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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. April 3, 2003: The Second Department, Appellate Division in Brooklyn issued a stay Monday, giving Thomas Abinanti, Glen Hockley’s attorney 30 days to perfect his appeal of Judge Francis Nicolai’s decision to move the quo warranto forward despite the Hockley camp contention that the quo warranto action had been filed past the statute of limitations under which a party can sue an officeholder or government body.

The stay suspends the court proceeding where Judge Nicolai had ordered both the Attorney General office and Mr. Abinanti to file briefs on the admissability of the affidavits submitted in the quo warranto proceeding by the Attorney General.

Mr. Abinanti’s argument that the Appellate Court appears to be supporting is that the Attorney General launched the quo warranto too late, well beyond the 4 month statute of limitations.

Mr. Abananti explained to WPCNR that Mr. Hockley took office on March 15, 2002, and the attorney general’s office had by the statute until July 15 to file the quo warranto action, however, did not do so until late last fall.

Abinanti said that after he submitted his appeal, that the attorney general’s office would respond, there would probably be oral argument in May with a decision by June.

The Attorney General’s rebuttal to the Abinanti appeal on Hockley’s behalf argues that the statute of 4 months limitation deals specifically with Article 78 proceedings, not elections.

Abinanti said he was feeling very good that the Appellate Court had issued the stay, saying it was a sign that they considered the statute of limitations issue worth examining.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. By John F. Bailey. April 2, 2003: Ted O’Donnell, White Plains Varsity Softball Coach, will turn loose his new Tigers Thursday afternoon at O’Donnell’s Bluff at White Plains High School when they play Mamaroneck opening their League 1-A Season. The team is young with 2 Seniors, Jessica Issaacs and Kate Lee, three sophomores, three freshman, and four juniors. WPCNR interviewed “O’D” as his players call him about the brand-new Tigers.

“O’D” WATCHES EMILY LETTIERI HIT: The Creator of Champions watches Junior Emily Lettieri take BP last week.
Photo by WPCNR Sports

“I don’t believe in rebuilding years,” O’Donnell said in his WPHS office surrounded by pictures of his six Champions in the last seven years, “ because if you have a good program, hopefully you’ll have a strong team every year. Plus, if you’re a senior you don’t want to be a member of a rebuilding team in your Senior year. This year we’re going to be young, very young. I only have three returning players with any kind of Varsity experience. They’re very strong players, but we graduated seven starters from the best team White Plains has ever had. Number 8 ranked team in New York State and three of them are actually playing in college.

The Sport of Time

Ball is a sport of time. Though it has no clock. Time, experience playing and games shape the team. That is the position Coach O’Donnell finds himself, and he is looking forward to it:
“There’s just a lot of unanswered questions that it’s going to take time to answer. The only position that I know is the pitching position which is Junior Tara (Pollard). Every other position, we’re going to have a new player in. Because it looks like Jessica Issaacs, who was the third baseman last year, looks like she’s going to have to move to catcher, and she hasn’t caught in a number of years. Because Candace Abbot, whom I thought was going to be behind the plate has a slight tear in her muscle in her shoulder. She was out for a couple of weeks. She’s back, but doctor’s orders she can’t really catch. Too much stress on the shoulder.”

Moving over to First base will be Senior Kelly O’Neill, who was last year’s starting second baseperson.

“That’s why I say we have a lot of unanswered questions. We have kids playing positions they haven’t played before. We have obviously, quite a number of kids who have never played on the varsity level who are going to be starting, and some of them are going to be starting in positions where they don’t have a lot of experience. People don’t realize that one of the main responsibilities of a coach is to fit his personnel into the best possible positions for them and the team, and that’s not always an easy thing to do.

COMBINATIONS COMBINATIONS: The coach works the Tigers out on the critical outfield relay.
Photo by WPCNR Sports

Every Position You Have to Think.

“The other thing that people do not realize is that softball at this level, every position is important. There is not a position that is not important. If you have a weak link in the chain out there when you’re playing 1-0 and 2-1 games, that’s probably where it’s going to go. Every position is important. Every position requires its own specific skills and abilities, and that’s going to take time. Last year, I went into the season, knowing basically every single position and who was going to play it, except for second base and that’s kind of where I put Kelly in. And those were kids that had experience in those positions, so it was really a matter of fine-tuning the machine, where this is more of like putting it together.”

Season of Discovery.

WPCNR asked which experience he likes better: “I just love coaching. I certainly enjoyed the last few years where we had a team that won 63 games over three years, was undefeated in the league for three years. I enjoyed that because that’s kind of like seeing the fruits of the program’s labor of what the kids have invested. I also look forward to experiences like this because it’s a real challenge for me. Last year we were fine-tuning the machine, kind of adding things in that we hadn’t done before, specialty plays because we had the personnel.

This year, there’s a lot more teaching going on. I love to teach. So much a part of coaching is teaching. I have kids playing new positions. It allows me to get back to some of the basics. I really enjoy that and enjoy the challenge. We always have great kids. I don’t know what it is about the softball program. I’m always lucky to have kids who are really dedicated, who work so hard, who get along, who understand what it means to be a member of a team. When you take twelve kids like that which is what I have again this year, I’m looking forward to working with those kids, finding the best role for them so we can be strongest team possible.”

Around the Horn.

The coach does not have positions set yet. “We haven’t been outside for but a few days. Kelly O’Neill will at first base, Jessica Issaacs will be catching. Tara will be on the mound. We have a very capable number two pitcher in Kelsey Kulk, who’s only a freshman, but doesn’t pitch like a freshman. Carrie Abbott can pitch. She pitched on the J.V. last year. She’d be starting on a lot of varsities in this area. But, it’s tough having three pitchers and getting them any kind of time. So, if push came to shove, we could bring Carrie in. But, I don’t think it’s going to be necessary when we have two pitchers as strong as Tara and Kelsey. We have shortstop, where right now we have Carrie Abbott (Freshman) playing, and she’s been practicing that all winter. We have Kim Wood (Sophomore) at third. Honestly, I don’t know if that’s going to stay that way because Carrie may be moving behind the plate, now that her sister is out of the picture behind the plate, Carrie’s expressed an interest in that. Second base, there’s a number of possibilities. The same with outfield. That’s what I’m going to use the season for.”

HOT CORNER AT SUNSET: Kim Wood Stretches for a relay as the Tigers work out under O’D’s watchful eye.
Photo by WPCNR Sports

Team’s Strength: The Kind of Kid We Have.

“I always think the strength of our teams is the kind of kid we have, and the kind of work ethic that they have. When you have kids like that who love the game of softball. Who aren’t afraid of hard work. Who understand the concept of team that in itself is a significant strength. It’s the old united we stand, divided we fall kind of thing. When you have a team like that, there’s a tremendous potential there.
“In terms of the softball aspect of it. We have the potential to have a very strong hitting team. Mostly these kids, as young as they are, they’ve played summer ball. They all took part in hitting clinics all winter long. They’re fundamentally sound. I want these kids to hit against the elite pitchers, not against the pitchers who are lobbing the ball over the plate. That to me is not a skill. They’re really working on their mechanics and their fundamentals. Things like going to the opposite field on the outside pitch and turning on the inside pitch. I like what I see with the hitting. I really do. We actually have twelve kids who can hit on any given day. They’re all fundamentally sound. Obviously some are stronger than others and more experienced than others. But the potential is there for a very strong hitting team.”

O’D named Tara Pollard (who plays third, short or second when she does not pitch), Jessica Issaacs, and Kelly O’Neil, the returning players as the team’s proven experienced hitters coming into the season.

Defense Defense.

“Defensively, again, the key defensively, we have good athletes with good skills, it’s just a matter of figuring out where they’re going to play what their role is, so we can focus on that. I also think they also have the potential to be a strong defensive team. I’ve always kind of prided myself in defense of our teams. They say offense wins games, and defense wins championships. We work a lot on defense. So I think the potential is there to have a strong hitting team and a solid defensive team, and of course that White Plains always has, their pitching.”

The Varsity Roster includes Seniors Jessica Issaacs and Kate Lee; Juniors Emily Lettieri ,Camille Marquis, Kelly O’Neill and Tara Pollard ; Sophomores, Kim Wood and Christine Younkin, and Freshmen, Candace and Carrie Abbott, Erin Cook, and Kelsey Kulk.

Making the Team. To Summer Ball or Not to Summer Ball.

WPCNR asked O’Donnell how a player can develop themselves to reach the Varsity level; “That’s an interesting question because most people assume the only way to get to this level, and I mean, the varsity level in a good program, is that you have to play year round. It’s got to be your number one sport. I don’t necessarily agree with that. If you look at our team this year, for example, anything you do out of season those are the things you’re choosing to improve your skills and increase your skills of making the team and playing. We have Kelly O’Neill who started last year, and her number one sport is basketball. I respect that, and I admire her that she’s a two-sport athlete. She’s an awesome softball player. There’s a good example of a kid who doesn’t play summer ball, has never played summer ball, who I think is going to be one of the best players in the county. She’s just that kind of an athlete. Plus, she’s focused, she works hard, and during the season she’s 100% committed. White Plains is lucky that we have quite a number of kids like that, they really love the game. They’re playing 40-50 games in the summer. They go to clinics in the winter because they love the game.

The kids that are doing that (summer ball) it increases their chances. But there are no guarantees there. A coach can’t run a program where he’s choosing kids based on what they’re doing out of season. That’s just not fair. My expectation is that from March to June that your number one priority-athletics wise is going to be softball. If you can do that, go to practices six days a week and compete at that level, it doesn’t really matter what you did out of season to me. So I can’t pick kids just on what they did out of season, that’s just not fair. We’ve had kids in the program before that haven’t made that commitment and have risen to the level of starters and significant players in the program. There’s not one set road to get to that level, but obviously, if you’re doing summer ball and doing those kinds of clinics, you’re going to get better, and should increase your chances of competing at that level. But, there’s no guarantee.”

Softball’s role today.

WPCNR asked about growth in softball in the country and career opportunities. O’Donnell expressed skepticism:

“I don’t really think it’s a career path. We as adults have to step back and truly understand what this is. It’s an extra-curricular activity that’s very healthy for young people to be involved in. Being involved in a sport like softball, especially in White Plains at the high school, is a healthy choice for kids. It’s a decision that I think helps build character, an understanding of responsibility and commitment to teamwork and those are all kinds of things we want our young people to develop because it’s going to help them be more successful in life.

I don’t think any kid should get involved in softball with the goal of getting a scholarship to college. I just don’t believe in that. Because there’s too many things that can happen and go wrong along the way. If your goal is you want to play in college, that’s one thing, but if you have a goal that you want to play for a specific school, you want to get a scholarship, I don’t think that’s healthy. I’ve seen too many kids especially in their younger years either have pushed themselves, but more than often they’re being pushed by others, whether it’s coaches or parents, and I’ve seen too many of those kids burn out.”
It does happen though. O’Donnell said he took the team down to Iona Tuesday to see Leslie Busch, last year’s centerfield star, playing as starting centerfielder for Albany. “We went to Iona, she had a large cheering section. It was really kind of neat to see her one year later, starting in centerfield for a Division One Team. Cyndi Carneghi, last year’s rightfielder, is also starting in college right now at the University of North Carolina at Pembrook. Outfield, that’s a big unknown, that’s one of the questions, the sooner we can answer, the better off we’ll be.”

Into Softball on a Whim

O’Donnell started out as the Junior Varsity Coach in White Plains back in about 1990, as he recalls it,

“I’ve always loved sports. I’ve played it all my life. I’ve played baseball, football, basketball. In my mid to late 20s into my thirties I played fast pitch softball. I was working here at the time, also in graduate school. I wasn’t involved in any after school activities. I was working on my doctorate at the time. In 1990, there was an opening in J.V. softball. I’d never really thought of coaching before. As much as I loved the game, I’d never really thought of coaching, I just didn’t have the time. I applied for it and I got it. And I was hooked right away.
It was a wonderful combination of working with kids which I love and being part of a sport which I love. It was a great combination for me, and it was from the very beginning. The first thing I realized was how much I didn’t know. There was a lot for me to learn. I knew right away, that, oh my goodness, there’s a big difference between playing an outfielder on a fast-pitch softball team and being an outfielder basically my whole life. Each position requires specific skills and tools and abilities. And I love learning. Even as a J.V. Coach, I didn’t think about doing anything other than aJ.V. I was going to all the coaching clinics, bought every single video there was. I went to a lot of games. I talked with coaches, picked their brains. I jumped in headfirst right away. Each year I just loved the game more. After six years of being the J.V. Coach there was an opening for the varsity coach, and I’ve been the varsity coach the last seven years.”

J.V. Up and Coming.

Speaking of the J.V., he said, “I’m very pleased with the J.V. this year. I think they have a really nice group of kids. There’s some real potential down there at that level. We have mostly a young team, eighth and ninth graders, one or two sophomores, we even have a seventh grader on the J.V. Coach Minotta is very very happy with the squad he has this year. He sees a real enthusiasm and a real willingness to learn. One of the things that we try and drill into our kids is that there are no shortcuts here. You have to learn how to do it right. You have to learn how to throw right, hit right, field right. There’s only one way to do it and that’s the right way. These kids have already bought into doing the drills and working on the mechanics. So I’m really excited about the J.V. team this year.”
The Varsity will be enjoying a field with an outfield fence this year, complete with a scoreboard, that WPCNR was told is not operational yet, but will be soon.

THE 2003 VARSITY SOFTBALL SCHEDULE

Thursday, April 3: Mamaroneck 4:15 PM
Friday, April 4:Ossining 4:15 PM
Saturday, Sunday, April 5,6:Minisink Alternate Date
Tuesday, April 8: At Arlington, 4:15 PM
Thursday, April 10: Clarkstown South
Saturday, April 12: At New Rochelle, 11:00 A.M.
Wednesday, April 16: Yorktown, 4:15 P.M.
Tuesday, April 22: At John Jay, 4:15 P.M.
Thursday, April 24: Scarsdale, 4:15 P.M.
Saturday, Sunday, April 26, 27: at Horace Greeley Tournament (Doubleheaders both days).
Monday, April 28: Lakeland, 4:15 P.M.
Tuesday, April 29: Mamaroneck, 4:15 P.M.
Wednesday, April 30: At Horace Greeley 4:15 P.M.
Thursday, May 1: At Scarsdale 4:15 P.M.
Sunday, May 4: Horace Greeley Tournament Rainout Date, if necessary.
Monday, May 5: At North Rockland. 4:30 P.M.
Tuesday, May 6: At Yorktown, 4:15 P.M.
Thursday, May 8: John Jay, 4:15 P.M.
Saturday May 10: Madrid Tournament Doubleheader at Suffern
Saturday May 10: Greeley Tournament Raindate, if necessary.
Monday, May 12: At Ossining, 4:15 P.M.
Wednesday, May 14: At Lakeland, 4:15 P.M.
Friday, May 16: Horace Greeley, 4:15 P.M.
Saturday, May 17: West Point Scrimmages (Doubleheader) At West Point
Friday, May 23, Tues, May 27, Thursday, May 29, Saturday, May 31: Sectionals

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From Michelle Schoenfeld. April 1, 2003:Seventy-nine students from the Highlands and Eastview campuses of the White Plains Middle School were inducted into the National Junior Honor Society during a ceremony held on March 12th at the Highlands auditorium. To receive this recognition, students demonstrated excellent scholarship by achieving at least a 92% average in all their courses during sixth, seventh and eighth grades, as well as meeting Citizenship, Character, Service, and Leadership
requirements.

TAKING THE PLEDGE TO ALWAYS SEEK THE TRUTH: Principal Joseph Cloherty of Eastview School leads the 2003 Inductees in the Junior National Honor Society Pledge.
Photo by WPCNR News

The students include: Kimberley Adams, Julie Alfonso, Daniel
Amicucci, Juliana Bailey, Brianna Berg, Lydia Binford, Meghan Buonamici, Jeffrey Cabral, Laura Campion, Andrea Clay, Timothy Conroy, Michael Couzens, Mallory Cruz, Brendan Daly, Laura DeLucia,
Sophia Espinoza, Erica Farland, Matthew Fowler, Merrilee Frable, Rachel Frumkin, Nicole Garrett, Justin Gill, Jill Gordon, Arielle Hawkins, Katherine Hayden, Helen Hess, John Hollahan, Andrew
Kaplan, Lindsay Keating, James Kim, Seth Kreisheimer, Paul LaBarbera, Mary Allison Lau, Candy Light, Samantha Lifson, Rose Liu, David Mangano, Theresa Mauri, and Lauren McGuire.

Also, Elizabeth Meier, Arwa Mohamed, Ryan Morfopoulos, Harry Murphy, Nathalia Narciso, Dan Nguyen, Jonathan Pasqua, Erin Passeri, Robert Persaud, Roland Persaud, Madelyn Petralia,
Joseph Pollio, Michelle Portillo, Alisha Prakash, Samuel Probber, Zhiyao Serena Qui, Alyce Regan, Gabrielle Roberts. Jacob Roby, Kayleigh Rogers-Torres, Marilyn Rojas, Julia Rose, Joshua Rosenblum, Abigail Rudow, Victoria Sampugnaro, Christa Santa-Donato, Casey Schroeder, Molly Seidel, Kirsten Smayda, Shervin Stoney, Lincoln Tahara, Christopher Tenore, Robert Thompson III, Christine Tomlinson, Susannah Genty Waksberg, Shanna Weiner, Keith Werner, Gerald Wilders, Akina Younge and Jaqueline Zemaitis.
Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors provided the keynote
address during the traditional candle-lighting ceremony held in the Highlands Auditorium.

Faculty advisors Jane Turk at the Eastview Campus and Michael J. Passow at Highlands Campus led the Faculty Councils in selection of candidates and organization of the event. More than four hundred family and friends attended the program.

The purpose of the National Junior Honor Society is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, stimulate a desire to render service, promote leadership, develop character, and encourage citizenship.

This is the eighteenth group of inductees to enter their names
in the Chapter Book. The White Plains Middle School Chapter began in 1986, joining more than 20,000 middle and junior high schools across the country. During the remainder of the school year, many of the students will continue to provide service to their schools through tutoring and other projects.

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WPCNR Milestones. Special From Geoff Thompson. March 31, 2002 – Harry A. Halpern, patriarch of one of Westchester’s most prominent real estate and development families and a pioneer in the construction of low and moderate income housing as well as office space in Westchester County, died today at his home in Palm Beach, FL. He was 91.

As the senior member of the Halpern family beginning in the 1930s, and working in tandem with his brother-in-law, Fred Stillman, Harry Halpern expanded a residential apartment construction company founded by his father, Morris, into one of the largest residential and commercial development companies in the region.

Halpern’s real estate enterprises include Halpern-Stillman Development Co., H&S Management Co., that manages more than 6,000 units of low and moderate income housing in Westchester County, and Halpern Real Estate Development Co., which owns Westchester development parcels that could yield more than two million square feet of commercial office space.

In the 1960s, Halpern and his son, Joel, partnered with baseball legend Jackie Robinson to become one of the leading developers of low and moderate income housing in New York State under the Urban Development Corp. (UDC) housing program. Following Robinson’s death in the early 1970s, his widow, Rachel, became the Halpern’s partner and was involved in roughly half of the thousands of units of UDC housing they built.

In the 1970s, working with Joel, who died in a boating accident in 1981, the senior Halpern was a pioneer in the development of office space in Westchester County. Together they developed and managed a portfolio of office space that at its peak totaled more than three million square feet of office space, primarily in Tarrytown and White Plains.

In 1994, the company’s office portfolio was sold to Reckson Realty Associates, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, which is now one of the largest office space owners in Westchester.

Jon Halpern, who eventually succeeded his father, Joel, as head of the company, said that his grandfather remained a strong presence within the family businesses virtually until the end of his life. “Harry was always behind the scenes. My father got a great deal of publicity, and in later years, I did, as well. But, frankly, without Harry, there really wouldn’t have been anything to talk about. He built the company and financed its growth.”

Jon Halpern added that his grandfather twice provided the financial and emotional underpinning that allowed the family business to expand. “Harry had the confidence and the interest in my father to give him the backing that enabled us to enter the office market in a big way. When his only son died so unexpectedly, my grandfather stepped into the office aspect of the business to a far greater degree than he had ever imagined he would need to. With his son-in-law, my uncle, Warren Lesser, he kept the company together. When I finished college and entered the business, he once again provided the backing and support that made it possible for me to move the company forward. He showed a great deal of courage through some very difficult times.”

Harry Halpern was born Jan.10, 1912, in New York City to Morris and Yetta Halpern. Upon graduation from the New York University school of law, he joined his father in the real estate development business. From the 1920s to the 1940s, the company built thousands of apartments in 30 to 40 buildings in the Bronx.

In the 1950s and ‘60s, Harry Halpern joined with his brother-in-law, Fred Stillman, and together they moved north building dozens of six- to eight-story apartment buildings mostly in Yonkers, particularly along the Bronx River Parkway corridor.

When his son, Joel, entered the business, the company expanded its role housing construction, with particular focus on the low and moderate income sector.

Then, when the suburban office market in Westchester was in its infancy, Joel, with the backing of his father, created a separate company that pursued the office market. The company, along with Schulman Realty and the Robert Martin Company, quickly emerged as one of the big three office developers in the Interestate 287 (Cross Westchester Expressway) corridor. From the early 1970s through the sale to Reckson in 1994, Halpern Enterprises dominated office development on the western end of the highway corridor.

“Harry was a pioneer in affordable housing construction, and then in the development of the office market in Westchester, which to this day is the backbone of Westchester’s economy,” said Jon Halpern. “Beyond that, however, he was dedicated to his family. For six decades and for four generations of our families, he has been the leader. He had two interests, family and business, and his legacy lives on.”

In addition to his grandson Jon Halpern of Purchase, NY, and son-in-law, Warren Lesser of Harrison, NY, Harry Halpern is survived by his wife of 66 years, Sylvia Stillman Halpern of Palm Beach; his daughter, Linda Lesser of Harrison; grandchildren, Julie Cook of Alabama, Jason Halpern of Purchase, Mark Lesser and Beth Lesser of New York City; and 10 great grandchildren.

Harry Halpern and his wife lived in New Rochelle for 40 years before they began dividing their time between Palm Beach and Westchester over the last decade. In New Rochelle they were very active members of the Beth El Synagogue-Center, where the religious school is named after them. He also generously and quietly supported Hadassa and the UJA.

A funeral service will be held at the Beth El Synagogue this Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

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WPCNR ADVENTURER’S LOG. From Cynthia Goss. The Indian Ocean, March 30, 2003: Westchester’s Adventurer, Rich du Moulin of Larchmont and Rich Wilson of Rockport, Mass., sailed their 53-foot trimaran Great American through the Sunda Strait and entered the Indian Ocean at sunrise on March 29. For Rich Wilson (Rockport, Mass.) and “Captain Larchmont,” Rich du Moulin passing through the Strait was a milestone: it marked the end of a slow frustrating passage through the South China Sea and, hopefully, the dawn of new fortunes in their 15,000-mile non-stop run from Hong Kong to New York.
This duo on GAII is lagging behind their nemesis Sea Witch, the clipper
ship that set the Hong Kong-New York record in 1849. But according to
Wilson, the stage is set to make some gains.

“The last 24 hours were the best since leaving Hong Kong,” reported Wilson in his log, after a full day of sailing on the Indian Ocean. “The boat’s making good time, but we can see some really fast days if we can get more wind in the trades.”

The position of the trade wind belt fluctuates with the seasons. When Sea Witch sailed out of Sunda Strait in January 1849, she had to sail further south to catch this band of breeze. But for GAII, the tradewinds are within closer reach.

“Sea Witch headed due south for the first several days out into the Indian Ocean, then she got deep into the trade winds before turning west,” reported Wilson. “Her time of year, January, would have had the trade winds further south: so her very good time of year for the South China Sea was not as good for the trade winds in the Indian Ocean. Our very poor time of year for the South China Sea was late enough to give us trade winds further north. . . So we have a good chance now to catch up.”

The passage through the 100-mile Strait was a final trial that capped the first leg of their passage. In the Strait, Wilson and du Moulin had to
temporarily abandon their watch system so they could navigate upwind
through narrow passes, short tack through channels that skirted the busy main shipping channel, and tack through the islands on the Indian Ocean side of the Strait.

“We first spent four hours tacking among giant oil platforms that congest the area,” wrote “Captain Larchmont,” du Moulin of their passage through the Strait. “Then we had to short tack through the narrow channels of the Sea Conservation Area with its reefs and small islands. This was a shortcut that allowed us to avoid the busy main shipping channel. Then for 40 miles we continued to beat into the ever-narrowing Strait until at sundown we sailed through the narrowest portion. We had a beautiful sunset view of an old volcano on Sumatra and an industrial view of a giant coal burning power plant on the Java side, with smokestacks that must have been 300 feet tall.

“We spent most of the night tacking around islands on the Indian Ocean side of the Strait. Rich Wilson and I pretty much had abandoned our watch system 24 hours earlier. We were tired but our work was not quite over. The wind was increasing so we had to put in more reefs to reduce sail area. Strong currents kicked up some unpleasant bumpy waves that had the entire boat jumping and shaking like a dog with fleas. By dawn we were very tired, but the sight of Sunda Strait behind us made it all worthwhile.”

For the past two weeks, floating on glassy seas, being becalmed, and
ghosting slowly in light zephyrs built a mounting frustration for these
two sailors as they logged slow progress and watched the path of Sea Witch slip further away. But the passage so far has not been without its
excitement.

Sea Snake Encounter

Late last week, Rich Wilson had a close encounter with a sea snake while swimming and cleaning the two outer pontoons. “I yelled ‘Sea snake!’ ” reported du Moulin, “and Rich Wilson swam like Tarzan dragging me along until he reached the stern where he quickly boarded. The sea snake wandered off, probably for fatter prey. In some regions these animals are poisonous; we are not sure about this one, but didn’t want to experiment.”

They also prepared for a potential punch from an approaching waterspout; but the system fortunately dissipated before it reached them. The one rite both sailors missed was sailing under the shadow of the great volcano Krakatoa as they passaged through the Sunda Strait.

“We were saddened at the thought of sailing past the great volcano Krakatoa in the dark,” lamented du Moulin. “But it is so big, that we could still see it in the distance poking its conical black form up into the early morning clouds.”

While working 24/7 to get to New York as quickly as possible, Wilson and du Moulin have been busy corresponding with schoolchildren who are following their live adventure in a unique educational program called sitesALIVE!

Children have emailed questions about sailing, life at sea, leaving port,
and wildlife; both sailors have written back with answers to help make this voyage a vivid learning experience for some 360,000 children.

Great American II now faces some 5,400 miles of sailing through a remote Indian Ocean passage before reaching the southern tip of Africa and turning north into the Atlantic Ocean. To beat Sea Witch’s record of 74 days 14 hours, the two sailors must arrive in New York the week of May 26.

* * *

HOW THE PUBLIC CAN FOLLOW GREAT AMERICAN II: The website tracking the voyage of Great American II is http://www.sitesalive.com. Daily position reports and a Captain’s Log are posted on the site so classrooms, students, and families who purchase licenses can follow the progress of the boat. For information, go to http://www.sitesalive.com/oceanchallengelive/.

The saga of GAII will also be published in a number of daily papers, in the Newspaper In Education supplements, and tracked on the AOL@SCHOOL program (keyword: sitesalive).

Great American II’s Newspaper In Education participation in seven national daily papers is supported by the sitesALIVE Foundation. Established in 2002, the Foundation addresses teacher training in computer technology and funding for budget-constrained schools. The mission of the foundation is to enhance K-12 education by promoting the use of technology with real-world, real-time content from around the globe.

For a chart showing the relative positions of Great American II and Sea
Witch, go to http://www.sitesalive.com/ocl/private/03s/pos/ocl3position.html