Montauk Pioneer - June 5, 2009 - Blessing Of The Fleet

The 53rd Blessing of the Montauk Fleet will take place this year on June 14, as one of the great events during the Montauk Harborfest from June 12-14.

During this Harborfest, the whole dock will celebrate their fishing heritage, and people can try the great seafood, hear amazing music, visit crafts vendors, and lastly, on Sunday at 5 p.m., they can go out to the Town Dock or the jetties and watch all the boats go by to get blessed for the summer season.

People with their own boats can participate in this annual tradition. These boats will be lining up in a big procession, to sail past the Town Dock, where they will be blessed by members of the local clergy. These clergy members will stand on an 87-foot Coast Guard cutter, and bless the boats as they cruise by. This year's clergy include: Reverend Charles Ehrhart of St. Therese of Lisieux Roman Catholic Church in Montauk, Reverend Anne Stewart Miller of the Montauk Community Church, Father Alex Karloutsos of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons, and Cantor Debra Stein of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons.

One highlight of this year's Blessing of the Fleet will be Irish Tenor Ciaran Sheehan, a Broadway star of New York City, who has sung in over 1,000 Phantoms of the Opera on Broadway. He will be singing the National Anthem in this year's blessing event. He will also be performing at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church later this summer.

These people usually stand aboard the Coast Guard ship "Ridley," but this year, the ship is on duty, so the U.S. Coast Guard is providing a similar ship to use for the Blessing. Also aboard this ship will be the families of the deceased captains, mates, and other fishermen that will be honored during this year's Blessing of the Fleet.

Although this Blessing is a fun time for people to get together and get their boats blessed and sail out into the harbor near sunset, it is also a solemn occasion, to commemorate and honor those Montauk fishermen who died in the past year.

This year, the following seven fishermen will be honored: Peter Fagan, a mate on the Herl's Girl, who also worked on the Rianda and commercial boats, and who also worked for the Suffolk County Parks Dept.; Captain Bob Tuma, who ran his charter boat "Dawn" for 65 years out of Montauk, and whose family started the charter fishing in Montauk during the 1930s; Michael O'Reilly, who owned the charter boat "Dorato" and was active in the British Yanks Shark Tournament; Marty McMillan, who kept his boat at West Lake Marina, and who was President of a security company in Westbury; Robert Vaughn, who kept his boat at the Montauk Marine Basin and fished charters out of there; Frank DePoala, a commercial fisherman and captain of East Hampton; and Gene Ritter, a mate on the Alyssa Ann of Montauk.

After all the boats get blessed at the Town Dock, they then sail in a procession out into the harbor near the bell buoy. The the Coast Guard makes way for families with wreaths.

Each family tosses a wreath into the water, in memory of their loved one, lost in the past year. A song is sung, and the boats toot their horns in memory of their fellow deceased fishermen. It is a bittersweet and sad occasion during these moments, as we say goodbye to these men who have spent their lives at sea, helping to keep Montauk's fishing capital alive.

This is a colorful and traditional event for the whole family. Captain Frank Braddick, of the "Hurry Up!," who is organizing this event for the 28th year, invites everyone to come down by boat or by foot to watch this local event.

"This is a wonderful event, and draws huge crowds each year," he said. "We welcome everyone to come down to the harbor during this great sea festival."

This year, in an effort to prevent the use of the water balloons and protect the environment, CCOM is offering to replace the traditional water balloons with biodegradable ones that are better for the environment. They are free, and available to the public by calling 631-668-5070.

"Although we'd prefer that no balloons go into the water, if this is going to happen, at least these are biodegradable," said Julie Brumm of CCOM.

But Capt. Frank Braddick warned people not to throw anything into the water, which is illegal. "We are not condoning the use of balloons of any kind," he said. "If this activity happens it will be stopped."