Captain's Log, 10.1.06

New & Upcoming in 2007: “Showboats – Comin’ Round the Bend” -- a glimpse at the history of the American Showboat along our country's waterways including the New York Harbor and its tributaries. The Showboat exhibition, a joint project of The Waterfront Museum and The Theatre Museum will open in June, 2007 and run through October 2007. Special events including performances, speakers, films, are being planned for June 2nd during the Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival Saturday, and the entire weekend of October 20, 21.

The Showboat exhibition is picking up Steam. We are proud to announce a partnership with Local One -- the premier Stagehand Union of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stagehand Employees working venues including Broadway Shows, the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center will produce a backdrop depicting a bend in the river as a backdrop. Mary Hasbritt has been chosen as our curator. Additional support has been acquired from MSD Visual who will donate a lighted showboat sign at our entry and the NY Council for the Humanities who has granted matching money for planning the 2007 exhibition. It’s fun to get back to culture and the arts after all these capital campaigns.

Sometime Cultural brings about fun coincidences. Like the time, when Sleepy LaBeef was holdin’ court with the Barge crew one Friday after a week of working on the hull. Master Shipwright Adrian Owens, also a musician had coincidentally ran tech at one of his concerts previously while attending his alma mater Bard College. We were all fascinated to hear Sleepy talk of opening for Elvis Presley and intriguing stories of so many greats. Sleepy was so tickled that Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez was in the audience and so visibly enthralled with his music.

It has been such great fun to also get back to working on the Barge again. July, Aug , Sept and October brought the floating stage platform beside to life as Adrian Owens, Ian Montgomery, Matt LaDuca, Scott Murchison, and Granville “Country” Salmon . Lots accomplished with great craftsmanship, excellent materials and thoughtful care. Starboard planking and walkways almost completed. Just a few seams to finish up. Of course one section of the walkways had a deteriorated beam which stopped us short for the winter. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Adrain and Ian, (a.k.a “the Oak Boys” as Capt. Pam calls them after their 2005 Tug Pegasus Wheelhouse work) will pick up in the springtime with replacing the deckhouse beam so we can finally complete the underlying short walkway section.

An Associated Press news article on Shipworms by Samantha Gross Sept. 30 was picked up by many papers including NY Newsday. Several filmmakers are completing short films featuring The Waterfront Museum and Red Hook during this transition time.

John Salustio, Salustio & Son Oil Company is here working today to get the Boiler System up to Coast Guard grade with audio & visual alarms for the low-water and flame-out situations and boiler shut-off valves accessed on the main deck, and newly installed Marine Hose donated by Racor of Parker Hannifin. John’s Grandfather first worked with the tugs of Red Star Spentonbusch. John’s father and he started Salustio and Son Oil Company in 1971. John is an avid marine enthusiast himself.

A new donated Sthil saw is coming soon for the upcoming season of projects. In the meantime, I am assembling dimensions and lengths for the next order of Long-leaf yellow pine. Wood Broker Churcill Hornstein has his eye on some good South Carolina heartwood recently marked. Development does bring some old growth timber from time to time. Barge #79 deserves the best and the crew loves not having to pull the nails from salvaged materials.

I am trying so hard to focus on the positive and not be too dismayed at the thought my mind is slowly grasping in that the Todd Shipyards Graving Dock may truly get demolished to provide a single-level parking lot at the terminus of New York State’s Erie Canal System. Maybe it’s me just slow in accepting needed big boxes and skyscrapers for Brooklyn. The threat of fewer working waterfront locations, repair yards, rebuilt shoreline of rip-rap and piers lacking the necessary lateral strength to accept our remaining historic and commercial vessels is my biggest fear.

Now just who was it that wrote off the Graving Dock? The Federal Government never weighed in as The Army Corps of Engineers argues that the Graving Dock wasn’t in their Permit Area. Was it then NY State that is tearing down history and putting up a parking lot? Is it the City? Mayor Michael Bloomberg was quoted as saying “I wouldn’t want it in my backyard.” Is it Govenor Pataki? Should we have him sign the legislation? Should Govenour Elect Elliott Spitzer weigh in? What is NY Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton and Chuck Schumer’s position? Not anyone, without exception, has expressed disagreement with our “Save the Graving Dock” exhibition on view since its opening on the Barge in July. I would welcome the chance to move forward with this mind-disturbing, anger-producing issue that creates a situation in my mind where I just can’t accept believing that it will become reality. Meanwhile, there exists a man-made wall in the graving dock awaiting harbor dredge material.

I guess it can be summed up in a recent email correspondence exchange with Mary Hasbritt of the Society of Industrial Archeology. I first wrote:

Looking forward to different times, scientific treasures might actually hold the answers to pressing problems. Imagine the world's waters getting warmer. Imagine needing to really create a way to cool the world's waters. Now, in Scotland, they are using "Ocean Power Delivery" to create wave tubes that generate energy that is 24/7. This project made the cover of the NY TIMES BUISNESS “Energy from the Restless Sea” by Heather Timmons frontpage article August 3, 2006. Very useful especially if the energy created can be spent onboard as it is being made. Now imagine tubes made in a drydock and tugged to sea. A whole field of tubes. Energy made is used like a refrigeration system to turn energy into cooling devices. Wave Engergy fields could be placed about the globe and could cool the world's troubled waters in area's that require immediate attention.Of course energy in general is a good thing to manufacture. Might even solve some of the reasons we are at war. Graving Docks are special. But then again, maybe a low-cost IKEA bed is too. I may have to just adjust my thinking.

Mary Hasbritt responds , “I was recently at a shipyard in Erie, PA which had recently been re-opened under new owners. One of things they hope to add to their business is building wind turbines in their graving dock.

It does sound like a good idea. Maybe one positive way to look at it in the future will be that; as more and more historic buildings are demolished, people who own historic structures in town like Greg O’Connell, John Quadrozzi, Jr. and I will have more unique properties. Hurts to hear people compare equally Greg’s development using historic preservation and small businesses with IKEA’s impending mall development on Brooklyn’s historic waterfront.