The Great Boatlift of 911 Was Largest In World History

Tom Hanks narrates the epic story of the 9/11 boatlift that evacuated half a million people from the stricken piers and seawalls of Lower Manhattan. Produced and directed by Eddie Rosenstein. Eyepop Productions, Inc.

The self-organized water evacuation by commercial, merchant marine and private boat captains of nearly 500,000 souls in nine hours was the greatest such event in history. The military evacuation of Dunkirk in World War II removed 339,000 British and French soldiers over nine days.

BOATLIFT was executive produced by Stephen Flynn and Sean Burke and premiered on September 8th at the 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Summit: Remembrance/Renewal/Resilience in Washington. The Summit kicked off a national movement to foster community and national resilience in the face of future crises. See www.road2resilience.org to become a part of the campaign to build a more resilient world. The film was made with the generous support by philanthropist Adrienne Arsht, Chairman Emerita, TotalBank (www.arsht.com)

"The Coast Guard Station Annapolis, in Bay Ridge, earlier this year took delivery of a new Response Boat to allow it to better patrol Greater Annapolis waters and the Chesapeake Bay.

"Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, improving the safety of major waterways and large ports has been a priority of the Department of Homeland Security. And the bay leads directly into the Port of Baltimore.

"The new $2 million, 41-foot boat will improve the Coast Guard’s performance and ability to respond to incidents. The new boat has significantly faster speeds—maximum of 42.5 knots—and a longer range at about 250 nautical miles, according to a release."

This story from the Greater Annapolis PATCH in September 2011.

Every Sailor Needs a Pair of Balls!

As a power boater, that's what I've always thought about sailors. Then, Ken Hesterberg, commodore of the Chesapeake Cruisers Association sent me the link to the video shown below. The video answers the question at the top of all of our minds:

How does a sailboat with an 80-ft. mast pass under a 65-ft. bridge? It takes big balls, of course.

You won't find this technique in your edition of Chapman Piloting or in the Power Squadron's Sail course.

What is more amazing is that this captain single-handed the maneuver.

"I can do that, but I don't wanna." ~Bart Simpson

I took the summer off to do summer stuff, but will update the site over the next few days with posts I've been saving up. Have fun and be safe on the water. On land, too.