Eight of us stood on a dock opposite Manhattan on the East River one summery Sunday morning waiting to board a 26-foot sailboat that didn't look much bigger than a dinghy.
Ranging in age from 30 to 60, we had all signed up for a one-day Outward Bound course, "Circumnavigating Manhattan by Pulling Boat."
I'd chosen this adventure because while I'd seen parts of the world's most populated island by ferryboat, speedboat, yacht and even kayak, I'd never gone around the entire perimeter of Manhattan by boat.
Trevor Harris, one of the two Outward Bound guides, introduced himself and fellow guide Paul Matylas, and said, "Outward Bound is the moment a ship leaves safe harbor for unknown dangers and adventures on the open sea."
He handed us life jackets and added, "In Outward Bound, there are no passengers, just crew. Paul and I are only here because the Coast Guard requires two guides. Once we teach you, you're going to call all the shots."
"This is a Monomoy sailboat," Paul explained. "It's called a pulling boat because when the wind dies down, the crew has to 'pull' the boat with oars."
There were a few groans as Paul continued: "We normally use the boat as an outdoor classroom for New York City Outward Bound school kids. You're just going out for the day, but the kids go out for two weeks and sleep on the boat."
"Where?" someone asked.
"We lay the oars across and spread a tarp, and they sleep on top."
"All of them?" the same person asked.
"It's a good learning experience," Paul said. "They learn to live and work together in this very small space."
"We'll head up the Harlem River, shoot out into the Hudson and catch the ebb current," Trevor said. "If we get to the Battery [in Lower Manhattan] too early, we'll wait until the tide changes before turning back in the East River. OK, grab those oars and pay attention, because it's easy to get smacked in the head. Let's board."
Four people volunteered to row; one was designated captain, one navigator and two of us were lookouts. Trevor said we'd rotate often so everyone would have the chance to try each position.
I was glad I didn't have to start as captain -- lookout seemed an excellent position. I had time to observe Manhattan from the other side of the river. The Empire State Building, United Nations and Chrysler buildings looked completely different from this perspective -- taller and more imposing.
