Posted in interlude, tagged 1000 days at sea, mary a. whalen, portside newyork, reid stowe, schooner anne, soanya ahmad, tania aebi on June 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »
On July 3, PortSide NewYork will hold a fundraiser “BlueBQ” to support its summer BlueSpace programs. It should be a lot of fun: music, food, an auction, and entertainment. Full details are here. If you can’t attend, please consider making a donation to support the work of this waterfront-based organization.
Here is the Mary A. Whalen, PortSide’s headquarters:
On an unrelated topic: More pictures of Reid Stowe’s return are here.
Posted in bridges & boats, tagged 1000 days at sea, reid stowe, schooner anne, soanya ahmad, tania aebi on June 17, 2010| 7 Comments »
One thousand, one hundred, fifty-two days after setting sail, Reid Stowe today sailed up to Pier 81 in New York City and stepped ashore. He had just completed the longest non-stop ocean voyage in history.
I took the longest non-stop lunch break in my history to walk over to the Hudson River to watch him arrive. Here are some shots of Reid sailing up the Hudson and approaching Pier 81:
Reid greets the crowd:
While his girlfriend, Soanya Ahmad, patiently waits with their son, Darshen:
Soanya started the voyage with Reid, and stayed with him for more than 300 days before her chronic seasickness turned out to be morning sickness. She got off the boat near Australia, and Reid continued alone.
Soanya addresses the crowd and the press:
In 1985, at the age of 18, Tania Aebi set sail from New York City to become the first American woman and the youngest person ever (at that time) to complete a solo circumnavigation. Here she makes a few remarks:
These are a few pictures of the schooner Anne (built by Reid and named for his mother). This is what happens to a boat during a more-than-three-year voyage with no stops for repairs:
Welcome home, Reid! And congratulations!
Posted in interlude, tagged fireboat john j. harvey, new york city, new york harbor, reid stowe, schooner anne, united states postal service, waterfront agenda on June 13, 2010| 1 Comment »
A few events of interest to New York City waterfront aficionados will take place in the next two weeks.
First up, on Wednesday, June 16, at Pier 66A at 12 noon a new postage stamp will be unveiled. The new stamp features the New York state flag and an image of the fireboat John J. Harvey along with other fireboats (based on a photo by Bernard Ente). Here’s the media advisory from the U.S. Postal Service. (They note that the Harvey “gained infamy” for its response to the September 11th attacks. I’m pretty sure they meant to say the Harvey gained fame. You can read about the experiences of the Harvey and its crew on September 11th in Jessica Dulong‘s very interesting My River Chronicles.)
Next, on Thursday, June 17, Reid Stowe returns to New York on the schooner Anne after more than 1000 days at sea. A flotilla will gather north of Sandy Hook, NJ, at 10:00 a.m. and sail together to Pier 81 in Manhattan. The best place for land-based viewing of the flotilla will be the Battery Park Esplanade between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Click here for a map.
Finally, on June 24, the New York City planning department will hold its next-to-last workshop to discuss the comprehensive waterfront agenda. The workshop to discuss the “blue network” and citywide issues will be held at P.S. 234, the Independence School, 292 Greenwich Street in Manhattan from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
A Movable Bridge 