Kayaking with porpoises and seals in New York Harbor

Vladmimir Brezina's slide show of kayaking in New York harbor with porpoises and seals.  the times they are a changin!!

NY 400 - the Dutch return

The 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's Haalv Maan (Half Moon) journey to New York harbor was marked by a parade of traditional Dutch vessels. As usual New York harbor's premier photo-journalist Tugster was there. For more wonderful shots go HERE.

Flinterduin arrives in NY Harbor with a shipload of yachts

Thanks to Tugster for the pix and the story.

1997 - Ted and Eunice Kennedy aboard Mya win the Mayor's Cup

It was September 1997. The South Street Seaport sponsored the 31st annual Mayor's Cup race in New York harbor for Schooners and wooden boats. We were there (John Collins and I) aboard my 16' North River, a Herreshoff 12 1/2.

Ted and Eunice were there. They had brought Mya down to New York for the occasion. (Here at the Liberty Landing dock in the Morris Canal Jersey City). There was a fleet of Star boats racing. (They walked away from everyone in light air.) Ted and Eunice and I chatted about the Star boats. They reminisced about sailing their Star as kids with Jack.

As the north wind died the current turned south. The fleet, in parade formation, was stalled by the building ebb tide. I turned on the motor and crawled through the fleet to get up river of the line before the first gun. We heard a diesel motor kick in and Kennedy charged through the fleet at about 8 knots to get upwind of the line.

The schooners started first and Kennedy was first over the line, with Eunice at the helm. Halsey Herreshoff in the Neith got caught below the line - and anchored. We passed him on our way south. As we neared the leeward mark a big cat boat and a small steel schooner (which had passed us) miscalculated and were stalled by a northbound tanker. With a better angle of sail we passed both of them!

In a 22 boat fleet we were the smallest boat by 10 feet yet we finished 15/22 on elapsed time (well ahead of Neith) and 10/22 on corrected time. My best performance ever in the Mayor's Cup.

Kennedy - first over the starting line never lost the lead - winning the Mayor's Cup.

Bowsprite - the Sturgeon of Liberty State Park

Thanks to Tugster and Bowsprite for exploring a surviving bit of the salt marsh behind the Statue of Liberty. They find clams, oysters, sturgeons and other harbor edibles. A video of the biggest find - the carcass of a 6 foot sturgeon - shows that the fish that once dominated the river survives.

The marsh and the fish are transformed by Bowsprite's watercolors, which beautifully abstract the shock of the found carcass of a six foot sturgeon. The fish lies half-buried in a salt marsh of the kind that once dominated the harbor shoreline, in a lost, beautiful world. The river and the harbor fed New York City and its surrounds. Sturgeon (Albany beef), shad, stripers and blues, along with the oysters that carpeted the bottom of the New York Bay, were the staple source of protein in New York's first three centuries.

My daughter Taisy's fifth grade teacher - Mr. Lofton - at P.S. 84 on Columbus Avenue - took the kids to Jamaica Bay to cast nets and catch shiners (spearing)! Mr. Lofton was an award-winning teacher. The City should be pleading with Bowsprite and Tugster - to teach teachers how to teach children (and grownups) about the Harbor.

Lighthouses of New York Harbor

Here's an audio slideshow from the Times, narrated by a Coast Guard petty officer, describing the lighthouses of New York. Particular mention is made of Stepping Stones off City Island and Execution Rocks off Sands Point.

Here's the link to the NY Times

Bowsprite: Sketches and Accents on Marine Channel 13

Bowsprite paints water colors and listens and watches the traffic in New York Harbor.  As the pictures here show and the dialog below demonstates, she has a good eye and ear.  The pictures are the John J. Harvey (heroes of 9/11/2001), the W.O.Decker (So. St. Seaport historic tug), and the Bremerhavn (container ship).  So check out Bowsprite - a New York harbor sketchbook

(Indian accent, proper and polite): “British Lines, to the Dela rosa…British Lines, Dela Rosa.“
(American accent): “Dela Rosa.”
(Indian accent): “Uh, what are your intentions, sir? are you angry?”
(American): “Yes, we’re anchoring.”
(Indian accent): “Oh, well, could you please give us some room?”
(American): “Will do.”
(Indian): “Thank you, sir…”

Beautiful accents…”dulcet” is how Towmasters describes the lyrical southern and cajun accents.

It’s not just voices one hears. One midnight, a captain announced his plans to go to sea. In the background was a quick whiff of Jimi Hendrix.

Another time, some poor captain shared his wheelhouse with some very noisy machinery, so that whenever he spoke on the radio, he seemed to be accompanied by a bagpipe quartet.

Tugster - NY Harbor man

The Sixth Borough is the harbor, says the blogger who calls himself Tugster. 

I have taken a lot of pictures of tugs and barges - from North River 2 mostly -  but  Tugster has made it an avocation.  

Based in Staten Island he is well situated for his observations.  His interest reminds me of the days when the Times daily showed scheduled sailings and arrivals of steamships, and described their cargo.

The bridge is the Bayonne Bridge,and the Coast Guard ship is the buoy tender Ida Lewis.

The first and last of these shots are mine, the others are Tugster's.  I expect to come back to his site.  It's got lots of good shots - like the salt depot, barges, and cranes that I'll probably do as a post.

So check out TUGSTER