Seven Deadly Seas - A Pirate Cabaret at PortSideNY!

Well, I'd really meant to do an Orient Point trip report tonight, so I could get back to Hawaii (at least here on the blog, sigh) - but instead I got sidetracked on something that will make an amusing addendum when I do get to that. Too late to start on the report now - tomorrow! Honest! But in the meantime - here's a completely unsolicited plug for another one of PortSideNY's Atlantic Basin events! I did make it to the Lavender Lake documentary, which was great fun & a fascinating glimpse into the life & times of the Gowanus Canal. Made me think once again that I have at some level failed in to fulfill a very basic duty of an NYC paddle blogger until I have paddled with the Gowanus Dredgers & reported on the adventure. Someday, Owen, someday, I swear!

At any rate, just as I was about to leave, I overheard the director of the organization, Carolina Salguero, say "Pirate Cabaret". I turned around & said "Did you say Pirate Cabaret?" and she grinned & handed me a postcard for one of their final events of the summer at Atlantic Basin. Sounds spectacular!

So without further ado, and in lieu of tonight's planned trip report - here are the lusciously juicy details!

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Cabaret Red Light sails to Brooklyn for a once-in-a-lifetime theater-in-the-round-and-under-the-stars pirate show onboard the oldest wooden square rigger in the United States still sailing - Philadelphia's own hundred-year-old barkentine, Tall Ship Gazela!

In Waylaid & Hornswoggled, legendary pirate Calico Jack lets his mind wander to the finer things in life… the golden years of his retirement, the Big Payoff on his 401K, fruity rum drinks on sandy beaches! The show will feature seafaring legends old and new, live gypsy swing music, dancing girls and more. Performances will involve a variety of classic vaudeville-style "entertainment for grown-ups." Starring Cubby Altobelli, Shoshanna Hill, Kimberlie Cruse as the Pirates of Ponzi, as well as Annie A-Bomb, Melissa Bang-Bang, The Blazing Cherries and very special guest violinist Marina Vishnyakova.

There will be 2 performances daily, 8 pm & 10 pm, from Thursday, August 19th through Sunday, August 22nd. Tickets & additional details here.

Sun? Check! Fun? Um...

Well, maybe not so much at the moment this picture was taken - or at least I bet there were a few people who wouldn't have used the word "fun" as their first desciption of the last couple of miles of Saturday's big Orient Point paddle!

Most of the day we'd been blessed with insanely perfect conditions (even the notorious Race was barely a-bubble as we passed through), but the Weather Deity decided our characters & skills needed at least a little bit of building at the end & threw in a good quartering wind of the sort that makes a kayak act like wayward, cranky, iron-mouthed old trail-ride horse whose mind is entirely focused on the grass on the side of the trail. Takes focus & a lot of energy to keep that nose pointed in the right direction!

Characters were duly built. But I guarantee skills were too, and aside from that tough last stretch and a couple of other odd moments, like the one where we were being yelled at by surly parking lot attendents in Greenport (silly us for trying to go have a drink there on Saturday night, I guess) it was another great weekend pulled off by the Cruising Committee!

And look look how beautiful.

More pictures tonight. If you really want, they are up on Picasa now & I think that clicking on the photo above will take you to an uncaptioned gallery - I hope to add captions tonight, though, and although a picture may be worth a thousand words, sixty are a lot to plough through without at least a little storytelling to go along! Still, couldn't resist this quick lunch-break post.

I'm far from done with my reveries of O'ahu (O-docker, I believe you may've come close to nailing a big part of why I love boating so much in your comment the other day...), many more pictures & memories to go before I've worked through that topic (next up, I expect, will be the Pac Cup awards ceremony, which was fantastic) but since this was a big trip for the Sebago Cruising Committee, I'm going to take a break from the big nostalgia trip & do up a proper trip report first!

This trip report "teaser" cross posted at the Sebago Canoe Club blog.

At The Mokes

Fun in the sun in Kailua.

And now I'm off for some fun in the sun in Greenport!

Have a good weekend!

Proper Sunset Design.

Remember my summer solstice post in which I bewailed the East Coast design flaw which places the sun on the wrong side of the ocean, ruining many of the finest & potentially most romantic ones by placing them over parking lots?

Well, it was wonderful to be back in a place where the setting sun is placed in the proper relation to the sea:





Of course, it is not always possible to arrange for quite such perfect composition. But in cases where it is necessary for the sun to be more in-shore, the delinquency can be masked or even rectified by proper application of scenic elements, as we see in the following:

Silhouetted beachgoers savoring the end of the day are good, especially families with children and frolicsome sandy dogs. I believe there are those who would vote in favor of a slender wahine in a backlit pareo as proper foreground - my apologies to you folks, this being a G-rated blog you get the families with the keiki & the dog, Maybe Joe can help you out. Here in Kailua, we also see good use of a sweeping white sand beach, admirably restrained use of Mountain and Cloud elements, and the Kite punctuates things nicely.


Here we see another skillful use of beachgoers. The Reflective Lagoon foreground gives a mirror image effect nearly as effective as the sun setting directly into the sea, with the barely-visible curving gunwales of the kayaks that the beachboys have stowed for the night adding a nicely wistful touch. But of course, what truly makes this one is the generous use of Graceful Palms. Funny, they're such a common & familiar element, one could look down one's nose & pooh-pooh them as cliche - but I think that to any but the most tragically jaded of sunset viewers, they remain a truly lovely part of the Classic Island Sunset.


Now here is a much more dramatic use of Mountains and Clouds, with some great God Rays (as my friend Laurie likes to call them - Jamaica Bay actually does a very good job with the God Rays). And of course what sunset isn't improved by the insertion of Sailboats? Moored or sailing, like Graceful Palms, it's just hard to have too many. The simultaneous use of both moored AND sailing sailboats might seem to be a little over-the-top - but really, I think it was a design risk that paid off. Don't you?


Let's see, what else is there that improves any sunset? Hey, I know...

how about a nice
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cold
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(have you guessed now?)
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beer?

Kona Brewing Company's Longboard Lager, in this case!

yes, this might even render one of those sad East Coast Parking Lot Sunsets more palatable.

Thus endeth Bonnie K. Frogma's Introduction to Sunset Design. I hope you enjoyed it.

I'd like to close with this last photo, one that shows one of the marks of a truly well-done sunset, a full three-hundred-and-sixty degree circle of Aaaaah. Yes, I was actually facing directly away from the sun. Just add Diamond Head!

Home Waters - Article & Movie

NOT the Gowanus Canal, although at one point I thought it was - but suitably industrial for tonight's topic!

There's lots more O'ahu visit to share, but I thought I'd just toss in a quick post about a couple of the more environmentally troubled arms of my current home waters before I turn in.

1. Newtown Creek: Interesting article in the NY Times today about our own local oil spill site, with a closing quote from a paddling friend. Not as bad as the current Gulf horrors (which has been one of those topics I can't even begin to approach because I just don't know anything to say that a hundred other people haven't already said a hundred times better), but more oil spilled than the Exxon Valdez. Click here to read.

2. Gowanus Canal: Newtown Creek is being considered for Superfund status - the Gowanus Canal already is despite Mayor Mike's attempts to fight the designation (in fact the above waterway first stood in for the Gowanus Canal back in March when I was being confused by that opposition). I somehow feel like I've fallen down on the NYC waterblogger job by never having gone canoeing there with the Gowanus Dredgers, but tomorrow night there's a less up-close-and-personal way (which many might prefer!) to get familiar with Brooklyn's famously filthy canal - head on over to Atlantic Basin & board the Mary Whalen for PortSideNY's Wednesday night Tanker Flick, Lavender Lake. The documentary starts at 9 with seating opening at 8:30 - if you aren't likely to be stuck at work catching up after an incredible vacation & felt like going earlier, you could even make a waterfront double feature of the evening by joining in with the 6 pm walking tour featuring theNorwegian-American history of Red Hook. Both sound pretty interesting, I can't get to the walking tour but depending on work & jet lag status I think I might try to get to the documentary. BTW, the Mary Whalen remains at her publicly accessible summer berth at Atlantic Basin until August 24th & there's lots going on until then, if you can't make it tomorrow, check out the rest of their summer programs here!

Well, that's all for tonight - tomorrow, back to my happy happy return to Oahu!

Honu!

Good morning! I'm back, and here's a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle for you. Lots more from my amazing honu-watching walk along the beach from Haleiwa to Laniakea here. Turtles grazing, turtles basking, and Malama Na Honu teaching people to treat the turtles with courtesy.

Aloha from Hawaii

Hi hi hi! Long time no blog - because I've been using pay-by-the-minute internet setup, this trip has been easier to report on Facebook, so if you're on Facebook, go follow my Facebook badge-link-thingy & you'll get the fabulous blow-by-blow.

It's been fabulous. I've been hiking, and paddling, and snorkeling, and had a great time meeting David & the crew of Valis (those who hadn't already split, but at least I got to fill in for Ed at the awards banquet - thank you Ed, and thank you David for talking me into "being Ed" for the evening, what a marvelous way to spend one of my first evenings on Oahu!) and eaten all the wonderful Island foods I can't get in Hawaii, and spent a great (and very full) day in Aiea (my hometown), and even had a walk around the Iolani campus. I got to drive a Mustang convertible around for 3 days, and then BECAUSE I gave up the Mustang & switched to public transportation, I had the most astounding experience yesterday watching throngs of sea turtles ("honu") grazing on limu along the shore from Haleiwa to where the walkable beach runs out before Waimea (at a certain point the shore turns rocky & you have to go up to the road). The original plan had been the around-the-island trip on The Bus with Stop 1 in Haleiwa for a Kua Aina burger (recommended by a work friend) & Aoki's shave ice, and if I'd still had the car, that's exactly what would have happened & I would have passed the "honu coast" (not what it's called, but it should be!) without a clue - but instead, I walked a little way along the shore, started seeing turtles right there, then took a whim to keep walking for a while & then just kept seeing turtles. Pictures, tons, when I'm back home, right now I'm sort of limited to text...

Anyways, I ended up hoofing it from Haleiwa to Waimea Bay (appreciating, at ever moment, the fact that here in Hawaii, the beach is still public land, so you decide to do something like that on a whim & know that you can without ANY hassles!), astounded by the numbers of turtles all the way (except after the coastline turned rocky & I went up to the road, no turtles on the road. I jumped on the bus again at Waimea. Disembarked again for a Longboard Lager & a spectacular sunset (with the sun on the correct, far, side of the ocean instead of over the freakin' parking lot like it is on the East Coast), then back on the bus, catching a glimpse of the Pirates of the Caribbean shooting a bit before Kaneohe (very dramatic, pirate ship, big movie lighting & lots of fake fog, if I wasn't already looking at a late night (those darned turtles) I would've had to jump off the bus again for a little more gawking. Even without that, can't imagine a better day. Really.

So happy I decided to do this. I'm just absolutely wallowing in being back again!!!

Bed now. Going to try for an early start tomorrow, catching The Bus to Hanauma Bay! Yay!

Aloha!

Status Report

Body: at work.

Brain:

Another interesting Saturday sighting -

Link to the people who built Dragonfly's Banquet, showing the raft rigged for sailing (yes, really).

Dragon figurehead seen in the link seemed to be undergoing repair -



Rockaway Artists Alliance, current caretakers.

More about this rather spontaneous long trip in the next couple of days, if I have a chance. It was part of Sebago's All-Club Invitational, which I think was generally a big success. Big thank-you to the crew I did this trip with - I know it got to be a bit on the long, hot & beastly side at times, but I still had a very good time helping out with this trip.

P.S. - My friend Tugster has left a comment that I thought worth bringing up into the post: Were you aware that the movie featuring scenes from Son of Town Hall's construction, testing, inspection by the Coast Guard, and then crossing will be shown as part of PortSide NY's Atlantic Basin programming this coming thursday night, July 22? well-worth it

I was NOT aware of that! The Son of Town Hall is another Neutrino raft (see Wikipedia's Poppa Neutrino article for a brief explanation, and the "Dragonfly's Banquet" above leads to the Neutrino website, where Son of Town Hall can also be found. When Will says "crossing", he means Atlantic.

New Yorkers may also remember the Town Hall raft, which was moored in the embayment between the north end of Battery Park City and Pier 25 (which was the one that featured a sculpture garden with works by local artists, beach volleyball courts, and a hamburger stand) until the Hudson River Park Trust, in an extremely controversial move, confiscated the raft, which was unintentionally but completely destroyed in the confiscation process.

Unusual Sighting at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

White pelicans are NOT a bird we normally see in this area!

Saturday Silliness!

Who says scientists are boring?

Well, ok, probably not that many people but if you DO run across anyone who holds that opinion, go find a computer an show them this.

I would like to thank another very non-boring scientist for the link. Loved it!

Upcoming Events - Blue Network, Sebago Invitational & City of Water Day

Moving right along! I promised Lorraine, who's interning right now for the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, that I'd post about City of Water Day tonight. She didn't have to twist my arm on that a bit, I had a wonderful, wonderful time there last year & one of my very few regrets about the timing of my fast-approaching 25th H.S. reunion is that I won't be in town for the fun this year. It was great last year, and it'll be bigger & better this year!

Here's what it's all about, from Lorraine:
A FREE day of entertainment, education & adventure for the whole family celebrating the potential of our waterfront!

On Saturday, July 24th thousands from throughout the metropolitan region will make their way to the waterfront for the 3rd annual City of Water Day Festival, presented by Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. A FREE day of entertainment, education, and adventure for the whole family celebrating the potential of our waterfront, the City of Water Day Festival is held each year on Governors Island and this year features activities in Liberty State Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Atlantic Basin. Festival highlights include: over a dozen fun and free narrated boat tours; special children’s activities like fishing, races, sing-a-longs, arts and crafts, and more; an exciting line-up of local bands; delicious foods from NYC’s best vendors; and more! Please visit cityofwaterday.org for all of the exciting details.

From the upper Hudson to Raritan Bay, we are a City of Water—yet too many of us are cut off from this tremendous resource. Help us revitalize the waterfront with a festival for the entire family.

This is a festival for ANYONE who's interested in our city's wonderful waterways, not just us boaters! Save the day, it's sure to be a good one.
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Of course since it turned out I'm doing an events post today, I have to get in another plug for Sebago's own big waterfest, the All-Club (And Anybody Else Who Has Their Own Boat & A Way To Get It To Canarsie To Join Us Too) Invitational! That's this Saturday, the 17th of July. 10 am - 5 pm, rain or shine, Full details here.

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And finally - I never did a post about the last Vision 2020 waterfront meeting, the Blue Network one on June 24th, but I did make it. It was another interesting discussion, but it ended up feeling truncated. They had some good harbor-expert speakers who had a lot of interesting things to say. They also had a whole bunch of people from all walks of harbor life, commercial pilots to open-water swimmers & everyone in between too, who also had a lot of interesting things to say. The big hitch was that the speakers all had certain amounts of time reserved for their presentations, which ended up only leaving enough time for each of us public commenters to have a 60-second-or-less sound bite. There was much grumbling & discontent as it became apparent that time was going to run out without a huge percentage of the info people had come to get on the record being heard. Actual mutiny was averted & a fair amount of speed-commenting was done, but the organizers did recognize, in the end, that there was indeed a need for a Round 2 for further exploration of the issues & ideas that were being raised. That Part II has been set for next Monday, the 19th, from 6 - 8:30. Full details here. BTW, if you missed your borough's meeting & want to know what was said, or if you can't make it to this one but you've got something to say, there are recaps of each meeting up until the Staten Island & Blue Network Part 1 ones (both "coming soon") at that same link, and also a link to an online comment form. It would be impossible for every single New Yorker's waterfront dreams to be fully realized, the nature of a mixed-use waterfront like we've come to have is always going to be one where compromise & cooperation is going to be required among the various users - but if you've got a dream, an idea or a suggestion, this is a time to be heard!

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Caption, anyone? (click on picture for larger shot.

More photos from a wonderfully photogenic afternoon paddle here! Glad Joan suggested it.

Cheese!

End of a Perfect Day

Spectacular sky day on the bay today. This was just the grand finale.

Rain, Rain, Please Do Stay!

I think I heard the plants of Midwood & Ditmas Park singing a nursery rhyme today -

Rain, Rain, Please Do Stay,

soak our dry roots for a day

save our leaves that fall away

rain, rain, please, please stay!



I'd been puttering around in my apartment all afternoon when the sounds from outside started changing. First the rustle of leaves, then a long hiss of rain. After the heat wave we've been having, a walk in the rain? Fabulous. Out I went. Wasn't just me, either, everyone was out watching the rain. The young lady with the red umbrella in the first picture echoed my own thoughts so perfectly I laughed to hear it - "Isn't this WONDERFUL?"

Unfortunately, although it started strong, it petered out to barely a drizzle. That did last for some time over the afternoon, but our poor local flora really looks like it could use a good, long, steady rain to begin recovering from this long, dry, hot spell. I hadn't been out much during the heat wave, actually working some extra hours, partly to get ahead of my work so that I can relax & enjoy my upcoming homecoming (ok, technically it's a reunion but it feels like a homecoming, too), but also partly to stay in the AC. I'd known it was dry, I've been worried about my own garden (although when I asked, enough of my fellow gardeners said that they'd been watering that I chose to skip the long trip out - I'll see how it came through tomorrow), but I was a little shocked to see the condition of our area's beautiful trees - it almost looked like fall out there.

Forecast is showing scattered thunderstorms all week. Here's hoping they scatter themselves generously.

Planning a good long paddle tomorrow, so I will see how the garden's doing then & take my turn watering anything that's looking droopy, if today's brief downpour wasn't enough.

Hope my basil is OK - it was doing fine last weekend but I found out from my friends with the chickens that this year's version of the terrible tomato blight is a terrible basil blight...

Vicarious Chicken.

I can has chicken?

No, I cannot has chicken. But I had the best time meeting some friends' chickens tonight. They moved to my neighborhood, they got a bit of land & joined the growing urban chicken movement. I said I'd be happy to be on their caretaker list - I love animals, in my adult life I've never been in a situation where I felt like I could have a pet, but I've always been happy to take care of other people's animals. Chickens are a totally new one for me, but I went over to meet the birds tonight, they are really, really sweet, & plus I can't wait for breakfast. All the sudden the urban chicken movement makes total & complete sense!!

Vicarious Pac Cup.

Go Valis Go!

OK, actually right now it sounds like it's more a case of Drift Valis Drift. :( But I'm sure things will improve & in the meantime, hey, 0.00 kts on a sailboat in the Pacific beats 0.00 kts in a cubicle in New York City any day.

Remember "ice"?

And not just the meek, domestic variety you'll find confined to a cooler or clinking in a glass, tamely keeping your refreshing beverages refreshing, but the wild spontaneous kind, running untrammelled and free across the wide-open spaces?


OK, actually I'm not THAT enthusiastic about winter and ice and all that. But I have no air conditioning, just a window fan, and I'm kind of having fun sitting in my steamy apartment looking at stuff from the winter's adventures. That day of iceboating was one of last winter's high points.

Remember "cold"?