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APRIL 2012
SPRING IS HERE
LET THE FUN BEGIN!
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It's that time of year again...
flowers begin to bloom... cherry blossoms, blossom,
and we start to prep fireboat John J Harvey
for the coming season's exciting events.
Da Bosun, Karl, has scheduled a HarVol Volunteer Work Day
on Saturday 7 April at 11AM,
if the weather cooperates. (It didn't last week unfortunately)
Please email him if you're planning on joining us.
And remember, we still urgently need contributions,
so start off the season right and toss us a lifeline.
See you aboard.
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ON WATER by Capt. Huntley Gill
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If there was ever a boat that is all about water, it is John J. Harvey. Yet the biggest enemy of preservation and restoration is water. At a building, if allowed into parapets, pointing or a roof, it will work insidiously to destroy the structure. Nevertheless, a properly restored building (the right pointing, a standing seam copper roof) can beat the water for a century and more. Not so for boats.
Harvey floats in water, celebrates water, hurls water. Yet there is nothing worse for a steel boat that salt water. We go to great lengths to preserve, protect and maintain hulls from the water below, and our recently completed New York State funded project concentrated on our hull. But it is often the water from above that is a worse enemy, getting in through decks, dripping on the unprotected interior of the hull and rusting decks, structure, frames and machinery.
That is why the water from above is the focus of this year’s project, funded by our $165,955 Federal Save America’s Treasure’s matching grant. We plan over $300,000 worth of work (including the match we are now raising) to rebuild stacks, house, and decks to make her as watertight from above as she is from below, protecting her landmark 1931 electric propulsion, interior spaces and hull from inside.
We need to have our funding in place by early next year to get into the yard and meet our meet the grant’s deadline of summer 2013. We have over $60,000 banked so far. Only $90,000 to go!
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News of the Harbor
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The South Street Seaport Museum was founded by Norma and Peter Stanford, Jakob Isbrandtsen and Whitney North Seymour Jr in the late 1960s. Its focus was restoration of historic vessels and its South Street neighborhood. The founders’ passion led Norma and Peter to work for years as unpaid staff, membership soared, and the Museum coalesced around its tall ships and a growing collection of historic vessels and buildings.
By the late 1970s, the emphasis had changed. Real estate became the focus, the founders left and the passion – and some of us think the mission – dissipated. Galleries were built but never filled, the remarkable library was closed and boxed up and the museum’s management came to see its vessels as a problem rather than an inspiration. The name became associated with a third-rate shopping center rather than the museum.
Missions without passion are often doomed, and all this culminated last year in the closing of the museum and a seemingly bleak future.
But it is not to be! To our delight the Museum of the City of New York, with the aid of the Bloomberg administration, has come to the rescue. Susan Henshaw Jones with her team’s incredible energy and skills, have filled its galleries with remarkable and fascinating exhibits, reincorporated its many able volunteers into the project, is cataloguing the library, have already had three of the vessels in the yard and are well underway towards rebuilding this wonderful institution in keeping with its founders’ vision.
South Street Seaport Museum deserves and needs our support.
Visit the galleries at 12 Front Street and become a member.
We promise it will be a rewarding experience!
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'SAVE THE DATE'
Tuesday, September 18th
The 2012 Fireboat Gala
on Pier 66 Maritime
Exciting details to follow!
Mark your calendar now
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THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
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Harvey recently received two excellent gifts to celebrate her 80th year.
In December, courtesy of Jim Travis and the Peekskill Fire Department, a strong and stable extension ladder was presented to replace the rather dubious one that our dedicated volunteers had been using. This kind gift will make painting and maintenance on the upper reaches of the fireboat much safer and less nerve-wracking!
In January, thru the advocacy of David Grill, the M. Tucker Company of Paterson, NJ, donated a beautiful new stainless steel table to replace the extremely well-used one we had been using by the grill. A most excellent time was had by a small band of volunteers as they chopped up the old one and assembled the new one. We’re looking forward to many happy events being held at our new table! (We're going to "unofficially" refer to it as the "Grill Grill Table")
We are very grateful to these great folks for these gifts!
Thank you!
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New HarVol, Brian Dwyer
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Our new star volunteer, Brian Dwyer, removed the wasted piping for the stern fuel tank and welded together and installed replacement piping. (With the help of his assistant/firewatch/wife JoAnn.)
The amazing thing was, that he brought all his own tools, and secured all the necessary parts as donations. We are very lucky to have his highly skilled help, and he's eager for a next project .
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21ST CENTURY FIREBOAT WEBSITE
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Eric Weisler, our amazing technology guru,
has updated the Fireboat John J Harvey website
to bring it into the 21st Century (Technology-wise).
Thanks Eric.
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HELP US MEET OUR GOAL!
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HELP MATCH JOHN J.HARVEY’S
SAVE AMERICA’S TREASURES GRANT!
100% OF EVERY DOLLAR GOES TOWARD
CRITICAL REPAIRS AND ENABLES
OUR VITAL PROGRAMS TO CONTINUE!
Keep this heroic piece of American history alive!
IT’S EASY TO DONATE BY PAYPAL OR CREDIT CARD AT
WWW.FIREBOAT.ORG
OR BY MAILING YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO:
SAVE OUR SHIPS NEW YORK
100 WEST 72ND ST. #6-G
NEW YORK, NY 10023
PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO JOHN J. HARVEY AT ONE OF THESE LEVELS.
___$50- RUST CHIPPER
___$100- WELDER
___$250- ENGINEER
___$500- FIREFIGHTER
___$1,000 PILOT
___ OTHER
NAMING RIGHTS ARE ANOTHER WAY TO DONATE TO THE FIREBOAT
AND OFFER A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO HONOR A LOVED ONE OR AN EVENT!
SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS!
ITEMS GET NAMED QUICKLY
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE AVAILABILITY
CALL CHASE WELLES AT
914-328-2222
OR EMAIL
INFO@FIREBOAT.ORG
TO CLAIM YOUR NAMING RIGHTS ON
FIREBOAT JOHN J. HARVEY
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HONOR A PERSON OR EVENT BY NAMING A PART OF THIS ICONIC VESSEL! RECEIVE LASTING RECOGNITION FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF THE FIREBOAT!
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1, $25,000 PILOT HOUSE - the command center of the fireboat; only the best captains are qualified to work here! Truly a unique opportunity!
1, $10,000 PILOTS WHEEL - the hands of brave mariners rested on this wheel, guiding the fireboat closer to danger as she fought fires in the harbor. One of a kind!
5, $10,000 FIREBOAT NAMEPLATES - These proclaim the name of FDNY Pilot John J. Harvey, who died in the line of duty. The boat is the first named for a firefighter from the ranks.
4, $10,000 LeCOURTENAY CERTIFUGAL FIRE PUMPS –These powerful pumps shoot the water; at 18,000 gallons per minute they can pump the equivalent of 20 land pumpers
5, $7,500 FAIRBANKS-MORSE 8 CYLINDER DIESEL ENGINES - These power both the propulsion and fire pumps, each engine producing 600 horse power!
2, $7,500 WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC MOTORS - providing propulsion, these 1,065 horsepower, motors drive the fireboat’s two propellers.
1, $7,500 FIREPUMP TELEGRAPH - used to signal the water pumps. The pumps are so powerful that in 1931 Harvey shot water over the new George Washington Bridge!
1, $5,000 BOW MONITOR - the largest of the brass monitors that aimed water onto the flames. Over 3000 gallons per minute can stream thru this giant nozzle!
2, $2,500 PROPELLORS - twin screw propellers, 6’ feet in diameter. The fireboat can achieve speeds of close to 20 knots, making her one of the fastest boats in the harbor.
2, $2,500 PORT & STARBOARD ENGINE ORDER TELEGRAPHS - The Pilot used these to signal the speed & direction of the Fireboat to maneuver to fight fires.
2, NAMED! $2,500 THE HEADS - in this essential room, brave men….
7, (1 NAMED - 6 LEFT!) $2,500 MONITORS - thru these large brass nozzles, over 18,000 gallons of water per minute poured on the flames. The iconic symbols of the fireboat’s mission!
1, $2,500 THE ‘GOLD ROOM’ - originally the storage area for the firefighter’s gear, it is now storage for much of the equipment that our dedicated volunteers use!
1, (1 NAMED!) $1,000 STARBOARD PUNT - a very important piece of the firefighter’s arsenal, this little punt could slide under piers and low structures so fires could be fought from below.
1, (1 NAMED - 0 LEFT!) $500.00 SHIP’S WHISTLE - used to signal the fireboat’s intentions and reply to other vessels.
13, (5 NAMED - 8 LEFT!) $250.00 BITTS - these humble uprights provide the support that hawsers are secured around, as well as pivot points to maneuver the fireboat into position to dock.
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