Row From Bay Head NJ to Ocean Gate NJ (the Barnegat Bay)
Curtis Bezault

Saturday August 25th fourteen current and former Stuyvesant students and Frank
Cervi participated in a fifteen-mile (one-way) row from the Bay Head Yacht Club to
Curtis Bezault’s beach house in Ocean Gate NJ. While Barnegat Bay can get choppy
at times the row was rather smooth, with what little tide exists in the bay, and the
wind, aiding the rowers in both the departure and the return.

The two boats used, the Notorious G.I.G. and the Storm Queen, were brought to
Bay Head by trailer and were launched from the Bay Head Yacht Club, which had
generously extended us the free use of one of their winches. In charge of that was
an old friend of Curtis’ mother, Jean Etzel, an important member of the club and
enthusiast sailor. The gigs launched at approximately 11 a.m. with both boats under
sail in order to take advantage of an extremely favorable wind. After securing our
use of the winch Jean also followed the gigs in a chase boat, with both of Curtis’
parents aboard, to the halfway point in order to help us work out the kinks with
the Notorious’ sail, which was oversized. Joann Omar, Curtis’ mother reefed the
sail to allow it to be effectively used, though it was still not as effective as the Storm
Queen’s sail.

Both gigs put in at Lavalette, passing by a nearby marina from which the gigs got a
lot of attention. The crews stayed there for about an hour, eating lunch and relaxing.
By the time the gigs launched again the wind had picked up even more and was
driving the boats straight to Ocean Gate but also kicking up the worst water we had
seen all day, which is to say about as bad the Hudson on a good day. We arrived at
4:00 p.m., an hour less than expected to get to Ocean Gate.

After several hours of relaxation two courageous crews went out to face the rising
winds of the afternoon rowing against the wind all the way to the other side of
the bay. Once there the boats deployed sails and experienced the most intense
sailing of the day. The Storm Queen turned in and rowed back home earlier than the
Notorious, which spent its time practicing tacking, not an easy feat on the gigs.

The return trip was another easy row, the wind giving us a nice reach. The crews
again outdid themselves, beating our expectations and arriving at 5:30 p.m. half an
hour early after having left an hour and a half later than we had planned at 1:30 p.m.

On Sunday, August 19th, combined crews of New Yorkers and Rhode Islanders rowed a pair of six-oared Cornish Pilot Gigs from Providence to Newport, RI. The row was a reenactment of the epic 1672 voyage of Roger Williams, the founding father of Rhode Island, who at the age of 70, rowed the length of Narragansett Bay to engage in a debate about religion with some newly-arrived Quakers.

One of the gigs, King Tide, belonging to the Village Community Boathouse (VCB) was brought up by trailer for the annual event. The other gig, Cady, belongs to Don Betts of Water Street in Warren, who has formed a local community rowing group called the Whirleygigs. Mr Betts is a boat builder and was a prominent figure in the human-powered boating community in New York until moving to Warren with his wife Martha in 2008. He still maintains ties as friend, mentor and consultant to VCB.

This is the third attempt by Don Betts and Village Community Boathouse to reenact Roger Williams’ row down the length of the bay, a distance of about 28 miles which Williams is said to have completed in 18 hours In 2010, in their first attempt, the rowers got as far as Dyer Island before pulling out near the War College after a rudder broke. Last year, the two 32-foot gigs were launched on the Seekonk River in Pawtucket near Slater’s Mill. The flotilla put on at the beach in Barrington for a one hour pit stop before continuing on to Prudence Island where Mr. Betts has a cottage. Roger Williams may also have put in on Prudence to wait for a favorable tide to carry him to Newport. The rowers spent the night on Prudence and caught the morning ebb tide to Newport. Not counting stopovers, the entire voyage was completed in less than 11 hours.

This year, the gigs were launched at 9:30 AM under cloudy skies at India point Park. The row had been postponed a week due to rain and thunder storms the weekend before. The light rain turned heavy at times but helped to keep the crews cool. The gigs rode the ebb tide for 12 Miles to Prudence Island, arriving at 1:40 PM. Everyone was a little wet and cold and the crews decided to spend the night on Prudence. They set off on Sunday morning at 9:00 Am for Newport, under sail with the ebb tide and a favorable breeze. After a brief pit stop on the south end of Prudence at the T Warf. The flotilla continued south, arriving just short of the Pells Bridge at 12:30 PM. As in previous years, there was not sufficient time to land in Newport as the New York crew had to catch the ferry back on Prudence. It was a hard pull against a headwind and the ebb tide. The two gigs with their intrepid rowers reached Warnerville on Prudence Island at 3:00 PM.