From the SOS mailbox: Pier 15

Re Pier 15:
 
I recall Pier 15 as a hive of activity. The  Monomoy lifeboats, which where standard WWII design, were used by men’s and women’s rowing teams in a network that existed on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts. I’m proud to say that the women’s team, in their first entry to the International Lifeboat Racing Competition, won second place.  The New Haven Sharpie schooner had a fanatical group of devotees who sailed the heart out of her, winning places in the annual schooner race for the Mayor’s Cup, (now defunct, a whole ‘nother saga) and once capsizing — being rescued by the  Vernie S.  It is hard to imagine today the level of public activity that took place on that pier.  All was voluntary, all were included.
 
Any Pier 15 activity today is at the mercy of two things — the depth of water available and the sufferance of Hornblower. To a former resident of that pier, it is tragic.
 
— Capt. Robert Rustchak