JeffPo's New York City Page

Created:  10/12/97

Last update:  04/27/22

New York City

This is a shot of New York City from the Navy sailboat, NSY-8 Rainbeau.  We sailed there in July of 1986 as part of my midshipman training at NC State University and to participate in the 100th birthday celebration of the Statue of Liberty.   I was the navigator.  Got to apply my classroom studies of navigation to the real world.  The previous navigator left the charts in a mess so I had to straighten them up and figure out the right ones for the journey.  The sailboat belonged to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was used as training for select crews.  I drew the lucky straw in the summer of 1986.  I've since tried to find images and information on the sailboat on the Internet but all I can find is the mention of some old pictures in a box in the UNC library, and an old article from 1982 about midshipman training.  I'm assuming the boat became too expensive and/or cumbersome to maintain so it was sold off.

My fondest memory from this trip was from a single starlit night.  Was we slide through the inky black water, the skies were ablaze with stars.  Looking down into the water I could see thousands and thousands of glowing plankton, sliding by the hull of the boat.  It was like the ocean's own version of stars.  Really cool sight.

As we passed under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (built 1964) into New York Harbor, all we could see on the horizon was hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of sails.  The bay was FULL of sailboats.  It got really crowded and dangerous.  We actually saw some boats colliding and people getting hurt.  We decided to steer clear of the central mass and hugged the shoreline as close as we could.

A firefighting boat (I assume) puts on a display as we sail the harbor.  The Statue of Liberty can be seen to the left.

World Trade Center

These are the World Trade Center towers as seen from our sailboat.  I actually took the elevator ride to the top of the south tower (the one on the right).  Man, are they tall!!!  I also accidentally ordered a prune danish in the restaurant up there...yuck!!!

Sadly, these buildings were destroyed and many lives lost due to a terrorist attack by evil on September 11, 2001.

A picture I snapped of the Brooklyn Bridge (built 1883) from the World Trade Center (south tower).  The Brooklyn Bridge is the one on the right.  The bridge on the left is the Manhattan Bridge (built 1909).

Lady Liberty, the Statue of Liberty.  Given to us by the French, 1886.

Statue of Liberty, with flag

Another shot of the Statue of Liberty as seen from our boat.  A passing ferry boat provided the American flag.  It thought that was appropriate for the 4th of July.

Sailboat on the way to New York

This is a sailboat we passed during our New York voyage.  With the sun and wind in his sails, I thought it made a pretty picture.

Empire State Building

Here's a shot of the Empire State building.  One can hardly visit New York without snapping a shot of this famous building.  I walked by it on the street, but didn't go up in it.

Roosevelt Island, seen as we sailed up the East River.  We could see what looked like castle ruins on the island, which I thought strange.  I learned later that it was the ruins of the Smallpox Hospital (built in 1856).  The Queensboro Bridge (built 1909) is seen in the background.

The first boat is the Rainbeau,  I can't remember where this was, though I remember it was raining the day we departed because the resident brown nosers wanted us to stand at attention in the rain to impress our captain.

Just sailing.

 


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