Dead Calm

When Long Island Sound is jokingly referred to as the Dead Sea, it is not because of its high salt content or lack of marine life. The Dead Sea remark pokes fun at the lack of wind here during the peak of summer. Hot, windless days with nearly a ripple on the water's surface.

Like all good jokes, there is an element of truth to this, but it sometimes become overstated. The winds most certainly die in late July and August, but on most days, the prevailing southwesterlies  pick up by mid-afternoon.

There are exceptions of course, and they can be lasting. The heatwave this past week brought a 24-hour hazy stillness to the Sound for several days. No afternoon breeze, no puff of wind in the jib, no sunset sails.



The Mystic Whaler , a 1967 reproduction of a 19th-century schooner, was rebuilt in Providence, Rhode Island in 1993. Based in New London during the summer months, she offers everything from sunset sails to 3-day cruises.

Keeping a busy schedule, Carina and I have crossed paths with her in Greenport, Stonington, and several other ports. She is a beautiful sight to see under-sail.

On this hazy evening however, she wasn't going anywhere fast. Just south of Morgan Point, I spotted her practicing that old 21st-century tradition of trimming the iron genoa.



Mystic Whaler Cruises

Cruising Guide To The New England Coast: General Conditions

Iron Genoa - a sailboat's engine

Fire Island Schooner Update

I've been unable to make a return visit to Fire Island for an update on the schooner? Le Papillon, which has been beached at Saltaire for over three weeks now.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, Tugster, Saltaire38, and Frank Markus have provided some photos of her from last weekend. With each passing day, she looks less like a beached schooner, and more like a shipwreck.



Tugster: Ashore 4

Saltaire 38: After An April Storm

Frank Markus: Photo Gallery



Soundbounder: Ashore On Fire Island



photo credit: Frank Markus, copyrighted (top); Tugster (bottom)

Le Papillon in better days. I received an email last week from Shirley who knows the boat well. She wrote: "I sailed with her in Moorea some years ago & wondered where in the world the schooner was now. I attached one of the photos I took that year."

?

Ashore On Fire Island

Tuesday morning, Will from Tugster and I ventured out to Fire Island to get a close-up view of Le Papillion, beached upon the sands of Saltaire. The 48' LOD Colvin "Pinky" schooner had run aground last Thursday while sailing from Baltimore to Harrington, Maine. We had hoped to witness an attempt to pull her free, but the high winds, rough seas, and poor visibility had other plans.

We parked at Robert Moses Beach and made the one-mile hike, east of the lighthouse to where she was beached. Fire Island is an interesting place: the 30-odd mile, barrier beach includes a national seashore, and many stretches are car-free from May through September. A handful of park rangers and off-season contractors were the only vehicles we saw along the service road which parallels the beach.

Reaching the hamlet of Kismet, we cut over to the beach and continued east. Even without a grounded schooner, the beach had an inhospitable feel about it. Aside from the cold, windy, and wet conditions, visibility was poor, and Le Papillon did not come into view until we were nearly upon her. High tide and heavy seas kept us far back from the water; her green steel hull shrouded in fog and sea foam, was getting pounded by the surf.

As a teenager, did you ever take your parents' car while they were out of town? Me neither, but I've seen plenty of John Hughes movies. If you replace sports car with schooner, that seems to be what happened in this case. There is a lot of rumor and misinformation floating around, but it appears that while the owner of the vessel was in South America, his 19 year-old son and two friends decided to sail the boat north to Maine.   They narrowly avoided disaster from a light grounding at Absecon Inlet, New Jersey, before landing hard on Fire Island days later. There was no one keeping watch!

Le Papillon has sailed over 80,000 nautical miles, including a circumnavigation, and three passages to Europe.

There is no insurance coverage for this incident*.

As each day passes, her chances of being saved  grow dimmer.

Wikipedia: Fire Island

Tugster: Ashore

Tugster: Ashore 2

Saltaire38: Wreck of Le Papillon

Fire Island Lighthouse Society

* I am not sure whether the boat is uninsured, or if the policy did not cover this particular voyage.

Wolf Larsen

Sometimes when snowflakes are falling and the winds are howling, I find myself thinking about Wolf Larsen. No, not the antagonistic character from the Jack London novel Sea Wolf, but instead a former fishing rig of the same name, anchored in the Price's Bend section of Northport Harbor. Brutal and cynical, yet also highly intelligent, she is appropriately named.

I first saw Wolf Larsen several summers ago while anchored here waiting for an August storm to pass. Her outriggers and design stood apart from the cabin cruisers and sailboats surrounding her. There was no activity aboard, and it appeared that there hadn't been any in a long time. Cormorants and herons had assumed ownership with two large nests atop the pilot house. 

Returning here again (by land) in early December, the other boats were long gone, but not Wolf Larsen. There she was, still moored, with her bow pointing into the northwest winds as some early season snowflakes blew around. Was she spending her entire winter at Prices Bend? I don't know.

I do know that when I arrived at Hobart Beach on a blustery March day, I saw her again. Still standing proud, attached to her mooring, a little bit tired, but not for show.

Sometimes it seems as if every harbor has a few of these: an owner with a dream, and not much else. There may  be grandiose plans of Caribbean travel and carefree days afloat, but in the end, divorce, layoffs, and all the other complications of life get in the way.

Old boats require money and time. We often can provide one: rarely can we offer both.

 When times are good, we have the money but wish we had the time. Then times turn bad and we have the time, but the money and the dream are all gone.

More Nellie Photos

Soundbounder: Nellie (original post)

SY Nellie: Website

Nellie

Nellie is a powerful reminder of the age-old relationship between yachts and wealth. A century ago, this gaff-rigged cutter graced the western waters of Long Island Sound, flying the burgees of such exclusive yacht clubs as Larchmont, American, and Seawanka. She is the product of an era when sailing was a pastime reserved for men with pedigrees and summers off. An era when the western Sound served as the epicenter and playground for that crest of idle wealth.

Designed and constructed by the legendary Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island, she was launched in 1903 for Morton Plant of New Haven, an heir to Reconstruction era railroad lines in the southern U.S.. With a 35' LWL and a deck that extends 46', she was one of three boats built to this design (Harold S. "Mike" Vanderbilt and J. Malcom Forbes owned the other two).

Surviving numerous owners and several different names (Butterfly), Nellie spent nearly 8 decades of the 20th century in western Long Island Sound. She had an auxiliary engine added in 1935; a new deckhouse in 1941; and suffered severe damage from a boatyard fire in 1959. Succumbing to the ravages of time, she

began her second century undergoing a 7 year restoration project which was just recently completed.



Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to get a first hand view of Nellie and meet her crew. What an enthusiastic, accommodating, and fun group they are! I was invited aboard and given a tour which included a wealth of information about her history. She is a special boat and their pride in her was evident.



She is scheduled this winter to undergo work on some punchlist items from her recent restoration. Come spring, she will be back in the western Sound, ready to grace the waters for the next hundred years.



SY NELLIE: website (this is one of the best websites for a boat I have come across. Take some time and enjoy the photos and videos of her history and restoration. I highly recommend a visit; a long visit. You won't be disappointed)

Wooden Boat Magazine: Nellie (some beautiful photos of her undersail)

Herreshoff Marine Museum: website

YouTube: Interior Tour

Picasa: Nellie: Oyster Bay Spring Classic photo credits: Karen Martin

Clearwater Hauled In Norwalk

While the sloop Clearwater spends most of her time on the Hudson River, she occasionally ventures east of Hell Gate into the waters of Long Island Sound. Making an appearance at random waterfront festivals, this vanguard of waterway restoration has from time to time, brought her message to the shores of Connecticut and Long Island.

With an overall length of 106' and a mast height of 108', she is modeled after the 18th and 19th century Dutch ships that worked the waters of New York Harbor and the Hudson River. The brainchild of Pete and Toshi Seeger, the Clearwater was launched in 1969 with the intent to bring awareness and appreciation to the Hudson's beauty, heritage, and frailty. According to their website, the message was always simple yet powerful:

"To the people who see her broad sails from the shore, the message is a poignant reminder of the potential beauty and wealth of our region�s much-abused and neglected waterways."

Clearwater's primary focus has always been the Hudson, but her influence has been far reaching. The Quinnipiac, Save The Sound, Oyster Bay Waterfront Center, and numerous other organizations along the Sound are following in the wake of The Great Hudson River Revival.

When I read Monday that she was hauled for some short-term hull maintenance, I made a quick visit to Norwalk Cove Marina to get a closer view.  Under threatening skies, it appeared the work was nearly finished and she was awaiting to be splashed once again. Never one to sit idle for too long, she was berthed at the 79th Street Boat Basin by Tuesday evening.

Clearwater Website

New York Times: A Sloop Named Clearwater

Vessels Of The Hudson

Maritime Systems: Clearwater Location

Tugster: Clearwater Related Posts

YouTube: Making History Again

Pegasus Visits Mystic

The only thing I love more than an old sailing ship is an old tug. So when the tugboat Pegasus visited Mystic Seaport this Columbus Day weekend, I made sure to stop by. Built in 1907 for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, she was known as a "battleship tug" because of her size and power. When purchased by McAllistar in 1953, she was converted from steam to diesel power, and served the ports of Boston, New York, and Norfolk. She retired in 1997 after a 90 year career, and is now being restored by the Pegasus Preservation Project.

When I arrived, Captain Pamela Hepburn and her crew were just finishing up their third and final day of providing tours aboard the Pegasus. This may sound like easy work, but it can also be demanding. The sunny weather brought large crowds to the Seaport this holiday weekend, and standing for 9 hours in an engine room answering the same questions repeatedly is tiring work. Congratulations to the volunteer crew for a job well done.

As luck would have it, I was invited to join them for some food and grog at a nearby restaurant. Though tired, the crew was great company, and I enjoyed having the opportunity to meet them and share a few laughs. There was a wealth of maritime knowledge sitting at that table, and I promised to keep in touch as I said goodbye and wished them well on their trip back to New York Harbor the following morning.

Tug Pegasus Preservation Project

Tugster: Mystic Weekend

Tugster: A New York Harbor Waterblog

Mystic Seaport

Chasing The Half Moon

She was several miles west of me when I first spotted her masts breaking the horizon near Race Rock Lighthouse. With nothing but a thin silhouette to identify her, I knew instantly this was a ship I had not seen before. It was late in the day, with just a few hours left of daylight, but I decided to follow her in hope of getting a better view.

I was only gaining on her by a small amount, and if she continued to sail westward down Long Island Sound, it would be long after dark before I caught up with her. My guess however, was that she would drop anchor in New London for the evening, rather than face the 30 knot winds forecasted for the following morning. But when she passed the entrance to New London Harbor without changing her course, I debated whether to give up and sail home.

Sometime while I was busy arguing with myself over whether or not to continue on, the ship began to head north and enter Niantic Bay. This seemed like an odd destination for a ship of this size, but I was not about to complain.  I fired up the diesel and motored on, fully confident that I would reach her before sundown.

Drawing closer, it became apparent to me that this was the Half Moon, a replica of the Dutch ship sailed by Henry Hudson in 1609. Launched in 1989, she was built at the Snow Shipyard in Albany, and has sailed much of the east coast and Great Lakes.

She dropped anchor in the lee of Black Point, while her crew tended to some rigging work. I circled her several times, making small talk with the crew. I learned she will be in New London this weekend, and there are plans to travel the Connecticut River this month. I joked about how I had been following them for several miles and was so happy to catch up and get a close-up view.

"Happens all the time" one of them shouted back.

Half Moon Website

Extremes lll

Big and Small

Old and New

Wood and Plastic

Expensive and Affordable

Underway and Idle

Schooner Alabama

Following several days of treating her like some tabloid starlet who slept in a ditch, I guess it is only fair that I give  the Alabama her proper due. I must say, she looks much more attractive afloat than she does aground.

According to the website, she was designed by Robert F. McManus, a highly regarded architect of many Gloucester fishing schooners. Built in 1926, she served the Mobile, Alabama Bar Pilots until  her retirement in 1966. She was brought to Vineyard Haven in 1967, but it was not until a 1990's rebuild that she was fitted for sail.

While I am no fan of the Black Dog Tourist Empire (you won't catch me wearing a Black Dog T-Shirt), I do appreciate their fleet of ships. Along with the Alabama, the Shenandoah and Chantey  offer charters, excursions, as well as youth and educational programs.

Shooting My Universe: Alabama In Gloucester (beautiful photo)

Martha's Vineyard Times: Schooner Refloated In Mystic River

Soundbounder: Alabama Afloat

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground IV

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground III

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground II

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground I

Black Dog Tall Ships

Alabama Aground IV

Upon being refloated, the Alabama performed a short sea trial before returning to Noank for the evening. According to the New London Day, divers today will inspect the keel for any damage.

These photos were taken Thursday morning during low tide, with the grounded schooner shrouded in fog.

New London Day: Grounded Ship Is Freed

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground III

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground II

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground I

Soundbounder: Alabama Afloat

Update: On Friday evening at approximately 6 pm, the Alabama cleared Morgan Point and made a course east through Fishers Island Sound. So long Alabama! Hope to meet again under better circumstances.

Alabama Afloat!

She is free! Armed with stronger towlines and a high tide, the tugboat Gwendolyn pulled the Alabama into deeper water on Thursday evening.

I'm guessing we won't see the Alabama back in these waters for quite some time. As for me? I know I will never look at a Black Dog T-Shirt quite the same way ever again.



Soundbounder: Alabama Aground IV

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground III

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground II

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground I

Alabama Aground III

With daylight and high tide quickly disappearing, it looked as if the Alabama would remain stuck until the following day. Just as I was about to leave, the tugboat Gwendolyn arrived, providing hope that the schooner would be freed shortly. When all else fails, bring in the big guns.

I was certain this was the solution; the tug had more than enough strength to pull the ship free. But the brute force of the tug could not overpower its weakest link. Three times, a towline was attached and the Gwendolyn dug in hard with all its might. Like the sound of a whip cracking, the towline broke all three times. The optimism was short lived.

The sun was down; the tide was ebbing; and the tug was out of rope. It was time to call it a day.

Black Dog Tallships: Alabama

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground I

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground II

New London Day: Schooner Runs Aground Near Mystic

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground IV

Soundbounder: Alabama Afloat

Alabama Aground II

Anybody have any ideas? No, letting the air out of the tires isn't an option.

The first boat on the scene was the Mystic Whaler.  The big, heavy, tallship replica, based out of New London, tried to tow the Alabama free using her auxilary engine. She made several attempts without a budge.

The local SeaTow and Towboat US boats then gave it a try. While these are powerful boats, they are more designed to assist smaller and lighter vessels. Working in unison however, seemed like a good idea. One boat attached a line to the mast of the Alabama, while the other rigged a more tradition towline from the stern. The Alabama listed over as the two boats worked in tandem. Watching this, I thought she was going to be pulled free, but after numerous attempts, the schooner was still aground.

By this time, a large crowd had gathered along the shore, and a fleet of small boats circled nearby to watch. It was a hot, windless night and this was turning into a sideshow. Out of respect for the crews and a concern for safety, I kept a good distance away and watched the events from afar, relying on a zoom lense to view the action. Sure, it was interesting to watch, but it was also important to stay out of the way. 

What really struck me funny was the number of self-proclaimed experts commenting on what the towboats were doing wrong. Sound can travel a great distance over the water and I could hear the manager of a nearby marina calling them "Dumb &Dumber" along with a few other unprintable words. Everybody is an expert these days.

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground part one

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground part three

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground part four

Soundbounder: Alabama Afloat

Black Dog Tallships: Alabama

Alabama Aground

It has been a busy week in Noank. The excitement from the recent Michael Steele incident at a local lobster restaurant was simmering down when the Schooner Alabama of Vineyard Haven ran aground in the Mystic River on Wednesday.

This is a ship I know very little about. Two years ago, on a sail to Martha's Vineyard, I had spotted her anchored in her home port.  I took a few photos, and looked up some information online, but that has been the extent of my knowledge of her. It's unfortunate to see her in my local waters under such poor circumstances.

There is a saying that states 50% of all sailors have run aground, and the other 50% are liars. Like all good quotes, there is a certain element of truth to that phrase. There are however, different degrees of running aground. Sometimes a boat can be freed by simply putting the engine hard in reverse. Other times, a rising tide will lift the hull off the bottom and provide clearance. These scenarios did not work for Alabama; she was hard aground, and would require a tow.

The Mystic River is fairly shallow and causes difficulty for the large ships at Mystic Seaport. Many of them draw too much depth to navigate the river.  Alabama was no exception: she ran aground within the channel, with almost a full tide. The one positive is the river bottom is mostly mud, and damage to her keel from rocks, seems unlikely.

I will have more on this later.

Black Dog Tallships: Alabama

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground part two

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground part three

Soundbounder: Alabama Aground part four

Soundbounder: Alabama Afloat

New London Day: Schooner Runs Aground Near Mystic