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Historical Sites in the Harbor
Please contribute! If you have a story about harbor
history which would be interesting for other members to know, please send it to
mike@myc.org.
Dear Fellow MYC Members,
Commodore Fortenbaugh has agreed to the inclusion of pages in our website dealing with
historic sites in New York Harbor that most of us sail by during the course of racing or
cruising. The sailing area of our Club is replete with history spanning over
400 years from the Dutch occupation, through British rule, and to the present century.
I have been sailing for over 40 years. I've been around the world twice, and I have raced
or cruised in most major bodies of water in a variety of weather conditions. At this point
in my life, I can state unashamedly, that I am a day-sailor in the best possible location.
When I sail the harbor, I hear voices from the past from all points of the compass, and
I'd like to share some of those voices with you. At periodic intervals, I will write a
short story of some of my favorite historic sites in the harbor, and I will provide a
website for further reading on your part. I hope you will
interact, and provide your own favorites because I believe it will enrich our sailing.
Recently, one of my daughters asked me how she should remember me, and this was my
response. Picture me at the helm of a J24, on a sunlit day in October, sailing in a broad
reach, before a southwesterly breeze of 15 to 18 knots, and with a following sea.
Lady Liberty is over my left shoulder, and Governor's Island is over my right
shoulder. I'm sailing home, and I'm listening to the voices.
- John Coppola
Upper Bay & Battery
The Statue of Liberty - by John Coppola
Guns That Never Fired in Anger - by John Coppola
The Bloodiest Battle of the American Revolution - by
John Coppola
East River
The First Iron Clad - USS Monitor - by John
Coppola
Fulton Ferry & the Brooklyn Navy Yard - by
John Coppola
Hudson River
Hamilton & Burr Duel Site -
by John Coppola
The North River - by John Coppola
Suggested books:
A Maritime History of New York, Doubleday,1941, Authors-New York City WPA
Writers Project
The Hudson-A Guidebook to the River, State University of New York Press,1981
Places to find used books
www.ABAA.org
www.Abebooks.com
www.mxbf.com
www.bibliofind.com
www.alibris.com
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