Photo of the Day

DSC_7539
Originally uploaded by Sail Brooklyn

A shot from the end Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn shows some sail and powerboats taking advantage of this weekend's windy conditions

The Lonely Waterfall

We really like Olfar Eliasson's "The Waterfalls"particularly because it is bringing so many people to New York City's Upper Harbor and the installation brings the entire landscape of the waterfront, from Governor's Island up the East River to the Manhattan Bridge. And the waterfall that is installed underneath the Brooklyn Bridge is particularly spectacular, not only from the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, but also from the Manhattan side.

We do, however feel sorry for the lonely, unappreciated waterfall, that sits off the Montague St. entrance of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. First, from the promenade, the viewer sees more structure than it does waterfall, and it is virtually impossible to hear because of the noise from the BQE. To its credit, however, it does make the viewer pay attention to Governor's Island and its waterfall. And its site on Furman Street, while accessible by bicycle and on foot is rarely trafficked, surrounded by fences and barbed wire, but there are spots where the view is priceless.

Hello Portland (Oregon, not Maine)

Next week we'll be in Portland Oregon to celebrate Baby Salt's Great Grandfather's 88th Birthday. We're also looking forward to getting some well needed R&R and checking out the area, which we hear is amazing (we've never been there before).

While we are there, we would love to check out the local sailing scene, which looks very active. We've done a little research and have seen a number of active sailing clubs incluging the Willamette Sailing Club, Island Sailing Club the Hood River Yacht Club, and of course, the Portland Yacht Club, which turned 100 years old this year.

We'd like to acknowledge the Sail Portland Website and YachtClub.com's Oregon club list page which are good resources.

We'd appreciate any suggestions from readers or also hope to hear from other sailing and water blogs, like Proper Course, Frogma, Messing About in Sailboats, and Tugster.

1000 Days at Sea and a Baby Makes Three

When we last blogged about Reid Stowe's and Soanya Ahmad's 1000 Days at Sea venture, Soanya had left the voyage at day 307 because of sea sickness. Today, we read that Soanya had given birth to a baby boy who she named Darshen.

Congratulations Soanya and Reid.

Obviously, Darshen was conceived at sea on the Schooner Anne, which is not completely surprising, but considering that the plan was to sail continuously for 1,000 days, you think they would have done a bit more planning and preparation in the birth control department.

Reid plans to continue sailing for another 540 days.

U-Boat in Red Hook

New York's waterways are full of surprises: Sludgie the whale, and sharks are among the unique sea creatures spotted; and we've read about dead bodies in the East River and seen sailboats along the Gowanus Canal. Today's find was no exception. Birthed in the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal lies what appears to be a submarine.

We're very thin on facts regarding this diver. Perhaps its part of George Bush's war on terror. Or perhaps it is birthed in Brooklyn as a means to close the border. We're just not sure.

Update:

Our friends at Gowanus Lounge just ran a post with the history of the sub. It is the USS Growler, and it has been looking for a home for a little while.

On the Water Edition

Gowanus Canal Boat Yard?

Along the Gowanus Canal, on the hard behind the Tom Ottterness studio, lies a 20-something foot sloop. While not the first sailboat we've seen along the Gowanus, this is much more peculiar because a crane was needed to pull her out of the water. From our vantage point, we could see that the boat is fully rigged with a mainsail and a relatively new outboard. She appeared to have decent bottom paint. We know the boat has been out of the water for at least six months.

In the water is what appears to be a Boston Whaler. It is conceivable that this Whaler is used to commute and for pleasure or even a run to Fairway.

Perhaps Otterness knows the story of the boats.