I
want to start...
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Two Universities located
in Manhattan - Columbia and Fordham - base their sailing
teams here at City Island! What does that tell you
about learning to sail here instead of in Manhattan or the Hudson/NY Harbor
area?!
Here's a short
video clip of the Fordham University Sailing Team starting
a race this fall. Watch boat #4 carefully - they are called over
the line just before the start, so they have to turn around the "pin" end
and re-cross from the correct side - but face a solid wall of boats that
have right of way as they do. Watch how they deal with it, and listen
to the reaction of the coaches in the background! (Opens with Quicktime
- free, easy download
from Apple if you don't have it.)
How close are we to Manhattan?
See for yourself!
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| This view is from the west side of City
Island, through sailboat masts and dock pilings These boats were
all in the water in March 07 when the shot was taken. You'll recognize
parts of the Manhattan skyline here.
We're less than the length of Manhattan
away from it!
Easy to get to by public transit or by
car, we're not much further away than any Manhattan or New Jersey school
for most people. The real difference is two-fold: the quality of
the sailing environment, and how long it takes to get from the dock to
productive sailing waters. No other location even comes close
to
ours for great sailing waters with few distractions to learning.
And, we're located right in those waters - no time wasted getting
to them! See our Start Sailing page for more on this. |
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See
videos of our students in action,
showing you our sailing
location better
than we can describe it!
Our new anchorage, as viewed from the breakwater
barge at Consolidated Yachts. That's Great Neck, Long Island in the
background. We're on the east side of City Island, making the area
secluded, yet the boats are moored in productive sailing waters so no time
is wasted getting to them and then on to the open Sound as our itineraries
dictate. We don't even need engines on our learn-to-sail boats, which
some schools pass off as "valuable motoring practice" or other nonsense.
We teach you to do everything under sail, including starting and stopping!
That's the hard part. Our anchorage is the best on City Island,
with instant access to the open Long Island Sound, and the best all-around
protection from rough weather. Students and mooring customers alike
waste no time getting to great sailing waters. You're in them already! |
And
at the other extreme...
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| (The Hudson River, as seen
from on the water off the Chelsea area looking toward New Jersey.) |
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...an all too typical scene in the New
York Harbor/Hudson River area. The Circle Line stops for no
one, least of all our competitors' sailboats. We snapped this photo
while delivering our 6th Beneteau from Haverstraw down and around Manhattan. |
Another example of how close we are to Manhattan. The 200mm focal
length exaggerates a bit, but not much.
The Dockmaster really loves those sunset shots!
Taken from Western Long Island Sound, off the southern tip of City
Island, September 8.
(Steve Card, photo)
| Our new facility at Consolidated Yachts
provides us with more classroom space, better protection, and improved
bathroom and shower facilities. We're still a short walk from breakfast,
lunch and even dinner options, and public transit drops you off a stone's
throw from our door. We have on-site parking, and for those busy
summer days, there is safe, legal parking right outside on the street.
From our classroom, you can look out over
the Harbor and Sound, and watch boats sailing by that illustrate points
your instructor is making. She or he might point out a boat and ask
you what "point of sail" it's on, or if its sails are trimmed correctly.
Maybe which one of several has the right of way. This makes classroom
time more fun, engaging and effective.
Here, instructor extraordinaire Peter Schorr
keeps them entertained while he educates them. Note the large model
sailboat to the right, and TV/VCR behind Peter. The whiteboard shown here
was temporary when we moved to Consolidated - we use a much larger one
that lets us draw entire maneuvering sequences without running out of space,
and everything is large enough for people to see. |
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And finally:
wouldn't you rather pass by this on the way to sailing
school?..
(Dawn, near Turtle Cove, approaching City Island.
Steve Card, photo.)
...or see one of these guys during your lunch break?
(Hawk, probably a red-tail, along Shore Road.
Steve Card, photo.)
Section of a large scale or "harbor" chart
of the City Island area.
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| Here's a section of the chart of our local
waters:
City Island Harbor and the
western end of Long Island Sound.
City Island and Hart Island are adjacent in the middle; Orchard Beach is
visible above City Island. On the bottom right is Kings Point in
Long Island, where the Merchant Marine Academy is located. The Throgs
Neck Bridge is slightly out of sight to the bottom left; Stepping Stone
Light House is centered on the bottom. |
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| NYSC is near the southeast end of City
Island (in line with the southern tip of Hart Island). This protects
us from strong weather from most directions, particularly the northeast,
and also from commercial traffic in the open Sound. Yet, we can easily
access the Sound from 2 directions for navigation excursions and other
"legs" requiring more distance.
Winds tend to be reliable and steady due
to the topography here: it's not like sailing on a lake or enclosed bay
with shifty, variable winds that are tough for racers to figure out, let
alone novices. (Don't even get us started on NY Harbor!) Our
winds funnel steadily up, down or across City Island Harbor and the Sound,
making your learning experience much easier and more enjoyable. Once
you've learned properly, you can adapt to less environments. They're
not the place to learn! Even in ideal sailing waters such as ours,
wind can change direction from time to time during any given lesson, as
well as from day to day. Wind shifts are part of sailing, and you'll
experience them everywhere. Due to our location, wind shifts are
not nearly as severe or consistent as in other areas. |
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