Post Industrial Sailing

This photo was taken last Wednesday night during a North Point Sailing Association Race. We ended up fourth over the line and first on corrected time on quite a breezy night. The wind had dropped by this time. It was gusting in the 20's when we started. We got bashed about quite a bit until it dropped to the teens.

On shore to the right is the derelict Sparrows Point Bethlehem Steel plant--once the largest in the world. It is now being dismantled after over 120 years of operation. The future of the property is unknown. Local boaters are of two minds about this. The mill had employed many local boaters and their neighbors. All those jobs are gone. On the other hand, our boats are cleaner without all the soot and dust.

To the left are the cranes of the Port of Baltimore and the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The Star Spangled Banner was written on a ship anchored just on the other side of that bridge. We frequently dodge freighters going in and out of the port. We always wonder why they put their channel through the middle of our race courses.

Those not from the Baltimore area might not get the boat's name. The local working man's beer is National Bohemian and commonly known as "Natty Boh". Given what's usually in the cooler, the name seemed obvious to me.

Dressed To the Nines!
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Dismantling the church of the powerful
a 'dark satanic mill' - now bones on the skyline
- where men toiled in daily grime...
still produces wages for salvagers.
Maybe, Bethlehem Steel removed,
gives back the trampled land to the sparrows.

Hey Sparrows point, the steel mill and the Francis Scott Key Bridge, all in one great shot! I will keep an eye out for you, I sail right there most every friday, right when the cruise ship pops out from the bridge - 4:45 like clock work.

So skipper Jer (or others), on another note, tomorrow I have a short haul happening for a power spray and clean of the bottom. I hope the bottom looks good this will be the first time pulled since i have owned here, I will be examining the rudder too. Any hints on any thing else to check or observe while she is out or an hour or two.

We're out on the Sparrows Point side of the Potapsco every Wednesday night. Start sequence gets rolling about 6:30. Rock Creek Sailing Association races with us every other series. The start line is usually anchored off of PW8 just off Sparrows Point. You'd always be welcome.

Thanks Skipper Jer, I will follow up with you on that. Regarding Sparrows Point it will be interesting as to what eventually happens with that land. It is actually a beautiful point of land with interesting views in all directions. Old Baltimore is certainly going away which is too bad but change is a constant. The dismantling of that industrial complex is huge, that is probably many years just to get that done.

Attachment 9358 No rest for Industry in the Bay on Sundays. perhaps a load of fiats and Alfa's and capicola and prosciutto. What an August on the east coast, mild and breezy everday...