UNITED STATES COAST GUARD AUXILIARY UNOFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
18 AUG 08
Education is first safety rule on the Hudson
By Stephen Blackman • The Journal News • August 18, 2008
Video at: Safety on the Hudson
It's a beautiful sunny afternoon on the Hudson River, but Greg Porteus and the crew of Launch 5 know that appearances can be deceiving on the river.
"In 15 minutes, we could have 4-foot breaking chop," said Porteus, owner and captain of the Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel. "You don't feel it on this boat, but on a 16-foot runabout, it's a real danger."
In fact, that is exactly what happened less than an hour later. The wind out of the south picked up and whitecaps began to form on the river, gently bouncing the 52-foot, 25-ton craft. To someone standing in the wood-panel wheelhouse, the swells are barely noticeable, but to small-boat sailors, swimmers or operators of personal watercraft, they can be deadly.
Education is by far the most important safety measure on the river, but life-jacket use and knowledge of navigation and communication rules are also essential to a safe outing on the water, Porteus said.
He recommends that boaters learn to sail before heading out on the river, even in a powerboat. A lot of the problems on the river come from people who think that driving a boat is just like driving a car and that no additional training is required to be a safe boater, he said.
"We very rarely have a problem with sailors," he said. "They're good mariners, they know the weather and the currents, and they don't get into trouble nearly as often."
Retired state trooper Greg Porteus, 52, left, of Ossining, is captain of a 52-foot steel hull patrol boat called Launch 5, which performs volunteer search and rescue operations on the Hudson River out of the Shattemuc Marina in Ossining. Here, Porteus talks on the radio before sharing local knowledge on this portion of the Hudson. Fellow volunteer Richard Detz, 63, right, steers the boat while listening in on the conversation. (Mike Roy/The Journal News)
In one memorable rescue in October 2004, Porteus recalled, a boat broke down right under the George Washington Bridge and radioed for help. The boat's engines weren't working, and there was a tugboat pushing a massive string of barges and bearing down on it. The launch signaled the tugboat, and the disabled boat's owner tried to flag them down, but the tugboat altered course only at the last minute and only by a couple of degrees, nearly capsizing the small pleasure boat.
Retired state trooper Greg Porteus, 52, center, of Ossining, is captain of a 52-foot steel hull patrol boat called Launch 5, which performs volunteer search and rescue operations on the Hudson River out of the Shattemuc Marina in Ossining. Here, Porteus talks about the river, some of its shallow and danger spots, and shares local knowledge on this portion of the Hudson. Fellow volunteers Richard Detz, 63, left, and Charles Luceno, right, listen in on the conversation. Photographed August 5, 2008. ( Mike Roy / The Journal News )
"There's 24-hour-a-day commercial traffic on the river - large ships and barges," Porteus said. "They can't maneuver, and they can't stop easily. People need to stay out of their way."
Porteus, 52, is the owner and captain of Launch 5, a restored New York City police patrol boat built in 1966 and originally named after Patrolman Henry A. Walburger, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1964. Porteus, a retired state trooper, discovered the vessel sunk in the Passaic River. He raised money to recover and restore the boat and now uses it to provide nonprofit search-and- rescue services on the Hudson between the Tappan Zee Bridge and the Bear Mountain Bridge, and to assist the Coast Guard with port security and training missions in New York's harbor.
The unique, steel-hull craft can operate in seas up to 6 feet and winds of 50 knots - conditions that Porteus said he's never seen on the river. In addition, its capabilities surpass those of the other rescue and fireboats on the river, which are generally converted work boats. For example, the launch is the only boat in the area able to tow the Ossining-Haverstraw ferry should it become disabled.
Last month, a boating accident claimed the life of 25-year-old Mahopac resident Steven Vasta and threw new light on the risks associated with recreational boating on the Hudson River. Vasta was returning to a Verplanck marina from dinner in Newburgh when the boat ran aground on an infamous jag of land known as Con Hook, about two miles north of the Bear Mountain Bridge, capsizing and trapping the five passengers under the hull.
The boat's driver may have been disoriented by lights reflected from the bridge and did not see the markers guiding boaters away from the obstruction. The incident highlights the danger of boating at night, Porteus said. It's hard to see obstructions, he said, and hard for large commercial vessels to notice small boats.
"We don't recommend any kind of pleasure boating at night," he said. "We don't travel at night unless we absolutely need to."
Vasta placed two 911 calls, but both disconnected, and it took rescuers nearly an hour to locate the victims because their boat was hidden by grass and marshy ground. Porteus said he plans to fit the launch with a massive spotlight with a three-mile range. Operations are supported in part by a nonprofit foundation, but Porteus, who also runs a construction business, will pay the $2,000 to $3,000 cost for the upgrade.
As part of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Porteus and his crew do not have law enforcement powers, giving them a different approach to safety on the river than the police. Earlier in the summer, the Westchester County police marine unit, in coordination with the Coast Guard and local police departments, conducted safety checks near the Tappan Zee Bridge and issued tickets for violations such as missing life jackets, fire extinguishers or signal flares.
"The whole idea is to educate people who we stop on the river," said Pete Staruch, a retired Yonkers police officer who served as a boat pilot with the city's marine unit. "The education for boaters is out there, but not a lot of people take advantage of it."
Reach Stephen Blackman at sblackma@lohud.com.
See the actual Journal News article at:
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008808180348
Patrolling the Hudson River, helping boaters in trouble
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