[NOTE: I had originally intended to publish this post back in July of 2012 but it was saved on a memory stick and then lost until I came across it just yesterday. After some editing, I decided to publish it now. Better late then never?]
I was standing on my back deck on a warm day in July of 2012 and looking across the canal towards Rob and Trish McCarthy's Sunset Marina and spied this odd little float moored about 70 yards out in the waters of Jamaica Bay.
Just before sunset a small boat began ferrying groups of young people out to the float from the marina and then, just as the sun set behind the Manhattan skyline, the float was illuminated from within and the bay came alive with the soft sounds of folk music.
My curiosity piqued, I took a ride over the end of 10th Road to the Sunset Marina and struck up a conversation with one of the individuals who had been out on the float and he explained that the float was the inspiration of A'YenTran, an artist and raft-builder.
Built from old abandoned docks and floats and scrap wood, it was enclosed by a canopy of fabric supported by saplings. The float had a center opening to allow passengers to sit with their feet in the water.
He also explained that the Chapin sisters (Abigail and Lily), an American Folk Pop Musical Group and the daughters of folksinger Tom Chapin and nieces of singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, were also the float that evening.
The sole purpose of the float was to provide the artists and friends a space on the warm waters of Jamaica for telling stories and singing songs.
The soothing sounds of guitar music and singing voices accompanied by much laughter was exceptionally enjoyable and certainly foretold no warning of the much harsher noise of the winds and storm surge of Super Storm Sandy that lied in wait only weeks later.
The "song float" remained moored in the bay for several weeks and then disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
I, for one, miss it.
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