Winter 2002

The Year In Review Last year’s winter Sail Class was held at Croton High School March 6 through April 24. Of seventeen attendees, roughly a dozen boarded Sojourner Truth in May for sails, and six became active members. On-the-water classes this season were captained by Gerhard, Dick & Howard and ran on Monday & Tuesday evenings, and Saturday mornings. On May 6, Ferrysloopers sailed Sojourner downstream to help the Nyack Sloop Club kick off their first riverside event. We pitched our booth and sailed five runs, hosting about 60 people on cruises. We celebrated the Shadfest with Riverlovers on May 19th, and on June 15th we participated in the Clearwater Revival; both events at Croton Point Park, where we ferried roughly 120 guests to Sojourner from Mother’s Lap beach. From that location we also joined the Great Hudson River Paddle on July 5th. Thereafter SoJo went to Westerly Marine for long overdue maintenance Upon her return to the water on August 2nd, Sojourner was in the best shape in years. We participated in the annual Peekskill Celebration August 3rd & 4th, providing over 90 guests with sails on the Hudson, circling the Half Moon mid-river. Our participation at these events would not have been possible or successful without the dependable and efficient presence of Elise and the efforts of new members like Bruce, George and Laura. Overhaul — Sail classes shaped up into work crews with scraper & brush in hand. We pulled together a great collective effort, and maximized the investment in the haul. At the August 8th meeting, Duke, after many years of enthusiastic leadership passed the gavel over to Dick who has assumed the double duties of Captain and President. Sail training continued into September, until the fateful windstorm of 9/11/02, when Sojourner Truth was thrown up on the rocks at Half Moon Bay. SoJo’s Last Sail (September 10, 2002) — Sojourner Truth took us to experience the nature of the Hudson, and ultimately nature took Sojourner. Yet we are left with a gift—an appreciation of sailing the Hudson, together on the wind. Grounded The boat was the glue that held the group together. Many of us initially thought that losing SoJo meant the end of Ferry Sloops. But once the shock subsided, ruminations of river trips on the old sloop began to surface, and people began talking. [See “Remembering SoJo” sidebar] A score of active members began discussions about our future, forming a survey to assess our direction. The survey found we were a small group, but we agreed that our mission was worthwhile, and are willing to work to keep sailing and promoting the Hudson River ecosystem. Getting back on the water Randy King has generously offered Ferry Sloops the use of a 22’ Ensign, which we plan to shape up and sail the upcoming season out of King Marine. We will be expanding our tradition winter sail classes and revamping our efforts toward outreach. And the dream of sailing a historic vessel is still alive. A project is underway to come up with a plan of action that will result in Ferry Sloops being able to participate in OP Sail 2008 with a traditional type boat that is made of modern materials. Thank you Randy King for your continuing support. Randy’s advice, in-kind services and facilities at King Marine have helped us stay afloat throughout the years. Results of Membership Meeting November 9, 2002 The following people were elected Directors of Ferry Sloops: Dick Manley, Heidi Boucher, Michael Carboni, Lionel Galibert, Bruce Follmer, Howard Harper , Joe Karpel, Sharon Lazarov, Kenneth Lee, John Liammari, Duke Maggiola, Gerhard Randers-Pehrson, Laura Rice, Judy Sandwell, Elise Sasso. This gives Ferry Sloops 15 Directors, with total of 18 slots available. Anyone interested in becoming a Director please let someone on the Board know. Be forewarned, being a Board Member will involve a lot of time and effort, but we need you! After the meeting the Board met and the following were elected officers: President Dick Vice President Elise * Vice President Duke Secretary Heidi Treasurer John *Elise resigned this post on 1/22 citing other commitments. Bruce is currently serving that capacity. Survey Results: Priorities Focus Our Efforts on Sailing Serve Riverfront Communities Seek Young Members Emphasize Environmental Issues Tie to History Renew Links with Clearwater Although we received only few answers to the Survey sent to former members, many of them having moved away, we were gratified by the support shown by those who did answer. Our thanks go to: Dorothea Lipton, Nancy Papish, Linda Hellmann, Kal & Iris Abrett, Gilberte Francois, Frederick & Harriet Holdsworth, Marylin O'Connor, Christina Sekaer, Paul Thompson, Elizabeth D. Sansalone, Patricia A. Hurst, Charlotte Fahn, and Paul J. Feiner. Remembering SoJo John Liammari I had the pleasure of a day car trip this pretty October Sunday and found myself on Rte. 6 and then driving as slowly as one could possibly drive over the Bear Mountain bridge. Gazing down on one of my absolute favorite stretches of river brought out a totally unexpected emotion...it made me sad. Not because the colors are now only beginning to change on the banks of the river, but it was at that moment I realized that I may have to resign myself to enjoying the river and it's beauty from a distance this year and possibly every other. You see, for the last three years, I had the pleasure of sharing a special intimacy with the river and the fall colors that bless her this time of year, sailing SoJo through the Hudson Highlands as part of our annual Pumpkin sail. Sure, I recall a "sail" where we motored the entire way north to Beacon with a fierce wind, driving rain and current all at our bow sprit and found ourselves racing with a Red Buoy just off of Cold Springs and the buoy was actually winning! But then I reflect on the transit to Beacon we made just last year with the wind and sun on our backs running north, wing on wing pretty much the entire sail through a mosaic of fall colors and it all comes together. Bear Mountain Bridge from the foredeck of SoJo (2001) As great a sail as that was, my most unforgettable Pumpkin sail experience has got to be on the return, sailing south, swinging around Lands End and then past West Point just as an omnipresent National Anthem rose from what must have been the beginning of a West Point football game bearly one month after Sept. 11. It literally brought tears to my eyes. It was on that bridge that I realized that Ferry Sloops mission to bring people down to the river one person at a time to develop an appreciation for the river succeeded with me. It totally changed my perspective of the Hudson River and to Ferry Sloops I thank you. The sadness I experienced on the bridge in retrospect was much more. It was then that I realized that if we did not get past our loss, find a way to regroup and set a course towards rebuilding for the future, we would never be able to share what I have discovered with others and the dream the Ferry Sloops founding fathers envisioned would sink and be gone forever. Let's not let that happen. The State of the Sloop Club Dick Manley I was elected President at the August meeting. Since that time I have done a lot of thinking about Ferry Sloops– its needs, its resources, and its goals. An old supervisor of mine once said that one doesn’t have problems, only opportunities to show how good you are. That’s why Ferry Sloops has a lot of opportunities. Incidentally, the loss of Sojo on 9/11/02 has changed the complexion of our opportunities. The maintenance and operation of Sojourner Truth consumed huge amounts of people power, which will no longer be required. Recently there has been much discussion concerning possible replacements for Sojourner Truth. Unfortunately there has not been as much discussion of two more pressing issues: low membership and insufficient funds. If we do not effectively come to grips with these fundamentals, the issue of a replacement boat will become moot. Membership – An analysis of the returned member surveys show that we have about 25 core members. This number is too low to permit us to accomplish all the activities needed to run Ferry Sloops effectively and not have member burn out. One of our best resources for attracting new members is our booth display at Hudson River events. Unfortunately, in the past we have been so busy with the boat that we have not put the proper amount of effort into booth design, maintenance and staffing. This year we must do a better job if we are to attract new members. Plans are under way to improve our efforts in this area. Funds – If it were not for the bequest that Ferry Sloops received in 1999, we would have been out of business on 9/11/02…we were just about broke. Now we have the opportunity to get our act together. It is my estimate that we have to raise about $10,000 annually to survive. The biggest expense is insurance. There are a number of ways that a not for profit can raise operating funds: special events, sponsorships, fund drives and member dues and fees. In our case special events has meant concerts and tag sales. Our record with concerts has not been great. I would have thought that concerts should work well for us but, in the past, member support has not always been there and concerts have seldom yielded much money. While in Hastings on Hudson we held a number of tag sales that raised $2500 or more each time. Since then, nothing that we have tried along that line has been anywhere near as successful. Perhaps we should rethink how we have done this the last few times. Sponsorship – Ferry Sloops has not tried this in the past. If we can get an organization to sponsor us for a year, we can give them a mention in some of our promotional material and perhaps some memento at our annual dinner. Funding Drives – A new boat is going to cost a lot of money. We are going to have to try things like direct fund raising drives and grants for the cost of a new set of sails, or the new boat! Member Dues and Fees – It would seem that some form of graduated membership is in our future. Free sail training on our boats will also have to be changed to a fee base that is self-sustaining. The world today and the world when Ferry Sloops began are very different. It’s not anyone’s fault: it is just a fact. If Ferry Sloops is to continue, we are going to have to change. This will require more from us in terms of both time and money. Twenty three years ago, when this organization started, things were cheaper It did not take as much money to do things, and Ferry sloops did not need much money to achieve its goals. That is no longer true. It takes money and sometimes a lot of money to accomplish things. Our fees and charges will have to be increased to meet the increased money demand. The time requirement has also increased. A few years ago Rick Nestler mentioned that all of his friends had full time jobs. I said that sounded pretty good to me. His reply was that it wasn’t good at all. His friends had formerly been able to support themselves on part time work. They had more leisure time. Now they needed to work full time jobs in order to live. People do not have as much time as they once had available to help Ferry Sloops. Today’s economy puts more of a squeeze on us. Therefore, our efforts have to be more efficient, we need to be better organized, and we have to be active in getting more people to participate in Ferry Sloops. At the beginning, I mentioned that Ferry Sloops has a lot of opportunities. With everyone’s help – time, money and good ideas, Ferry Sloops can succeed. In the works — Aside from preparing for our basic winter sail classes, we are developing a number of workshops on Hudson River aquatic life, community history, and navigation quirks of the areas in which we will be active this season. Our aim is to improve our ability to communicate our mission to the public. We will be reworking our booth and presentation materials as well. The Ferry Sloops website is being redesigned to give us better communication both internally and to the public. And we’ll write up tips for navigating those pesky web discussions. Look for updates in our next newsletter. We have scheduled the annual Clearwater Sail for June 14. Get ready to sell tickets! Please join our e-group by sending a message to: ferrysloops-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. If you do not wish to receive individual e-mails: click on edit my membership and specify “No email.” You will still be able to access the e-group from your browser at: groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrysloops It’s time to renew your annual membership! If you wish to pitch in additional amounts for our boat fund, please so mark your contribution. It will be put into our “Sailing the Past into the Future” fund. Dick Manley President 845-928-3513 Gerhard Rander-Pehrson 914-420-1991 Duke Maggiola Maintenance Chief 914-631-4672 Howard Harper 914-245-5634 John Liammari Treasury 914-478-2924 Lenny Lipton 203-778-3745 Lionel Galibert Membership 914-238-3236 Bruce Follmer Public Relations 914-332-8182 Heidi Boucher Secretary 845-534-9092 Donate your car and receive a tax deduction while contributing to Ferry Sloops! Call John Liammari for Details.