November 2011 - Schooner Strips Down for Winter Hibernation

"Just look for the three masts," said the dock worker at Norwalk Cove Marina, pointing to where the Schooner had tied up. "That's how you can tell it's the SoundWaters." He's absolutely right. The signature three masts of the Schooner are a familiar sight to other sailors, boaters and those watching from the Long Island Sound coastline.

But not in winter. Earlier this month the SoundWaters captain and crew, aided by a very large crane, carefully dismantled each of the 60-foot-tall masts. The event marked the final task of down-rigging the Schooner before she was hauled out of water at Norwalk Cove Marina. There she will stay under a safe, warm, shrink-wrapped cover until spring, when the process is reversed.

This past season, the Schooner crew conducted 198 sails for student groups, the public and private events. Crisscrossing the Sound from April through October, she carried more than 6,600 passengers from harbors in Stamford, Oyster Bay, Mamaroneck, Greenwich, Norwalk, Port Washington, Larchmont, Port Jefferson, Bridgeport, Stratford, Milford, and Old Saybrook.

More than 4,700 students learned about Long Island Sound by testing water quality; hauling a trawl net to examine seastars, flounder, and crabs; comparing zooplankton and phytoplankton; and developing solutions to pollution. About 1,000 adults and children participated in public sails and more than 800 sailed on private charters. Another 2,100 visited the Schooner during dockside tours at harbor festivals.

By season's end, 8,788 children and adults had walked across the deck of the SoundWaters, each person greeted by a crew member who carefully clicked a hand-held counter. Next season, thousands more from school groups, businesses, special celebrations, families and friends will experience the wonder, and science of Long Island Sound while sailing aboard our 80-foot, three-masted Schooner.

Regards,

Leigh Shemitz, Ph.D.
Executive Director
SoundWaters