Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Great Bacon in Beacon
Wow my friends…
It's astonishing to realize that it’s been nearly two weeks since I’ve had an opportunity to update ya’ll. It would’ve been so much easier to do this on a daily basis so I’d not have to look back to the Ship’s Log to recall all that’s happened. Might as well start here and go backwards…
We wrapped up our show in Beacon, NY last night and things went mighty fine (we’ve been having endless fun pronouncing Beacon, “Bacon," Bank of Bacon, Bacon Hair Cuts, etc…). We arrived late Saturday afternoon, tied up to the ferry dock and went to dinner. Yesterday was the first time we’ve had a chance to sleep late in god knows how long. Sunday morning, at the end of the ferry dock, surprise surprise, the local farmers market holds court. It was a small affair and I was surprised to realize that they’re not there at the crack of dawn, seems like things don’t get going until mid-morning. Early morning farmers market patrons were startled after strolling out to the pier to clarify what appeared to be an acid flashback, to find piles of crew sleeping all over the boats. Most seemed embarrassed to be there and snuck away as if they'd wandered into the wrong hotel room.
I’m up by 5 or 6AM to light off the boiler, roll up my sleeping bags, and get to work. Since Bree returned to SF, I’ve had no reason to set up a tent and it’s somber times for me to be without my amazing Bree. This has been my first moment of free time and access to the local hotels in quite a while. It’s not normal for me to be so out of touch, not knowing what day of the week it is, having no clue what time it is, etc. Somewhat of a news junkie, I was astonished to check into the hotel last night, flop own on the bed, turn on CNN, and learn that Obama had chosen Biden for the #2 slot. Seems I’m the last to know.
Two weeks has been a blink of an eye… and a really really really good time :-)
There’s very little downtime. I’m not complaining, I thrive on having some task or purpose to accomplish (I’m on a “working vacation”). I'm still taken aback by how extensive the show/performance aspect of this adventure is. In our deliberations before we joined this project, the show always seemed to be of secondary importance. This is by no means a comment on the quality of the script and performance per se; rather, I think the leaders helping Swoon to get KSW in position figured everything would lock into place upon our arrival. It appears they were right; every KSW crew member has been a part of the show and is having a good time.
Last night I was pulled aside for a word from another leader on the Switchback Sea project, they kindly praised KSW and how generally “dialed in” we are. Almost daily I’ll have someone in authority and/or a crew member pull me aside and profess how impressed and relived they are that KSW has been nothing but reliable and problem free. We’ve been picking up the slack on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis. We came overly prepared and our state of readiness and flexibility has made our crew shine again and again. When the Maria broke down yesterday, it was Mr. Stephen Rademaker that saved the day with his AC water pump. When the Bayliner (baggage boat) broke down several days ago, it was KSW that took on the transport of all camping gear.
We're happy to be here and happy to help. Especially after all the hard work restoring the boat, it feels great when folks acknowledge that we’re a crew of solutions, not problems. Please don’t labor under the misconception that we’re a bunch of angels, on the contrary… I’ll just leave it at that. We pride ourselves on solutions and safety, and we sure have a fine time between rescues.
I hope to have internet access over the next few days. For those of you Back West, have fun at (the) Burning Man ya’ll. Today is a travel day, 20 miles south, with a tough head wind. I have no idea where we’ll be stopping tonight. I need to go light a fire now.
It's astonishing to realize that it’s been nearly two weeks since I’ve had an opportunity to update ya’ll. It would’ve been so much easier to do this on a daily basis so I’d not have to look back to the Ship’s Log to recall all that’s happened. Might as well start here and go backwards…
We wrapped up our show in Beacon, NY last night and things went mighty fine (we’ve been having endless fun pronouncing Beacon, “Bacon," Bank of Bacon, Bacon Hair Cuts, etc…). We arrived late Saturday afternoon, tied up to the ferry dock and went to dinner. Yesterday was the first time we’ve had a chance to sleep late in god knows how long. Sunday morning, at the end of the ferry dock, surprise surprise, the local farmers market holds court. It was a small affair and I was surprised to realize that they’re not there at the crack of dawn, seems like things don’t get going until mid-morning. Early morning farmers market patrons were startled after strolling out to the pier to clarify what appeared to be an acid flashback, to find piles of crew sleeping all over the boats. Most seemed embarrassed to be there and snuck away as if they'd wandered into the wrong hotel room.I’m up by 5 or 6AM to light off the boiler, roll up my sleeping bags, and get to work. Since Bree returned to SF, I’ve had no reason to set up a tent and it’s somber times for me to be without my amazing Bree. This has been my first moment of free time and access to the local hotels in quite a while. It’s not normal for me to be so out of touch, not knowing what day of the week it is, having no clue what time it is, etc. Somewhat of a news junkie, I was astonished to check into the hotel last night, flop own on the bed, turn on CNN, and learn that Obama had chosen Biden for the #2 slot. Seems I’m the last to know.
Two weeks has been a blink of an eye… and a really really really good time :-)
There’s very little downtime. I’m not complaining, I thrive on having some task or purpose to accomplish (I’m on a “working vacation”). I'm still taken aback by how extensive the show/performance aspect of this adventure is. In our deliberations before we joined this project, the show always seemed to be of secondary importance. This is by no means a comment on the quality of the script and performance per se; rather, I think the leaders helping Swoon to get KSW in position figured everything would lock into place upon our arrival. It appears they were right; every KSW crew member has been a part of the show and is having a good time.
Last night I was pulled aside for a word from another leader on the Switchback Sea project, they kindly praised KSW and how generally “dialed in” we are. Almost daily I’ll have someone in authority and/or a crew member pull me aside and profess how impressed and relived they are that KSW has been nothing but reliable and problem free. We’ve been picking up the slack on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis. We came overly prepared and our state of readiness and flexibility has made our crew shine again and again. When the Maria broke down yesterday, it was Mr. Stephen Rademaker that saved the day with his AC water pump. When the Bayliner (baggage boat) broke down several days ago, it was KSW that took on the transport of all camping gear.
We're happy to be here and happy to help. Especially after all the hard work restoring the boat, it feels great when folks acknowledge that we’re a crew of solutions, not problems. Please don’t labor under the misconception that we’re a bunch of angels, on the contrary… I’ll just leave it at that. We pride ourselves on solutions and safety, and we sure have a fine time between rescues.
I hope to have internet access over the next few days. For those of you Back West, have fun at (the) Burning Man ya’ll. Today is a travel day, 20 miles south, with a tough head wind. I have no idea where we’ll be stopping tonight. I need to go light a fire now.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Beacon Shmeacon
We made it to Bacon finally on Sat the 23rd just as the sun was going down. It was a long day on the river from the island that we had to camp on (Friday night?), but we've had fantastic weather and the crew is great. We went to sleep at 3:00 am on Friday night/morning after BBQing up some of the 
yummy bluefish that Megan and Nate caught, got up at 5:00 am to fire up the Steamboat and spent the day drinking whiskey and making Bacon for breakfast and lunch. There was a big bowl of bacon for lunch... no really.
It didn't seem like there were too many problems or setbacks today with the other ships... although I did need to quickly fire up the inflatable to go rescue a bacon bag that was dropped off one of the boats. We also had to think fast to narrowly avoid a barrel that Steve Valdez threw at the Steamboat... he says that it came unlashed from their boat, but I wouldn't trust that guy as far as I can throw him...
Bacon is great... It's a cute little town with galleries, restaurants and cafes, but no motels. We had dinner at Max's where they have a strict dress code after 7:00 pm.... no doo rags or sleeveless shirts... but they served up some yummy Guiness, fish and bacon. We slept on the roof of the boat last night at a Bacon ferry dock under the stars, then went to a retro diner for breakfast and more bacon. We have a show tonight at the Dia Bacon... first show in a few days.
I'm not sure what the next destination after Bacon is. This is the last stop for us (Nathaniel, Megan, Torreya and myself)... work and responsibility and railcars are a beckoning... and yes, the town is spelled Beacon... but we've been eating so much delicious bacon all week that for some reason, the "e" just drops right off and all we see is BACON everywhere.
Bacon Town Hall, Bacon Police, Bacon Street, Dia Bacon, Bacon Bridge, The Bacon Catholic Church, Bacon B&B...
mmmm.... bacon....
yummy bluefish that Megan and Nate caught, got up at 5:00 am to fire up the Steamboat and spent the day drinking whiskey and making Bacon for breakfast and lunch. There was a big bowl of bacon for lunch... no really.It didn't seem like there were too many problems or setbacks today with the other ships... although I did need to quickly fire up the inflatable to go rescue a bacon bag that was dropped off one of the boats. We also had to think fast to narrowly avoid a barrel that Steve Valdez threw at the Steamboat... he says that it came unlashed from their boat, but I wouldn't trust that guy as far as I can throw him...
Bacon is great... It's a cute little town with galleries, restaurants and cafes, but no motels. We had dinner at Max's where they have a strict dress code after 7:00 pm.... no doo rags or sleeveless shirts... but they served up some yummy Guiness, fish and bacon. We slept on the roof of the boat last night at a Bacon ferry dock under the stars, then went to a retro diner for breakfast and more bacon. We have a show tonight at the Dia Bacon... first show in a few days.
I'm not sure what the next destination after Bacon is. This is the last stop for us (Nathaniel, Megan, Torreya and myself)... work and responsibility and railcars are a beckoning... and yes, the town is spelled Beacon... but we've been eating so much delicious bacon all week that for some reason, the "e" just drops right off and all we see is BACON everywhere.
Bacon Town Hall, Bacon Police, Bacon Street, Dia Bacon, Bacon Bridge, The Bacon Catholic Church, Bacon B&B...
mmmm.... bacon....
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Scenic Saugerties
Greetings from a lovely B&B break from the boat in Saugerties, NY! I've finally gotten the ability to blog, the time, and the internets so here goes!
Wow, where to start. It's hard to believe it's already been over a week on the water.
This morning we awoke very early on a small strip of beach somewhere a few miles past "BBQ island" -- a great little respite we had near the town of Coxsackie (I'm not making that one up). We had to hustle to get the steam boat fired up and everyone's stuff loaded aboard or we'd be beached during low tide and this wasn't a place anyone wanted to spend the day. Once we broke free from shore we had one of the most pleasant, smooth and quick trips yet. Within a few hours we could spot the Saugerties' lighthouse ahead and landed there easily.I have my camera with me but, unfortunately, the cable between it and the computer is still on the boat, so I'll have to post the photos later. The lighthouse is stunning. A real beauty that was slated to be torn down in the 1960's when old things from the 1800's just weren't appreciated.
We've been getting so much attention and appreciation from everyone we come across. There are endless opportunities for us whistle happy steam dorks to blow our whistle. Traveling along such an old and historic river is so different and such a step back in time. All the cities we've stopped in were built when the Hudson was the only thoroughfare and it is so fun to disembark at a place like Albany or Athens (were the locals told us they built steam boats there 150 years ago) and wander around the city from the angle of the river.
Knock on wood, but we haven't had any mechanical problems thus far. Some of the other boats have had some issues, but have been remedied quickly by their clever crews. There are so many people on this project that I haven't even gotten everyone's names yet, but it's a fun and quirky group of artists, mechanics and performers. Camping has been fun -- not too much rain and the mosquitoes aren't too bad if you cover up and wear some repellent, but they'll find any bare skin and suck it dry if you let them. Falling asleep and waking up on the river is so lovely. I knew the Hudson River was pretty but I didn't realize ALL of it would be so beautiful. Oh, and we've seen two bald eagles so far!
The clock in the bed and breakfast is ringing 6pm which means it's time to get ready and head back down to the boat for tonight's performance. Something we didn't realize is that we're actors in this big production as well. The play has been really fun and getting better all the time. We're pretty much playing ourselves on the boats which look lovely lit up at night.
We leave in the tomorrow morning for Kingston, where the Maritime Museum is located. Should be great fun. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my king size bed with clean sheets tonight!
STEAMBOATING Magazine features KSW
The July/August issue of Steamboating Magazine, a publication of the "International Steamboat Society" features a two page article with Spy's press release, and the entire back cover is devoted to a photo of KSW's pre art installation "Wilhelmina." This shot was taken by John Woodson at the B + W Resort, John Lucas, Captain.
Monday, August 18, 2008
NY Times: A Floating City With Junkyard Roots
On the front page of today's New York Times, KSW's own Stephen Rademaker silhouetted against the orange glowing rectangle of burning bio-diesel in the firebox. The front page of the Arts section featured an article about Kinetic Steam Works and the Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea! Julie Bloom reported the article and Nathaniel Brooks shot the gorgeous photos. Note the John Bull Topper wearing lad (Zachary Rukstela) in the lead photo of KSW's boat ghosting along the Hudson with the sunset reflected in her wake. Article is here. Slideshow is here.
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