Mile 1579 - Orient Point, NY

As of July 5, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 3,785,214
Miles: 1585.75



At the far eastern tip of Long Island, in Orient Point, the road and the island finally come to an end. To continue on, the Virtual Walker will need to take another ferry boat ride! This time the Cross Sound Ferry Service will be used giving the walker a choice of seven vessels to sail on.


One of the choices is the passenger only vessel, the Sea Jet I, that can make the 16 mile crossing between Orient Point and New London Connecticut in just 40 minutes.

But if the weather is nice, the walker will be in no hurry and will choose one of the large vehicle ferries. In fact, he will opt for the "Cape Henlopen" which was built as a World War II landing craft (LST 510) in Jeffersonville, Indiana and participated in the D-day invasion at Normandy. In 1966, it was converted to a passenger and auto ferry and served on the Lewes, Delaware - Cape May, New Jersey Route. It was purchased in 1983 by Cross Sound Ferry. I have been on this boat both at Cape May, NJ and at Orient Point! :)

My second choice would be the "Susan Anne" which was built in 1964 as the vessel Prince Nova. The Prince Nova previously operated between Caribou, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island carrying vehicles and passengers between these two locations.

Before leaving Orient Point, however, I will stopped in and say "Hello" to Captain Bob of Rainbow Charters who is a Flounder fish finder extraordinaire. And while I'm there, I'll have some seafood to eat. I'm much like Captain Bob's daughter who says, "Well, I will be the first to admit it... I eat bait! I eat it raw, I steam it, saute it, I poach it, bake it, and I grill it." however, for those of you that aren't so "salty", the Orient By The Sea restaurant is but half a minnow length from the boat.

Once the inner Virtual Walker is satisfied, he will board the ferry boat and as always, notes it passes just off-shore of the mysterious Plum Island on the way to New London Connecticut.

More on Plum Island next time...