Revamped Leadership Invigorates SOSNY

Renewed energy is being invested into the management of John J. Harvey. Capt John Doswell will coördinate and expanded team as acting Executive Director, and will be the principal contact for the organization. (Email John@DoswellProductions.Com)

The restoration team of Jessica DuLong, Tim Ivory, John Browne and Huntley Gill has been supplemented by engineers Nobby Peers of Whitworth Marine and Matt Perricone of Lehigh Maritime.

Part of this effort is this newsletter which will be a regular feature, edited by Roy Attaway and published by Dick Solay working with web-master Eric Weisler. Fundraising and programming will become the joint responsibility of Ann Loeding, Ann Kayman, and Huntley Gill. The ship's store, always an important source of both income and remarkable artifacts, continues under its founder Barbara Moore and able assistants Bruce Rosenkrantz and Toby Wong. Karl Schuman "Da Bosun" has been steadily expanding his excellent work as volunteer coordinator, Al Trojanwicz continues as Historian, and Bob Lenney, Senior Pilot, inspires and berates the crew as he has done since he started working on John J. Harvey in 1963. (Now that is continuity.)

Most importantly, John J. Harvey will continue to depend principally on you and the generous efforts of our many volunteers, supporters and friends. Join us in this wonderful and important project! Time, financial support, advice, contacts, expertise, ideas, comments, are all invaluable to the effort. And it is a big effort!

John J. Harvey New York State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) Completed

In 2009, a $320,000 matching grant form the New York State Environmental Protection Fund was finally completed. Phase One was submitted in the Spring, totaling $432,166, and, soon after, we received a check for $216.083 (50% of the total). The balance was raised from other sources and/or volunteer hours. Soon we will submit Phase II which will be about $60,000, yielding $30,000 back from New York State. As a result of this grant, as well as ongoing fundraising efforts over time, the vessel is in much better shape than when she was acquired by auction from NYC. There is still much to do but we are getting closer every day. There is simply no way a vessel like John J. Harvey can ever be recreated - she is historic in more ways than one. It's worth the effort.

John J. Harvey has one of the most important, redundant and complex engine rooms for a vessel of her size and era. Her five principal engines, two auxiliary diesel engines, two Westinghouse propulsion motors, four massive fire pumps, several auxiliary pumping systems, and a host of flexible functions among them, are both a luxury and a challenge. While engines were updated in 1957, almost all of this dates to 1931 and must be treated as the important engineering landmark it is.

Over the past eight months, the engineering team of Jessica DuLong, Nobby Peers, John Browne and Tim Ivory has undertaken the most important single engine-room restoration program since the boat left FDNY in 1999. Exclusive of invaluable, countless volunteer hours, about $45,000 has been invested in this ongoing effort to date.

Engine 3 (starboard aft) is being rebuilt and will soon be running for the first time since 2002. The spare 2-71 (auxiliary diesel) now runs for the first time since 1999. The 110V generator on Engine 2 (the center-line engine and the only one dedicated completely to propulsion) has been restored and the main shaft bearing replaced, and thanks in part to a grant from the Hudson River Foundation, crucial heat exchangers on all engines are being rebuilt in-house. Many other critical but unseen systems, including fire mains (both piping and valves), fuel lines, engine-cooling pumps, air pressure regulators and tanks, and the main bearings throughout have been checked, repaired and restored as needed. John Browne and his volunteers are scraping and painting the main engines as well.

Next on our list are the restoration of mufflers and stacks for Engine 3 and-our biggest challenge-the first major restoration of the four main fire pumps since the 1950s. .

Your support is needed! Imagine the thrill of having a fire pump named in your honor!

We'll be moving along smartly with our spring spruce up. Concentrating on cleaning up the interior deck cabins, doing more serious prepping and painting of those crusty old cap rails, putting a top coat on the welded aft stack patches. Lots of other major and minor chores too... even stuff down in the cellar where they're working on those frightful big greasy noisy things

At eleven bells the Harvey Pep Girls with pompoms will lead us in singing the Harvey fight song.... just kidding ...but we'll welcome Volunteers, Crew, Supporters, Friends, Pals from the Badda-Bing (the pier restaurant), and all other interested folks and passers by for a pot-luck shape up, get to know, hang out, question answering and gripe session.

A splendid time is guaranteed for all!
Pier 66A. Foot of West 26th St
Elevenish

Karl Schuman ( Email dabosun@gmail.com)