Because She Can

Never underestimate a captain when there's the promise of warmer weather (tomorrow's Brooklyn forecast: Sunny and 69!) and fair winds. One more Brooklyn Public Sail has just been planned for the Sloop Clearwater on Wed, October 21st (yep, that's tomorrow!)

The sunset sail (last one out of Brooklyn this year) is planned to leave the Fairway ferry dock at 5:30.

Kids and adults can cast a net and catch fish in New York Harbor - yes, real live fish!

Are you weighing going to the gym vs. going on the sail? No worries! Enjoy both a light workout AND a sail: help set the 3000 sq. ft. Mainsail - Heave, Ho!

If you choose, bring a picnic and a bottle of wine.

Partake in everything or nothing at all. No matter what, you'll enjoy a peaceful evening on the water amid your busy week.

Because this sail is a little shorter than their normal sails, the prices have been adjusted: $40 for Adults, $30 if you're a CW member and $10 for kids under twelve!

Reserve your place by calling 1-800-67-SLOOP x107 or just stop by the boat at the Fairway ferry dock and speak to a crew member. To find out more about membership, programs and future events go to www.clearwater.org

Welcome Back!

Be a part of the official Welcome Back to Brooklyn for the Sloop Clearwater this Sat October 17th. There are a series of events planned that will appeal to all ages:

3-6 pm: The Sloop sets sail from Manhattan at 3pm and arrives in Brooklyn at 6pm. Pricing: $60/adults; $40/members; $20/kids. Reserve your spot and find more info at Clearwater.org.

5pm to 6pm: Start your evening off with a family-friendly rendez-vous aboard the Historic Waterfront Museum, a beautifully restored showboat barge and floating classroom. Catch great views of the historic tall ship Clearwater as she returns to the Brooklyn waterfront. Donations accepted; snacks, music and fun provided.

6pm-7:30pm: Welcome the Sloop to the dock (located behind Fairway), then hop aboard for a tour of the deck and meet n’ mingle with the Captain and crew!

8pm – 10pm: Head around the corner with the crew to Sunny’s Bar, a Red Hook mainstay for sailors for over one hundred years. A suggested donation of $5 or $10 gets you more great music, refreshments, and a warm mug of mulled cider.
Sunny’s weekly bluegrass jam follows close behind, so be sure and bring an instrument along!

See you there!

NY400 and Harbor Day

Spent a fantastic day on the Sloop Clearwater yesterday. Starting in Brooklyn, we sailed in the NY Harbor then up the Hudson River to the 79th street boat basin in a flotilla of historic and modern dutch and american ships. This sail was part of the NY400 Harbor Day celebration commemorating Henry Hudson's first sail up the Hudson 400 years ago.

The weather was outstanding and the water was sparkling. By the end of the day I'm sure I wasn't the only one fantasizing about living on a boat. Ah, the lure and romance of a sail!

More photos on flickr.

Truck Farm

Truck Farm photo by Ian Cheney.

I have passed this parked truck many times on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook this summer. Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis had the ingenious idea of growing veggies in the flat bead of a 1986 Dodge truck. And what ingenious idea is not complete by filming it these days? Truck Farm is no exception and has documented it's progress with a solar powered cab mounted time lapse camera. The folks at Wicked Delicate have created a series of videos complete with quirky soundtracks that sing the story of Truck Farm.





For $20 you can subscribe to the farm are received an 'unknowable amount' produce, a dvd of the short film and an invitation to the WD Truck Farm Summer Picnic. Not close enough to picnic? Subscribe anyway and you'll get a bottle of smokin' hot sauce made from the Fall habaneros pepper crop.

Clear Sailing

I had the good fortune to go for a sail on the Sloop Clearwater the morning it docked behind the Fairway at the end of Van Brunt Street in Red Hook Brooklyn. Sunny weather and gentle winds made for great harbor exploring.

I joined a summer day camp as they broke into smaller groups and cycled through different educational stations on the vessel lead by the knowledgeable crew that works great with kids. 'Our' net caught flounder, crab, mussels, and other small fish that they kids identified, discussed and touched. The kids learned about climate change, navigational charts, wind and water, sailing, safety and communal life on a boat. And we hoisted the sails - how could I forget!? - Heave Ho!

There was a moment of silence where everyone just stopped and listened - fantastic! Guitar sing-a-longs kept kids mesmerized as we docked once again in Brooklyn.

The Clearwater is schedule to be here through 8/3 for deck tours and sails Check out all the info on their website here. If you can't catch it this go around check the schedule for other dates and locations. It's a great experience. Not to be missed.

Thanks to the crew and Captain Sam for a fantastic sail!

Sailing on a 10 Speed

A team of 30 representing the Sloop Clearwater will be joining 30,000 cyclists for the largest recreational cycling event in America: The Five Boro Bike Tour. This is an incredible 42 mile tour on routes that are closed to traffic on Sunday May 3rd. (Interactive map here. The tour is now full and has closed it's registration for this year.)

Support the Clearwater and it's educational programs for adults and children on New York's Hudson River by sponsoring Captain Sam! Email her at: capt@clearwater.org with your pledge.

A little or a lot is appreciated. Sample rates are as follows:

$0.50/mile = $21
$1.00/mile = $42
$2/mile = $84

As part of the Clearwater team she is committed to raising over $500, but her personal goal is $1200 (which pays for two months of the apprenticeship program).

The above photo is from the photo gallery of last year's event. More photos and tour info at the Five Boro Bike Tour's web site.

Say Cheese!

Had the pleasure of being photographed by Pascal Perich today for a something that I will introduce a little later. Ok so it's a little uncomfortable for me to have my picture taken - I know few who really love it - but was also looking forward to it after I saw his beautiful portfolio. I'm talking jaw droppingly beautiful.

He was so much fun and right off the bat framed the light and the sails just so. Magic.

He's has a sense of humor and is a good sport because he granted my wish to take his photo (with my point and shoot little camera that plays a tune when you turn it on and makes fake shutter sounds when you take pictures) for this post.



Thanks Pascal! Can't wait to see the photos!!

Found Love

Happy Valentines Day - Red Hook style.

Back in the Studio

It's a chilly 55 degrees in the studio this morning. That's what the thermostat says - I think that the real temp is even colder. The heat was 'adjusted' after our first gas bill was received. I'm one of the early birds here and it's too big a space to heat just for one or two people. So we reprogrammed the heat to come on in the middle and later part of the day when the bulk of the people are here making. So, for now, gone are the days of working without a coat ... and hat and gloves. Let's hope for an early, warm Spring.

In the meantime, I'm catching up on emails and snuggling with the space heater. Although it's always hard to return to work after such a nice long break (the longest I think I have taken since I started Reiter8) coming back to this studio and the opportunities that are ahead makes it easy(er).

Onward!

Just Keep Tuggin'

This was the scene yesterday when it wasn't just snowing - it was snowing GOBS of snow. Absolutely beautiful, those huge wet 2 inch dollops of snow that somehow manage to fall silently.

It's been a hectic couple of weeks making bags, doing markets and sending out orders (thank you for all those orders - keep 'em coming!!) I caught the mother of all sinus colds that did not knock me out flat because I didn't have time to be THAT sick. Actually, I was that sick, I just didn't have time to be knocked out flat.

A new batch of messengers and totes have been cut, sewn, photographed and will be listed today. Custom holiday orders have been finished and sent out with the exception of a few pick ups that are scheduled over the next couple days.

The beauty of the season is coming into focus - the kids are starting to really think and plan about what they can make for everyone on their list. Decorations have been brought up from the basement and are getting dusted and distributed. It's nice after such a long time of focusing on work, work, work to pause, appreciate and celebrate.

And through it all the tugs keep tuggin'.

Clearwater Brooklyn Revival?

Quite a busy day yesterday - filling orders, stuffing and photographing pillows - planned on a big WIP post today but look what docked at the Fairway pier yesterday! I recognized her from afar and when she came in close I grabbed my coat and camera and ran down.
The Clearwater:





The Clearwater is a Hudson River Sloop that:

conducts environmental education, advocacy programs and celebrations to protect the Hudson River, its tributaries and related bodies of water.

Clearwater’s story began in 1966, when a handful of Hudson Valley residents came together believing that by learning to care for one boat on one river, the public could come to care for all our threatened waterways. And what better boat for the job than a replica of the vessels which were once a much more common sight on the Hudson.

The sloop was launched three years later on May 17, 1969 in South Bristol, Maine. In the years since, Clearwater has traveled to towns and cities along the Hudson, New York Harbor, and Long Island Sound.

Clearwater is a work boat. Sailing from town to town, she models her course after the Dutch sloops of the 18th and 19th centuries. These cargo vessels were specially designed for the variable winds, currents and depths of the Hudson. Their cargoes and crews were the main communication link between river-front towns and outlying areas which now house one-tenth of this nation’s population.

Clearwater’s cargo is people. Her work is making them care.

Love that. My daughter went on a 'Classroom of the Waves' educational sail in elementary school. What a great experience. Check out their site for news, sail schedules, volunteering and membership info. Don't forget the Great Hudson River Revival festival held every year in June.

I got to meet Captain Sue (couldn't be nicer) and if the Clearwater can find a suitable place to dock, there might be a Clearwater Brooklyn Revival.

Back to work: here's a little taste from the pillow photo shoot:

Moving Sail

No, not moving sale (sorry).

Literally moving sail. I'm so very happy to say that I have a dedicated work space OUTSIDE of my home! My family was thrilled and only too happy to help me haul sails and everything else that had been slowly but surely taking over every room in the house.

It's better than better to have sewing machine, supplies, work table (on wheels!) sails and computer all in one space. OK so it's a little bit of a mess. But it's my mess and I don't have to clean it up by dinner time so we can eat off the same table that I had been working on.

It's been a long time coming and I'm so grateful for the opportunities that are here today and for those that lie ahead.

Well, Hello Sailor!

Sail Brooklyn was kind enough to feature Reiter8 totes yesterday. Of course I am happy for the exposure but I am doubly happy to have found such a great resource for local sailing info and perspective. Red Hook community sailing anyone? Photos of the Day and comparing the costs of a Hamptons share vs. keeping a sailboat in NYC are among the interesting posts. I all makes me itch for spring. Pictured above is the Sail Magazine's Best Boat of 2007 designed by Brooklyn Based Wurmfeld Design. Thanks Mr. Salty!