The topsail schooner Clipper City set sail from Manhattan yesterday on a “Craft Beer Tasting Cruise,” which ran somewhat longer than expected. The steel ship grounded in New York harbor, south of the Statue of Liberty. Apparently many of the passengers were not aware of the grounding until boats came to ferry them ashore. All 121 passengers made it to shore safely. As the ship grounded near low tide, she floated free when the tide came in, without any reported damage to the ship or pollution of the harbor. What’s the old saying? “If you’ve never run aground, then you’re not much of a sailor.” And no doubt, the craft beer was tasty.
Old Salt Blog
a virtual port of call for all those who love the sea , hosted by nautical novelist Rick Spilman
Looks like someone forgot the old adage, Red Right Return !
I can imagine what the captain was trying to do. He probably wanted to stay close to the Statue of Liberty, for the scenic value, while at the same time get out of the main channel. The Clipper City only draws 6′ with the board up so he had some flexibility. There is a real shallow spot, however, and the current probably set the ship down on the rocks at just about low tide and held the ship there. If his passengers would have just waited another four hours the Clipper City would have floated free. Then again, they probably would have run out of beer by then.
With all the beer drunk aboard, they should have all peed over the side; it would have lightened the schooner…