Volunteer Opportunities All Weekend: South Street Seaport Museum, Harbor School, PortSide NewYork

Got plans this weekend? We have some suggestions…….

Saturday: Volunteer at South Street Seaport Museum!

Volunteer Coordinator Beth Childs writes:

Hi there!

The Kingston Trio might have been mind readers, or weather forecasters, when they sang “Blow ye winds in the morning, and blow ye winds hi ho.  Heave away yer runnin’ gear and Blow Boys, Blow”.  According to the talking weather heads, we are in for a big blow on Saturday.  That won’t stop anyone, will it?  All you dedicated sailors know that wind is our friend (of course, we’d rather have wind in July and August than in February, but we don’t always get to choose.)  But, we CAN choose to show up on Saturday to continue the good work!  If they could talk, both Wavertree and Pioneer would say “Thanks”.

Please send me an RSVP if you plan to show up.  And, Thanks!

Beth Childs
Volunteer Coordinator

Sunday: Volunteer with the Harbor School!

A crew of Harbor School students will report to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, volunteering to maintain the school’s vessels and facilities. Some adults are needed to help supervise and join in on the work.

Don’t worry, if you are a Seaport volunteer, you’ve got the skills needed. If you can help, give Mike Abegg a call on our info line at (347)6-PIER16.

Sunday, February 26, 10am-5pm. Free parking, seaport pickups possible.

Monday: Help save the Mary Whalen!

PortSide NewYork and the tanker Mary Whalen are in serious trouble, and need a new home. There will be a public meeting Monday night, the 27th, at Long Island College Hospital. All details are on this PDF. Download it and share it – and come to the meeting!

Ambrose Afloat!

Our Ambrose lifeline John Watson has checked in with word that our beloved lightship is out of drydock and floating alongside at Caddell. And boy is she looking beautiful!

Photo: John Watson

Photo: John Watson

Photo: John Watson

Inspection Time - Photo: John Watson

And no, we don’t know when she’s coming home yet, but if we can find out we’ll let you know!

100×100 Fundraising Campaign for Schooner Lettie G. Howard

As a follow-up to our meeting report, here are details of the 100×100 fundraising campaign for Lettie G. Howard. The concept is if 100 people give $100 apiece, that’s $10,000 for the cause.

An anonymous donor will match amounts donated through SOS, up to $10,000!

The Museum says in their fundraising letter (below)…

Our beloved Essex-built fishing schooner Lettie G. Howard was hauled at Mystic Seaport Museum in January for repairs, estimated at $56,000, to her keelson in the forecastle. Unfortunately, the rot is more extensive that we had anticipated and the repairs will be more involved.

Costs for the work are difficult to forecast and won’t be certain until we’ve disassembled the affected sections of keelson, but a quote from Boothbay Harbor Shipyard comes to $233,000, including the removal and replacement of systems, machinery, bulkheads, etc.

Accordingly, we are launching a special fundraising campaign to get Lettie sailing again. A generous anonymous donor has pledged to match SOS members’ donations dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000!

In the interim, Lettie will go back into the water at Mystic and will be cared for there, kept wet and protected from elements, and she’ll come back out when we’ve raised adequate funds to begin the repairs.

It’s a big project, but we look forward to the day when Lettie G. Howard is ready again to carry students to sea.

Your gift will be entirely tax-deductible, and we will be so grateful for your help!

To make your gift online, visit www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org

Because of the matching grant, it’s important that you make a notation that you heard about the campaign from Save Our Seaport. Perhaps something like “Lettie G. Howard (via SOS)”.  Thanks!

100x100 Fundraising Campaign - Click to download PDF

SOS Meeting Report and More Ambrose Photos

Today we’ve got a (very late) report on our last meeting, and some new photos of Lightship Ambrose, still in drydock out at Caddell in Staten Island.

Save Our Seaport
Meeting of February 9, 2012
St. Margaret’s

We made up for some lost time at our last meeting! Jerry Gallagher, General Manager of the South Street Seaport Museum, gave us a complete run down on the boats, including Pioneer’s coming season, and the return of Ambrose.

There was more, but the most alarming news was the extent of the rot in Lettie G. Howard’s keelson. It’s going to take more money to fix it than planned, and SOS was asked if we would help raise funds. We’re hoping to start with $100 dollars from 100 people, and to start that in style there is already a $10,000 matching grant! Donations should be made to SSSM, marked for Lettie Howard. Much more about this in our next post.

Decisions on Pier 15 have been made by the EDC and it looks like the Museum is left out. Community Board meetings on February 22 and on March 20 may give us a chance to challenge those decisions. Another opportunity will arrive on March 6, as the EDC convenes a pro forma public hearing. More on these meetings soon.

We also heard news about a recent meeting between the North River Historic Ship Society, The Historic Districts Council, and representatives of many local historic vessels, and agreed that both SOS and SSSM will participate in future meetings.

The creation of The Stanford Fund for the Street of Ships was announced, as a long term fundraising group for the Museum.

Expect to see the Museum and her boats proudly touted this year and expect to be part of the fanfare for the Museums 45th Anniversary on May 22nd. That’s the day before this year’s OpSail begins!

Now on to the photos, sent to us by John Watson…

Photo: John Watson

Photo: John Watson

Photo: John Watson

Photo: John Watson

Photo: John Watson

Photo: John Watson

Photo: John Watson

Tonight’s Meeting, Including a Report from South Street Seaport Museum

Just a reminder that we have a meeting tonight, Thursday, February 9th, 6:30pm, at St. Margaret’s.

South Street Seaport Museum General Manager Jerry Gallagher will join us to report on the ships, the galleries, and progress in other parts of the Museum. It should be a good opportunity to catch up, and to ask questions if you have them.

St. Margaret’s is at 49 Fulton St. (Map)

If you’re lost or need more information, email us at saveourseaport@gmail.com or call (347)6-PIER16.

Save Our Seaport Meeting This Thursday, February 9

It’s been a while since our last gathering, as the positive changes happening at the South Street Seaport Museum have been keeping us all busy — in a good way!

The museum had a blowout of a re-opening party (photos by Nelson Chin may be found here), and is now OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

However, we should not forget why we’re here. Many goals have been reached, but many remain, including the museum’s need to recover space on Pier 15 and elsewhere, the lack of which continue to threaten our ships.

We also hope to deliver a report on this week’s “Preserving New York’s Historic Ships” conference, run by the Historic Districts Council and the North River Historic Ship Society.

Please join us this Thursday, February 9th, 6:30pm, at St. Margaret’s.

St. Margaret’s is at 49 Fulton St. (Map)

If you’re lost or need more information, email us at saveourseaport@gmail.com or call (347)6-PIER16.

Ambrose In Drydock – Saturday Photos

The ever intrepid John Watson paid another visit to our lightship Ambrose on Saturday, to find that the floating drydock had been rotated 180°, giving us a new view.

Here are some of his new photos. Click for full-size.

Photo: John Watson

Photo: John Watson

Photo: John Watson