Floating Shorelines ... covered on NBC

Chesapeake Bay environmental issues often enjoy national coverage, thanks in part to our area being home to the Federal government.  Senators, congressmen, staffers, and their families, representing all 50 states, make this region their second home, and, like the rest of us, spend weekends and holidays enjoying the Bay.  So do the correspondents and staff at NBC's Washington Bureau.  MSNBC's website has a page dedicated exclusively to Chesapeake Bay stories and videos.

NBC's Lea Sutton reported on the floating shoreline/wetland project I participated in last month.  Here's the link.  Enjoy!

Floating Shorelines

Just a few strokes into our mile long paddle I quickly realize we’re in for more than we bargained for.  As a member of a kayak flotilla organized by Biohabitats, I’m towing a section of floating shoreline, an approximately two by five foot floating box of Bay grasses, from the Living Classrooms pier on South Caroline Street in Fells Point to the World Trade Center in the Inner Harbor.  The section of floating shoreline will be a small part of what is envisioned as a new model for our polluted harbors.  This morning, it’s the world’s most efficiently designed sea anchor.

Baltimore Harbor, typical of most of our country’s working ports today, is lined not by natural, living shorelines but by concrete and steel.  In fact, the only living shoreline in Baltimore is a 100 yard section along the grounds of Living Classrooms.  In just over a generation, the harbor has become so polluted that it is safe for neither fishing nor swimming.  The city agency responsible for monitoring the harbor recommends against even the slightest contact with the water.  The state of the Patapsco River has declined greatly since the first part of the 20^th century, when my grandfather would swim at the public beach in Sparrows Point.  It’s the lofty goal of local conservation and advocacy groups to make the Patapsco swimmable and fishable again by 2020.

Biohabitats’ floating shorelines are designed to help those groups accomplish their goal.  Built with recycled plastic bottles pulled from the Inner Harbor, each section is planted with native Bay grasses and plants, whose mass of roots which extend deep into the water help filter polluting nutrients and provide an instant underwater habitat that facilitates the growth of an underwater ecosystem.  The sections we are towing were constructed with the help of inner-city students during Living Classrooms workshops.

An hour and ten minutes after departing Fells Point, I duck under the chain barrier surrounding the World Trade Center’s landing, my section of floating shoreline still in tow.  The Biohabitats staff makes quick work of fastening all the sections together, and within an hour the Inner Harbor’s first floating shoreline is securely in place.  After answering several “what in the world are those” questions from the crowd of tourists that has enjoyed the show, I turn to paddle home.  Unencumbered, I make it back in fifteen minutes. 

Fireworks on the Fourth

While socializing on a friend’s balcony in Crystal City this past Tuesday, my wife and I spotted distant fireworks to the east.  Judging from the direction and distance, I’m guessing they were for a Bay Sox game, perhaps their first home game since the 4^th.  My wife’s reaction, seemingly out of the blue, was hysterical.  In an almost Dennis Miller-esque rant, she argued that fireworks should be solely reserved for their original intent ... celebrating our Independence Day!  I mentioned that they most likely pre-dated 1776, and given the fact that almost all are now made in China, they most certainly are of an other than American origin.  She was having none of it though.  So cute.

Turns out fireworks did originate in China, dating back to the 12^th century (some sources claim the 7^th or 9^th centuries), shortly after the invention of gunpowder, also in China.  The Chinese first used them to scare off evil spirits, then later to mark the Chinese New Year and other events.  The first reported use of fireworks in America on the Fourth of July dates back to 1777, although they had been used in the colonies for a long time prior at weddings and other special occasions.  No doubt though, Independence Day would be the number one response in the Family Feud topic “Fireworks are used to celebrate this occasion”.

We watched this year’s Fourth of July fireworks, as we did a couple of summers ago, from a boat, anchored in the Tred Avon off of Oxford.  It didn’t escape my wife’s attention, however, that this year’s show was on the third of July.  The Oxford, Easton, and Cambridge shows rotate each year in order to allow each town to hold the show on the Fourth. 

Fireworks alone don’t do much for me.  Add Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture or watch them by boat though, and I’m all about it.  There’s a communal feel when watching a Fourth of July show from a boat. And no matter how you arrive, whether it is by Hinckley or Jon boat, you know you share with your fellow boaters a love of both water and our country ... even if it is the third.

YP Memories

Tradition once dictated that after graduation of the senior class, midshipmen at the Naval Academy finishing their first year weren’t plebes anymore, but weren’t yet full-fledged youngsters until they saw the Chapel dome after returning from their summer cruise.  The tradition dated to the days when the brigade would depart en masse after Commissioning Week for their summer training aboard Navy ships, which would travel up the Bay and stop in Annapolis to pick up their mids.  The summer routine had long since changed by the time I finished my plebe year, but a first session Yard Patrol Craft (YP) cruise departing the week after graduation ensured I would experience one of the Academy’s oldest traditions.

Although I knew long days of watchstanding and hard work were ahead of us, I was excited to get underway knowing our itinerary included New York for Fleet Week, Newport for some shore-based damage control training, and finally Halifax, where those of us fortunate enough to have birthdays in the first half of the year (and were therefore 19) could legally drink.

Fleet Week in NYC was a blast.  Docked at South Street Seaport we took full advantage of our free time to get out and explore the city … when not on duty, of course.  What struck me most about the city was how incredibly friendly everybody was.  It wasn’t my first trip to Manhattan but it was the first time I had to wear my summer whites.  Nearly everywhere we went strangers picked up our tabs and admissions to museums were discounted or free altogether.  On numerous occasions guys would stop to shake our hands and ladies would hug us.  You’d half expect this today but this visit was nearly a decade before 9/11!

The next leg to Newport was considerably shorter than the first, but it was no less memorable considering the “visitor” we had.  Somewhere off of Long Island a great white shark shadowed us for several minutes just below the waterline.  From my vantage point on the bridge the shark appeared to be half the length of our boat!  Looking back it couldn’t have been that big though (50ft), right?  Newport, despite not being as liberty-intensive as New York, was full of good times, consisting mostly of hands on damage control training in the DC simulator. 

I’ve spent a lot of time on boats of all sizes and am proud to say I’ve only gotten sea sick twice.  The second time was a few years ago, working off-shore during marginable weather in a small, open boat, after a, um, night of excess and a cheese steak sub breakfast from Subway.  The first time was on the Newport to Halifax leg of my first YP cruise.  Ten foot following seas will do that to you, I guess.  I held out as long as I could but there was little I could do after watching our chief finally give in.  My watch section fared the best of the three, however, and we were rewarded by assuming our regularly scheduled mid-watch two hours early and turning over four hours late.  Halifax, with its picturesque town center and coastline, and its liberal drinking age, couldn’t have come soon enough.  It was in a Halifax bar late one night that my buddy Todd taught a table of mids and local girls the timeless drinking game, Zoom, Schwarz, Pafigliano.

The final leg home from Halifax to Annapolis was the longest of our cruise, allowing plenty of time for practicing squadron formations, man-overboards, and celestial navigation.  We spent our final night at anchor off of Greenbury Point, arriving before sunset and within sight of the Chapel Dome.  We were now youngsters …

Two summers later I would elect to do another YP cruise, this time, as a firstie, in charge of a watch section of youngsters.  The OIC of my YP was the female lieutenant commander who sponsored my roommate, and we had a mix-gendered crew of both midshipmen and enlisted.  NYC was the first stop again, this time with the squadron berthed next to the USS Intrepid.  A friend of mine on our boat, Joe, grew up in the city, so we had a personal tour guide.  Only last week Joe, who’s back living in Manhattan, reminded me of the “macerator incident”, of which I’ll say no more.  We just missed Fleet Week but our summer whites got us into Shea Stadium to see the Mets.  We finished the cruise in Boston, where our summer whites did the trick again, getting us into a sold-out Fenway Park to see the Red Sox play.  As luck would have it we also had a Boston native on our boat, who found us the best cannoli I’ve ever had walking through Little Italy on our way back to the Coast Guard Station one evening.

I didn’t service select surface warfare but my experiences and the lessons I learned from the two summer YP cruises helped define the leadership characteristics I took with me to the Fleet.  I wouldn’t trade those summer cruises for the world.

A New Ship in the Yard

Below is the unedited version of my article that appears in the June edition of PropTalk.  Follow this link to see it online (page 47).

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Spend any time on the waters around Annapolis and you’ll likely see one.   A common sight on the Severn River and middle Chesapeake Bay, especially during summer months, the 676-class Yard Patrol (YP) Craft have been serving the seamanship and leadership training needs of the Naval Academy for more than 20 years.  However, a new era began in April as the first craft in the latest class of yard patrol craft, YP 703, was delivered to the Academy, the last stop on her maiden voyage from C&G Boatworks in Mobile, AL.

The 703-class program began nearly 11 years ago with an initial requirement justification submitted by the Naval Academy.  A 2003 requirements document further specified the Academy’s needs and outlined the desired characteristics and capabilities of a new class of yard patrol craft.  Working closely with the Naval Academy over the next several years, PMS 325, an office under the Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), translated the Academy’s requirements into the technical language needed for an eventual Request for Proposal to industry.

USNA’s requirements were based on the needs of midshipmen training and the shortfalls of the current yard patrol craft.  The current YPs are nearing the end of their service life, and older systems are becoming more difficult and expensive to maintain.  Onboard systems, including navigation, propulsion, and control, do not adequately reflect those currently in use on the Navy’s modern combatants.  The need for mixed gendered berthing was also a consideration.

Frank McCarthey is the program manager at PMS 325 responsible for the new YP.  A former Coast Guard officer and graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Mr. McCarthey grew up on and around boats and worked in a boatyard before college.  He is as uniquely qualified to manage the new YP program as PMS 325 is to oversee it, whose programs range from small, port security RIB boats to the Navy’s newest at-sea replenishment ships (a $7 billion program), and includes both foreign military sales and academic research vessels.

C&G Boatworks of Mobile, AL was awarded a contract for the first six new yard patrol craft, and construction of all six is underway.  The total contract value is $52.6M, or roughly $8.6M per new YP.  The Naval Academy has a need for 18 total new YPs.  “The overall strategy,” according to a NAVSEA statement, “was to procure a non-combatant multi-mission training vessel of small size and low total ownership cost using commercial-off-the-shelf equipment with a robust steel hull with capabilities beyond the existing YP 676 Class.”  Presented only with general characteristics of the new class, C&G designed a vessel to meet those requirements, and by all accounts they have succeeded.

Only slightly longer and wider than the current version, the new YP has a significantly larger displacement (225 tons vice 173), which is readily apparent in a side-by-side comparison.  Speed, range, and endurance numbers between the two classes are all similar.  The new boats don’t just look more like a modern combatant; they are equipped like one (minus the weapon systems, of course).  They have a state-of-the-art fully integrated bridge system with multi-functional displays for navigation, communication, and engines and systems monitoring.  The modern damage control system is reflective of current fleet designs.  Although the new class can accommodate a larger crew (40 vice 31), the systems are designed to require fewer operators, a trend that is Navy wide.  The Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship, for example, requires a core crew of only 40, compared to an only slightly larger guided missile frigate that has a crew of nearly 300.

The Naval Academy is excited to take delivery of their new YPs, which will be used, according to an Academy spokesperson, “to provide midshipmen with valuable, practical, hands-on training in seamanship, navigation, naval tactics, communications, naval phraseology and standard procedures.”  YP 704 is scheduled for a September delivery, with the remaining four to be delivered in 2011.  And what will become of the current YPs?  “That’s a good question,” says Mr. McCarthey.  There may be interest from other service academies, universities, and foreign navies.  PMS 325 will manage that effort as well.

What impact will the new YPs have on the fleet?  LCDR Dennis Volpe (USNA ’96) has served aboard the USS SPRUANCE and the USS GETTYSBURG, and is scheduled to become the Executive Officer of the USS TAYLOR next spring.  He understands the advantage of a YP training environment more representative of current fleet capabilities.  “The new YP fleet provides future naval officers the opportunity to experience, understand, and experiment with modern shiphandling techniques and procedures that better prepares them for future combined Fleet exercises as well as combat operations at sea.”

A Showcase of Local Boat Builders

From the Indian canoes that long pre-date colonial times to the high-end custom yachts of today, the boats built in the Chesapeake Bay region have always been tailored to both their intended use and the characteristics of their environment.  As Maryland’s rich boatbuilding roots spread into the new millennium, it’s wonderful to still see so many local yards producing high quality, often custom or semi-custom boats with direct lineage to the workboats for which the Bay is famous.  A number of those local builders were represented at today’s Deadrise and Downeast Boat Show at Sarles Boat Yard in Eastport.  Today’s show was the first in a series of planned events for the region’s smaller builders organized by Eastport Yacht Company’s Tom Weaver.

Cape Henry Lighthouse

In 1789 the first U.S. Congress, located at the time in New York City, approved the construction of the Cape Henry Lighthouse, which became the first federal building authorized by the United States under the Constitution.  Built from sandstone mined from the same quarry that provided the stone for Mount Vernon, the Capitol, and the White House, the lighthouse guided mariners to the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay for nearly a century.  It was replaced by the “new” Cape Henry Lighthouse in 1881, which is still in use today.

Both lighthouses are located on Fort Story in Virginia Beach.  Ft. Story is an active Army base home to several Army and Navy commands.  No military ID?  No problem.  Your driver’s license (and a thorough vehicle inspection) is all you need to gain access to the base and the lighthouse visitor center.  The visitor center staff is extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and will happily time your climb to the top of the old lighthouse, where you are rewarded with extraordinary views of the surrounding area, including Virginia’s Eastern Shore and the oceanfront hotels and condos of Virginia Beach.  

Lunch at Captain Billy's

An early afternoon meeting today in Dahlgren, VA, provided the perfect opportunity to lunch at a local waterfront restaurant.  A colleague and I stopped at Captain Billy’s Crab House in Popes Creek, MD.  Located on the northern shore of the Potomac River, Captain Billy’s rewards its diners with not just great seafood, but also with expansive views across the river to Virginia and to the Governor Harry Nice Memorial Bridge (Route 301), about two and half miles to the south.

 We were one of about eight tables this afternoon, but given the size of the bar, dining area, and probably most telling the gravel parking lot, I imagine Captain Billy’s gets downright busy at times.  Forgetting for a moment that I was in Maryland and not across the river, I ordered the cream of crab soup vice the vegetable, and a sweet tea, followed by the clam basket.  The soup was excellent, and the portion more than generous.  The clams weren’t bad either, but what doesn’t taste great fried?  My colleague had the crab salad, and based on how quickly he cleaned his plate he was as happy with his selection as I was with mine.

The best I could tell Popes Creek consists entirely of Captain Billy’s, a second waterfront restaurant just down the road (Gilligan’s), and an old abandoned brick warehouse.  Although literally miles from the highway and nearest town, Captain Billy’s is easy to find thanks to the large billboard on Route 301.  Give it a shot the next time you pass that way.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

One of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world, the 17.6 mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel connecting the southern tip of Virginia’s Eastern Shore to Virginia Beach offers spectacular views usually reserved for boaters.  Despite having now crossed it countless times I’m still always excited to do so.  You can’t help to feel connected to the Bay when you’re nearly eight miles from either shoreline.  I particularly enjoy crossing in bad weather, when I can experience the Bay’s wrath from the climate-controlled comfort of my SUV!

The Bridge-Tunnel’s length is impressive, and the numbers don’t do it justice.  You really need to see it for yourself.  Toll booth to toll booth length is 20 miles, or to put it another way for those of us who live in Annapolis, the length of Route 50 between the Severn River Bridge and the DC beltway.  My roommate’s father, seeing the lights of the Virginia Beach to Thimble Shoal Channel spans one night and not realizing it was the bridge, commented “Wow, that’s one heck of a pier.”

Finally, here’s a note of caution for first time CBBT drivers.  The Bridge-Tunnel cops have nothing, absolutely nothing better to do than catch speeders.  They sit in the numerous pull-off spots on either span with radar guns a blazing.  So set the cruise control at 60 and enjoy the drive.

Scenic Overlook - Fisherman Island NWR

Most of us have stopped at one.  There are scenic overlooks all across our country.  One particularly amazing one I remember is on the Going to the Sun road in Glacier National Park.  Those are the ones we stop to enjoy … the ones we search out or often stumble upon while on vacation.  I’d guess for each scenic overlook I’ve stopped at, there are 100 I’ve passed by, and at least one of those I’ve passed by 50 times if I’ve passed it once.  Friday, for the first time, I finally stopped at the Fisherman Island NWR scenic overlook.

Located on Route 13 just past the southbound tollbooth for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on the southern tip of Virginia’s Eastern Shore, the overlook offers sweeping, westerly views of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.  I happened to catch it Friday evening just as the sun was setting over the Bay.  To the east is Cape Charles lighthouse and Fisherman Inlet.  Years ago I trained in small boat navigation on that water, always fun given the dynamic nature of the channels (and the fact that we did it at night).

Established in 1969, Fisherman Island NWR is 1,850 acres of shifting sands that comprise Virginia’s southernmost barrier island.  It is one of only 17 sites in the United States designated as a “Wetland of International Importance.”  A critical habitat for a variety of animals, the refuge is not open to the public, with the exception of guided tours between October and March.  The deer crossing signs along the highway aren’t just for show.  Just last year I had to slow for two deer crossing Rt. 13. 

Three other cars joined me at the overlook, all with out-of-state tags, and all with passengers who got out, stretched their legs, and snapped some photos.  Even amidst the commotion of my fellow visitors and passing highway traffic, I found the overlook peaceful and relaxing.  With very little concentration the only sound I noticed was that of the waves lapping at the shore.  Just after the sun dipped below the horizon, I climbed backed into the car, thankful for finally stopping at a scenic overlook I had long neglected, and excited to stop at the next.

The Navy's Energy Vision

In his keynote address to the 2010 Climate and Energy Symposium yesterday, the Honorable Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy, highlighted the Navy’s commitment to both increasing energy efficiency throughout the Navy and reducing the Navy’s dependence on fossil fuels. Secretary Mabus’s order to his commanders is clear … by 2020 the U.S. Navy will meet fifty percent of its energy requirements with either renewable sources or with biofuels.

One of the biggest challenges facing a large-scale conversion to renewable energy sources is the fact that the required infrastructure (smart grids and meters, biofuel and electric stations, etc) is not in place. It’s a vicious cycle of sorts … no infrastructure so no widespread public demand, no large demand so no incentive for companies to build the infrastructure. The Secretary noted that with millions of acres of land, eighty thousand buildings, sixty thousand vehicles, thousands of aircraft and hundreds of ships, he can create the demand. “It’s like the opposite of Field of Dreams. If we come, they will build it”, said Secretary Mabus. As on-base infrastructure increases and sailors and Marines become accustomed to driving Navy hybrid, electric and biofuel vehicles, some of those same sailors and Marines will buy those vehicles for themselves, followed finally by their neighbors in town.

Secretary Mabus is the first to admit his 2020 goal is extremely ambitious. He is quick to note, however, that this is not the first time the Navy has been at the forefront of changes in energy sources. In the nineteenth century the Navy led the change from wind to coal. In the twentieth it was from coal to gas. Now in the twenty-first, it’s time again for change.

The Department of the Navy has already been working towards Secretary’s vision.
• Next month the “Green Hornet” will take it’s first test flight. The Green Hornet is an F/A-18 fighter jet with engines converted to use a camelina-based biofuel.
• Last fall, the USS Makin Island (LHD-8) and her hybrid propulsion system saved $2M in fuel on her voyage from the shipyard in Mississippi around South America to her homeport of San Diego.
• The Marine Corps has established a prototype forward operating base (FOB) at Quantico to test renewable energy sources and quickly transition them to Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Geothermal systems at NAWS China Lake in California power the entire base.  In fact, the Navy sells excess energy to CA power companies.

A Rising Tide?

With many of us still digging out from last week's monster snowstorm, and the forecast for even more accumulation this week weighing on our minds, it's hard to believe that ocean temperatures are actually rising. It may feel like we're entering the next Ice Age, and this recent NASA image of the mid-Atlantic, post-blizzard '10 may look like we're already in one, but the numbers don't lie. For decades, the Arctic has been melting, and as a result, sea levels have been rising.

Rear Admiral David Titley is not activist. He's not an alarmist massaging facts and spreading half-truths to push a global warming agenda. No, RADM Titley is the Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy, and, commander of the US Navy's Task Force Climate Change (TFCC). I had the great pleasure of hearing him speak a couple of weeks ago about TFCC's mission, it's initial findings, and climate change as it relates to the Navy, international relations and global trade.

TFCC was created by the CNO last year to characterize the impact of climate change on Navy operations and to plan for those changes. TFCC is closely examining the effects of melting Arctic ice and the resulting implications - new commercial shipping lanes, arctic tourism, search and rescue infrastructure, etc.

Of course, melting ice caps will have a global impact. What really hit me was RDAM Titley's prediction of a 6' rise in sea levels by the end of 2100. Six feet. Let that sink in for a moment. Six feet. Annapolis had a 7.2' storm surge during Isabel. Six feet. So much for Sandy Point. Six feet. Better think twice about your grandkids inheriting that waterfront property on the Eastern Shore.

With bases from the Naval Academy to Diego Garcia, the Navy has a lot at stake. It's reassuring to know that the Navy is already planning for what seems to be the inevitable. Maybe it's time we start planning too.

The Freezing of Ramsay Lake

I couldn't remember the year, but the image of the Bay completely frozen over has been etched in my memory since childhood. I was living in Bay Ridge less than a block from the beach. It seemed like one day the Bay was ice free, and the next completely frozen. I'm sure it didn't actually happen overnight, but that's how I remember it. The year (thanks to a quick Google search) was 1977 and I was not quite 3. Here's a link to great article about that big freeze.

This season marks the sixth year, and sixth winter, my wife and I have lived on Ramsay Lake. The lake has frozen at least once in all but one of those winters. Sitting at home this past Saturday, enjoying the snow, I witnessed for the first time how that happens. What amazed me was how quickly it happened, over the course of only several hours. The shoreline froze first. Then, a thin layer of ice formed in the middle, distinct in it's glass-like appearance surrounded by the rippled open water between it and the frozen shoreline. The light northwest wind then pushed the growing ice patch to the southeast shore, and in another hour or so, the complete lake was frozen. Next time, with a little luck, I can capture it all with some time lapse photography.