Tag: ferry

Bouncing Balls at Sandy Hook

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

naturist-football-kick-0017-Sandy-Hook,-NJ,-USA

Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook was very crowded last sunday, but not all beach-goers just lay in the sun: we spent most of the day playing with balls, namely volleyball and football (soccer for you Americans :-)) We had lots of fun and are planning to come back there this Saturday, please join! See my previous post for discount ferry tickets from Manhattan.

naturist volleyball 0005 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

We worked on some good (and beautiful) serves,

naturist volleyball 0003 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

from both sides! It wasn’t often trivial due to changing wind.

naturist volleyball 0010 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Those followed by not less beautiful defense moves,

naturist volleyball 0000 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

that sometimes required sand dives,

naturist volleyball 0006 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

not always successful though.

naturist volleyball 0007 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

A focused two-hand rebound might look less effective but was usually more efficient.

naturist volleyball 0009 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Given the tall height of some of our players and low height of our net, it was sometimes easy to shoot the ball down from just above the net.

naturist volleyball 0008 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

There are lots of techniques that we have to learn and practice, and who knows, maybe we’ll be strong enough to participate at the Naked Volleyball Super Bowl? We had success at the “Bouncing Buns” trail race, so maybe we’ll be lucky with bouncing balls too.

After playing a few matches of volleyball, we decided to switch to football. However, we made a smooth transition by first playing (or rather trying to play) footvolley (futêvolei), a pretty new Brazilian sport that combines aspect of volleyball and football. It proved to be very difficult for us, so we moved on to football (soccer).  Inspired by the ongoing World Cup, we might stick to it this Saturday, especially if we get more players, although I’m also keen on playing some touch rugby.

naturist football 0000 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Here is a pic of our free kick 🙂

naturist football 0002 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

If you want to join the fun, look out for some bouncing balls at a beach near you 🙂

naturist football kick 0010 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Discounted tickets for the ferry to Sandy Hook :-) Let’s show up in big numbers and play some ball games!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Sandy Hook is undisputedly the favorite summer gathering spot for nudists of New York, New Jersey and even Philly. For New York City dwellers, there is a convenient ferry (rightfully called SeaStreak) that departs at two locations in Manhattan, but the cost ($45) may be discouraging. Luckily, this year there is not just one but two discounted ticket options. After some pressure, SeaStreak has release a coupon for $30, as in previous years.

Seastreak ferry coupon 2014

But this year, you can buy an even cheaper ticket with Groupon for $25, which is limited to only one per account, however. Nonetheless, there are two independent links that allow buying two tickets actually (or is there more?) – go and get ’em:

Groupon Seastreak Ferry to Sandy Hook 1 and Groupon Seastreak Ferry to Sandy Hook 2!

I’ve written about Sandy Hook on multiple occasions, so just use the “search” option to your right on this website and get inspired for some beach activities. Volleyball is a must, but after playing some touch rugby at Sunny Rest resort, we’d like to add rugby to our beach routine too! Given the ongoing World Cup, football is also on the list. Come and join us 😉 Why naked? Because what’s the purpose of clothes at a summer beach? None! Rugby and soccer players don’t usually wear protective gear anyways (besides mouth guards, but they are not necessary for touch rugby), so what’s the point in wearing anything at all? Run free and enjoy!

some upcoming events this month

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists
WNBR NYC 2014

World Naked Bike Ride will gather thousands of cyclists in many cities of the Northern Hemisphere to promote cycling as a mode of urban transportation, as well as body acceptance. The dress code is “as bare as you dare”, but in my opinion being naked is the best way to get the message across: cyclists use the power of human body for commuting in the city – so, show that body! – and yet we are the ones who are most prone to the truly indecent exposure to the traffic and vehicle pollution. In most cities, the ride will be held on Saturday, 14 June, but in New York City, it’s on Friday the 13th. This will be a hell of a fun ride: an awesome way to finish off the work week, to say the least! You can see my reports from WNBR in NYC last year and 2012, as well as from Madrid in 2009; Philly Naked Bike Ride is in August, and with 3500 participants last year is the biggest one I’ve participated. Although I don’t know the reasons why WNBR is held on a different day here in New York than in most the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, I’m glad that it’s on Friday, because it lets me go for the weekend to yet another amazing event.

Free Form Festival brings together the vast East-Coast creative arts community from 12-16 June at at The Schuylkill County Fairgrounds, Pennsylvania. With its aim to “increase diversity in our local artistic landscape”, it will surely be interesting and fun, and by the way, it is an officially clothing-optional event too! Tickets are still on sale and may be purchased by clicking here. Who else is going?

I’m also looking forward to ‘Bouncing Buns‘ 7k Trail Race in Pennsylvania for American Cancer Society on the 21st of June. 7km is the longest distance that I’ve seen for a naked or clothing-optional race – it’s good to be challenged, moreover for a good cause. Well, in 2012, I passed the challenge pretty well, coming in third! I ran a bit faster last year, but with fiercer competition, I had only 7th result. This year, I cannot hope to run faster, as I’m still not 100% recovered after my ankle injury, but will I have less fun? Of course not! With 150 or so naturist folks of all shapes and ages, everybody can feel comfortable in their own skin. However, I’m going with a couple of fellows again, and it doesn’t hurt to have some healthy competition, just like with the friends in ‘Team America’ that I got to know last year. The event is organized by Pretzel City Sports and you can register for the race at their website: $25 before June 9, $32 after. Part of your registration fee will support American Cancer Society, and afterwards you get an opportunity to hang out at Sunny Rest naturist resort, where the trail race will take place. It’s a great opportunity to run just the way you like. The event is clothing-optional, and we’ll certainly opt for the style of the [authentic] Olympic runners 😉 Also, if you have any doubts about running naked, have a look at my brief overview that links running and our naturally naked (furless) body from an evolutionary perspective – I hope it’ll make sense to you. Besides participating in the race, we also plan to do some yoga at Sunny Rest, as well as play badminton and volleyball.

Last but not least, as the beach season has commenced, it’s worth mentioning that there is a Groupon sale for the Seastreak ferry from Manhattan to Sandy Hook beach: $25 instead of regular $45. Unfortunately, unlike in previous years, there is no $30 coupon on Seastreak’s website, and you can only get one groupon ticket…

Yoga is more fun under the sun… and stars

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

naturist-0000-yoga,-the-Woods-campground,-PA-USA

Last minute announcement: This coming Sunday, we’ll be at Sandy Hook beach with two yoga instructors from the group that I organized a few months ago. There are several yoga groups in New York City that practice yoga naked (see my review of Zensual yoga, for example), but my group started as much less formal gathering of friends; now it’s become a regular, weekly class with 2 rotating instructors and more visiting, and a dozen or so students, and we’ve even had a retreat at the Woods campground!

naturist 0003 yoga, the Woods campground, PA USA

I haven’t announced this group on this blog because it was meant mainly for friends, and it grew fast enough with word of mouth. During summer, we’ve been holding classes at the rooftop of one of us in Uptown Manhattan in the evenings. Well, the sky in Manhattan isn’t very starry, but even so it is pretty amazing to stretch out on the roof under stars… and airplanes. I must say after getting used to doing yoga al fresco and au naturel, it would be hard to practice it any other way. The weather seems to be great on Sunday, you can join us at Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook (see my previous blogpost for the ferry coupon) to do some yoga under the sun and try something like this:

naturist 0012 yoga, the Woods campground, PA USA

Partner stretch/acro-yoga class was probably the most popular at our retreat in the Woods. Besides that, it was also pretty amazing to have an awakening morning yoga session listening to the rain (that one we did under the roof). After that, we covered ourselves with mud and did the no-rain dance, so the sky was clear throughout the rest of the retreat weekend. This time, it looks like we don’t even need that, the forecast is fine 🙂

naturist-0000-rain-dance,-the-Woods-campground,-PA-USA

coupon for the ferry to Sandy Hook (another excuse to post about the beach)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

We had quite an awesome blogpost about Sandy Hook beach for the 4th of July, but as I am often asked about the discount coupon for the Seastreak Ferry that brings you from Manhattan to the beach, I am just posting it here on my blog (they don’t make it easy to find at the Seastreak website).

This is also a good excuse to post some of the older photos that have been waiting for a moment like this.

naturist 0002 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

So, as you can conclude from the company’s name, the ferry brings you to streak by the sea 😉

naturist 0001 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Well, this is not exactly streaking, as the Gunnison Beach of Sandy Hook is a legal clothing-optional beach. By the way, as you can see, even nudists are not opposed to using fabric… and there are some other options of using it besides clothing 😉 It is nice to see it waving in the wind.

naturist 0000 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

In the end, it is all about freedom, you can leave your hat niqab on 😀

naturist 0003 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Here is a couple of photos from the last two visits. When many people got scared of rain and clouds last Saturday, not only did they miss the Tacoboy’s Beachfest and perfect weather for volleyball, but also a full rainbow in the end of the day!

rainbow 0003 from Sandy Hook to NYC, NY, USA

Sunday turned out to be a full day of sun, and the last ferry was bringing us to the city with a stunning sunset view!

naturist 0002 from Sandy Hook to NYC, NY, USA

Could it be more perfect? Maybe if the sun was right by the torch of Miss Liberty… but let’s not ask for too much from a casual trip to the beach.

naturist 0001 from Sandy Hook to NYC, NY, USA

Seeing these iconic views on the way from the beach makes taking the quite expensive ferry worthwhile (besides bringing you to the city faster than by car).

naturist 0000 from Sandy Hook to NYC, NY, USA

By the way, I almost forgot about the discount coupon with all these views, here it is.

Seastreak Ferry coupon to Sandy Beach 2013 summer season