It was a spectacular sunny & breezy day for SailAhead’s Let’s Take A Veteran Sailing event hosted by Centerport Yacht Club (CYC) on Sunday, August 13. Thanks to CYC Officers, staff and over 100 volunteers on 35 boats with skippers & crews, all 140 veterans and guests had a memorable afternoon sailing on Long Island Sound to raise awareness for PTSD and veteran suicides.
Photos by Joan Gallo, Martha Keller & Jenny Duclay
Suffolk County’s newest boating safety law aims to prevent future tragedies like the one that claimed the life of a Greenlawn boy last summer.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) signed legislation July 28 at Centerport Yacht Club named Ryan’s Law that will require all boats used for instructing minors to be equipped with propeller guards. After the tragic death of their 12-year-old son, Ryan, Greenlawn resident Kellie Weiss and her husband, Kevin, led the charge calling for a law change.
“We stand here forever heartbroken,” Weiss said. “Although this can’t bring Ryan back to us today, we hope that we have the opportunity to protect someone else, some other child out there.”
Ryan died July 18, 2017, when he was taking part in a boating lesson at Centerport Yacht Club where the vessel was intentionally capsized in a controlled manner. An 18-year-old instructor operating a small Zodiac inflatable boat pulled him from the water and onto the inflatable raft. As the instructor started to move the boat forward, Ryan again fell into the water and became entangled in the propeller.
“This is Ryan’s happy place,” Weiss said, wiping away tears. “I know in my heart he did what he loved to do.”
Under the new law, anyone who owns a boat used for instructional lessons that is registered in Suffolk or operates in county waters must install a propeller guard, a metal cage that surrounds the propeller of a motorized boat. The legislation was unanimously co-sponsored and then approved by all 18 members of the Suffolk County Legislature in June.
“This is a family that has really had to bind together over the last year,” Suffolk Legislator William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport) said, crediting the Weiss’ advocacy in getting the legislation passed. “What they have done is nothing short of incredible, to take something that is so deep and painful, and turn it into something positive.”
The law will take effect in approximately 90 days, giving boat owners an opportunity to modify their watercrafts as necessary. Those caught operating an instructional boat without a propeller guard will be fined between $250 and $500 for first offenses and from $750 to $1,500 for subsequent violations.
Erik Rosanes, commodore of the Centerport Yacht Club, said his club is onboard with the legislation.
“As we continue in our club’s mission to encourage the sport of yachting and educate the next generation of sailors, we look forward to promoting any measures that may improve the safety of our children in and on the water,” Rosanes said.
The Weiss family and members of the yacht club were joined by New York State, Suffolk and Town of Huntington elected officials in placing white daisies into the waters of Northport Harbor in memory of Ryan. Flowers were also placed on a rock marked with his initials.
Kellie Weiss said she is hopeful that one day propeller guards will become mandatory under New York State law.
“We urge every parent who has a child, teen or young adult who is going to be operating a boat or wave runner,” she said. “Think about installing a prop guard to protect your kid. No one wants to get the phone call we got a year ago.”
A sailing lesson ended in tragedy Tuesday afternoon, July 18, as a 12-year-old boy died after injuries from a boat propeller in Centerport.
According to the Suffolk County Police Department, three children, all wearing life vests, were taking part in a sailing lesson when their boat was capsized as a controlled part of the lesson, at the Centerport Yacht Club, located on Beach Plum Drive at approximately 2:55 p.m.
A 12-year-old boy was receiving sailing instructions when he fell into the water. An 18-year old instructor who was operating a small Zodiac inflatable boat was able to pull the child from the water and onto the Zodiac. The child was seated on the side of the Zodiac when the instructor started to move forward. The boy again fell into the water and became entangled in the propeller of the Zodiac. The instructor immediately entered the water to render aid. He and another instructor were able to pull the child onto another boat and began CPR. On shore other EMT’s assisted until a paramedic from the Centerport Fire Department responded. The child was transported to Huntington Hospital where he died from his injuries. An instructor was also admitted to Huntington Hospital for shock. The other children did not receive medical aid.
Second Precinct detectives are investigating the incident.
Centerport Yacht Club will be hosting the second annual Let’s Take a Veteran Sailing event on Saturday, July 30. The event was created by SailAhead, a nonprofit organization that works to support and heal wounded veterans.
Sailboats will come from near and far to join the fleet of 45 boats. With the support of American Legion Greenlawn Post 1244, 140 registered veterans, mostly from Long Island, will attend this event. The purposes of the event is to spread post-traumatic stress disorder awareness throughout the community, as well as spread awareness of the SailAhead program so that more wounded veterans can be helped.
The sailing event will last four hours and the flotilla will sail on the Long Island Sound.
Pols reopen beach after seven years
The push to clean up Suffolk County’s water quality saw a major milestone on one Centerport shorefront Monday.
Lawmakers and community members gathered at the Centerport Yacht Club on Northport Harbor on a hot summer day to mark the reopening of the beach, which had been shuttered for seven years because of its poor water quality. The harbor is celebrating a cleaner bill of health thanks to multi-governmental efforts to reduce pollution — most significantly through recent upgrades to the Northport wastewater treatment plant.
“Today is unprecedented due to the efforts of many stakeholders,” Suffolk County Legislator William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport) announced at a press conference inside the clubhouse. “…This is the result of a lot of hard work.”
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D), Spencer and a number of Huntington Town officials including Supervisor Frank Petrone (D) cut the ribbon opening the beach, and the county officials hand-delivered a beach permit to the supervisor.
The Suffolk County Department of Health Services, with oversight from the New York State Department of Health, conducted more than 600 tests in 20 locations at the beach since April, Spencer said. The results found that the quality of the water meets “required stringent standards,” Spencer’s office said in a statement.
Northport Harbor, once the “epicenter of red tide in the Northeast,” has seen a dramatic reduction of nitrogen, from 19.4 lbs. per day to 7.5 lbs. And there’s been no red tide in the harbor in the last three seasons, Spencer’s office said.
Officials said a significant upgrade to the Northport sewage treatment plant had a huge hand in turning the tide.
Bellone, who said the county is facing a “water quality crisis,” recognized Northport Village officials for being on top of the issue. He called the rehabilitation of Northport Harbor an “example of what we need to do around the county.”
Petrone and Bellone said Spencer had a big hand in making waves on the issue.
“The doctor’s orders worked,” Petrone said.
The issue of Northport Harbor’s water quality gained steam among Centerport Yacht Club members when Joe Marency, past commodore, was at the helm about five years ago. He praised the beach reopening at Monday’s press conference.
“There’s still a lot to do but this is a big step in the right direction,” he said.
At the close of the press conference, lawmakers gathered outside the club on the water. They excitedly uprooted a “no swimming” sign posted there, and Bellone and Spencer exclaimed, “Who’s going in?”
Assemblyman Andy Raia (R-East Northport) waded into the water, ankle-deep. It took a pair of bold bathers seconds to dart towards the shore and dive in.
“It’s beautiful and warm,” said Randall Fenderson, one of the swimmers who emerged from the water.
Fenderson, who presently lives in Santa Monica, California, said he grew up in the area and has a personal connection to the beach, and was sad to see it closed.
A group of children also made their way to the water, include Greenlawn sisters Paige and Madelyn Quigley. The girls, 6-years old and 10 years old, also said the water felt nice.
“Now we’ll be in here forever,” Madelyn said.
