NY Vegas..

reefmagnet · Jun 22, 2001

Hi Lauri:

I've been here a long time and I have yet to see a Vega in NY Harbor. That's the bad news. The good news is that if you go down to the World Trade Center complex, directly across the street is the World Financial Center. The centerpiece of the the World Financial Center is the "Wintergarden" a gigantic oval greenhouse right on the water on the Hudson spotted equidistant between the twin towers. The Wintergarden has rusty rose marble staircases going down to gigantic palms and a small cluster of restaurants and shops which go east and west.There are invariably a number of beautiful boats docked in the small harbor in front of the Wintergarden. Therearecafe tables all over the place and you can relax outside there right on the water. JFK's Father's boat Honey Fitz used to lie at anchor here before young JFK's jr tragic untimely death. (He used this boat for his honeymoon). For the last six weeks there has been a gorgeous sail boat 165 feet long and as gorgeous a craft as you will ever see sitting in the harbor. There are almost always lavish power boats - including one boasting a helicopter pad on the fantail. There is a small yacht club with a small floating barge clubhouse with a fleet of Soilings offering sailing lessons. If you walk out on the walk to the water's edge there is a great view of the Hudson River, Jersey City, Liberty State Park, Ellis Isand, and the Statue of Liberty. There is a Water Taxi for a small fee to Weehauken, NJ and back to take in the sites. (Much, much, more reasonable is a round trip on the Staten Island Ferry from the Whitehall St./So. Ferry stop on the Subway (only one stop on the 1 or 9 Subway line from the World Trade Center or two stops on the N&R Lines) or an easy 20-30 minute walk to the Battery (downtown to your left as you face the water). The Staten Island Ferry is the best virtually free deal in the City for a visitor on a clear night and totally safe. If you walk to your right facing the Hudson North (uptown) there is a gorgeous Waterfront park named for Nelson Rockefeller with a Koi Pond, volley ball and basketball courts and a lot of neat recreational things with nice plantings and attractive seating. Roller blades are permitted and so are bikes. As you walk Uptown thru the park there are a number of moorings and old docks to survey. If you walk far enough North you can walk East into Tribeca, further north, the West Village, Chinatown and Chelsea. My own Vega is on LI Sound and she isn;t launched yet. She is undergoing some fiberglass restoration and some TLC to put her in absolutely top form. Between this work and the fact that my Dad suffered a (thankfully) minor stroke (from which he is making a great recovery) a short time ago, I am way behind on everything. The Brooklyn Bridge is also free, beautiful, safe and a great walk for a tourist. Try it just before sunset or early in the AM. I never tire of this walk.

I hope you enjoy your trip to NYC. It's an exciting place these days.

Jim

reefmagnet · Jun 25, 2001

Hi James,

thanks a lot for your news and the detailed advice! I have been to the
States several times but never had the opportunity to stay in NYC for any
time (practically seeing nothing but the JFK airport, in transit). You sure
make it sound like something to look for, even more than before. Despite the
lack of Vega representation, which no doubt would have been a homely
addition to all that extravagance..

Sorry to hear about your Dad (stroke happens to be my own field). Our Vega
(#2059) is not launched, either, but still receiving her necessary TLC by
us, when the time allows. It is a shame, really, as the season is so limited
up here in Finland, but we still cherish our great expectations for the end
of the season..

Thanks again,

Lauri

reefmagnet · Jun 25, 2001

Dear Lauri:

New York is a treat if you are prepared and have a map. If I may, please allow me to make a suggestion or two. First it is often difficult to get around in the daytime especially at rush hour commuting times in this city. Most of us New Yorkers therefore take mass transportation below ground called the "Subway". It is very easy to do this now, by using what is called a "Metrocard". Basically one ride on our transit system is $1.50. You can buy a 4 ride Metrocard for $6.00 US. My advice is to go to a subway booth and purchase a $6.00 Metrocard and to ask for an official MTA subway and a MTA bus map. Both maps are free services of the City but rarely offered to polite tourists.This will equip you to access all City Subways and every City bus. If you transfer from a bus to a subway line within two hours, and vice versa subway to bus, the transfer is free. For example if you wished to take the subway in from Kennedy Airport and your budget frugal and your baggage light, you could take the airport shuttle to the Howard Beach/JFK stop and get on the A Train. You could take that train all the way into the West side of Manhattan and still transfer free to a local bus uptown, downtown or crosstown. I have been to Helsinki and Riga. Latvia on your beautiful Baltic on business trips. The NY waterfront is unique and might be of interest to you. My last E-mail gave an outline. The Brooklyn Bridge and the famous Brooklyn Heights Promenade are also beautiful sites along the Water. If you do not have a Metrocard the bus takes US coins and $1.50 will buy you a ride and then you ask the driver for a bus transfer. You cannot have a free transfer to the trains without a Metrocard. My wife, Debra, who loves to entertain people from abroad (she went to University in Europe) and I would love to invite you to dinner and a guided tour but Debra has worked on a complex case with a team of lawyers since the first week in May and it looks like a few more weeks until she gets a break. The only day Debra took off was Father's Day and travelled 350 miles roundtrip to see my Dad with me. Believe it or not, my Dad a WW II vet, a radio operator in a B17 during the war, had no feeling in his right face and upper right extremity and could not drive to the hospital, but my Mom bolted out of bed and used her foot heavily on the gas to rush him to a hospital fearing the ambulance corps would be too slow. She is a volunteer at that hospital and the good Sisters there and the physicains were just changing shifts. All joined in to help my Dad. He is 99.5% back with a good right grip and a great smile again. He is happy, feisty, and enjoys working in the garden again. You must be a neurologist, Dr. Soinne. My best friend, and a great sailing buddy, is also a neurologist. He told me that we are very fortunate people to have Dad in this condition. We have much for which to be grateful. By the way, Debra oohs and aahs at your Finnish Nautor Swan Boats every time she sees one. We, especially I, still love our Vega.

If you would like to E-mail us on a personal link, Debra and I can offer you our telephone number by E-mail in case you need some advice or require a friendly native around for any assistance. PS the gigantic sailboat I described has set sail. There are now a number of super luxury charter boats at dockside behind the Wintergarden before July 4th, our major summer National Holiday. You might consider a Sunday Brunch sail on one of these big power yachts. One offers a Sunday brunch sail which which is a really luxurious tour of the harbor. It's a good buy in the luxury category here. You need a reservation which I am sure can be arranged at your hotel. Have a great stay in the City!!

Kind Regards.........

Jim and Debra Villa

reefmagnet · Jun 26, 2001

Mort is absolutely right about the world class art exhibits available for a pittance in NY. I love all of those places that Mort has so well described. The Whitney is uniquely American, has one free admission night a week, and is in a great location at 75th and Madison. If you go up two blocks one can see Eartha Kitt, Delta Burke, or Bobby Short at the Carlisle after4 looking at paintings. In my single days I used to live in a postage stamp sized apartment three buildings away from the Whitney. At the Carlisle you can enjoy a cool drink in a treasure of a buliding designed by a guy who some (myself included) consider to be immortal in the architectural world. Like the Guggenheim, there is only one Carlisle. By the way, The Manhattan yacht cruises I described to Lori are apprx. $45-50 per person per brunch cruise and $85 per person for a dinner and dancing cruise. Call World Yacht Dining Cruises at 212-630-8100. I promise anyone who takes one of these cruises they are not likely to be disappointed.

Take care...........
Jim

reefmagnet · Jun 26, 2001

Hi Mort,

Thank you for your advice. I have been convinced that there is an
unsurpassed wealth of culture in NYC. Maybe we Europeans tend to take for
granted that our museums with long establishment and tradition are the
elite.
The trouble with conference travelling is often the tightness of schedule,
it may be like walking in a leash, especially if there is a generous sponsor
entertaining. You should have some days off. And NYC will take a long time
to conquer! I am looking forward to coming back with my wife and kids some
time - at best, children have been great company at museums and art
galleries, with their unprejudiced keen interest in everything and
willingness to learn. Opens your eyes too and is great capital for them of
course.
Fair winds,
Lauri

reefmagnet · Jun 26, 2001

Dear Jim,

Great to read your lines, thanks a lot. Not to digress any further in the
field of neurology I must say you Mom was absolutely right with her vision,
stepping on it when rushing to the hospital with her husband. Time is brain.

Nautor Swans are the dream of many. As for dreams, I am planning to accept
an offer to share some of a beautiful 46-foot ketch (of the type of Joshua
Slocum's Spray). Whatever the outcome will be, my wife and I were
steadfast: we will not part with our Vega.

I would like to drop you a line on a personal email link, hope I will have
the time before I leave for the US.

Lauri

reefmagnet · Jun 27, 2001

Hi Lauri:

Congratulations on your impending boat partnership. It sounds like a wonderful boat. Like you, I won't give up my Vega. ever!. After our time on her is done I intend to pass her on to my children who learned to sail on an ancient sloop with a wooden spar built in Holland in 1962. When a youngster learns to sail and to command a boat, it marks that child with skills and a mindset that cannot be duplicated in our schools. A child learns that while there are moments of inescapable feelings of sheer joy and perhaps immortality, they also learn responsibilty and humility. All of us great and small sense instantly on a sail boat that we are small fragile creatures. The ancient fisherman's prayer "Lord Watch Over Me, the sea is so great and my boat is so small" comes to mind. If you hold onto your Vega, your children will have a gift that few of their peers can enjoy at any price. The brunch cruise in New York Harbor is about $45-50 per person on weekends. The sponsor is World Yacht Dining Cruises 212-630-8100. I would love to introduce you to my good friend, a neurologist, who like you is a native of the Baltics, in his case Estonia. He has a gorgeous boat in Maine a classic Alden about the same size as your Ketch. If you have time, and can find a way to E-mail me on a private link, I will give you my mobile phone number. Perhaps if you get can free from your colleagues for a brief interlude, I would be pleased to buy you a drink and to show you some hospitality. In any case, have a great trip. It's quite a bit warmer here than in Finland in the summers (I lived in Vermont for a few years so I too suffer in the heat) so dress accordingly. The weather forecast for tomorrow is for 95 degrees (F) for example. That is a little warm for Northerners..........

Take care............

Jim

reefmagnet · Jul 4, 2001

Hi Jim,

A couple of weekends ago I took my 14-year-old nephew sailing on San
Francisco Bay. Travis lives in Fresno, his mother and father (my brother)
are divorced (it was ugly), and he hasn't been anywhere other than Fresno.
When I gave Travis the helm as we were motoring out of the Oakland inner
harbor Saturday morning, Travis experienced the usual confusion with
steering with a tiller. During the day I let him steer under sail, explaing
to him about wind, point of sail, weather helm. I'm sure the info-dump went
over his head, but I'm also sure he got a grasp of the complexity of what
sailing a boat is all about. Motoring back into the channel Sunday evening,
I handed Travis the helm, and went on deck to put out the fenders, as I
looked back into the cockpit, he looked confident. I asked him how he felt.
"Relaxed," was his reply.

Before he left for Fresno, I gave him Jobson's beginners sailing book. I
called Travis later in the week, and asked him if he looked through Jobson's
book. He said it opened up in class (summer school), and looked through it,
and started reading about the parts of a boat. Then he asked me if we could
sail out around Alcatraz. Sure, let's go.

Sailing's good for teenagers. I was out with some friends a few weekends
ago, and let their teenage daughter's friend handle the helm, under sail and
motoring. Just like Travis, I notice a new sense of awareness as she steered
down the channel.

I'm almost certain that one of the things that goes through these kids'
minds is: "Hey, this is some serious shit going on here. I need to be
careful." I notice that they get real focused on what they're doing when on
a boat. There not as busy being self-absorbed with their everyday lives.

Sailing is one of the greatest metaphors for life. It teaches you how to
keep your nerve in a crisis, and how to steer a straight course, among other
things. It's rewarding when you can pass this knowledge along to someone
younger, and see the inkling of a sense of accomplishment, confidence, and
an appreciation of what respect is all about. These are some of the reasons
why I love sailing so much.

Steve DeMont
"Erendira"
Vega 2947

reefmagnet · Jul 4, 2001

Steve DeMont sdemont@... writes:

| Hi Jim,
|
| A couple of weekends ago I took my 14-year-old nephew sailing on San
| Francisco Bay. Travis lives in Fresno, his mother and father (my brother)

Thanks for your article. I really liked it.

--
/Jonny
Opera Software
phone:+47-24164370 fax:+47-24164002

reefmagnet · Jul 4, 2001

Hi Steve:

I enjoyed your story about Travis and the Vega, Erendira on San Franciso Bay. That was a really great thing his Uncle Steve did for him. I bet he would really enjoy it if you guys could get someone to photograph the boat and you and Travis on board. It might be a great reminder to Travis that the world is a far more magical and greater than his peer group in Fresno could imagine. The folks in this Vega web group are a really great intangible bonus to owning a Vega, Steve. I wish your nephew, Travis, well. Divorce is tough on kids especially boys. The instructional book was also a great idea because he will be able to link book learning with on-hands experience and fun on your boat. From acorns do mighty oaks grow.... Sounds like you get a lot of use from Erendira.

Take Care..........
Jim