DAY ONE: August 15th, 1814.  The British Fleet From Bermuda Arrives off the Maryland Coast.

As soon as Napoleon’s French Fleet was decimated by the British in 1814, the Royal Navy was free to send its armada across the Atlantic to answer America’s declaration of War on Great Britain.  The naval strength of more than 130 battle ships, with 1800 guns of various caliber, was assembled and now in sight of the Chesapeake Bay.

 

But the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, was anxious to finally unleash his pride and joy on the seat of government of the former British Colonies in America.  In addition to frigates and mortar ships, the H.M.S. Erebus was the rocket ship carrying his proprietary weaponry. Wellesley was a hardened military man who fell victim to these very rockets three decades earlier at the hands of Tipu Sultan of India.  Wellesley never recovered from the terror that rained down around him over several campaigns to overthrow the Indian Sultan.  Wellesley finally defeated Tipu Sultan in 1799 and, as a trophy of war, brought the Asian manufactured arsenal back to Britain.  William Congreve harnessed the rocket technology and outfitted it on the Erebus.

There are a few historical fiction books that explore the global climate just prior to the War of 1812.  One by Mark Sysson cleverly reveals the balance of power that existed at the dawn of the nineteenth century and how the story culminated in the Chesapeake Bay with The Star Spangled Banner.

DAY TWO: August 16th, 1814.  Tangiers Island, Chesapeake Bay

 

British Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane orchestrated the invasion.  British blockades were in place up and down the entire U.S. coastline. An attack on the U.S. Capitol was in the works months in advance.  Cochrane planned the destruction of the U.S. Capitol along with the surrounding major port cities along the Chesapeake Bay. Cochrane saw the strategic significance of Tangiers Island in the heart if the Chesapeake.  For a brief moment in history, it served as important of a naval military center as Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

In advance of the attack, Cochrane took advantage of the political tensions that were evident in America.  Once again, there were British sympathizers who feared the American experiment was not long for.  British agents targeted properties bordering the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia.  In an attempt to entice local blacks to join the British fight on U.S. soil, Vice Admiral Cochrane formed the Corps of Colonial Marines a year earlier.  British loyalists recruited slaves and promised them and their families freedom.  Many blacks in the region accepted the offer.  The British trained them as equals and the former slaves received pay, uniforms, and the promise of a pension.  They became Britain’s newest mercenaries.

With land reinforcement in place, the British ships were assembled.  Tidal pools and shallows plagued the rivers and it became a known threat to the advance of the British warships.  Cochrane did his best to secretly mark the channels.

 

According to local Chesapeake folklore musician and chronicler, Janie Meneely, there was a Methodist parson named Joshua Thomas who lived on Tangiers Island when the British took residence.  It seems the British welcomed Parson Thomas’s ministry and attended his sermons.  It is noted that Thomas, who was patriotically American, was not muzzled and predicted the failed British Campaign in the Chesapeake.   With that, Vice Admiral Cochrane and his officers went off prepared to board their vessels the next day, ready to perform their God-given work and face their fate

DAY THREE: August 17th, 1814. Ships Enter the Mouth of the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers.

As Admiral George Cockburn returned to his squadron near Taylor Island, Maryland, his officers were busy interacting with the local Americans.  Commandeering local vessels and provisions were a priority order.  Those who protested were taken along with their assets.

On one of her assignments for her publication in the 1980s, Janie Meneely interviewed the Radcliffe family who had many family stories tied to the War of 1812.  Most famously was the tale of their Grandma Polly.  It seems Polly’s husband was taken prisoner when Admiral Cockburn’s troops appropriated his boat and provisions.  Polly was determined to row out to Cockburn’s ship and speak to the Admiral directly.  Cockburn was so impressed with Polly’s decisiveness and courage, he immediately released her husband right after tea.   Janie Meneely’s poem is a wonderful celebration of the working Chesapeake Bay community and her most recent collection of music is found in her songbook, Sing The Bay Fantastic.

The first phase was to have a squadron of mortar vessels led by British Captain Alexander Gordon take his invasion force up the Potomac River.  Lack of navigation knowledge of the local waters played an essential outcome of preventing a British victory.  Shallow places like those local American mariners called ‘Kettle Bottom’ would be key in frustrating the British squadrons.  Meanwhile, Sir. George Cockburn and General Robert Ross land 5,000 troops at Benedict, Maryland on the Patuxent River.

DAY FIVE: August 19th, 1814.  British Navy Lands at Benedict, Maryland on the Patuxent River.

With minimal resistance aside from the brutal summer temperature, Rear Admiral George Cockburn and Ross marched 4,500 men in the sweltering heat toward Washington, D.C.   Over the next two days, the American mariners making up the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla was assigned the protection of Washington from approaching British warships up the Patuxent; however, the Americans set ablaze their own gunboats as the British land and sea forces neared.

DAY NINE: August 23rd, 1814. North to Baltimore or West to Washington

The  future 5th President, James Monroe, acted as a scout to detect the landing and thwart the advance of Admiral Cochrane’s campaign.  Meanwhile, back on the Potomac, British Captain Gordon’s mortar bombardment squadron found a scanty presence of a garrison manning Fort Washington approximately 50 miles downriver from the U.S. Capitol.

President Madison was almost shot by the British as it was reported he rode aimlessly through the countryside on horseback attempting to organize defenses.  At a critical juncture, British General Ross’s intentions confused the American forces.  It was unknown which direction the British troops were going to march.

Baltimore was in range to the north where Britain’s dreaded American foes, the Privateers, called home.  Privateer maritime operations on open waters maneuvered regularly from the Chesapeake, stealthily breaking the blockades and plundering British ships in the Mid-Atlantic.  In addition, Baltimore was known as a vital shipbuilding center where America’s future frigate fleet was under construction. Therefore, Baltimore was a choice target.

Meanwhile, Washington was directly west. Symbolically, Washington, D.C. was of equal value as a target.   U.S. politicians and military tacticians knew that Britain was driven to take revenge for America’s short-lived occupation of Toronto, Canada the previous year as the U.S. invasion forces attempted to annex Lower Canada.  During the American incursion, the Parliament building was set ablaze and looters took symbolic British ‘trophies of war’ as they retreated.

DAY TEN: August 24th, 1814.  The Battle of Blandensburg

As Cockburn and Ross stood eight miles northeast of Washington, D.C. the British advance met the first organized U.S. militia in the campaign.  Maryland slave-owners must have been shocked to see their runaway slaves return in British uniform with muskets aimed waiting for the order to open fire.   However, other blacks refused the British offer of freedom and remained on the side of America.

The Battle of Blandensburg did not last long.  The U.S. forces quickly disbanded when the casualties became heavy.  The British easily won and turned to the west marching unimpeded to the nation’s Capitol.  After the Chesapeake campaign, the British kept their word and the blacks were transported to Halifax, Nova Scotia where they started their new life.

The paltry response of local militia paled in comparison to the bravery of Dolly Madison’s heroic actions, with the help of her 15 year old enslaved servant Paul Jennings to sneak the life-size portrait of George Washington out of the Presidential Mansion.  Absence of any organized U.S. force remains a stunning fact with the only plausible military explanation was that the British would not waste their time attacking Washington, D.C. because it had no tactical value.  Instead, all attention, troops, and weaponry was directed to the defense of Baltimore instead.

DAY ELEVEN.  August 25th, 1814.  The 26 Hour Occupation of Washington, D.C.

Cockburn’s short list of targeted buildings included the U.S. Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the Presidential Mansion.  As the buildings burned, George Cockburn was shrewd enough to enter the city’s most popular newspaper office and destroyed or removed every letter C in the building.  The American newspaper would not be able to print neither his name or Vice-Admiral Cochrane’s name properly as the perpetrators of the historic attack.   Both of them were already subject of harsh ridicule in all the local American newspapers.

The British mortar ships and the H.M.S. Erasmus never made it up the Potomac to shell and rocket Washington, D.C. but they were certainly within striking distance of Alexandria, Virginia.  Seeing the U.S. Capitol ablaze from across the Potomac, a delegation representing the citizens of Alexandria offered their surrender of the city to the British. Cockburn was surprised by the news Captain Gordon’s squadron was well south of their destination. The naval bombardment of Washington never happened. Wellesley’s rockets never flew over the capitol.

At that moment, it is reported a tornado spun viciously toward Washington, D.C. spawning furious lightening strikes.  The tornado halted Cockburn’s devastation and Ross’s troops quickly departed Washington, D.C. with a few choice trophies of war that included a grandfather clock and Madison’s personal accounting ledger of the U.S. revenue. Perhaps with Thomas’s sermon filling Cockburns head, the burning abruptly ended. Was it Devine Intervention?

DAY TWELVE:  August 26th, 1814. PRESIDENT MADISON APPOINTS FRANCIS SCOTT KEY TO ARRANGE A PRISONER RELEASE WITH THE BRITISH

As Cockburn and Ross traversed across the Maryland countryside back to Benedict where their ships were anchored, many patriotic citizens took arms or shouted disapproval of the Redcoat pestilence.  The American countryside was encouraged to hurl rocks or hurl insults.  Dr. William Beanes was one such patriot who reportedly did both.  He was summarily taken prisoner by the British.

President Madison was alerted to such actions and he immediately dispatched local attorneys to appeal for prisoner release arrangements.  Francis Scott Key was one such attorney.  U.S. officials approached the British military authorities and Key was notified he would subsequently be allowed audience before the British authorities on the H.M.S. Minden in hopes of releasing his client and friend, Dr. William Beanes.

DAY FIFTEEN: August 29th, 1814. THE FALL OF FORT WASHINGTON

Back on the Potomac, U.S. defenses were quickly gathered at Fort Washington to meet the British mortar squadron.  Captain Gordon ordered the warships to open fire on the fort.  Americans fled the fortification leaving Alexandria, Virginia completely vulnerable.  The British entered the city and in exchange for not lighting the city on fire, troops were allowed access to plunder stores of tobacco, flour, and cotton.

DAY EIGHTEEN: September 1st,1814.  SHALLOW WATER ONCE AGAIN

As the British bombardment squadron retreated, they continued to eliminate U.S. fortifications as they moved down the Potomac.  The British retreat was hampered by unfavorable winds leaving them anchored in the Potomac for days.

DAY TWENTY: September 3rd, 1814. THE BRITISH PULLBACK ON THE POTOMAC

The British mortar ship, Devastation, was grounded in the shallows of the Potomac.  U.S. gunboats unsuccessfully attempted to capture the ship as the rest of the British squadron propelled the attack.  The skirmishes lasted for another 3-4 days. Erebus suffered the single death of a British seaman although there were reports of at least a dozen more with shrapnel wounds.

The British captured merchant vessels and sailed into the safety of the Chesapeake where they reassembled and planned their full attack on the city of Baltimore and Fort McHenry.  There wasn’t a single U.S. warship in the vicinity.  Two frigates that were supposed to be dispatched to protect the cities along the mid-Atlantic were blockaded by the British in New London, Connecticut for the duration of the British invasion of the Chesapeake Bay.  It was known that anti-Federalist pro-British support groups aided the British in many places along the U.S. coastline.  U.S. Senator Henry Clay led the WarHawks who demanded a stronger militarization of the U.S. Navy; however, the lack of American warships spoke for itself.  Cochrane turned his sights to Baltimore.

DAY TWENTY SEVEN: September 10th, 1814  THE EMERGENCE OF MAJOR ARMISTEAD

Twelve British sailing ships were spotted off Annapolis, Maryland that confirmed the all-out assault of Baltimore.  Additional American scouting parties reported smaller craft well up the Chesapeake Bay heading toward Baltimore.  Local city and state militias were fortified with federal regular Army troops.  Major George Armistead served as a commander the previous year at Fort Niagara where he defeated the British thereby allowing the Americans to enter Canada.  President Madison ordered Armistead to take command of Fort McHenry.  Knowing the inevitability of the naval attack, he reinforced gun positions around the harbor and along the Chesapeake.

DAY TWENTY NINE: September 12th, 1814  THE BATTLE OF NORTH POINT

Canon blasts alerted the city of Baltimore on a Sunday morning of the arrival of the British fleet.  General Ross and Cockburn landed their 5,000 troops at North Point, Maryland on the far eastern reaches well beyond the protection of Fort McHenry.  To Admiral Cochrane’s shock, 12,000 Americans were ready.  General Ross was killed by sharpshooters and the advance was halted.

DAY THIRTY: September 13th, 1814  THE STAGE IS SET AT FORT MCHENRY

U.S. Commanders successfully sunk merchant ships to block the entrance to the Patapsco River leading into Baltimore.  But the shallow waters kept the bulk of the British Fleet 5 miles away from Fort McHenry.  Erebus successfully positioned itself 2.5 miles away.  It was as close as the rocket ship would get to Fort McHenry or the port of Baltimore.

The Beginning of the 26 Hour Bombardment.

Armistead’s gunners shot burning cannonballs fired from Fort McHenry that skipped a half mile across the harbor successfully striking the wooden hulls of the British ships.  24 pounders rained down on the British ships with a range of 1800 yards.  36 pounders rained down on the British ships with a range of 2800 yards.  Royal Navy retreated to safety after the first 3 hours of the attack.  With news of the American heroism, Yankee Doodle could be heard from the inner harbor of Baltimore.

Captain Gordon and the British Commanders executed a Mortar ship assault.  Among the second wave included the  H.M.S. Volcano and H.M.S. Devastation.  They moved closer to Fort McHenry.  These ships were designed to volley with a massive recoil as they were built with heavy construction on the decks and in the hulls.  The 200 pounders had a range of 4200 yards.  Armistead later estimated 1500 British shells were fired upon the fort but only 400 struck the grounds, ramparts, or buildings.

H.M.S. Erebus also was part of the attack flotilla.  The Congreve rockets launched and streamed with blood red brilliance.  As the shells whistled overhead, the Fort McHenry garrison watched the rockets fall short into the water, well short of the ramparts.  Amistead ordered a cease fire at the 25th hour knowing it was best to save his ammunition.  At the end of the attack, only four Americans were killed.

DAY THIRTY ONE: September 14th, 1814. THE MARYLAND MILITIA AWAITS THE SILENT OARS

The British amassed one last fail-safe plan that was devised well in advance.  A landing attack of 3 bayonette regiments where Commodore Cochrane, aboard his H.M.S. Surprise, initiated a diversion to cover the ground attack on Baltimore.  An assembled fleet of rowboats and barges that would stealthily oar up the Patapsco Ferry Branch.

Shelling commenced at midnight and the silent oars moved the force into position.  As the dragoons lit their gun matches, their position was given away.  The Baltimore militias took advantage of the situation and commenced firing their muskets.  The British attack quickly fell apart as they were caught in the crossfire.

Francis Scott Key was still aboard the British treaty ship, H.M.S. Minden after successfully arranging his client’s release.  As the naval attack was already underway, Key was instructed to remain on the ship until the naval battle’s conclusion.  At dawn’s early light, the awesome spectacle of Erebus’s rockets was so shocking, Key was inspired to write his now famous poem that ultimately came to be known as ‘The Star Spangled Banner’.

EPILOGUE

The retreat was ordered by Admiral Cochrane and Major Amerstead had the fort’s new U.S. flag of 15 stars hoisted.  Key and his party were allowed to return to Baltimore.

Back in Great Britain, Arthur Wellesley would learn that his rocket hellfire that won him fame in the Anglo-Russian War in the Baltic and the victory in Algiers over Napoleon failed in the Battle of Baltimore.

The British Fleet sailed south and eventually participated in the Battle of New Orleans even though the treaty was signed between Britain and the United States weeks earlier.

Within months, Washington, D.C. began restoration of the burned buildings.  The scorch marks on the walls of the Presidential mansion were quickly covered with white paint.  This renovation gave the mansion its familiar appearance that is known from that day forth as The White House.

The ‘Star Spangled Banner’ remains America’s national anthem and foremost hymn sung at every major venue and public event.

The Chesapeake Bay continues its position as one of America’s premiere bodies of water essential to the port of Baltimore and local professional and recreational sailing communities.  It is well on its way to returning oysters to their once pristine stature.

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TODAY IS ‘HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA’ DAY’

January 26th is known throughout the Land Down Under as ‘History of Australia Day’.  Here in New York, the significance of Sydney’s Botany Bay is celebrated from the shores of New York Harbor and Brooklyn’s Lower Bay.  The back-story of Australia’s colonization is a central theme of the traditional folk song lyrics of ‘Botany Bay’.

As the recording session evolved on the eve of History of Australia Day, American football fans watched two bay city teams compete in the playoffs for the upcoming Super Bowl.  The Green Bay Packers challenged the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Under the aura of modern day sport spectacles, these host cities should be recognized for their historical significance in the pantheon of coastal port centers.  In this light, New York Harbor’s Lower Bay offers a welcome to its distant equal across the planet.

New York and Sydney share a lot in common, especially in times of climate change and the pandemic.  We share the pain that has affected all countries as quarantines are mandatory for all professional sports, music, and social gatherings.  In advance of the Australian Open in nearby Melbourne, the players have all arrived in Australian two weeks before the start of the Grand Slam tennis tournament.  New York’s U.S. Open tournament will follow this August in our summer season.  The global health protocols in large venues will obviously remain the same.  Meanwhile, Climate Change has ravaged Australia recently.  Flora and fauna slowly returns from the devastating fires along the Australian East Coast in 2019.  Both port cities have architectural plans to battle the rising sea levels that threaten their infrastructures.

AUSTRALIA’S COLONIZATION HISTORY

Historically, both New York and Sydney have their modern origins thanks in large part to colonization of the eighteenth century.  Native American Indians and Australian Aborigines alike witnessed the sudden in-habitation of strange new cultures on their native lands.  Emigration from one region to another is a constant global movement.  There isn’t a single continent that hasn’t experienced mass relocation.  Cultural integration is planet Earth’s story.   The harmony sung by the Brooklyn Bards is nothing short of a historical celebration.  The song lyrics cry, ‘For to take a trip on an immigrant ship to the shores of Botany Bay’.

 

 

With the end of Britain’s colonization in North America at the hands of the American Revolution, Britain’s Colonization efforts shifted to lands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.  Captain James Cook’s landed on the peninsula in 1770 that eventually became known as Sydney.  The HMS Endeavor carried the naturalist, Joseph Banks, who studied and catalogued flora and fauna.  So respected was Bank’s scientific discoveries, the waters were called ‘Botanist Bay’.  Eventually, the name changed to Botany Bay in the newly claimed colony of New South Wales.

Despite Banks’ report of poor soil and no reliable water source, more than a thousand settlers arrived on January 26th, 1788.  Included were 736 ‘convicts’ who were banished from England.  As criminals could no longer be shipped off to the American colonies with the victory in 1783, Australia had the distinct honor of becoming the British Isles new ‘penal colony’.  It was a sixty year practice by the British government to transport convicts to Botany Bay.  The six month ocean journey was marked by no less than a ten percent death rate of the passenger list, most of them chained in the cargo holds for the duration of the trip.

EMIGRATION FROM THE BRITISH ISLES

The Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1855 was Britain’s most devastating natural event causing the exodus of two million people.  780 thousand emigrated to America.   Many of the Irish became Longshoremen of America’s East Coast Port cities.  The 1849 California Gold Rush attracted miners and farmers who brought their pick-axes and shovels.  Sydney Australia welcomed a good portion of the rest.   Stories abound of Irish families that worked the soil or worked the seas taking up new residence in far-away lands.

The Botany Bay folk song offers the following lines as the good ship Ragamuffin sets sail from the British Isles.  The Bards harmonize, ‘When I reach Australia I’ll go and search for gold, There’s plenty there for digging up or so I have been told.  Or maybe I’ll go back to me trade, 800 bricks I’ll lay for an 8 hour shift and an 8 bob pay on the shores of Botany Bay.’

THE TUNE’S THEATER ORIGIN IN LONDON

‘Botany Bay‘ became popular as a show tune first heard in a London musical burlesque in 1885.  The British composer waited thirty years to honor, with great derring-do, the men and women who took the daring yet desperate journey to foreign countries as immigrants.  ‘Botany Bay’ was considered the ultimate romantic notion in the theatre circuit district of Piccadilly and West End.  Before the turn of the nineteenth century, it was fashionable in entertainment circles to popularize folk music and integrate it into theater spectacles.  Until this time, traditional Irish Folk Music could only be found in the British Isles port-side pubs and countryside taverns.

JOIN IN AND CELEBRATE THE HARD-WORKING LYRICS OF THE SONG

In the years before Covid-19, patrons of Irish pubs and taverns would sing along to the Bards, hoisting a pint, reveling in ‘The best years of our lives we spent working on the docks building mighty wharves and quays of earth and ballast rocks.’

But recently, the Sea Shanty craze on Tik-Tok caught fire.  Stephen Colbert’s nightly show occupied two consecutive monologues where he encouraged his followers to join the chorus.  Brooklyn’s answer to the Wellerman’s Irish Fair performance is also found on Tik-Tok.  We invite you to add your contributions at  LINK.

There you’ll hear….

‘Farewell to your bricks and mortar, farewell to your dirty lime,

Farewell to your gangways and gang planks and to hell with your overtime’.

 

THE RECORDING SESSION

Port-side pubs and countryside taverns are exactly the atmosphere Brooklyn Bard music breathes.   Listen to some choice takes from Botany Bay, one of the album tracks that will be available on social media music platforms later this month.  The Brooklyn Bard band members take a few minutes to express their feelings about performing the song, origins of their instruments, as well as offering their own histories.

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ROSH HASHANA, HEBREW CALENDAR YEAR 5741 /  SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2020

NEW YORKERS MOURN THE LOSS OF THEIR OWN BROOKLYN LEGAL EAGLE

A NEW LONG-TERM PLACE OF REST AND CONTEMPLATION

After the commission votes on the spot, when all is said and done, the entire stretch of Brooklyn Bridge Park from Atlantic Avenue on the south to Dumbo’s Fulton Landing to the north is a magnificent way to spend the day.  The New York City Ferry has stops at both extremes of Brooklyn Bridge Park and it is well worth the short four minute ride in either direction.

THE NOTORIOUS RBG CONNECTION TO BROOKLYN AND THE NOTORIOUS BIG.

TWO LADIES OF THE HARBOR

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City Sail’s Director, Soo Kim, has assembled three former students to Captain the Class of 2020.  With covid-19, you can imagine the challenges of teaching 32 teens.   So the decision was to create a virtual classroom that the students would learn the basics on the City Sail YouTube channel.  Once the students learn the ropes online, they will be ready for small, safe groups to take their knowledge onto the boats and sail the harbor with the instructors at the helm.

New York Harbor Channel was fortunate enough to capture Soo and his instructors at the New City Kids facility in Jersey City as the virtual online videos were being produced.  The tutorial videos are currently being viewed by the students and their time to board the sailboats is fast approaching.   City Sail has one Colgate 26′ and the rest of the craft are donated by local boat owners who are happy to offer their time and resources.

Get to meet the sailing team and hear their pride as they tell their own personal success stories during our interviews.  You will be pleased to know that New City Kids all participate in their acclimated music program.  These sailors take their music on the water and the water feeds their inspiration to create musical compositions.   Take a listen!  If you happen to be around the harbor this month, don’t be surprised to hear a impromptu concert as the students tack their way into a bright, healthy future!

We wish you fair winds and following seas, Class of 2020!

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The word ‘Hydrography’ means underwater mapping.  This one hundred year old institution grew from the 16th century explorers of the New World.  Each ship brought cartographers with them so the maps would prove the existence of a new claimed territory.  Of course the map served to make return trips possible by identifying landmarks and bodies of water as well as marking dangerous locations and hazards. 

The earliest tools of measuring the depth of bodies of water was a piece of stone or lead tied to a string.  Early civilizations like Ancient Greece or Nordic Vikings used measurements for their ports, but it took the British Royal Navy to establish the position of Hydrographer of the Navy in 1795 to standardize the depths of the most traveled coastlines.  The term ‘fathom’ was used by the British Admiralty in 1801 as six feet of rope or cable. 

Not to be outdone, the U.S. Depot of Charts and Navigation was formed.  It was headed by Commander Matthew Maury in 1825.  Commander Maury’s work is the inspiration and precedent for the creation of the U.S. Navy’s Navoceano department.  NYHC was privileged to interview the Navy crew as well as the civilian scientists working on USNS Maury in 2018 as it’s latest multibeam sonar and ROV’s were used for coastal hydrographic surveys.   

NINETEENTH CENTURY WESTERN LITERATURE CAPTIVATED BY THE DARKNESS OF THE OCEANS

        In 1871, a French novelist was awestruck by Commander Maury’s findings.  Jules Verne must have fantasized about submersible underwater vehicles as he wrote his famous novel ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea’.  You get the impression from the title Verne might be referring to the depth of the ocean; however, this still was not possible as ocean depth measurement was still in its infancy.  Instead, twenty thousand leagues is the total distance traveled by Verne’s character, Captain Nemo and his crew aboard the fictional submarine, Nautilus.  The number of leagues translates to 80,000 kilometers, almost twice the circumference of the earth.    

Back in the United States, the North Atlantic spawned Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’.  This novel brought a monsters of the deep into reader’s bedrooms as the world slowly learned about the creatures who would magically surface only to dive to its depths once again.   Captain Ahab’s unwavering pursuit of the famous but probably fictional ‘white whale’ as Beluga whales of the Arctic are white, but they are not the colossal size capable of capsizing a whaling ship. 

The depths of the world’s oceans would remain a place of mystery especially to those who traveled it frequently.  The love of trans-Atlantic voyages would occasionally pull vessels to the ocean’s floor.  Newsreel features showed seasoned passengers on Ocean Liners such as RMS Titanic swallowed by mishap.  Who could imagine an iceberg sinking a ship?

THE WORLD BEGINS TO MAKE SENSE FROM OCEAN SCIENCE  

        International political turmoil prevented uniformity in ocean transit and measurements.  Finally, in 1921, there was an effort to establish consultation between national governments for safe navigation, technical standards and the protection of the marine environment.  The world’s waterways did begin to follow common guidelines as coastal surveys became the norm for international shipping.

The second half of the 20th century developed submarine technology that spawned manned and unmanned submersible vehicles that descended to the depths of the ocean collecting digital hydrographic data.  The French explorer, Jacques Cousteau, made for spectacular television viewing in the 1970’s with weekly episodes of underwater scientific adventures.  For those of us who watched his series, Cousteau opened our eyes to the discoveries of his exploration team members and the instruments that seemed to roll out of production on a weekly basis.  The Cousteau Society mission has found itself alive and well today in Fabien Cousteau, Jacques’ grandson, as he pioneers underwater habitats that may be the predecessor of cities of the future.

Planet Earth’s new frontier is the ocean floor as it is now as popular as space exploration.  Fifteen years ago, the United Nations hosted the member countries of the modernized initiative called the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO).  The UN assembly adopted a resolution for the entire planet to celebrate World Hydrography Day every June 21st.  This year’s theme is “Enabling Autonomous Technologies”.  Next year, 2021 will mark the one hundredth anniversary of the creation of the original Hydrography Organization that was comprised of multiple nations around the world.

THE U.S. CHAMPIONS OF HYDROGRAPHY ACKNOWLEDGE INTERNATIONAL HYDROGRAPHY DAY

         Aside from the U.S. Navy’s Navoceano program, the most dedicated agency is the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  NOAA is divided into various sectors of study.  Meteorology is most visible as it deals with weather and weather events such as hurricanes.  NOAA also operates its Fisheries sector and it includes the Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) branch.    

OER’s newest hydrographer, Dr. Sam Candio, paid homage to the IHO on International Hydrography Day.  He mentioned sonar devices are helping define the marine world, but only one fifth of the ocean floor is mapped.  He looks forward to being a key player in NOAA’s participation of this exciting frontier.   

The IHO gives the world an opportunity to pull back the curtains and reveal each country’s self-serving interests in hopes of incorporating them into a shared, glorious, global plan.  The world oceanographic industries do have a reason to celebrate.  Measurements will not be propriety.  Everything will be shared.  The cost of technology is shared.

U.S. NATIONAL MARITIME DAY IS CELEBRATED ON MAY 22ND DRIVING THE NEED FOR HYDROGRAPHY

        In 1933, the U.S. Congress created a national holiday that honored the first U.S. steamship to make a trans-Atlantic voyage in 1819.  Holidays such as these strengthen a sense of national pride, however, they do little to allow international efforts, blinding us to see the larger picture taking place on a global stage. 

The United States carefully watches the shipping activity of its ports.  International container goods shipped around the world is approximately 1.8 billion metric tons.  With these kind of numbers, Is environmental protection the driving force behind measuring the ocean depths?  Well, yes it can.  Advocacy groups have helped shape the establishment of dozens of government agencies that do protect marine ecosystems and sea life.  

The Obama Administration created Monuments as protections of fragile habitat zones and established marine sanctuaries; however, the Trump Administration is striping those protections.  Preservation advocacy groups convinced the Obama Administration to mandate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strictly regulate fishing and exploration in the entire Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (NCSMNM) area as it was recognized to be a spawning ground for species essential to supporting and sustaining marine life along the North Atlantic coastline. 

If the present U.S. administration has it’s way, this apparent romantic notion may be outweighed by the greater force of marine commerce and the exploitation of natural resources under the ocean floor.  It must also be noted that this administration has no desire to actively participate in the IHO as the President clings to an ‘America First’ decree.  There is not a single American in the IHO executive committee.  The future is a shimmering stardust in the specter of autonomous transportation initiatives.  Somehow, NOAA scientists hang on to the dreams and desires of the past administration.  

NOAA SOON TO ENTER ITS THIRD DECADE OF DEEP WATER EXPLORATION

         As the world is increasingly comfortable with operating submersibles, ROV’s are entering uncharted regions in record numbers.  Not only are military and governmental agencies lowering these essential automated tools into the oceans, private foundations and commercial industries are busy at work on a multitude of missions.  NOAA’s Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) is quickly logging two decades of exploration data.

What was NOAA’s closest deep sea exploration to the U.S. Eastern coastline?  New York City should be proud to know that less than one hundred miles southeast of the Verrazzano Bridge, the Hudson Canyon Expedition was successfully mapped and researched in 2002.  Dr. Peter Rona, then a professor at Rutger’s University, was lead scientist aboard the NOAA Exploration ship, Ronald H. Brown.  High definition cameras caught images of the canyon floors revealing deepwater corals, sponges, and species never before seen.  The depths of the canyons fall three miles below the surface of the New York Bight.   Seismic reflection profiling was used to map the canyon.  Since then, this controversial method has become a major subject of protest by environmental advocacy groups.  Seismic blasting has given much evidence of the harm it causes to marine mammals and the ecosystem in general.

BATHYMETRIC DATA COLLECTION SPAWNS A DOZEN ACRONYMS TO ACHIEVE ONE GOAL

      Over the past decade, multiple data-collection programs created multiple data results.   With one fifth of the earth’s ocean bottom mapped, the end-product is questionable.  Nonconformity has obvious flaws when it comes to science.  The IHO is spearheading the international effort to conform to one agreed protocol for all to standardize the methodology and instrumentation. 

ASPIRE is the acronym for the Atlantic Seafloor Partnership for Integrated Research and Exploration.  A centralized, shared protocol to unify independent underwater data acquisition and established qualified and quantified databases of the ocean floor.  The Galway Statement has successfully joined forces between the United States, Canada, and the European Union nations to initiate programs in the North Atlantic to do just that. 

Another collaborative initiative is called Seabed 2030 to standardize and furnish authoritative data available to everyone.  It’s goal is to help make policy decisions based on the bathymetric information.  NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) division data base is already accessible to agencies and the general public.

ASPIRE and Seabed 2030 are foundations of NOAA’s latest hydrographic study as it is tackling the deep canyons of the North Atlantic.   

TWENTY PRIORITIES RESULTING FROM THE 2018 CALL FOR INPUT WORKSHOP

        On November 16th, 2018, NOAA summarized their Exploration Science Planning Workshop.  The “Call for Input” netted 50 deep sea experts to discuss their ideas and concerns for regional exploration priorities in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.  Here is the summary of twenty exploration subjects planned for the 2019 & 2020 expeditions….

1. Marine mammal habitats
2. Water column exploration for Beaked whale feeding and spawning grounds in seeps of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (NCSMNM)
3. North Atlantic Right Whale transit in the Laurentian Channel
4. Seeps in the Laurentian Fan
5. A proposed marine park in the Laurentian Fan
6. Fisheries and benthic habitat assessment in the Halifax Line
7. Unknown fauna of The Gully
8. Unknown canyons
9. Submarine landslides in the Laurentian Fan.
10. Geohazards
11. Deep-sea coral and coral conservation areas
12. Sponges in the Seamounts
13. Deep-sea mining interests
14. Fisheries habitats and interests
15. Underwater Cultural Heritage surveys
16. Shipwrecks offshore of Boston and New York
17. USCGC Bear search with high-resolution mapping using AUV
18. Cold-water coral communities in the Gulf of Maine
19. Partner with existing marine geophysical surveyors for oil and gas exploration in the Grand Banks and Flemish Cap region. Multibeam bathymetry coverage for critical mineral inventory initiatives.
20. Resurvey of the RMS Titanic using new archaeological devices and methods.

THE NOAA OCEAN RESEARCH VESSEL, OKEANOS EXPLORER

Okeanos Explorer’s home port is North Kingstown, Rhode Island.  It utilizes the latest exploration tools such as multibeam sonar, telepresence, water column investigations, and underwater robotics. Two Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) submersibles on Okeanos are Deep Discovery and Seirios.  According to NOAA’s OER, Okeanos is “the only federal vessel dedicated to exploring our largely unknown ocean for the purpose of discover and the advancement of knowledge about the deep ocean.”

THE 2019 EXPEDITION ONE HUNDRED MILES FROM MONTAUK

        Ground Zero for residents of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region of the United States, is the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (NCSMNM).  NCSMNM is 5,000 square miles of underwater terrain and it is as deep as the Grand Canyon.  It sits 100 miles south east of Cape Cod and Montauk Point.  This deepwater sanctuary remains mostly unexplored.  Thanks to NOAA, here are some Images of the submarine breathtaking landscape from the Okeanos Explorer study. 

Two of the 2019 Okeanos Expeditions were called “Deep Connections” and “Windows To The Deep”.  They featured Biodiversity hotspots as it proudly broadcast the existence of Bubblegum Coral in Gully Canyon during one of its many live NOAA webcasts.  Other webcasts allowed the NOAA audience to watch as the ROV slowly examined the face of a sheer cliff wall with no variance, truly a massive Massive.  The Okeanos crew repeatedly mentioned the beauty that has no boundaries between the borderlines that separate Canadian waters from the Untied States.  The underwater regions are seamless as the ecosystems expand and transit beyond the man-made boundaries above.  This is a stellar picture of hope and optimism. 

A PARODY OR A PARADOX

        NOAA is surrounded by storm clouds.  A politically-inspired storm field that is interwoven within NOAA’s very fabric, its very existence.  Since 1971, the NOAA emblem clearly stated it is connected to the U.S. Department of Commerce.  The DOC is currently headed up by Wilbur Ross, a man who has risen through the ranks utilizing fossil-fuel industries as his backbone.  Ironic that the very organization that prides itself as the people’s voice that tries to stop the advancement of fossil fuel reservoirs under the ocean floor is captained by a man whose hands are mired in it.  The outwardly visible side of NOAA is glowing with environmentally friendly, science-based, and thought-provoking initiatives intended to lessen fossil-fuel dependency.  NOAA Fisheries is a shining tower, the pinnacle of progressive, earth-minded thinking.  However, it’s subservience to the DOC cannot be ignored. The powerful mandates that arise from the DOC’s cellars are hypnotic and unquestionable.  The paradigm is this.  NOAA is all about protection.  DOC is all about mass economic undersea mining and self serving plundering of the ocean’s riches.

Meanwhile, the Environmental and Energy Law Program of Harvard University has carefully monitored recent activities that affects the waters not far from it’s Cambridge, Massachusetts campus.  Harvard carefully followed President Trump’s executive order #13795 signed into effect on April 28th, 2017 that instructed immediate review by the Secretary of Commerce of the protection of Canyons and Seamounts as it was a watermark of the Obama Administration in 2016.  The executive order instructed Wilbur Ross to assess the opportunity costs associated with potential energy and mineral exploration in this area. 

 It wasn’t long before environmental groups such as Oceana quickly sued the DOC.   Using the Freedom of Information Act, Oceana stated the DOC failed to disclose actual initiatives in hopes of forcing the administration to reveal its secretive plans for resumption of offshore drilling and deregulated commercial fishing.  This and other lawsuits have sidelined the government’s desire to activate oil and gas surveys.  The independent seismic testing vessels were denied operation.

And yet, with all of the drama swirling around within DOC, it was as if Moses parted the sea to allow the single NOAA ship to motor out into the Northeast Canyons and pursue their solo mission in otherwise turbulent political waters.  Half of the Okeanos mission was accomplished before the approaching winter of 2019 closed down Okeanos operations.  The ship returned to Rhode Island for retrofit and repairs.  The samples and data were inspected and the crew sat out the season waiting to resume in April of this year. 

AS A PLAGUE SETTLES OVER AMERICA, THE EXPLORATION AND ITS D.O.C. TENTACLES ARE ON HOLD

         Okeanos Explorer is halfway through it’s seafloor mapping mission of the NCSMNM.  Additional exploration and mapping was scheduled for this August to mid September.  Covid-19 has paused the operation until further notice.  Once the mission is given the green light to resume activity, the concentration for this year’s survey will focus on the Sohm Plain.  Flat ocean bottoms are the kind of terrains of most interest to the oil and gas industry.    

Out of the blue, President Trump’s June 5th Proclamation was announced before an audience of Lobstermen representing the Commercial Fishing Industry at the airport in Bangor, Maine.  The Proclamation immediately opens the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument protected area to large-scale trawling.  This is the very region that NOAA recently touted its mandate to reasonably manage fishing based on scientific study.  It is no coincidence the Proclamation cites a healthy increase in the populations of species that were of primary concern to ensure protection.  Neil Jacobs, now famous for his role in Sharpie-gate, has issued a dubious statement claiming the harm to whale species does not rise to “a population level consequence for the species.”  Jacobs mouths the Trump administration credo that the United States must be energy independent. 

The Fossil-fuel industry supports EPA Secretary Wheeler’s proposal to rollback Obama protections and allow shortcuts for businesses to bypass regulations such as Clean Air Act of 1970 and Climate Change regulations.  On the surface, top NOAA officials have unilaterally reversed direction in favor of compliance with other federal administration officials within the DOC.  It is an understatement to say the Proclamation overrides NOAA’s carefully formulated plans this year.  The light-minded thinkers of NOAA can only wonder how their mission will continue unimpeded as commercial fishing vessels are now allowed to drop their nets into the very depths they are trying to protect. 

Just a few weeks ago, a National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone was distributed this month by the President’s Ocean Policy Committee.  To the uneducated mind, there seems to be a veiled reference in section 4.2 to “create a market for commercially developed technology applications” with the inclusion of “external partners”.  In section 2.1 seabed backscatter acoustic imagery and sub-bottom profiling” is communicated, but seems to be vague.  There are methods expressly outlined for ocean floor testing; however, they are not specifically referenced as the only methods currently available or specifically utilized. 

Will NOAA be using Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM)?  The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers funds PAMguard software created by Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St. Andrews. 

Meanwhile, five seismic testing companies have been green-lighted to perform the controversial mapping method on the Outer Continental Shelf in the North Atlantic.  It is no coincidence that just last week, the federal government overruled North Carolina’s case that tried to stop the testing forty miles off the outer banks.  This area, known as ‘The Point” is a massive habitat for marine species.  The endangered Right Whales and Cuvier’s Beaked Whales are extremely sensitive to the seismic blasting.  The Bureau of Energy and Management (BOEM) rescinded its previous decision three years ago in favor of granting the permits. 

It is obvious that NOAA continues to operate critical global initiatives with one hand tied behind its back.  NYHC has attempted to contact officials at NOAA for comment on it’s policy on seismic testing.  We have yet to receive a reply.   

SUSPENSE THRILLERS OF THE 1980’S MAKE A COMEBACK

        There are two motion pictures that come to mind as we witness the paradox unfolding at NOAA.  One is Star Wars Episode V and the other is Hunt for Red October.  Both movies offer a psychological window into the schizophrenic drama playing out between the DOC and NOAA.  Interestingly enough, the brilliant American actor, James Earl Jones, is in both of them.

I cannot help but hear James Earl Jones’ voice-over for the Darth Vadar character as the haunting black-robed figure wearing a veiled helmet and respirator, menaces, “You don’t know the power of the dark side!  I must obey my master.”  Can you envision Wilbur Ross standing over a cowering researcher on the gangplank of Okeanos?  Lord Vadar  pleads with his son, “Come Luke, Come to The dark side.”   

Then, in the 1990 movie, Hunt For Red October, James Earl Jone’s character, Admiral James Greer famously says, ” That torpedo didn’t self-destruct, you heard it hit the hull and I was never here!” as the submarine mission takes a solicitous turn of international detente.  A meeting inside the DOC could easily adopt this scene.

It is not too far a stretch to align Captain Nemo, Captain Ahab with Admiral Greer and Lord Vadar.  Despite their being a century apart, all four of these characters face their inner souls during a critical time in their mission.  Hopefully, they choose wisely.  We can only hope the same for our cast of characters that hold the future of our seas in their hands.

CONCLUSION

           Diving down within the US Economic Exclusion Zone, the haunting question is when is the seabed surveys allowing commercial exploration?  Thanks to the virus and the exploration halt, the stoppage has bought some time.  Despite, declining call for seismic blasting technology over the past five years, the gas and oil exploration industry continues to develop more sophisticated instruments to enhance the controversial marine geo-physical survey technique.  4D imagery is now available as well as floor mounted devices that can be remotely activated in a field that may require periodic use of seabed inspection.  

The meaning of International Hydrography Day is quite simple.  It is a moment to recognize the good work the entire world can participate in.  It serves everybody.  And everybody should be excited by it.  The mapping of the ocean floor is a signal of the future.  In these times when the world should come together, it should not be taken as a signal that threatens the United States into formulating a self-serving credo.

The post HOW THE UNITED STATES CELEBRATED INTERNATIONAL HYDROGRAPHY DAY appeared first on New York Harbor Channel.

NYHC wants to take the opportunity to remember the 50 veterans that reportedly died in the Long Island nursing home. To date, there are more than 1000 veterans in VA health system sites that have been lost due to Covid-19 infections. Along with the veterans who are not getting the proper ceremonial honors at their burials due to Covid-19. However, hundreds of other veterans were lost in the state-run homes.  We ask, how many of these veterans would still be alive today if they were fast-tracked to USNS Comfort.  And for those who would have succumbed to the infection, how many would have been happier spending their final hours on the military hospital ship?  Of course, these are tough questions.

On this Memorial Day Observance, NYHC is honored to have Congressman and veteran Max Rose offer words of thanks to the crew of USNS Comfort.  A purple heart recipient, Max Rose served as a platoon leader in Afghanistan and was wounded there in 2013.  In addition to his representation of the 11th Congressional District from Brooklyn and Staten Island, he currently is attached to the New York Army National Guard for active duty.

NYHC is proud to have found men and women of distinction to help tell our Covid-19 New York story.  The time span of the documentary is from March 7th (the first covid deaths in NYC) to April 30th (when Comfort leaves NYC).   The key focal characters are Rachel Hartley, who answered the call for ICU nurses, sailing her temporary residence into New York Harbor and USNS Comfort’s Chaplain, Lt. Johnny Bravo.  There is a strong spirituality between the two, told from their respective ships.  The working New York Harbor personnel is represented by the Sandy Hook Pilot, Captain Tim Ferrie, who navigated Comfort into its NYC pier.  USNS Comfort’s Commander Amersbach offers his precise detail of the Hospital ship operations.

New York Harbor is in lock down for all passenger ship traffic.  The cruise ship industry ties NY waters to the oceans of the world.  We also touch on Erika Butters’ plight stuck on a Cruise Ship stranded in the Atlantic Ocean.   As Covid-19 tears apart careers and industries, Erika’s 56 day saga offers a musical therapy as she records a consistent daily post on Facebook from her ship.  Erika’s music offers uplifting melodies under our visual footage.  NYHC has taken the best of our interviews over the past two months to piece together this unique story.

Governor Cuomo and President Trump provide the Covid-19 reality as well as the backstory as to why Comfort was in NYC for only 30 days.  The hospital ship only treated 182 Covid patients over a mere 14 day period.  Despite the political tension that permeates the atmosphere, Comfort does exhibit its  marvelous medical deployment and staff acumen.  Not a single Covid-19 patient treated on-board was lost.

We conclude with shout outs from New Yorkers including one from  Congressman Max Rose.  With Comfort’s return to the Norfolk Naval Station, one missing element remains… a Mission Name.  We invite everybody who was touched both physically and spiritually to offer a name for the Navy Command to consider.  NYHC has chosen ‘Operation Gentle Shadow’ as its reach in dark times has brought calm and compassion to the waters of New York Harbor.

After USNS Comfort sailed out of New York Harbor, the torch had been passed to a visiting nurse from Lynchburg, Virginia and the hundreds of other healthcare workers like Rachel Hartley.  Of course, we cannot forget about the thousands of healthcare workers who started this battle when Covid-19 first entered the NYC hospital system back in February.  Departure day for the Comfort marked a significant Turning Point for New York.  The number of Covid-19 cases was slowly, but steadily on the decline.

NYHC wishes to take this opportunity to personally thank the men and women of the USNS Comfort for their service to the nation   The ship exemplified professionalism.  What’s more, the hospital ship also served as a ambassador.  It was indeed a Gentle Shadow that spread compassion from the waterfront to all the New York and New Jersey front line workers.   As you sailed out of the harbor, you took your excellence with you to serve on another mission.  For New York, Operation Gentile Shadow will live on as a shining light that helped bring us out of the unknown darkness.  We wish you fair winds and following seas!

For more in depth articles and interviews found in New York Harbor Channel, please click below

Commander Amersbach

Captain Tim Ferrie

Erika Monet Butters

Nurse Rachel Hartley

Chaplain Johnny Bravo

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The global pandemic crisis took a toll on many of us. The need to isolate ourselves from others in order to flatten the curve and protect people at high risk, required us to stay home. While some of us were able to adjust and re-invent their working and study habits, for many others, their lives had changed for the worse. For homeless people who are struggling to keep their personal hygiene and get food on a regular basis, it became even more challenging. The welfare services are interrupted and there are just not enough people out who would show random acts of kindness. 

On Sunday I joined my friends Michele Smith-Wiemer and Barry Richards on their 7th donation drive. As mentioned in my previous article, the preparations for the weekly drive are being operated from Michele’s boat docked at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City and supported by the local boaters community. Michele is collecting food donations and cooks at her boat galley, and together with Barry they are driving around every Sunday to deliver the meals. In addition to meals, Michele and Barry are also supplying masks made by seniors – Michele’s mom, Susan Smith, and her Eugene, Oregon retirement community. 

Michele & Barry made 45 meals – this week the recipients had a choice between chili or mac & cheese with a yummy cupcake for dessert – made by Barry’s daughter. We drove around Jersey City looking for homeless people in known spots. It was important to us to find those who prefer to be on their own rather than to congregate where other homeless people do. Eventually we arrived in Journal Square, where typically many homeless people hang out. At Journal Square we were welcomed by Louis – a resourceful and kind young man who Michele & Barry met on previous drives. Louis organized a line, making sure the homeless are keeping a 6’ distance between each other and wearing masks. For those who didn’t have masks, or had disposable masks – we provided one of the hand made masks we brought with us. 

Michele was handing out the main course along with a piece of bread and a spoon, and I handed out the cupcakes. The people were polite, grateful, friendly and patient for the most part. We apologized to those who came back for seconds, explaining we wanted to make sure everybody is getting a meal, and their reaction was nothing but understanding and appreciating. I felt that the simple acts of acknowledgment and interest in them, like asking for their names and introducing ourselves, along with a bit of humor – that made the bridge over our metaphorical and physical social distancing. 

After supplying meals to all the homeless in Journal Square, we still had another dozen meals left. We then drove to Hoboken’s train terminal, where we found several other homeless people who were excited by the gesture. We even got a few thumbs up from non-homeless passerbys. 

Over the last few days I’ve been covering this story, I learnt from Michele & Barry that the biggest challenge they are facing is getting the mask supplies. While the Oregon’s seniors community is making them in a relatively good pace, it is hard to rely on USPS to get the shipments on time. They also found it hard to get elastic for the masks. To that extent, and in order to enable remote support of their effort, they started a Go Fund Me Campaign to help raise funds to pay for mask making supplies and expedited shipping services. They are also trying to get more local mask makers, who they are hoping to be able to pick up ready made masks from. 

Interested in getting involved and contributing to this effort? Here are ways you can do so:

1. Donate elastic and fabrics for mask making
2. Any connection to postal or shipping services that can provide a quick delivery to Jersey City – as shipments from Oregon seem to take way too long….
3. Donate money through Go Fund Me
4. Of course, any food donations from individuals or restaurants are welcome! 

If you are interested in helping out or have any contacts who might be helpful – please contact Michele at: [email protected]

The post Doing Good Sunday – Sailors And Seniors Helping Jersey City Homeless During Corona Times appeared first on New York Harbor Channel.

One day, while driving around Jersey City running errands at the early days of the Covid-19 crisis, Michele Smith-Wiemer and Barry Richards saw many homeless people out on the streets. They decided to take action and help them, especially during the time where there are very few people outside and welfare services are either shutdown or overwhelmed. For the first drive, Michele – who owns a Carver 36 trawler in Liberty Landing Marina – cooked chilli and tortillas at her boat galley. They shared their story and plan with their local community of boaters in the Morris Canal via Facebook and invited other boaters to join them and contribute. 

Over the past 6 weeks the donation drive became bigger and bigger and they were able to feed almost 50 of Jersey City’s homeless each Sunday. In addition to food donations they received from their fellow boaters, they started a Go Fund Me campaign that is raising funds to get masks for the homeless as part of an effort to educate them as well as protect them from the pandemic. The masks are being made by seniors, of which are Michele’s Mom Susan Smith and her Oregon retirement community working on sewing masks. Funds raised are helping getting materials – specifically elastic for the masks as well as to cover shipping costs. 

The donation drive is happening for the 7th time this coming Sunday, and I will be joining Michele & Barry to collect and distribute food and masks. The goal for this week is to supply 60 meals for the homeless, as well as get more masks supplied.

Interested in getting involved and contributing to this effort? Here are ways you can do so:

1. Donate elastic and fabrics for mask making
2. Donate food – since many homeless have bad teeth – it’s best to donate soft and creamy foods such as: pasta, chilli, curry (not too spicy), rice, chips, bread, cupcakes, canned goods, chocolate and other soft candy
3. Contact local restaurants or catering services that are willing to donate meals (we are willing to facilitate coverage of the cost of produce and man power)
4. Any connection to postal or shipping services that can provide a quick delivery to Jersey City – as shipments from Oregon seem to take way too long….
5. Donate money through Go Fund Me

If you are interested in helping out or have any contacts who might be helpful – please contact Michele at: [email protected]

The post Sailors And Seniors Helping Jersey City Homeless During Corona Times appeared first on New York Harbor Channel.

Thousands of New Yorkers peered out their windows, ran to their backyards, opened their front doors or some brave souls even went to the piers to witness the amazing tribute to first responders from the Air Forces’s Thunderbirds and Navy’s Blue Angels.  It has been three years since the Armed Forces Demonstration teams organized together.  The twelve fighter jet formation was assembled to honor healthcare workers across the nation.  “We’re excited to fly over cities across America as our way of saying thanks to the healthcare workers, first responders and all the people who selflessly run into the breach working to keep America strong.” said Air Force Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday added, “This is also our way of showing that we are all in this together and that America’s spirit will prevail.”

The multi-city tour is promoted with the slogan, ‘Operation America Strong’.

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels are based and train in Pensacola, Florida while the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are based in Nellis, Nevada.  Both demonstration teams are known for their aerobic maneuvers, but the flyover was designed as a simple salute to the healthcare workers. The flight formation started at The George Washington Bridge following the Hudson River down past Pier 90 where the USNS Comfort is presently stationed. It then looped over New Jersey, Long Island, and finally making its way over Queens and Brooklyn before finishing at the Verrazzano Bridge.

Featured in this article is our video, courtesy of native NY/NJ civilians which shows the flyover from various vantage points around the NYC-NJ area.

Afterwards, the formation flew over Trenton and Philadelphia following the NYC flyover.  The schedule will continue for the next two weeks and the flyover will target cities who are experiencing the most severe cases of Covid-19.

As a reminder to all who are taking advantage of the marvelous weather, please be sure to wear your masks when you do go outside.  Not only is it courteous to protect your neighbors, let alone yourselves, it is the law.  The waterfront was filled with spectators watching the flyover.  Approximately fifteen to twenty percent of the attendees did not have masks.  Be stylish!  Many small manufacturers are busy creating personalized face coverings that are cool to add to your sporting attire.

The Blue Angel Pilots wear their new blue and gold face masks as it has been added to their official uniform for photos.  The Pensacola Mask Sewers, who produced them, are donating the fashionable protective gear to hospitals.

The next event that will draw a nice sized crowd to the New York Harbor waterfront will be the departure of the USNS Comfort that was rumored to leave Pier 90 on Thursday, April 30th.  As of this moment, there is no official sailing date but NYHC will post the date when it becomes available from the U.S. Navy.

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The Nightdippers have an interesting history of missions since the squadron was first established in 1956 when the craft would lower its submersible sonar-equipment for Anti-Surface Warfare campaign in nighttime activities.  Hence, the creation of its name. Over the years, the majority of the Nightdipper missions have been Search and Rescue. Most memorable was its service in the 2005 Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans when more than 40 people airlifted to safety.  Delivering thousands of pounds of food, water and medical supplies has been a hallmark of local U.S. civilian authority support.

The Nightdippers has been deployed to dozens of aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean performing hundreds of sorties and hundreds of hours.  The squadron received the 2013 Battle Efficiency Award as a result of their effectiveness in Helicopter Sea Combat out of Norfolk Naval Station.

So the mission to deliver hospital supplies from Norfolk to USNS Comfort in New York Harbor was assigned to carry the Navy’s stock of specialty full-face mask respirators with an air-filtration system.

“The safety of patients and crew about Comfort is our highest priority,” said Capt. Joseph O’Brien, mission commander, Task Force New York City. “We use full personal protection equipment precautions in accordance with CDC recommendations.  We are receiving these items now due to the shift in patient acceptance and to ensure we maintain safety of all aboard Comfort.”

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