39°F mist

FAIR HAVEN: SIDEWALK PLAN GETS PUSHBACK

Pedestrians on Grange Avenue Monday evening. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Residents of a Fair Haven neighborhood on the Navesink River told the borough council Monday night they don’t want sidewalks installed on their “bucolic” streets, even if a $350,000 grant has to be abandoned.

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FAIR HAVEN: THREE RIVER PROJECTS SLATED

The municipal boat ramp at Battin Road. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Upgrades to Fair Haven’s public boat launch and two pocket parks overlooking the Navesink River may be set in motion by the borough council Monday night.

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RED BANK: NAVESINK ON NAVESINK

navesink 1 101314 navesink 2 101314How calm was our beautiful Navesink River when reader Michael McMahon went out for stripers Monday morning? So calm that when you flip his photo, it’s hard to tell which version is the true one. (Photo by Michael McMahon. Click to enlarge)

ON THE RIVER: AN ARTIE PARTY FOR A CAUSE

Baaaquapalooza returns to the Navesink River this weekend, tinged with sadness over the death of co-founder Artie Natsis. (Photo by Stacie Fanelli. Click to enlarge)

By NICK MALFITANO

On two occasions last summer, Baaaquapalooza was the hottest ticket on the Navesink River.

A floating, fun-loving rock ‘n roll extravaganza that drew dozen of boats, the third incarnation was set to continue the bobbing bash in style on August 10. But that was prior to the April passing of 51-year-old Baaaquapalooza co-founder and Middletown resident Arthur Natsis after a seven-year fight against cancer.

Now, the rollicking river bash has a new, added meaning: a tribute to Natsis’s memory.

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RUMSON: MARINA RESURFACING AFTER STORM

Life was returning to normal at the Rumson marina on Tuesday, though a new $3 million Viking that was swept from the lot remained half-sunk on the Middletown side of the Navesink, below. (Photo above by Wil Fulton. Click to enlarge)

By WIL FULTON

More than two weeks after Hurricane Sandy, Oceanic Marina owner Pete Pawlikowski is still trying to restore his ravaged Rumson business. redbankgreen was on the scene day the morning after the storm hit, and returned on Tuesday to check in on the rebuilding process.

“Its mind-boggling, really,” said Pawlikowski, sitting in his once-again operational office and store, which was submerged in over four and half feet of water just two weeks ago. “I’ve never seen so much devastation.”

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STORM WIPES OUT RUMSON MARINA

The Oceanic Marina yard as it appeared early Tuesday, above, and on Saturday from the same spot. (Click to enlarge)

 By JOHN T. WARD

On Saturday, even as he braced for record flooding, Oceanic Marina owner Pete Pawlikowski thought he had the storm beat.

The Navesink River was sure to flood the store and office of his Rumson business, Pawlikowki told redbankgreen, and the level might even break the records.

But as for the fleet of 75 recreational vessels entrusted to him by customers – at worst, he said, he might lose one or two to Hurricane Sandy. But all were safely up on blocks, he said, crowded so tightly into his yard that a person could barely squeeze past them.

By Tuesday morning, they were gone. And even after 30 years of watching storms come and go, a stunned Pawlikowski could hardly begin to comprehend it, he said.

“It’s total destruction,” he said. “We don’t even know where to begin.”

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ROCKING ‘N ROLLING ON THE RIVER


Aboard the Kemosabe, the Moroccan Sheepherders played a concert to an armada of fans bobbing in Blossom Cove on the Middletown side of the Navesink Saturday. (Photos by Stacie Fanelli. Click to enlarge.)

By STACIE FANELLI

Earlier this summer, a week after the Dockside fired them for drawing more fans than the Sea Bright restaurant could accommodate, the Moroccan Sheepherders took their act – and their fans – to a boat in the Navesink River.

‘Baaaquapalooza’ was born.

On Saturday afternoon, a second installment of the concert, in Blossom Cove on the Middletown side, attracted more than 35 boats for a good,old-fashioned floating rock ‘n roll party. That’s not including the band’s host vessel, Art Natsis’ Kemosabe out of Sea Bright, or the inflatable pool raft tied up to it, which served as a mobile mosh pit for the biggest fans.

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FOGGY NOTIONS

fog-2fog-1Fog and glass-smooth water combined to produce some eerie visual effects at the Marine Park boat basin on the Navesink in Red Bank Thursday morning.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for a cloudy day but a sunny Veteran’s Day weekend. (Click to enlarge)

BOAT CLUB OPENS ITS SPRUCED-UP HOUSE

mbc-052710The Monmouth Boat Club’s newly reshingled clubhouse on the Navesink in Red Bank. (Click to enlarge)

All spiffed up for another half-century or so, the Monmouth Boat Club opens its doors to prospective new members Saturday.

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