Brooklyn Arrival.
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By
Peter Andrews, © 1998. |
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A relatively new four masted Bark, 'Kaiwo
Maru' from Japan, built in 1989. Seen here making her way through
the early morning New York Harbour fog on the 4th of July 1992,
in New York's OP Sail parade of sail. To her right is the 'Shabab
Oman', a Barquentine from Oman built in Scotland in 1971, followed
by Norway's fully rigged ship 'Christian Radich'. To the left
is 'Capitan Miranda'
from Uruguay, built in 1930 in Cadiz,
Spain. |
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"Perhaps
a more appropriate name for the huge funnel of water between
Connecticut and Long Island that eventually gushes past Manhattan
at six knots when the tide turns, could be Lobster Pot Sound". |
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Abstract.
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Well over two hundred vessels
from all over the world converged on New York for Op Sail 92.
Sailing up from Bermuda for her first visit to this global metropolis,
the 'Eye of the Wind', unfortunately picked up a rope with her
propeller from a marker buoy of a lobster pot, somewhere near
New Rochelle. With one cylinder of the available eight of the
ship's engine out of action, the remaining passage to Brooklyn
presented a huge challenge to the skills of those in charge.
The six knot tidal vortex of the East River presented the major
obstacle between the ship and a safe mooring in Brooklyn. But
an overnight engine rebuild was also needed to enable the ship
to participate in the parade of sail the following morning. The
story opens with a look at the disaster Alan Villiers had to
endure when he first brought the 'Joseph Conrad' to New York
back in the 1930's. Fortunately things were not as bad for the
'Eye', but personal boundaries for many were challenged. Faced
with some difficult situations, key players on board worked together
to successfully overcome the obstacles which enabled participation
with the rest of fleet in parade of sail. |
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The Portuguese replica caravel, 'Boa Esperanca'
was constructed after the success of the construction and the
re-enactment voyage from Portugal to South Africa of the 'Bartolomeu
Dias' in 1987-88. She was launched in 1990 and seen here in New
York with the four masted bark, 'Kaiwo Maru'. |
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"While
Villiers was stuck on shore during the harsh Winter's night,
his ship parted from her chain in a high squall about three o'clock
in the morning and was driven upon the Shore Road sea wall at
68th Street, in Bay Ridge Brooklyn". |
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Alan Villiers'
"beautiful little ship" the
'Joseph Conrad' in the background at Mystic Sea Port Connecticut,
June 1992. |
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"The
following salvage operation performed in blizzard conditions
was even more horrendous for Villiers and his crew as the weather
and the tide rammed the ship, the salvage steamer and a float
with an enormous crane and large storage tanks full of reclaimed
fuel from another vessel, into the 69th Street Pier". |
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From the top of the World Trade Center,
the U.S. Coast Guard's barque 'Eagle',
seen departing Manhattan's South
Street Seaport. |
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"Our
passage down Long Island Sound on the second of July 1992 was
difficult, but thankfully nothing like what Villiers had to endure.
With a deadline to meet and no useful breeze to sail with, the
'Eye' had to motor its way through the maize of lobster pots
towards her destination". |
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Sail handling on the 'Eye of the Wind'
while making her way through the Cape Cod Canal. |
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"As
sun was about to set, our luck had turned for the worse as one
of those lobster pot lines succeeded in wrapping itself around
the propeller, causing one of the pistons of the eight cylinder
'Gardener' to seize. The third mate Duncan dived down to cut
the line from the propeller and Dan the engineer managed to get
the engine running with one cylinder out of action, but with
a significant reduction in power -- power desperately needed
to get through Hell Gate and the East River". |
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A Nantucket Lightship making her way down
the East River at dawn to her berth at the South Street Seaport,
on the east side of lower Manhattan. |
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"Having
been up all night, I was pretty tired, but it was also my first
time to New York. Considering many New Yorkers' have not even
had the chance to arrive in their city by boat down the East
River, I wasn't going to miss out on this for the world". |
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The Italian fully-rigged, 'Amerigo Vespucci'
with her beautiful rig and patchy brown sails that resemble a
ghost ship as she glides through the New York fog. |
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"Our
journey through the hourglass commenced while most of New York
was either still in bed or just waking. All of a sudden, factories
were replaced by multi-storey apartments on both sides and after
passing under the Queensboro Bridge, the majestic Chrysler Building
appeared followed by the biggest skate board ramp in the world,
the UN Building". |
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The Danish Sail Training Vessel 'Georg
Stage' (the replacement for the original 'Georg Stage' which
was to become the 'Joseph Conrad'), under full sail and making
her way up the East River towards Long Island Sound. This impressive
sight was viewed from the Empire State Building. |
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"The
passage which took some time appeared to pass so quick, but not
as quick as the current that suddenly appeared from the tide
change just before we reached the Brooklyn Bridge". |
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The 'Pride of Baltimore II' with
her raked masts, narrow hull and huge sail area has little trouble
sailing in light conditions. She is the successor to the original
which was lost during a Mid Atlantic storm, taking the life of
three and her captain in 1986. Seen here in Boston, July 1992. |
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"All
of a sudden the pace changed from a leisurely one to a high speed
plough past South Street Seaport and Pier 17, but it sure was
better than being sucked back to Rikers Island". |
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On board 'Tradewind' at Brooklyn. This
party was unfortunately broken up as U.S. Customs finally arrived
after three days in order to clear the ship for customs. |
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"lunch
for me was served in the engine room as Dan who also worked on
the 'Bounty' back in Sydney, remembered my feeble attempts to
maintain the abused outboard motors that belonged to the ship's
Zodiac. And fair enough I thought as he had a huge job ahead
of him and I doubt that he had much in the way of sleep. The
assembly for the parade of sail was somewhere around daybreak
off Ambrose Light following day". |
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The Downtown skyline of Manhattan is pretty
impressive during the day or at night. Here, it provides a spectacular
frame for those on the Brooklyn shore, of the forth of July fireworks
over the mouth of the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey. |
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"All
I can remember was climbing up onto deck and the first thing
focused on was a replica of a seventeenth century caravel, 'Boa
Esperanca' from Portugal, drifting out of a blanket of fog for
a couple of moments before vanishing back into the clouds". |
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