M bo batan

I set out up the East River having no particular place to go, already knowing how far I can go and still be floating, because I've been there.  I start right at high tide with the day sunny with scattered clouds that signal a change in weather for tomorrow.



It is October, the migrating season, the changing season and I need to see the marsh having not been here, ever, before this spring.  The marsh grasses are changing to golds and reds while the band nearest the water holds onto its green, for the time being.  I spot two medium sized hawks - dark with white rumps...probably Northern Harriers.  I've never seen them here before.  I suspect that when the willets are here (there are no willets today, a very plentiful bird in this marsh during summer), the harriers get no peace, so the harriers don't bother coming around.  Willets are sentinel birds - one will fly up and harass a hunting bird while constantly calling out an alarm.  It is very cool to see and if it happens one can't not notice it.  Pretty hard for a hawk to surprise anything when they do that.  Interestingly, willets do not pester osprey who only hunt fish.

Just past Cedar Island, a 75 yard diameter rockpile with its own forest, I turn into one of the old drainage channels.  The marsh is crisscrossed with drainage channels, most of which are landscape memories - slightly taller grass or an out of place line of sparse shrubs with no visible water, but a few of the bigger ones can be paddled at high tide.  This one takes me across the flat marsh grass plain into Bailey Creek, although it takes me several minutes to figure out that I am actually in the creek. 

Cedar Island

Having nowhere to go, I head downstream to the confluence with the Neck River, and having not been here at high tide, head up the Neck.  Its a tightly meandering river, more of a creek to be fair, and it gradually works its way back into the trees.  The spartina gives way to the invasive phragmites, which signals lower salinity in the tidal waters.  I find a good stand of small cattails, the pods bursting open and the spears all gone golden.  I pass my previous high point with plenty of water and continue another quarter mile where the marsh river goes to forest river by trading the grasses and reeds for boulders and fallen trees.  There is no canoeing past this point.

the top of the Neck River

On the way out, I spot three or four osprey.  I did not see a single one on the way in.  At the height of summer, sighting ten or twelve osprey might be possible.  I suppose that on my next trip they will have all gone south.  I head back up Bailey Creek and find the other shortcut that takes me to the East River at a higher point.  And with nowhere particular to be, I go upriver and explore another backwater in the golden marsh.

When John F. Kennedy was elected President, the Presidential yacht was a 92’ powerboat. Although he changed her name to “HONEY FITZ” in honor of his grandfather, the President was a sailor at heart and sent naval aide, John Tazwell, in search of a suitable sailboat for Presidential use. With her good looks and pedigree, MANITOU was quickly selected. She was brought to Chesapeake Bay and fitted with all the proper radios and communication equipment so the President would never be out of touch with his office or even the Kremlin while on board. Jack Kennedy used her often there and in New England.

In 1936 Mr. James Lowe of Grand Rapids, Michigan, commissioned the young Naval Architect, Olin Stephens, to design him a boat that could win the Chicago-Mackinac Race. Launched in 1937, MANITOU fulfilled the owner’s desires breaking the elapsed time record and winning the 1938 Chicago- Mackinac Race and also winning handily on corrected time. She was second across the line in 1939 and first again in 1940 and 41. When Mr. Lowe was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in the summer of 1942, the MANITOU moved on. In 1956 she was donated to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy where she was used to teach the cadets seamanship, sailing and how to work together as a crew. It was there she came to the attention of Tazwell and JFK.

In 1968, MANITOU was sold at auction to the Harry Lundeburg School of Seamanship which is run by the Seafarer’s International Union and its then strong leader, Paul Hall. Aristotle Onassis, who was about to marry Jackie Kennedy in October 1968, sought to buy MANITOU at any price. Long a proponent of the common man, Mr. Hall refused all offers, saying he wanted to keep her to teach less privileged young people about boats.

In 1999, MANITOU was purchased by the granddaughter of James Lowe, and was taken to Chesapeake Marine Railway in Deltaville, Virginia not far from Solomons Island where she was built and has undergone a major refit that will prolong her sailing career for many years to come. Great pain was taken to keep her as original with butternut paneling and use of all the old hardware that was still with the boat. Due to the birth of triplets in 2001 there has been a necessary change in plans and MANITOU is now for sale. There is still some work to be done on the rigs and the interior need soft goods and some finishing details, but the major work has been done.

Click here to see the listing for MANITOU.

In June of 2007 the 56' sailing yacht Anna was launched from the Brooklin Boat Yard of Maine. She is a 56' sloop aesthetically based on the Stormy Weather design (design #27), but below the water she has a modern hull shape, bulb keel and carbon spade rudder. She was constructed using cold-molded wood Epoxy methodology and is a very competitive and successful design.

A lot has been written about Anna in the yachting press and as a result we have received numerous inquiries about this design. However, many felt that at 56' overall she was either too much to handle or too much boat to be affordable. Taking the hint we have developed a smaller version. At 48' she is typical of classic Sparkman & Stephens designs with flush deck, stylish deckhouse and aft cockpit. The interior is quite simple: opposing berths/settees, small galley, head with separate shower. Pipe cots can be added forward of the mast if desired. She can be constructed of fiberglass or wood. The spar package is available in aluminum or carbon fiber.

Please feel free to call or write for study plans and more information.