New York: Working and Wandering in the Big Apple

Thursday June 25th

Our first full day in New York and we start the day with a work party. I was happy to be sent out on the bow sprit with Dan and Gabe to do some repairs rather than work on the passenger cabins like I have been a lot recently. The day went by fairly quickly and we got a few hours off in the afternoon.

I went with some of the crew including our temporary mate for the Bermuda to NY leg Denise, who is a NY native. We went for some Indian desserts and just wandered the nearby area. There were a lot of renovated industrial spaces, but also some very beautiful brick buildings and homes. We wandered all around and walked on what used to be an above ground railroad and is now a little path with wonderful architecture and beautiful plants.

We came back to the ship and found out that the fire boat we are tied to was doing a short evening tour, which meant that we had to vacate and re-tie up when they were done. The evening was beautiful with winds coming from the south, so we slipped our docklines, motored down towards downtown, turned around and threw up some sail!

We had a great time sailing up the Hudson River past all sorts of vessels and crowds. As the sun went down we furled sails and got back to our dock where we slid right up to the fire boat smooth as can be. We only sailed for about a half hour and spent a couple hours getting ready and putting gear away, but it was still a wonderful sail. The bar owner bough us drinks again and I wandered around and chatted with people about where to go on my time off.

     

Friday June 26th

Boat watch today, which means I do extra chores such as clean heads, boat checks, and I cannot leave the boat all day. I’m alright with doing it today since I whacked myself with a crowbar in the knee and I am nursing it for my days off. Work party was fun. Gabe, Dan, and I  are setting up a new forestay for the main topmast. We handled a huge metal cable. Sent it up into the rig and cut it to length. It sounds like a simple job, but I spent a few hours up in the rig today plus all sorts of other work and its still not done.

After dinner I helped the cook carry some big heavy grocery bags from the nearest street. I was really struck by how many people expected us to get out of their way when walking down a narrow shared way path. We were obviously burdened by these big heavy bags and yet people walked right up to us. About one out of ten people moved to the side so we could get by. This occurrence and a few other lead me to believe that this may be a New York trait. Everyone here seems to be in a rush, a very important rush.

Shortly after this a powerful thunderstorm came by. The number 1 dock line split, put the ship askew, and we nearly lost our gangway overboard. It was tether to the ship, but it would have done some damage. So I and the crew who had not yet left the boat got to work getting it on the ship and stowed, while setting up a few new docklines. All the while this storm was pouring down rain and tearing wind punctuated by the crackling of lightning.  Everyone was scrambling to get our docklines resituated and the gangway back on board; it became a very intense situation. Everything went well and I was completely soaked through despite my rain coat.

In dry clothes I continued my watch duties and finally 11:30pm came and I was allowed to go to sleep on the ‘tween deck. During watch we sleep on the tween deck so that we can hear if people come on the ship during the night. This happens surprisingly often. Over 3 times during the night people went under the lines closing off the fire boat and hopped over the sign that says “crew only” blocking off our gangway to come on our boat. Most often I would hear the clack of women’s shoes and lots of drunken giggling.

I cannot for the life of me understand what is going through these people’s heads, other than alcohol, as they board our ship during the night. I came up to catch one group of girls. I told them “that line across the gangway you jumped over that says crew only is there to keep you off the boat”. They all turned to me and incredulously, simultaneously replied “its her birthday”, as though I would put on a cone hat with elastic chin strap, throw up my arms and say “well then!” I chatted with them as I herded the drunken gaggle back toward the gangway, took a picture with them, and got them off the boat. I went  back down to my temporary bed, laid down, gave a sigh of relief and heard a new clack of shoes on deck. Predictably I did not get much sleep that night.

Saturday June 27th

Woke up for work party and found out the fire boat was moving for the rest of our stay so that we could tie up directly to the barge restaurant/bar. They moved out and we briskly got our lines to the barge. The move when quickly and without incident; I was thankful. Today was a tarring day again so up I went in the Bosun’s chair to tar the foremast topgallant backstay, but it didn’t get me in a newspaper this time.

It was a long day at work and I was very happy when it was over and I could take the steel wool to my skin to get the stray tar off. This method sounds harsh but I have found it to be hands down the fastest and easiest way to get the evil goo off. Dinner was great and I ate two full plates.

I gathered with Gabe, Amber, Cassie, and Mitch to make the trek into the city to a Whole Foods, the nearest grocery store. I felt silly, because my first reaction when I walked into the store was “wow look at all that food!”. I’ve been on the boat almost a month and I’m feeling like a refugee. It is absolutely silly. I had fun buying all sorts of snacks for middle of the night watch and sweets. This boat has a serious lack of sweets, so I stocked myself up. I was so excited when I went to the beer section and found one of my favorite California micro brews Racer Five! The beer made a lovely taste of home. I chatted with a tattood employee about beers and bought an Ithica brewing company IPA from Ithica NY. Somewhat strange, but I like it.

That night I went and saw “Year One” the movie, came back, and enjoyed my beer in front of the ship mingling with the bar crowd.

Sunday June 28th

One month on board! Hurrah! I feel a lot less like fresh meat. This also happens to be my first day off since before we left Bermuda. Nearly two weeks of working  8-12 hour days! I woke up early and hit the town. First and foremost I made the trek to Broadway and 18th st to a sporting goods store to buy a carabiner clip that you only need one hand to open, the one I have been using sometimes requires two, which is less than desirable when one is free climbing 80ft above the deck! I decided to pony up and buy a my own harness as well, one that, shall we say, is specifically made for men. All the gear was pricey, but since I will be wearing it 8 hours a day at sea I would say I’ll be happy I did half way across the Atlantic.

Then I went and saw the Gay Pride Parade which I have to say was a lot tamer than the San Francisco version. It was a wonderful event, lots of people were out and it was very friendly and perfectly, what some would call, family friendly. Then I just rambled and roamed my way South. I hit a bunch of neighborhoods including Greenwhich Village, which I have to say so far if I could live anywhere in NY that would be it. The neighborhood felt very home-like and had lots of great restaurants and shops. I had some great sushi for lunch, satisfying a month long craving. Not as good as Barracuda back in SF, but it did the trick.

Then I roamed all over town hitting a bunch of different area including Battery Park, the Stock Exchange, the place where Washington was sworn in (federal building I think), the World Trade Center Site, and many more I can’t name. I had a blast wandering around.

I called Denise, the my temporary mate for the sail from Bermuda and captain of a couple of schooners here in NY. I met her at the South Street Seaport and she was so incredibly nice as to give me tours of the tallships Peking and Wavertree. Peking is a famous ship, over 400 feet long and with four masts she sailed between Europe and South America as one of the very last working sail cargo ships. She rounded Cape Horn, one of the scariest places to sail in the world, something like over 50 times. She is most famous because there was a video taken of her rounding Cape Horn under sail in one humongous, deadly storm. This video is played in many maritime museums and any tall ship sailor who has not seen it is ostracized. I’ve seen it a bunch of times and it was so cool to get a private tour of the very same ship! Denise was so cool as to even let me take home as a memento a beat up old block (pulley). A piece of sailing history!

I took the Subway back to the ship, but only with Denise’s  help. The Subway system here is so confusing and there are no stinking Subway maps anywhere in the station except outside of the turnstiles. SF’s rail system is so much easier to navigate! I got back to the boat, took my first shower for a number of days I am not willing to disclose and just relaxed. What a wonderful day in New York! I covered everything to see and more in the Southern half of Manhattan. My feet hurt like hell, but I have my Ithican beer in hand as I write this and I couldn’t be happier.

Monday June 29th

Woke up for work and had some wonderful French toast for breakfast. There must be a rumor, or something of the like, that I am a glutton for tarring for I was assigned to tar the anchors and anchor plates. This was fine except for the times I was tarring above my head and by lunch time my legs were spotted like a dalmation’s.  I spent a good chunk of time cleaning myself and literally cutting some of the tar out of my hair, adding to the dog simile. I put on long pants and a long shirt despite the heat and gave a little more careful planning to the second anchor. This venture was much more successful than the first.

That evening after work I just hung out around the ship and went to sleep early.

Tuesday June 30th

Work again today. We spent the morning and early afternoon sanding and oiling the topside wood. In the afternoon our 6 month food supply from Sysco came and took  up the entire load of a 25 foot panel truck. We spent the rest of the work day moving pallets the 150 yards to the ship, putting it on deck, and then taking it below to be organized. Man, that was a rough afternoon. At the end of it we got another big thunderstorm, thankfully however we had just gotten the last of our food below.

That night it was my shipmate Dan’s 22nd birthday so the crew dressed up and went out on the town.I had been asking around previously for bars we could walk to and several recommended the Rusty Knot. The bar turned out to be neither close by or very good. Despite being nautical themed to the nines they would give no discount or even a smile to tallship sailors. I don’t believe anyone in that bar but us had ever set foot on anything more interesting than a ferry. We ended up having a great night at a very friendly dive lesbian bar nearby.

Wednesday July 1st

A day off! I got up at 9am and roused my friends who had claimed interest in hitting up the north end of town. We, Amber, Cassie, and I,  hiked a while to what we heard was a great thrift store by Times Square, but when we did find the place it turned out to have a pretty weak selection. Despite this I did find a few good shore shirts and a pair of shorts to replace the silly, puffy white Bermuda shorts I got in, that’s right, Bermuda.

Times Square was very crowded and I was there only long enough to go “yup, that’s Times Square all right”.We decided it was time for lunch and after much debate settled on an all you can eat Indian buffet, which was so good! We then worked out way to and through some of Central Park, which was really quite nice.

We found the Museum of Natural History, which mercifully charged only a donation. That museum is huge! We eventually had to see the place by prioritizing what we wanted to see. The coolest exhibit of all was their dinosaur hall. I have never seen such a a great display or such incredible fossils. Their exhibit on the rise of civilization was not only interesting in the information in relayed, but was also an exhibit on 1920’s scientific thought.

After that we took the subway back to our neighborhood and I got some pizza. To be sure, it was good pizza, but I have certainly have better. We came back to the boat and I got wrangled into going to see the movie about John Dillinger. A good film, although extremely morally one sided. We came back to the boat and I ate my pizza leftovers, which had somehow gotten better during the intervening hours.  I went to bed happily with aching feet and legs from the many miles we had walked, knowing tomorrow I had yet another day off!

Thursday July 2nd

Slept in late, caught the tail end of breakfast, and took a long hot shower. I spent the rest of the day watching a couple movies and reading. Key word: relaxing. I can see how easy it would be to let myself get overtired. Working 8 hour days and going off rambling with the crew in the evenings coupled with wanting to explore on my days off can wear you out without realizing it. So, despite many parts of New York yet  uncovered, I spent the entire day relaxing around the ship. A French ship Bellespoir came in and rafted up to us.

The problem with relaxing around the ship is that you are on the ship, so I got wrangled into helping out the crew on work party a couple times. I was perfectly fine with it, just amused.

Friday July 3rd

Extremely reluctantly I clawed my way out of bed and shoveled food into my mouth. In the middle of breakfast yet another Sysco food order showed up, so off we went carting the boxes from the truck to the ship, on deck, below, and organized things. We have officially taken a 6 month supply of food on board, which is a lot of food.

Spent the rest of my work day sanding and oiling woodwork. My body is standing up to the physical stress of this job very well. I’ve gotten a little more muscle mass and I don’t think I’ve lost much if any weight. I am more tanned than I thought a redhead like me was capable of. I no longer have to sunblock every inch of exposed skin. I will also say that an 8 hour day working on the ship passes a lot faster than any other job I’ve had, barring teaching sailing.

Just when I thought I was tired and sick of being in New York, Spencer, a sailing instructor from the non-profit sailing school next door took me, French sailors, and other people out for an evening sail. The sail was really cool on several levels, but I especially enjoyed sailing on a J24 again, the same boats I taught on for two years. I had a real blast hanging out with everyone and sailing on what I now feel is a small boat.

We had a wonderful breeze and wonderful conditions combine with the wide variety of people on board combine to make a wonderful sail. We cruised up and down the Hudson, did some man overboard drills and shared sailing terms in French and English. After the sail we were all invited to have dinner on the French topsail schooner Bellespoir sidetied to Bounty.

The poor cook was expecting 6 for dinner and ended up with 18. I was there in presence only since I had already eaten dinner and was in no way about to take food from their mouths with my own stomach full. As the sun set our hosts brought out some Cuban cigars they had proudly picked up in the Caribbean and we all chatted on their foredeck. As they are apparently a dry boat we all scampered over to the barge bar and had a few drinks. I had a great time talking with everybody and only reluctantly drug myself to my bunk my I noticed exactly how many hours it was until I had to be on deck again.

Saturday July 4th

Got up for another work party and at breakfast one of the other crew asked me if I was feeling well. I felt fine, but apparently I didn’t look it. Spent the day sanding and painting the red rail around the ship. The process was slow, but that was partly because French sailors and other folks kept stopping to chat. We got let off at 3pm expecting to come  back on duty at 8 for some sort of event on the ship.

As it turned out we had no event on the ship and the owner invited his friends and family to come aboard us for the fireworks. As the evening came on we helped out with the 4th of July Barbeque assembling on deck and watched the tugs position the Macy’s barges full of fireworks. There were six in all and one not over 200 yards directly ahead of us.

I did not even look at the free beer at the barbeque as I had plans of climbing aloft to watch the fireworks from the rigging. I and several other crew had planned on doing this when we heard we were not to be allowed aloft. A few gave up and went for the beer, but I wanted to see what was going on. After talking to the owner and the captain they got together and officially discussed the matter. Finally, they decided that we could go aloft if we were unquestionably fit for it and only just before the fireworks started, when people were distracted.

I spread the word and to the dismay of those who gave up hope we climbed aloft just a minute before the fireworks started. I climbed on top of the fore-royal yard along with a couple other crew. I surveyed the mass of boats anchored on the Hudson to the South of us and back behind me the throngs of people along the water’s edge. We had arguably the best view in all of New York.

The fireworks on all six barges, with illegal fireworks and other cities’ fireworks seen from our vantage point, began in earnest and lasted over half an hour. I have seen nothing like it. All of New York and Jersey lit up the lights of every vessel packed on the water and six fireworks displays blasting away. We gently swayed at the top of the mast and I laughed to myself at the grandiose scene before me. I felt very privileged to be where I was.

At the end of the show I climbed down from the rig, took off my harness, and retrieved a beer I had hidden from roving crew and guests in the depths of my bunk. I think it was the best Coors Light I’ve ever had.

(fireworks photos courtesy of Mitch the carpenter)