Author: Marty Luster

Donna with her new 150-500mm tele. Her grin is as big as the lens!

fair among the fairest, ….

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

My son Brian had a nostalgic few hours yesterday when he and his wife Karen greeted and escorted the participants in the 2013-14 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race down New York Harbor to the start of the next leg of the competition which will terminate in Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland after an estimated 14 day crossing of the North Atlantic. The sailors will then go on to Dan Helder, Netherlands and back to London U.K for the finish next month.

In April and May, 2006, Brian crewed on the 68 foot New York Clipper on the leg of the race that took it from Quindao, China across the Pacific to Victoria, British Columbia; over 5,000 nautical miles and more than thirty days out of sight of land through rain, gales, sleet and sub freezing temperatures.

On Friday, Brian and Karen visited the fleet at North Cove, not far from the World Trade Center, as they laid over having completed the previous leg of the race which started in Jamaica. Yesterday, Brian and Karen fired up the trusty Honda on their 24 foot Nimble Nomad, Puffin, and steamed from its berth in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, to the Statue of Liberty where they had front row seats for the parade of visiting racing yachts as they departed New York. Puffin then escorted the racers to the Narrows  as the Brooklynites wished them fair winds.

Here are some of Brian’s photos.

Photos © Brian D Luster 2014

Brian hoses down Puffin while my grandson Yitzchak locks up (2012).

At dead low tide on Saturday, just off the shore of Coffins Beach, in an area that has seen significant erosion in recent years, a mystery has revealed itself. The remains of a boat hull approximately 16 to 20 feet in length has emerged from the sand; its ribs, uniformly truncated and buried until now, reach to the surface like hands from a watery grave. From where I stand (I am not appropriately dressed to make a close inspection) I cannot see any trace of the keel, which apparently remains interred. From whence has she voyaged and who knows of her loss? Please help me continue this story.

Today I went down to Maritime Gloucester to take a look at Schooner Adventure at her new summer home. While there, I ran into Jim Burkholder and Christine Minnix of New Hampshire. Jim and Christine have a particular interest in Adventure. Jim’s grandfather was Col Edwin H. Cooper, who, in the 1930s, photographed Adventure and other maritime subjects.Jim and Christine have recovered the collection and have reproduced many of the images as prints and note cards.They can be reached at minnixchristine@yahoo.com or 603 997 9521.

Jim shows some of the photo collection to Ardelle’s skipper, Harold Burnham.

Two images from the Col Edwin H Cooper collection, circa 1937. Reproduced with permission.

Time moves in one direction, memory in another.
William Gibson

Builder and skipper of the Schooner Ardelle, Harold Burnham (L), chats with bystanders at the  Harriet Webster Pier at Maritime Gloucester.