The winter fishing boats are gone, likely fishing elsewhere and
replaced by these minimalist
machines. There must be good fish to be had by the Staten Island side of the VZ Bridge. They’re around in fall also.
Otherwise, like leaves on the trees and warm temperatures, they emerge.
And finally, in spite of all the other covid-19 changes,
snow birds are arriving.
This is a fishing machine,
but this larger boat, Poco Loco, came in the other day, with two days and four hours from Virginia Beach. Anyone know who the manufacturer is?
Ditto this sportfish, it arrived at the Narrows from Cape May in four hours!
I believe I’m seeing fewer recreational boats like this and they’re arriving later than usual, and if they plan to get to the Great Lakes via the Erie Canal, that won’t be open for a while yet, as winter maintenance has mostly been stopped since mid-March.
Meanwhile, going in the other direction, you might recall seeing this boat on this blog before here . . scroll. Lil Diamond III, previously based along the NYS Thruway and doing tours for Erie Canal Cruises out of Herkimer NY, she’s been sold out of the Canal and is heading to a new life with Poseidon Ferry in Miami. Here Kevin Oldenburg caught her headed south in front of Poughkeepsie being overtaken by a menacing cloud, and
here I caught her yesterday about to leave the sixth boro for a place fluidly connected.
Bon voyage, Lil Diamond III. previously big sister of Lil Diamond II, as you buck the trend, heading south as a sunbird and meeting all the northbound snowbirds. More photos from and of Lil Diamond III coming soon, I hope.
All photos, except Kevin’s, by WVD.
tugster: a waterblog 
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May 13, 2020 at 10:45 pm
varnishman2014
Hi Will….That sailing catamaran doesn’t look like she’ll be going under many bridges, unless she not only ships the mast, but also dismantles the bridge atop the cabin.
The next boat, the twin outboard, on closer examination, is a Steiger Craft, built on Long Island; she was designed and built for sportfishing, offshore; witness the raft, radar, rodholders and a spotlight on the bow pulpit. Oooks like a new model, too….35 feet.
I would guess POCO LOCO is 42-46′ overall, might be a Royal Lowell design….a famous name among Maine commercial fishing boat designers. She appears to be set up for serious distance cruising, with radar, liferaft, satnav, serious radio equipment (judging by the array of antennas)….and perhaps air conditioning for that big saloon (for southern waters and the Bahamas), with what appears to be an A/C grate in the cabin side.
She probably has an independent generator and carries plenty of fuel. Two days from Virginia Beach to NYC is pretty fast….probably twin turbo Diesels…in all, a very serious cruising boat with all the right stuff.
The last boat looks like a 60-65-foot Hatteras, the likes of which usually summer anywhere from eastern Long Island to eastern Massachusetts….close to summer sportfishing….She can probably cruise half again as fast as POCO LOCO…..Harris
On Wed, May 13, 2020, 12:00 PM tugster: a waterblog wrote:
> tugster posted: “The winter fishing boats are gone, likely fishing > elsewhere and replaced by these minimalist machines. There must be good > fish to be had by the Staten Island side of the VZ Bridge. They’re around > in fall also. Otherwise, like leaves” >
May 14, 2020 at 4:12 pm
tugster
A bit more info I forgot to add . . the Hatteras is called OUTCAST. Poco Loco did make me a bit envious.