How is it September already? Labor Day weekend in the blink of an eye. After the 4th of July, the summer seems to fly by. The winter was so long, with all the snow and cold we had this year, and yet the summer is flying by. When our boys were younger and in elementary school, they played spring baseball, which always ended around the same time school did. We would literally leave for Watch Hill, Fire Island, the day after school was out.
So, I know as I finished my last article, I said I was going to talk about our first trip up the Hudson River up to Haverstraw Marina. But since then, I have had a chance to think about what I wanted to write …again…and figured that I would have to wait for another month. So, I want to go back and share with you about my son Julian’s time on the SUNY Maritime Ship but also discuss further the safety issues that I talked about in last month’s article.
If you recall, I shared with you last month that my older son Julian was on the SUNY Maritime Empire State VII Training ship. He left on the ship at the beginning of May and was gone until July 16th. He was a 1C (1st Class Cadet) DO (Division Officer) in charge of a section of the MUGS (Mariners Under Guidance). To say that we are proud of him would truly be an understatement. Their first port of call was Charleston, SC, Memorial Day weekend. We were lucky enough to be able to go down there and meet the ship when it came into their dock. There are just no words that I could use to explain what an amazing sight it was to watch the ship pull into port with all the Mugs and Cadets in their dress blues on the different levels of the ship as it approached land.
I won’t bore you with all the details of how we spent our weekend down there because it would be more of a tell-tale story than really a boating article. So, I will fast forward to Sunday of Memorial Day weekend when we took the water taxi from our hotel (we were staying at a hotel directly across from where the ship was docked), which was amazing because we got to see the ship when it was all lit up at night. The water taxi captain explained to all of the passengers that the ship was a training ship for students out of New York and was sharing stories that he heard from them when he took them back and forth from the ship over to the mainland. Of course, I could not keep my mouth closed and with great pride I piped up and said, “Our son is a senior on that ship!”
That Sunday the ship was offering tours. I scheduled a tour for Jay and me at 1:00 and one of Julian’s best friends and roommate’s parents got the same tour time. What I would like to share is about how one of the most important things that they learn about and train for is their safety and that of others on the ship. The students took first aid classes to learn how to deal with different situations and injuries if they were to occur while out at sea. They took firefighting classes and wore bunker gear while doing actual training. They performed man overboard drills – and actually had to do one at some point during the trip (thankfully it was a false alarm).
Last month I talked about boating safety. I shared with you the thing that really drives me crazy – bow riding. And yet this season, I continue to see people doing it. It amazes me how at least fifty percent of the time (if not more) it is adults doing it. A few weeks ago, we were heading north in the Lindenhurst cut while a couple on a cabin boat was heading south. First of all, a good part of that cut down by Fox Island is a five-mile-per-hour zone. Well, as the couple on the boat approached us, I noticed that the woman was sitting on top of the cabin door (which wasn’t even completely closed) with the windshield open. As they passed us, he put the boat up on plane (still in the five-mile-per-hour zone) and made a sharp turn into the State Boat Channel. My first thought was it was shallow where they were – thankfully, it was pretty high tide. What if he ran aground? Would she be thrown to the bow of the boat? Or off the boat? Or would the cabin door open on impact and she fall into the cabin? I’m sure none of these situations happened that day, but I have yet to understand why people would even put themselves into situations like that.
Another thing that I saw recently was in the marina at Watch Hill. We were on our way to the beach and we watched a boat pull into one of the basins. There was a little bit of a breeze that day and as those who have gone to Watch Hill over the years know, sometimes the direction of the wind makes it a little difficult to dock your boat. So, this one boat had quite a few people on it – probably more than they should have for the size of the boat that they were on. Two adults were sitting on the bow of the boat. Were they up there because there was not enough seating in the cockpit? Were they there to fend off the poles or other boats if need be? I wonder if I am overly cautious (or maybe paranoid lol) or maybe people just don’t realize the consequences of what could happen.
Thinking about being safe while boating makes me think of what so many people we see do a lot and, in the beginning, we were guilty as well – being out on the swim platform while docking the boat. I absolutely cringe when I see people doing this. Please, please…wait inside the cockpit until the boat has cleared the poles. How many times over the years have we seen boats hit the pole, or the captain jam the boat in forward for fear of hitting the pole or another boat and the person on the swim platform almost fall in? We have unfortunately even witnessed a few actually fall in. Thankfully, they were uninjured, but how terrifying to see it happen. My own son actually did this a few weeks ago. He was standing on our swim platform when we were docking. At 20 and for someone who grew up his entire life on a boat and should know better, he told me, “I’m fine”. No, you are not getting back in the boat until we clear the poles and then you can do what you want.
I wanted to talk about the 5-mile-an-hour zones and how some people have total disregard, but that will have to wait for another time. I do want to just share one thing – please remember while boating, safety always comes first. A boat can be fixed or replaced – a person cannot. I remembered this morning that many, many years ago we were at the short beach docks and a huge wake came and boats started slamming against the bulkhead. One of our friends had damage to their swim platform, but I remember one guy in particular stuck his legs out to stop his boat from hitting the dock. His one leg slipped between the swim platform and the dock and just before the boat came back at him, he was able to get his leg out at the last minute. He was extremely lucky and I still think about that day when anyone sticks out an arm or a leg to “ward off”. There were so many things that could have gone wrong. Bodily injury is never worth trying to save your boat. Be safe and think before acting.
I’d like to wish everyone a very happy and safe Labor Day weekend. Hope we continue to have beautiful weather and the winds stay calm. The last few years, September has proven to show that it is the most perfect boating month. See you all in October when I share with you our day visiting the SUNY Maritime Ship and about my son’s time at the school. Maybe someone’s son or daughter might be interested in going there in the future. And I’ll finally get to talk about those five-mile-an-hour zones…