadn’t done enough walking already). Finished up with a delicious ice cream cone, then headed back to the mainland - this time the GPS was really handy for back-tracking our course.

Picnic lunch on Fire Island

More hiking!

A view of the shore

Ken and a deer eyeball each other

Ken and Current Sea

9/12/2014 A quick late summer day excursion. Mom arrive around 9:30, and headed back out to Robert Moses State Park. Parked and took a very enjoyable walk on the boardwalk over to the Fire Island Lighthouse, part of the Fire Island National Seashore. We checked out the Fresnel Lens house, where the very impressive lens mechanism is displayed, then walked to the lighthouse to check out the informative and historical exhibits. Walked back to the parking area, then down to the beach on a really gorgeous day. Unfortunately there was a very high and steep sand wall right near the beach, so we couldn’t get safely right down to the water. Still, we walked down the beach to the concession area and had a good, if expensive, hamburger lunch.

The boardwalk to the lighthouse

Cool patterns

The lighthouse and lens house

Informative signage

Base of the old lighthouse

The Fresnel Lens

At the base of the lighthouse ...

... and a view from far off

The Seashore

7/1/2017 Mom came over around 9:00 and we drove to the Fire Island National Seashore unit in Mastic Beach for the William Floyd Estate, the home of the signer of the Declaration of Independence. We walked around the grounds a little, seeing the many outbuildings on the property including the barns and ice cellar. Built by William’s father Nicholl, the house was expanded over the many decades, and remained in the family until given to the NPS in the 70’s. We took a very good tour of over an hour, going through the many rooms, left as they were when the NPS took over. Many of the rooms changed purpose over the years, and we visited bedrooms, parlors, kitchens, etc. After the tour we got some lunch, did some shopping, and headed home.

The park sign

Info about Fire Island

The house

Another from an angle

A barn

Mom in the woodshed

Me by the ice house

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