Boats, Boats, Boats! PortSide maritime center grows!

arriving by nyc ferry, you can see the cluster of boats at portside on pier 11, atlantic basin, red hook. note: they change often.

arriving by nyc ferry, you can see the cluster of boats at portside on pier 11, atlantic basin, red hook. note: they change often.

Want to see boats? Authentic maritime activity?  Learn about boats? Get a job on one? Visit us to see, learn, talk to crew! You can also just sit on our deck during TankerTime and soak it all up, or bring a school group to experience all this. You can also sit on our deck while waiting for the NYC Ferry. Walk to their dock as soon as you see the ferry enter Atlantic Basin.

PortSide is glad to be located on industrial pier where we can create a busy maritime scene.  At the core of our maritime center are two re-purposed oil tankers, our Mary A Whalen, and the LOUIS C (ex-MANHASSET) belonging to Matthew Thomas Perricone, our partner and the principal of Lehigh Maritime.  Lehigh does marine repair and training.  They partner with us to restore the MARY and develop our maritime training programs.

Snapshot of a changing scene

For months, Lehigh ran a fascinating job repairing the 100-year old ferry COMMANDER which was tied up alongside the MARY.  

A luxury yacht MONI tied up alongside us for several weeks.   

The SeaScouts come visit on their T-boat, the SEA DART. 

Our kayak and jonboats introduce summer interns to their first experience handling a small boat. We acquired sailing dinghies thanks to a donation by Babs Wye.  Please come help restore them! 

We built a floating dock for our kayak and jonboat this year.  Perricone's is here for the winter along with his barge from the Brooklyn Bar and crew boats. 

For several weeks, we were busy rescuing lots of 4x8 sheets of plywood from the water. We call the Army Corps to come pick up the big stuff. 

Mladen owns the historic DIPLOMAT (ex-STEVANA) just forward of our MARY and allows boats to raft up alongside as this changing array moves around between his boat and ours. 

Harbor School and Billion Oyster Project boats pop by.  If you want to study oysters, we have a Billion Oyster Project basket!  Michael Abegg bought an old buoy tender in the fall, and it joined the scene.

And behind it all, NYC Ferry, cruise ships, containerships and a diverse array of vessels on Pier 11 coming and going. 

Interns use our new floating dock to get their first experience rowing and in a kayak

Interns use our new floating dock to get their first experience rowing and in a kayak

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louis c, nyc ferry, cruise ship seen from our mary a. whalen

louis c, nyc ferry, cruise ship seen from our mary a. whalen

lehigh maritime is often running a Mini shipyard on site. 

lehigh maritime is often running a Mini shipyard on site. 

using our new float to store railings removed from the commander

using our new float to store railings removed from the commander

in one day, lehigh maritime made the bow pudding on the louis c this summer.

in one day, lehigh maritime made the bow pudding on the louis c this summer.

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big pieces of floating wood (and one guard house) float up to our end of atlantic basin, and we call the army corps to have them removed.

big pieces of floating wood (and one guard house) float up to our end of atlantic basin, and we call the army corps to have them removed.

used sailing dinghies donated by barbara wye. come help us restore them!

used sailing dinghies donated by barbara wye. come help us restore them!

three tanker! the tanker chandra b (at left) delivers the fuel for our heat

three tanker! the tanker chandra b (at left) delivers the fuel for our heat

we cleaned the harbor of 20 some sheets of plywood. we hope to re-use them.

we cleaned the harbor of 20 some sheets of plywood. we hope to re-use them.

matt perricone corralled a fender that broke lose and was a hazard by the nyc ferry dock.

matt perricone corralled a fender that broke lose and was a hazard by the nyc ferry dock.

sea scout visit. we would like to start a sea scout program here. any parents interested?

sea scout visit. we would like to start a sea scout program here. any parents interested?

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container ship, ferry, tour boat, replica paddle wheeler and two re-purposed oil tankers.

container ship, ferry, tour boat, replica paddle wheeler and two re-purposed oil tankers.

luxury yacht alongside the mary a. whalen.

luxury yacht alongside the mary a. whalen.

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when things get really busy!

when things get really busy!

the barge from the floating bar/restaurant/small boating center Brooklyn barge arrived for the winter. it is now astern of the mary a. whalen.

the barge from the floating bar/restaurant/small boating center Brooklyn barge arrived for the winter. it is now astern of the mary a. whalen.

our mary a whalen with a cruise ship beyond us.

our mary a whalen with a cruise ship beyond us.

view of us from a cruise ship.

view of us from a cruise ship.