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Here was Summer Sail 1; and since that dates from almost two years ago.
Clipper City looks great juxtaposed against the skyline, but
ketch Catriona . . . she has Herreshoff pedigree.
No matter . . . larger schooner or smaller and more intimate ketch,
one is pampered moving by sail in the sixth boro. And that includes the option of sailing aboard the oldest harbor schooner of all . . . Pioneer.
Above and below, it’s Pioneer, and below the other schooner is one you won’t see in the sixth boro for a few years . . . Lettie G. Howard. Of course, if you head over to Lake Erie–where I’ll be n a few weeks–you may catch a glimpse, even catch a ride.
And finishing it off, it’s America 2.0.
All photos taken by Will Van Dorp in the past 365 days.
Recall that “fifth dimension” is my code for the time travel series; call it history if you wish.
In 1968–50 fast years ago!!– Mon Lei, which transited the harbor last weekend, was more of a presence. All photos here come from Steve Munoz, who writes: “I saw your post and remembered seeing a Chinese junk at the South Seaport in June 1968, and I looked at my pics, which were originally slides. I was on the tug Dalzelleagle (1958 and now McAllister Brothers) with my uncle Bob Munoz, captain and pilot with McAllister. We had some time between jobs so we walked over to the Mon Lei and the people on the boat let us go aboard and inside to take a look. If I remember correctly, the boat was built in Hong Kong around 1895. The interior was beautifully hand-carved mahogany, but very musty smell. You will also see the USCG sail vessel Eagle at seaport pier. I did not know that Mon Lei was still around.”
Another reader of Monday’s post wrote: ” I boat-sat her for one week in maybe the winter of 87-88. Was bitter cold and she was wintering at the late great Pier 15 [pictured above and below]. Normally she lived at the E 23rd St. marina, but some construction was going on there. Alan York was traveling on business, so I looked after her. The interior was nothing short of a fantasy world of Asian carving and ornamentation. One friend described it as a “floating fornicatorium.” Also a nice comfy oil burner for heat. I remember he was scouring the world for new bamboo of a certain kind for her sail battens. Quite the gentleman.”
If you didn’t look at this link previously, see it now for some interior shots.
I’m curious about the two vessels alongside the pier in the lower right.
Continuing here with photos from Steve, below is the future that never was . . . NS Savannah passing Ellis Island (onion domes) bound for sea. It was June 1968, almost exactly a half century ago for all these photos.
Back when some tugboats had eagles atop their wheelhouses . . . this was Steve’s Uncle Bob at the helm. A few years ago, I recall seeing one of McAllister’s boats with a plastic dinosaur atop the wheelhouse for a while. I’ll have to look for the photo.
On a different note, here’s a photo by Elizabeth Wood taken in 2005 of Lettie G. Howard along the Brooklynside of the Upper Bay. Lettie G., built in 1893 (125 years ago, making her as old or even older than Mon Lei, depending on which story you believe. for all you readers downcast of me, Lettie G. departed the Hudson River around 0700 today, heading for Lake Erie via Gloucester and Nova Scotia. She is on AIS. Nelson, Joey, Mac, Jack, Marc, Brenda, Jake, Barry . . . you know who you are. I hope to see Lettie G. on Lake Erie this summer; I hope you do too.
Thanks to Steve and Elizabeth for use of these photos.
Call it a sea change. The air warms up although the water is still very cold.
Sea Lion does what it has all winter, but what’s different is the reappearance of non-workboats. Sea Lion has some history on this blog.
Evening Light moves north in anticipation of summer.
Pleasure boats move into an environment that has been consistently about work throughout the winter.
Mischief passes New Champion and Stephen Dann, which brought in highway ramp sections. Would these sections be for the Bayonne, the Tappan Zee, or another?
Small party boats
head out to catch what spring fish migrate in. Should there be a Really Never Snuff Express?
Bigger party boats appear as well.
Fast open boats and
slower enclosed cruisers, of all sorts
pass Atlantic Salvor as it returns from another dredge spoils run.
Norwegian Escape has smaller boats
accompany it on its way into the Narrows and the harbor. If my numbers are correct, Escape has capacity for 5999 souls, including crew, which is more than the population of Taos, Marfa, and well more than the town where I grew up.
I’ve not seen many of these smaller boats since early last fall, and on a warm Sunday, they start to reappear. Drive safe; work safe.
All photos by Will Van Dorp, whose other posts about small craft can be read here.
Schooner Richard Robbins Sr. has not appeared in this blog for almost 11 years, but once last summer while I was looking for something else, there she came into view, and sporting a fresh coat of paint.
Richard Robbins Sr., built in 1902 as a Delaware Bay oyster schooner, is one of five that remain. An NPS report on one of the others —Isaac H. Evans–can be read here.
More on RR Sr. here.
Anyone know how deep the centerboard swings?
I don’t know if she’s still out of the water. When she went (or goes) in, she’ll need to hang in the slings awhile to allow the banks to swell shut again.
All photos by Will Van Dorp, back last August.
Here are previous posts in this series.
Many thanks to Capt. Justin Zizes for these next six photos, all taken on November 6 during the transit of two Scarano schooners from NYC’s sixth boro up to Albany.
I would have joined as crew, but had obligations down river. Here they glide under the TZ,
and northward . . . .
The highlands look positively fjord-like, because of course that is what that stretch of river is.
Here the boat approaches the bridges in Poughkeepsie.
Not quite a month ago–October 19–I caught another Scarano schooner up
by the Bear Mountain Brdge.
Unrelated: Here’s an article on damage to insured recreational vessels from the hurricanes of 2017.
Way in the distance where the waterway narrows, that’s lock E-11 and accompanying moveable dam, Amsterdam NY. Click here for closer-ups of some of the Erie Canal locks and bank scenery.
I saw no names anywhere as this catamaran cut dynamic grooves into a calm river, where I was waiting–in vain–for a vessel in the opposite direction, hoping to get photos of it navigating through the morning mist. By this time, that mist had dissipated.
Here Bear motorsails westward past Little Gull light . . .
Anyone help with the name of this large sloop in the sixth boro about three weeks back?
It looked to be about 60–70′ . . .
America 2.0 plied harbor waters operations
out of Chelsea Piers.
Off Croton Point, this metallic-looking catamaran headed upriver.
Again, I noticed no name, but the flag could say Bermuda.
Even as the mainsail is lowered, Clearwater is unmistakeable.
And this brings up back up to the Oswego Canal, it’s brigantine St Lawrence II;
her rig conspicuously missing tells me it went on ahead on a truck. St. Lawrence II here was nearing Oswego.
And to close this out, here are three photos from Lake Erie, late summer.
All photos recently by Will Van Dorp, who by this time should be back on the St. Lawrence River.
Lest you think Combi-Dock III and Peking–I will get back to them– are the only thing happening in the watery parts of NYC, here’s just a sampling . . . in a series I started last summer.
SBI Macarena –a fairly new bulk carrier– came in past the Brooklynside ramps for the VZ Bridge,
passing Jo Provel on the way out . . .
looking quite large relative to the new NYC ferry.
Tanker New Confidence tested its systems–water and sonic–as Doris Moran arrived.
Where the Wind Blows sails south toward the Narrows, so fast that
I lost track of her, although I admit to being distracted by this squadron passing overhead Elizabeth Anne.
Pioneer–one of South Street Seaport Museum’s schooners–also sailed past and ever went outside
the Narrows, where I’ll pick this up another day.
All photos by Will Van Dorp, waiting for Combi-Dock III action.
The last leg for now goes from Newport to Warren RI, but given the favorable wind before the torrent, let’s watch those contemporaries who play in this N-Bay city with such a long colonial and post-colonial history.
I’m quite unschooled about these speedsters, like the one showing her red belly. A 12-meter, I suppose?
Northbound past Beavertail Light?
Madeleine heads out to play.
This racer is sponsored by the Danish wind energy company, quite appropriately, as I would hardly expect an ExxonMobil sponsored wind boat, although petroleum energy companies have started investing heavily in renewables . . . so someday soon there might be an Exxon sail racer. Here’s BP’s portfolio.
Aurora has been featured here almost two year ago.
Marilee (1926) is a classic, as is Pam (1921), once a whiskey runner.
Just as the wind boats use moving air currents to speed, this red tail benefitted from it to hover over a snake, which he eventually dropped, caught, and hauled off behind the tree line . . .
This is not a great photo, but Wallace Foss (1897!!) can be yours for a mere $165,000. Those winds eventually brought lots of rain, which we
saw as we did the last short step . . . Newport to Warren.
I’d love to have seen NOAA’s Gunter and Bigelow closer up . . .
Gracie M. Reinauer (2016) waited for more favorable offshore weather before heading to the sixth boro.
And finally, after over a 1000 miles on our itinerary, we return to home base, where Niagara Prince welcomes us back. So does anyone have photos to share of Niagara Prince in the Champlain Canal, the western Erie, Chicago Sanitary Canal, or any other inland waterway where scale make her look immense?
All photos by Will Van Dorp. For a similar focus on sailing vessels associated with a specific water mass, click here for photos from the Great ! Chesapeake Schooner race.
And if you’ve not caught the connection of this journey to Albert Gallatin (a US founding father), click here.
You may recall the schooner Issuma? Click here for many of the posts featuring her and her skipper Richard Hudson. She’s overwintering in the sixth boro after a truly remarkable voyage. When he left northward from the sixth boro in the fall of 2010, inviting me to sail along as a Halloween ride, he
eventually sailed out the Saint Lawrence, up along western Greenland, across northern Canada through the Northwest Passage, through Dolphin and Union Strait, southward in the Bering Strait, eventually to Easter Island, around Cape Horn into the Antarctic . . .
to Cape Town, and then northward along SW Africa until jumping off for St Helena, and then single-handing back to the sixth boro. That adds up to a circumnavigation of the North and South American continents and then some, and I think that’s a big deal. If you want to read about the entire trip, click here.
All photos here by Will Van Dorp.
Here are some posts about Lettie G. Howard.
Want to join the crew for a sail to Gloucester for the 2016 schooner race, be part of the race crew, or help sail the 1893 schooner back to NYC’s sixth boro?
You’d be crew in training, integrated into watch-standing along with her professional crew.
On the return, she stops in New London for the Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival. And all the while, you’d be supporting the good work of South Street Seaport Museum, which has many other unparalleled events coming up in the next few weeks.
Here are the specifics on ticket prices, dates, and itineraries:
NYC to Gloucester | 8/29-9/2: $800.00*
Gloucester Schooner Race | 9/4: $160.00
Gloucester to New London | 9/5-9/9: $800.00
New London to NYC | 9/11-9/13: $480.00
*Sail the first leg and join the race at no additional cost!
To reserve your spot, email: lettieghoward@seany.org
The first and last photos here come from Hannah Basch-Gould; all the other have been taken by Will Van Dorp, who on these dates will be gallivanting to francophone Canada in search of Champlain’s dream.
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