Goodbye, Captain Doswell

North River Tug Race and Skills Contest, 2006

Welcome speech at the 2012 tug race awards ceremony

Presenting the award for Best Tattoo, 2012

I met John and his life partner Jean Preece back when the Manhattan Kayak Company moved from Chelsea Piers to the incomparable Pier 63, run by the incomparable John Krevey. Krevey passed away a few years ago, he was shockingly young and when I read of his passing it shook me horribly; although Doswell (Krevey and Doswell were both frequently called by their last names) had been ill for a while, it still hit me very hard when I found out yesterday that he was gone. He was such a good guy and I'm so glad I had the chance to know him (and so honored to have been invited to Jean and John's commitment ceremony last August - what a warm and wonderful day that was).

What a loss to our waterfront. I dug out these pictures from a couple of the Great North River Tug Race and Skills Contests that I attended because John was truly in his element as one of the organizers of these unique events.

Rick Spilman over at the Old Salt Blog has done a very good job of summarizing Capt. Doswell's accomplishments, and has also posted Jean's statement on John's passing. Please visit, it's worth the read.

1/5 note: Mai Armstrong, a good friend of John's and one of his close associates at the Working Harbor Committee, posted a fine tribute to him on the Working Harbor blog this morning. Click here to read