We’re hearing that a sailboat snapped free of its moorings and drifted out towards the Ocean Avenue footbridge, where it’s now stuck. Firemen are on the scene. We’re trying to get you a photo, and will let you know if any damage was caused to the historic footbridge.
This is a breaking news report and is subject to change as more information becomes available.
Yesterday we posted about how the 77-year-old roundhouse that sits just off the tip of the Manhattan Beach peninsula is going to be removed. The roundhouse has been a navigational aid that longtime sailors in our area have relied on. The mariners in our community are very against its removal.
Sailor and community activist Stan Kaplan e-mailed us yesterday to elaborate on why keeping the roundhouse is imperative.
I am advocating for keeping the Roundhouse. As my point of view has been published, I am attaching The US Coast Guard’s current “Notice to Mariners.”
On page 5 at the top, it suggests that using floating aids to navigation can have “varying degrees of reliability.” It also suggests to “utilize bearings from fixed objects and aids to navigation on shore” is much more reliable.
It is my understanding that the Roundhouse is in shallow water. To make safe passage, it will have to be dredged. As it has been suggested, a floating aid to navigation, a.k.a. a BUOY, will have varying degrees of reliability. It would be prudent for the Corp of Army Engineers to put a tower as a replacement. The Roundhouse is a large masonry structure that boats will avoid. This structure has been there for over 70 years, and it will probably last another 70.
Photo by Michael Comeau
Longtime sailors in our area aren’t too thrilled about the city’s plan to get rid of a 77-year-old concrete roundhouse, a part of Coney Island’s Wastewater Treatment Plant’s system that currently discharges treated sewer water into Jamaica Bay.
The roundhouse structure is a diffuser that pushes treated wastewater in various directions, and it sits just off the tip of the Manhattan Beach peninsula. The Army Corps, in conjunction with Department of Environmental Protection, will be replacing pipes that lead to it as part of an 18-month repair job, and installing new underwater diffusers that will render the roundhouse unnecessary. DEP reps said the cost of maintaining the structure outweighs the benefits to boaters as a navigational aid.
Aww, what a perty photo. It makes me feel nice and peaceful inside. There’s no other reason I chose it, other than after this crazy weekend (actually, it was all of May), I needed something tranquil to calm my nerves.
Thanks to l_ameerrante of Flickr for adding this to her stream. This is the second photo from her that we’ve featured; the first was last September. I recommend flipping through her Flickr collection – she’s got a number of choice photos.
The last time I wrote to you about the Miramar Yacht Club it was because I had attended the first night of a sailing class taught by their excellent instructors.
At that time, I proudly claimed to have been awarded new sea legs; when, in actuality, it was just the first of four classes, three land-based, and one on the water.
Due to some scheduling conflicts on the Friday evenings of the second two classes in the series, I was prevented from attending the full course. So, I was determined to do the sail that was included in the course. But with the June bad weather, it looked like the boat would never sail. On June 27, when the sun was shining and the temperature was just perfect, the deck shoes had to come on.
To tell the truth, even though I live so near the water, I (and apparently, the better half of Sheepshead Bites) live a landlocked life — practically touching water only to do routine cleaning of dishes, body, and clothes (here, I can’t speak for the better half).
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This comes to us from the Deep Creek Yacht Club:
The Deep Creek Yacht Club will attend the 6th annual raft-up in Dead Horse Bay in Brooklyn, NY on Saturday, June 20th and celebrate Sailstice 2009. The raft up forms at 2pm and is open to all SAIL and POWER boats. Share food and drink with your fellow boaters and “ring in” the summer solstice at the 4pm Bells & Whistles celebration. Pot Luck dinner after the celebration:
BELLS & WHISTLES CELEBRATION.
This is New York event of the international celebration of the summer sailing and boating season. By signing up at www.summersailstice.com you will be eligible for prizes ranging from West Marine gift certificates to Caribbean vacations. It’s all free and all boaters are welcome. All boats participating will receive a free memento of the day from the Deep Creek Yacht Club.
Bring friends and family for this unique way to start the summer fun.
Please see the Summer Sailstice and Deep Creek Yacht Club websites for disclaimer and VHF, MMSI, and Cell phone number.
(Miramar Yacht Club trophy case)
Tonight I attended the Miramar Yacht Club (MYC) Sailing Course and I feel as if I’m sailing off into a new phase in my life. It’s hard to believe that all this leisure sailing has been going on, practically in my backyard, and I never had a part of it.
Anyone can take this class and everyone should. In just three short sessions, you can learn how to talk like a sailor — and I don’t mean swearing. By the first sail date in June, you’ll probably be able to rig up the spinnaker.
Accompanied by the computerized presentation, the well-worn, waterborne teachers went through the information as smoothly as a sailboat going downstream. Those who paid for the course received the book, “Start Sailing Right” by Derrick Fries of The United States Sailing Association. Members of the press will have to buy a copy for $15 at MYC or online.
Read more about the sailing course after the jump.
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The Miramar Yacht Club is having a Sailing Course to introduce us landlubbers to what it takes to be on the ocean. I’m sure this series of classes will fill up fast. You will definitely get a faster response if you call, as opposed to e-mailing.
The course will cover all the basics of sailing and will be held on three Friday nights – March 27, April 3, April 17, 2009, 8:00pm – 10:00pm. The price includes a free sail, on the water – in a sailboat – to be given sometime after the class to practice your new sailing skills.
The class fee is $60 per person — $100 for couples or families — and includes class materials, refreshments, and the Free Sail.
Payment for the course will be accepted at the first class.
The class will cover: Sailing nomenclature, parts of a sail, apparent wind, Bernoulli Principle, points of sail, luffing, sail trim, slowing and stopping a sailboat, sailing after stopping, tacking, jibing, general rules of the road, red-right-return, anchoring, docking and a few knots.
Miramar Yacht Club
3050 Emmons Avenue
Sheepshead Bay
Brooklyn, NY 11235
Located between Haring St & Nostrand Ave
For reservations call 718-743-5823 or e-mail.
Note: The link to the website won’t work on Firefox.
Even though I was born and raised a stone’s throw away from the Bay’s water, I was never a boat person. I never sailed, never went on ocean fishing trips and certainly wasn’t a dinner cruise kind of guy. If I was in the water, it was either a pool or a bathtub. But lately I’ve been trying to change that, and so when I saw a Craigslist posting from the Miramar Yacht Club (link doesn’t work in Firefox) advertising a one-day “Learn to Sail” class, I saw it as an awesome and affordable opportunity.
The class fee is $25 per person and covers class materials, refreshments and a free sail on the water. It takes place Friday, June 6th, at 8:00 p.m. at the clubhouse at 3050 Emmons Avenue, between Lake Avenue and Haring Street.
The class will cover:
Sailing nomenclature, parts of a sail, apparent wind, Bernoulli Principle, points of sail, luffing, sail trim, slowing and stopping a sailboat, sailing after stopping, tacking, jibing, general rules of the road, red-right-return, anchoring, docking and a few knots.
Just a note: the free sail does not take place the night of the class. Mine is scheduled for June 21st, but I’m not sure if that’s just me or everyone from the class.
For more info, call (718) 769-3548 or email sail@miramaryc.com.
Apparently, the rise in prices for boating fuel is even more dramatic than it has been for auto gas, resulting in fewer boaters on the water.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
“I see fewer people going out with their boats, and if they’re going out, they’re buddying up with two or three people to cut costs,” said Walter Zahra, who has owned the Port Sheepshead Bay Marina in Brooklyn for 45 years. “It’s hurting quite a bit,” he said. “A boat uses a lot more gas than a car.”
Marine gas usually sells for about 50 to 75 cents a gallon. Now it’s selling for more than $4 a gallon. “I’ve seen it closer to $5,” Zahra said.
I wonder how this will effect the Bay’s already devastated marine economy. [via Daily News]
