This isn't specifically Cape Dory related but I thought you might be interested in what we experienced during "<a href="http://www.sailforamerica.com/">Sail for America</a>" this past Saturday which was a tribute to the victims of September 11th. It took place in New York Harbor.
It was "organized chaos" as expected with so many sailing vessels in the harbor -- there were literally thousands of boats including the tall ships "Lady Baltimore", "HMS Bounty", "Kalmer Nickel (sp??)" and others. I took some photos of the Bounty and the Kalmer Nickel as we passed them with only about a boatlength between us -- Realization's boatlength that is.
The morning wind was coming from the south and it was very light, so some of the boats (very few), especially the big square riggers, had all sail up, or spinnakers flying, as they sailed with the wind behind them. But most of us motorsailed up the river, including Realization, with only our mainsails hoisted.
We were in Group C (boats coming from south of the Verazanno Narrows Bridge) which were to gather at West Bank on Raritan Bay. We left Lockwood's, the marina where we keep our boat, at about 6:40 a.m. with several other participating sailboats. Nearly all of the sailboats at Lockwood's participated. And from what I could tell, nearly all of the sailboats from the other area yacht clubs and marinas participated as well.
Some of the other boats from Lockwood's had made arrangements to sail with the YC fleets but we were on our own. So we headed east towards Old Orchard Shoal. As we approached Old Orchard Shoal lighthouse the Group C lead boat made an announcement (Sail for America communications were on VHF Ch. 71) that all Group C boats should rendezvous between YN"A" and YN"C" at the north end of Gravesend Bay near Brooklyn, NY. I whipped out the chart and located those buoys and adjusted our course from West Bank to YN"A". The new course brought us between Hoffman and Staten Islands then straight across the channel to YN"A". Anyway, we went straight to YN"A" avoiding West Bank altogether while the YC fleets met at West Bank before heading northward to Gravesend Bay. (Realization was the first boat there!)
We were there waiting when the Group C leader arrived aboard "Vici", a boat we knew and recognized immediately, so we pulled alongside when they arrived and got our instructions from them and then headed towards the buoy that our group would be gathering near, YN"B". The entire fleet from various ports on Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Brooklyn and points south was heading towards us. We were the only vessel travelling from the other direction and we threaded our way through the fleet seeing many others that we knew (including Dennis Driscoll (CD28 Ladybug) and Linda Pistilli (CD30 Theodore B), and some that we didn't know (including a CD25 Sleek and a Robinhood 36, though we've seen the Robinhood before) and said our hellos. Bob Emmons (CD30 Red Wing) hailed us on the VHF and we talked to him but never found him. We were hoping he'd be able to find us since our tanbark mainsail stands out in a crowd, and we were the only boat with tanbark sails in the Group C staging area.
The parade started right on time. We were supposed to head from Gravesend Bay (which is on the Brooklyn side of Ambrose Channel) across the channel and up the NJ side of the river until we were west of Governor's Island. At that point the fleet was supposed to cross the Hudson again back towards Governor's Island and meet up with the boats that were coming from Long Island Sound (Group B) and the boats that were coming from north of the George Washington Bridge (Group A) as well as the boats that were already in the harbor. There was so much ship traffic going in and out of the harbor that most of Group C couldn't go up the NJ side as planned and had to stay closer to Brooklyn. I think the tug captains must have been crapping in their pants. Dealing with our fleet had to be nerve-wracking.
Group A would be travelling down the western shore of the Hudson River (the NJ side), and pass the Statue of Liberty before making their turn northward. Group B would travel down the East River, down Buttermilk Channel east of Governor's Island and turn as they passed the southern tip of Governor's Island to head up the Hudson. And there were two yacht racing regattas going on in the harbor too. (We had to maneuver past one of the racing boats to stay out of its way.) So there was an unbelievable mass of boats, Group A to our port and Group B to our starboard and boats racing, taking back and forth, in the middle of it all, as we approached the Statue of Liberty and Governor's Island.
It was VERY intimidating with so many boats traveling so close together -- the Group C parade was several boats abreast travelling in order of size with the largest boats first. We were in the 32-34 foot section. At least we were all travelling in the same direction, but we still had to stay out of the way of the in- and outbound cruise, container and cargo ships as well as tugs with barges and ferries which made it a bit harrowing at times as hundreds of boats had to move out of the way at the same time with limited room to maneuver. You couldn't turn until the guy next to you did (and he was only 30 feet or less away), otherwise there'd be a collision. Have you ever seen how a large school of fish move in unison, suddenly changing direction all at once? Well I felt like a fish in a large school except people and their boats aren't quite as agile or as quick to react.
Needless to say, there was alot of horn blasting from the big guys and the regatta put a crimp in the ferry traffic as well. I saw one of the Staten Island ferries and one of the Circle Line ships come to a complete stop. And good thing one of the Staten Island ferries slowed down, because she was heading straight for us from Manhattan. I punched up Realization's throttle to 3000 RPMs and scooted up on the sterns of the boats ahead of us, prodding them to move faster, so that we could stay out of the way of that ferry, but she pretty much slowed to a crawl and inched her way through the fleet behind us as other boats scattered to go around the ferry past her stern.
All participating boats had been asked to fly the U.S. flag, a big one if they could. We flew the U.S. flag from our stern. Anyway, there were alot of flags flying. Also, the boats were flying burgees for each of the victims of September 11th. Each burgee had the name of a victim on it. There were 3026 burgees in total! The burgees were to be collected and distributed to the victims' families afterwards.
The parade route brought our fleet past the reviewing area at North Cove where we were presented by the Group C leader. As I listened to our group being announced to the officials in the review area I was reminded of a political convention as the words "I am proud to present the Group C fleet comprising sailing vessels from Raritan Bay, the great State of New Jersey, the burroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond and points south" were spoken over the VHF.
After passing the USS Intrepid the fleet turned and headed west, crossed the river, and headed south again. At that point the wind filled in and many boats unfurled their headsails to sail back down the river closehauled. This is when things got even dicier. It was difficult enough trying to maneuver among boats that were motoring, now we had to dodge the sailing vessels, and dodge them we did. Bruce was getting pissed. It was really too dangerous to sail in such close and choppy confines. Anyway, one of our friends from Lockwoods' was sailing and I tried to get some pictures of him. We were close enough to carry on a conversation so he asked that I get some pictures of the starboard side of Veracity since that was where the burgees were flying. So we maneuvered around Veracity and I took a few more photos. I'm not a very good photographer. I have a tendency to not hold the camera steady and it wasn't an easy task in all the chop. So they're probably all blurry -- we'll see.
Also while we were heading back down the river the rescue boat parade began. It began as the rest of the event began, with the fireboats leading the pack, spraying water every which way. So now the workboats that we had been dodging, the ferries, as well as the tug boats, pilot boats, Coast Guard boats and excursion boats that had participated in the rescues on September 11th (about 130 vessels in all, led up the river by the fireboat John J. Harvey), got in line and paraded up the east side of the river as the sailing fleet paraded down the west side. It was quite a sight to see.
We continued to motorsail until we approached the Verazanno Narrows Bridge, then we unfurled our yankee. The wind was blowing at 20+ knots from the southwest at that point and Realization sailed on her side with water flowing over the deck as we sailed under the bridge.
Once on the bay, not only was the wind on the nose but the current was against us as well. Even though our knotmeter bobbed up and down between 5.6 and 6.1 knots, the GPS showed that we were only travelling at between 3.9 and 4.4 knots. I suggested reefing the main but Bruce didn't want to. He thought it was too dangerous to send anybody forward. Anyway, Bruce was at the helm (we had been taking turns at the helm all day) and I asked him to just maintain his course and I'd reef the main. I let out the main and let it flail, then went forward and put a single reef in -- or so I thought. I made my way back to the cockpit and realized that I had reefed the main at the second cringle instead of the first at the tack but I had sheeted in the correct reefing line for a single reef at the clew. So I had to go back forward and haul the main up so that I could set the reef at the first reefing point where I wanted it. Realization was much better behaved after that and the wind continued to freshen. Then it started to rain. So I was glad that we had reefed. That was also the first time that we had ever reefed without the aid of the engine.
We made it back to the inlet at Cheesequake Creek in time for the 6:00 p.m. bridge along with most of the other Sail for America participants from Lockwood's. It was an exciting day and there was alot of chatter on the docks as many of the crews were still all wound up from the day's activities. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime events and I'm glad we did it.
Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay
catherine_monaghanNOSPAM@merck.com
We participated in "Sail for America" on Sept. 14th
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Warren Kaplan
Re: We participated in "Sail for America" on Sept. 14th
Catherine and Bruce,
Sounds like you had both an exciting and a nerve wracking day. So many vessels in such close proximity is inherently dangerous. But for such and occasion its sure worth it.
I think we were treated to "a first" in Catherine's narrative. Realization sailing with a reefed mainsail. I just know Catherine loves to sail Realization well heeled over! (HA!)
In any event, thanks for letting those of us who couldn't attend enjoy the day by proxy.
Warren Kaplan
Sine Qua Non
CD27
Oyster Bay Harbor, NY
Setsail728@aol.com
Sounds like you had both an exciting and a nerve wracking day. So many vessels in such close proximity is inherently dangerous. But for such and occasion its sure worth it.
I think we were treated to "a first" in Catherine's narrative. Realization sailing with a reefed mainsail. I just know Catherine loves to sail Realization well heeled over! (HA!)
In any event, thanks for letting those of us who couldn't attend enjoy the day by proxy.
Warren Kaplan
Sine Qua Non
CD27
Oyster Bay Harbor, NY
Setsail728@aol.com
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Bill Goldsmith
Second Chance was there, too!!
Second Chance left Shattemuc YC in Ossining, NY (29 nm north of the Battery on the Hudson) at about 6:30 am. We had wished to make a 6am start but getting 3 kids outa bed and to the boat is a daunting task at 5:30 am.
There could not have been a better day tide-wise for coming down the Hudson. We caught the southern ebb just north of Tarrytown and rode it all the way down. We made the GW Bridge at about 0940, and the main fleet for Group A was about 40 minutes ahead of us, having no doubt left on schedule at 0900. No problem, we raised the main and motored south with the wind on the nose. At about 79th street we caught up with a number of vessels under sail tacking down the river. We continued motoring to try to catch the pack. We caught up with the pack just south of Ground Zero. We motor-sailed down to the green can by the Statue of Liberty, and turned north, joining the pack, including many boats coming north from the Narrows.
We thought about trying to hail Cathy and Bruce or other CDSOA members, but there was so much radio traffic we decided to keep quiet and just keep a lookout. We saw a nice CD30 ketch, too far away to spot the name. We did not spot Realization or any other CDs (go figure--there were only 1,000 or more boats participating!!)
Sailing north by Ground Zero was a solemn experience. The wind had fallen down to mere puffs, so most everyone was motorsailing, running with the wind dead abaft. We passed Ground Zero northbound at about 1230, about 4/5 of the way back in the pack it seemed. However, by the time we got to about 14th street it seemed that there were many more behind us, perhaps more had joined from points south.
We began to pick up the flood tide at that time, and decided to continue north and home. Unlike Cathy's experience, we had little or no wind most of the way. The front arrived for us as we approached Ossining, so we took a few tacks for fun around Croton Bay, before heading in.
It was great participating in this, and seeing the event through the eyes of my 6, 9 and 13 year old boys. They were wide-eyed as we participated in a quiet, respectful tribute to those lost on that horrific day. Huge barques, schooners all the way down to 20 footers shared the water peacefully (although there were a few hot-dogs spied tacking across the line of boats).
I have heard rumors about making this an annual event. Maybe we can get Northeast Fleet CDs to participate together next year!
Bill Goldsmith
CD27#173
Second Chance
goldy@bestweb.net
There could not have been a better day tide-wise for coming down the Hudson. We caught the southern ebb just north of Tarrytown and rode it all the way down. We made the GW Bridge at about 0940, and the main fleet for Group A was about 40 minutes ahead of us, having no doubt left on schedule at 0900. No problem, we raised the main and motored south with the wind on the nose. At about 79th street we caught up with a number of vessels under sail tacking down the river. We continued motoring to try to catch the pack. We caught up with the pack just south of Ground Zero. We motor-sailed down to the green can by the Statue of Liberty, and turned north, joining the pack, including many boats coming north from the Narrows.
We thought about trying to hail Cathy and Bruce or other CDSOA members, but there was so much radio traffic we decided to keep quiet and just keep a lookout. We saw a nice CD30 ketch, too far away to spot the name. We did not spot Realization or any other CDs (go figure--there were only 1,000 or more boats participating!!)
Sailing north by Ground Zero was a solemn experience. The wind had fallen down to mere puffs, so most everyone was motorsailing, running with the wind dead abaft. We passed Ground Zero northbound at about 1230, about 4/5 of the way back in the pack it seemed. However, by the time we got to about 14th street it seemed that there were many more behind us, perhaps more had joined from points south.
We began to pick up the flood tide at that time, and decided to continue north and home. Unlike Cathy's experience, we had little or no wind most of the way. The front arrived for us as we approached Ossining, so we took a few tacks for fun around Croton Bay, before heading in.
It was great participating in this, and seeing the event through the eyes of my 6, 9 and 13 year old boys. They were wide-eyed as we participated in a quiet, respectful tribute to those lost on that horrific day. Huge barques, schooners all the way down to 20 footers shared the water peacefully (although there were a few hot-dogs spied tacking across the line of boats).
I have heard rumors about making this an annual event. Maybe we can get Northeast Fleet CDs to participate together next year!
Bill Goldsmith
CD27#173
Second Chance
Catherine Monaghan wrote: This isn't specifically Cape Dory related but I thought you might be interested in what we experienced during "<a href="http://www.sailforamerica.com/">Sail for America</a>" this past Saturday which was a tribute to the victims of September 11th. It took place in New York Harbor.
It was "organized chaos" as expected with so many sailing vessels in the harbor -- there were literally thousands of boats including the tall ships "Lady Baltimore", "HMS Bounty", "Kalmer Nickel (sp??)" and others. I took some photos of the Bounty and the Kalmer Nickel as we passed them with only about a boatlength between us -- Realization's boatlength that is.
The morning wind was coming from the south and it was very light, so some of the boats (very few), especially the big square riggers, had all sail up, or spinnakers flying, as they sailed with the wind behind them. But most of us motorsailed up the river, including Realization, with only our mainsails hoisted.
We were in Group C (boats coming from south of the Verazanno Narrows Bridge) which were to gather at West Bank on Raritan Bay. We left Lockwood's, the marina where we keep our boat, at about 6:40 a.m. with several other participating sailboats. Nearly all of the sailboats at Lockwood's participated. And from what I could tell, nearly all of the sailboats from the other area yacht clubs and marinas participated as well.
Some of the other boats from Lockwood's had made arrangements to sail with the YC fleets but we were on our own. So we headed east towards Old Orchard Shoal. As we approached Old Orchard Shoal lighthouse the Group C lead boat made an announcement (Sail for America communications were on VHF Ch. 71) that all Group C boats should rendezvous between YN"A" and YN"C" at the north end of Gravesend Bay near Brooklyn, NY. I whipped out the chart and located those buoys and adjusted our course from West Bank to YN"A". The new course brought us between Hoffman and Staten Islands then straight across the channel to YN"A". Anyway, we went straight to YN"A" avoiding West Bank altogether while the YC fleets met at West Bank before heading northward to Gravesend Bay. (Realization was the first boat there!)
We were there waiting when the Group C leader arrived aboard "Vici", a boat we knew and recognized immediately, so we pulled alongside when they arrived and got our instructions from them and then headed towards the buoy that our group would be gathering near, YN"B". The entire fleet from various ports on Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Brooklyn and points south was heading towards us. We were the only vessel travelling from the other direction and we threaded our way through the fleet seeing many others that we knew (including Dennis Driscoll (CD28 Ladybug) and Linda Pistilli (CD30 Theodore B), and some that we didn't know (including a CD25 Sleek and a Robinhood 36, though we've seen the Robinhood before) and said our hellos. Bob Emmons (CD30 Red Wing) hailed us on the VHF and we talked to him but never found him. We were hoping he'd be able to find us since our tanbark mainsail stands out in a crowd, and we were the only boat with tanbark sails in the Group C staging area.
The parade started right on time. We were supposed to head from Gravesend Bay (which is on the Brooklyn side of Ambrose Channel) across the channel and up the NJ side of the river until we were west of Governor's Island. At that point the fleet was supposed to cross the Hudson again back towards Governor's Island and meet up with the boats that were coming from Long Island Sound (Group B) and the boats that were coming from north of the George Washington Bridge (Group A) as well as the boats that were already in the harbor. There was so much ship traffic going in and out of the harbor that most of Group C couldn't go up the NJ side as planned and had to stay closer to Brooklyn. I think the tug captains must have been crapping in their pants. Dealing with our fleet had to be nerve-wracking.
Group A would be travelling down the western shore of the Hudson River (the NJ side), and pass the Statue of Liberty before making their turn northward. Group B would travel down the East River, down Buttermilk Channel east of Governor's Island and turn as they passed the southern tip of Governor's Island to head up the Hudson. And there were two yacht racing regattas going on in the harbor too. (We had to maneuver past one of the racing boats to stay out of its way.) So there was an unbelievable mass of boats, Group A to our port and Group B to our starboard and boats racing, taking back and forth, in the middle of it all, as we approached the Statue of Liberty and Governor's Island.
It was VERY intimidating with so many boats traveling so close together -- the Group C parade was several boats abreast travelling in order of size with the largest boats first. We were in the 32-34 foot section. At least we were all travelling in the same direction, but we still had to stay out of the way of the in- and outbound cruise, container and cargo ships as well as tugs with barges and ferries which made it a bit harrowing at times as hundreds of boats had to move out of the way at the same time with limited room to maneuver. You couldn't turn until the guy next to you did (and he was only 30 feet or less away), otherwise there'd be a collision. Have you ever seen how a large school of fish move in unison, suddenly changing direction all at once? Well I felt like a fish in a large school except people and their boats aren't quite as agile or as quick to react.
Needless to say, there was alot of horn blasting from the big guys and the regatta put a crimp in the ferry traffic as well. I saw one of the Staten Island ferries and one of the Circle Line ships come to a complete stop. And good thing one of the Staten Island ferries slowed down, because she was heading straight for us from Manhattan. I punched up Realization's throttle to 3000 RPMs and scooted up on the sterns of the boats ahead of us, prodding them to move faster, so that we could stay out of the way of that ferry, but she pretty much slowed to a crawl and inched her way through the fleet behind us as other boats scattered to go around the ferry past her stern.
All participating boats had been asked to fly the U.S. flag, a big one if they could. We flew the U.S. flag from our stern. Anyway, there were alot of flags flying. Also, the boats were flying burgees for each of the victims of September 11th. Each burgee had the name of a victim on it. There were 3026 burgees in total! The burgees were to be collected and distributed to the victims' families afterwards.
The parade route brought our fleet past the reviewing area at North Cove where we were presented by the Group C leader. As I listened to our group being announced to the officials in the review area I was reminded of a political convention as the words "I am proud to present the Group C fleet comprising sailing vessels from Raritan Bay, the great State of New Jersey, the burroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond and points south" were spoken over the VHF.
After passing the USS Intrepid the fleet turned and headed west, crossed the river, and headed south again. At that point the wind filled in and many boats unfurled their headsails to sail back down the river closehauled. This is when things got even dicier. It was difficult enough trying to maneuver among boats that were motoring, now we had to dodge the sailing vessels, and dodge them we did. Bruce was getting pissed. It was really too dangerous to sail in such close and choppy confines. Anyway, one of our friends from Lockwoods' was sailing and I tried to get some pictures of him. We were close enough to carry on a conversation so he asked that I get some pictures of the starboard side of Veracity since that was where the burgees were flying. So we maneuvered around Veracity and I took a few more photos. I'm not a very good photographer. I have a tendency to not hold the camera steady and it wasn't an easy task in all the chop. So they're probably all blurry -- we'll see.
Also while we were heading back down the river the rescue boat parade began. It began as the rest of the event began, with the fireboats leading the pack, spraying water every which way. So now the workboats that we had been dodging, the ferries, as well as the tug boats, pilot boats, Coast Guard boats and excursion boats that had participated in the rescues on September 11th (about 130 vessels in all, led up the river by the fireboat John J. Harvey), got in line and paraded up the east side of the river as the sailing fleet paraded down the west side. It was quite a sight to see.
We continued to motorsail until we approached the Verazanno Narrows Bridge, then we unfurled our yankee. The wind was blowing at 20+ knots from the southwest at that point and Realization sailed on her side with water flowing over the deck as we sailed under the bridge.
Once on the bay, not only was the wind on the nose but the current was against us as well. Even though our knotmeter bobbed up and down between 5.6 and 6.1 knots, the GPS showed that we were only travelling at between 3.9 and 4.4 knots. I suggested reefing the main but Bruce didn't want to. He thought it was too dangerous to send anybody forward. Anyway, Bruce was at the helm (we had been taking turns at the helm all day) and I asked him to just maintain his course and I'd reef the main. I let out the main and let it flail, then went forward and put a single reef in -- or so I thought. I made my way back to the cockpit and realized that I had reefed the main at the second cringle instead of the first at the tack but I had sheeted in the correct reefing line for a single reef at the clew. So I had to go back forward and haul the main up so that I could set the reef at the first reefing point where I wanted it. Realization was much better behaved after that and the wind continued to freshen. Then it started to rain. So I was glad that we had reefed. That was also the first time that we had ever reefed without the aid of the engine.
We made it back to the inlet at Cheesequake Creek in time for the 6:00 p.m. bridge along with most of the other Sail for America participants from Lockwood's. It was an exciting day and there was alot of chatter on the docks as many of the crews were still all wound up from the day's activities. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime events and I'm glad we did it.
Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay
goldy@bestweb.net
-
Dennis
Re: We participated in "Sail for America" on Sept. 14th
Very good narrative Cahty,
It was organized kaos, but all in all a very well run event which we were pleased to participate in.
We motor sailed the entire day, We dropped our mooring at 0730, we back on by 1830. Our longest day yet. We had a little scare when we ducked in to see the Around Alone boats (engine cut out).
Our extra crew consisted of a coworker of Debs who "escaped" together from midtown last year.
We flew memorial flags for Joseph DeLuca, a Pfizer Employee, lost on Flight 93; Jean Collin also a Pfizer employee, lost in WTC; Capt. Timothy Stackpole FDNY, the brother-in-law of a close friend and Edna Stephens, lost in the Pentagon (no relationship, we wanted to support an unsponsored victim)
dennis.driscoll@roche.com
It was organized kaos, but all in all a very well run event which we were pleased to participate in.
We motor sailed the entire day, We dropped our mooring at 0730, we back on by 1830. Our longest day yet. We had a little scare when we ducked in to see the Around Alone boats (engine cut out).
Our extra crew consisted of a coworker of Debs who "escaped" together from midtown last year.
We flew memorial flags for Joseph DeLuca, a Pfizer Employee, lost on Flight 93; Jean Collin also a Pfizer employee, lost in WTC; Capt. Timothy Stackpole FDNY, the brother-in-law of a close friend and Edna Stephens, lost in the Pentagon (no relationship, we wanted to support an unsponsored victim)
Catherine Monaghan wrote: This isn't specifically Cape Dory related but I thought you might be interested in what we experienced during "<a href="http://www.sailforamerica.com/">Sail for America</a>" this past Saturday which was a tribute to the victims of September 11th. It took place in New York Harbor.
It was "organized chaos" as expected with so many sailing vessels in the harbor -- there were literally thousands of boats including the tall ships "Lady Baltimore", "HMS Bounty", "Kalmer Nickel (sp??)" and others. I took some photos of the Bounty and the Kalmer Nickel as we passed them with only about a boatlength between us -- Realization's boatlength that is.
The morning wind was coming from the south and it was very light, so some of the boats (very few), especially the big square riggers, had all sail up, or spinnakers flying, as they sailed with the wind behind them. But most of us motorsailed up the river, including Realization, with only our mainsails hoisted.
We were in Group C (boats coming from south of the Verazanno Narrows Bridge) which were to gather at West Bank on Raritan Bay. We left Lockwood's, the marina where we keep our boat, at about 6:40 a.m. with several other participating sailboats. Nearly all of the sailboats at Lockwood's participated. And from what I could tell, nearly all of the sailboats from the other area yacht clubs and marinas participated as well.
Some of the other boats from Lockwood's had made arrangements to sail with the YC fleets but we were on our own. So we headed east towards Old Orchard Shoal. As we approached Old Orchard Shoal lighthouse the Group C lead boat made an announcement (Sail for America communications were on VHF Ch. 71) that all Group C boats should rendezvous between YN"A" and YN"C" at the north end of Gravesend Bay near Brooklyn, NY. I whipped out the chart and located those buoys and adjusted our course from West Bank to YN"A". The new course brought us between Hoffman and Staten Islands then straight across the channel to YN"A". Anyway, we went straight to YN"A" avoiding West Bank altogether while the YC fleets met at West Bank before heading northward to Gravesend Bay. (Realization was the first boat there!)
We were there waiting when the Group C leader arrived aboard "Vici", a boat we knew and recognized immediately, so we pulled alongside when they arrived and got our instructions from them and then headed towards the buoy that our group would be gathering near, YN"B". The entire fleet from various ports on Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Brooklyn and points south was heading towards us. We were the only vessel travelling from the other direction and we threaded our way through the fleet seeing many others that we knew (including Dennis Driscoll (CD28 Ladybug) and Linda Pistilli (CD30 Theodore B), and some that we didn't know (including a CD25 Sleek and a Robinhood 36, though we've seen the Robinhood before) and said our hellos. Bob Emmons (CD30 Red Wing) hailed us on the VHF and we talked to him but never found him. We were hoping he'd be able to find us since our tanbark mainsail stands out in a crowd, and we were the only boat with tanbark sails in the Group C staging area.
The parade started right on time. We were supposed to head from Gravesend Bay (which is on the Brooklyn side of Ambrose Channel) across the channel and up the NJ side of the river until we were west of Governor's Island. At that point the fleet was supposed to cross the Hudson again back towards Governor's Island and meet up with the boats that were coming from Long Island Sound (Group B) and the boats that were coming from north of the George Washington Bridge (Group A) as well as the boats that were already in the harbor. There was so much ship traffic going in and out of the harbor that most of Group C couldn't go up the NJ side as planned and had to stay closer to Brooklyn. I think the tug captains must have been crapping in their pants. Dealing with our fleet had to be nerve-wracking.
Group A would be travelling down the western shore of the Hudson River (the NJ side), and pass the Statue of Liberty before making their turn northward. Group B would travel down the East River, down Buttermilk Channel east of Governor's Island and turn as they passed the southern tip of Governor's Island to head up the Hudson. And there were two yacht racing regattas going on in the harbor too. (We had to maneuver past one of the racing boats to stay out of its way.) So there was an unbelievable mass of boats, Group A to our port and Group B to our starboard and boats racing, taking back and forth, in the middle of it all, as we approached the Statue of Liberty and Governor's Island.
It was VERY intimidating with so many boats traveling so close together -- the Group C parade was several boats abreast travelling in order of size with the largest boats first. We were in the 32-34 foot section. At least we were all travelling in the same direction, but we still had to stay out of the way of the in- and outbound cruise, container and cargo ships as well as tugs with barges and ferries which made it a bit harrowing at times as hundreds of boats had to move out of the way at the same time with limited room to maneuver. You couldn't turn until the guy next to you did (and he was only 30 feet or less away), otherwise there'd be a collision. Have you ever seen how a large school of fish move in unison, suddenly changing direction all at once? Well I felt like a fish in a large school except people and their boats aren't quite as agile or as quick to react.
Needless to say, there was alot of horn blasting from the big guys and the regatta put a crimp in the ferry traffic as well. I saw one of the Staten Island ferries and one of the Circle Line ships come to a complete stop. And good thing one of the Staten Island ferries slowed down, because she was heading straight for us from Manhattan. I punched up Realization's throttle to 3000 RPMs and scooted up on the sterns of the boats ahead of us, prodding them to move faster, so that we could stay out of the way of that ferry, but she pretty much slowed to a crawl and inched her way through the fleet behind us as other boats scattered to go around the ferry past her stern.
All participating boats had been asked to fly the U.S. flag, a big one if they could. We flew the U.S. flag from our stern. Anyway, there were alot of flags flying. Also, the boats were flying burgees for each of the victims of September 11th. Each burgee had the name of a victim on it. There were 3026 burgees in total! The burgees were to be collected and distributed to the victims' families afterwards.
The parade route brought our fleet past the reviewing area at North Cove where we were presented by the Group C leader. As I listened to our group being announced to the officials in the review area I was reminded of a political convention as the words "I am proud to present the Group C fleet comprising sailing vessels from Raritan Bay, the great State of New Jersey, the burroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond and points south" were spoken over the VHF.
After passing the USS Intrepid the fleet turned and headed west, crossed the river, and headed south again. At that point the wind filled in and many boats unfurled their headsails to sail back down the river closehauled. This is when things got even dicier. It was difficult enough trying to maneuver among boats that were motoring, now we had to dodge the sailing vessels, and dodge them we did. Bruce was getting pissed. It was really too dangerous to sail in such close and choppy confines. Anyway, one of our friends from Lockwoods' was sailing and I tried to get some pictures of him. We were close enough to carry on a conversation so he asked that I get some pictures of the starboard side of Veracity since that was where the burgees were flying. So we maneuvered around Veracity and I took a few more photos. I'm not a very good photographer. I have a tendency to not hold the camera steady and it wasn't an easy task in all the chop. So they're probably all blurry -- we'll see.
Also while we were heading back down the river the rescue boat parade began. It began as the rest of the event began, with the fireboats leading the pack, spraying water every which way. So now the workboats that we had been dodging, the ferries, as well as the tug boats, pilot boats, Coast Guard boats and excursion boats that had participated in the rescues on September 11th (about 130 vessels in all, led up the river by the fireboat John J. Harvey), got in line and paraded up the east side of the river as the sailing fleet paraded down the west side. It was quite a sight to see.
We continued to motorsail until we approached the Verazanno Narrows Bridge, then we unfurled our yankee. The wind was blowing at 20+ knots from the southwest at that point and Realization sailed on her side with water flowing over the deck as we sailed under the bridge.
Once on the bay, not only was the wind on the nose but the current was against us as well. Even though our knotmeter bobbed up and down between 5.6 and 6.1 knots, the GPS showed that we were only travelling at between 3.9 and 4.4 knots. I suggested reefing the main but Bruce didn't want to. He thought it was too dangerous to send anybody forward. Anyway, Bruce was at the helm (we had been taking turns at the helm all day) and I asked him to just maintain his course and I'd reef the main. I let out the main and let it flail, then went forward and put a single reef in -- or so I thought. I made my way back to the cockpit and realized that I had reefed the main at the second cringle instead of the first at the tack but I had sheeted in the correct reefing line for a single reef at the clew. So I had to go back forward and haul the main up so that I could set the reef at the first reefing point where I wanted it. Realization was much better behaved after that and the wind continued to freshen. Then it started to rain. So I was glad that we had reefed. That was also the first time that we had ever reefed without the aid of the engine.
We made it back to the inlet at Cheesequake Creek in time for the 6:00 p.m. bridge along with most of the other Sail for America participants from Lockwood's. It was an exciting day and there was alot of chatter on the docks as many of the crews were still all wound up from the day's activities. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime events and I'm glad we did it.
Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay
dennis.driscoll@roche.com