At Sea With New York Harbor’s Channel Masters - The New York Times
by Emily S. Rueb
Aboard the Pilot Boat New Jersey — A speed of 7 knots at sea is equal to about 8 miles per hour on land, which doesn’t sound very fast.
That is not how it feels 15 miles or so southeast of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, where the Queen Mary 2 is heading out into the Atlantic.
Capt. Thomas J. Keating Jr. emerges from a door in the belly of the vessel, an ocean liner that is about the length of the Empire State Building if it were turned on its side.
The wind is whipping on this Tuesday in August, but Captain Keating’s purple tie is securely fastened under his vest as he climbs down onto the bow of a 53-foot aluminum boat riding beside the larger ship, like a minnow next to a whale.
