Combine in a mixing bowl:
1 cup water at 110ºF (40ºC)
1 package active dry yeast
Dissolve fully and beat for 3 minutes.
Sift in 1½ cups all-purpose flour:
2 tablespoons soft butter
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Stir in:
1½ cups all-purpose flour and knead until the dough is firm. Let it rise in a covered greased bowl until double in size. Punch down and divide into pieces. Preheat oven to 475ºF (200ºC). With your palms roll out into lengths, tapering the ends, and loop into the traditional shape. Place on a well greased baking sheet and let rise to double in bulk. Set up a pot with:
4 cups boiling water mixed with 5 tablespoons baking soda
With a straining spoon lower the pretzels into the water for 1 minute, until they float. Place on the greased sheet and sprinkle with:

Coarse sea salt
Bake until brown and crispy about 10-12 minutes. Captain Eddie Squire on board the 'J.F.K.'
St. George Terminal, Staten Island,
August 17,1998.

... the captains, mates, deckhands and engineers here have varied backgrounds... many sailed on the big ships, some come from ocean going vessels and a lot of guys from the tugs...and I myself, I kept many photoalbums and memories of the great passenger ships and freighters of the world, like those of the Grace Line and the U.S. Lines, which I sailed on...right now, the Staten Island Ferry have seven boats and thirteen captains... we have day crews, night crews, and midnight crews, it's a massive operation....it's safe, reliable and efficient...everything on these boats has a purpose...the slips, the aprons* and the bridges, everything is designed for purpose, everything is meant for these long hard runs and continual use. ...in fact we navigate by eye..on a regular trip, once we've cleared the slips it's like a river track...you know the courses there, you see the aids to navigation, it's a regular run...sometimes you just let her ride the tide...here's our chart up here (on the ceiling above the wheel)...and then we have our radar, of course, and our radio, the eyes and ears of the vessel, and we have our compass...you'll see the buoys, the aids to navigation...we'll see them on radar, they're steel...and at night you can see their lights, their sequence and that...it's different at night, especially in the summertimes.

*apron = loading ramp
.