Hurricane Sandy hit Brooklyn around 8pm on October 29, 2012. which caused devastating flooding in Red Hook. The following 32 interviews are part of a project " Sandy: Tell Your Story" recorded by Emergency Management Methodology Partners...
Alf Dyrland, Captain of the MARY A. WHALEN, 1962-1978
Alf Dyrland was Captain of the MARY A. WHALEN from her rechristening in 1962 until 1978 when he retired. He was her first captain; she was his last boat. Alf loved the MARY deeply. As he lay dying in 1996, what he said out loud...
Bell and Jingle: Questions, Answers and Remembrances on Facebook.
A cheat sheet for the bell and jingle code hangs in the fidley of the MARY A. WHALEN. It can be seen in the related entry Bells are Direction, Jingles are Speed which lays out the system. The bell and jingle code was used by the captain...
Books for Brooklyn Boats: Captain Benn's Library Service for Sailors, 1900s
All day and into the night Captain Benn made his rounds of Brooklyn's piers supplying newly arrived vessels with something that he said could keep sailors sane and captains ethical: reading material. Benn had been spreading words for 11 years by...
Captain Maude Jensen, first female licensed pilot of steam vessels in New York Harbor, 1905
"You don't know what I mean about that job out there do you? I thought not. Well, it's this way. Down here in the towing, and ice and water supply business we have a great deal of competition. No, it is not friendly competition, I might almost say...
Captain Nels Helgesen of the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Company
Captain Nels Helgesen during his long career which began in 1918, commanded every ship of the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Line. The home port of the steamship line was in Red Hook's Atlantic Basin. Starting in the late 1910s, their ships...
Captain Rich Naruszewicz, MARY WHALEN crew member: Oral History
Captain Rich Naruszewicz started his career in 1978 as a deckhand. He worked on the MARY A. WHALEN for three years in the early 90s and now is a captain of one of the few remaining oil tankers in the New York Harbor the Chandra B . He was...
Christopher Nicolson Red Hook winemaker and Alaskan red salmon fisherman.
Christopher Nicolson is the managing winemaker for the Red Hook Winery but that by itself does not provide enough for him and his family to live in Brooklyn. His main income is earned as a fisherman for the Iliamna Fish Company , a business he owns...
Colonel Daniel Richards, Red Hook Visionary
Col. Daniel Richards was a visionary developer who set Red Hook on the path to becoming one of the world's major commercial ports. Inspired by the powerful economic effects resulting from the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, Richards moved from...
Daniel Lewis, Fisherman, Brooklyn Directory, 1842
Daniel Lewis was a fisherman in Red Hook in 1842. He is one of five people in The Brooklyn Directory for that year whose address is given as the area of Red Hook rather than a street name.. There were more people living in Red Hook. These five were...