The Spartina is a decommissioned military landing craft, owned and operated by Captain Joshua Horton of Greenport Long Island.
Josh and the Spartina are part of a huge FEMA Public Assistance Project to clear debris left by Hurricane Sandy. They have been working since March throughout Nassau County, removing any debris that could pose a navigational hazard.
I was able to come aboard with an introduction from Will Van Dorp who has accompanied the Spartina on her daily rounds as well.
For the first hour, I just tried to stay out of the way as Josh and his pilot maneuvered the boat out of port and got her ready for work.
I held my breath as we headed for a bridge that barely seemed high enough for the boat.
“That’s nothing!” Said the pilot as he powered through.
Along the way we passed two barges that are also on the FEMA cleanup job.
On deck were two boats, picked from the bottom of the marsh.
Everything less than 4 feel below the surface must be taken out.
When I first came on board, I thought that machine on deck was the boat’s engine. It turned out to be a motor that runs only the crane and winches.
The real engine is down under the wheelhouse.
It fills an entire room, hot and loud, where Josh’s pilot made some last minute adjustments.
“It’s not working if your not bleeding!” He shouted up, happy to be almost finished.
Our first stop was for fuel, a quick, 200 gallon sip of diesel.
Across from the floating station, a flock of fat white geese ambled about, getting, ready for their day.
It was early by most people’s standards, but things at the job site were already moving along, and the contractor came by to see where we were.
“He just came by because he heard there’s someone new on board.” Josh said with a wink.
A bright pile of debris in the distance turns out to be an array of flotsam, equipment, and people.
Things are beautifully sorted at the job site, with a whole pcinic area that seems made entirely of objects found in the marsh.
The Spartina can land with her bow resting right up on the beach.
Her gate opens downward, just like in ‘Saving Private Ryan’.
Josh had to keep an eye on the tide. Sandy beaches can leave the landing craft stranded when the tide goes out.
The piles of debris were amazing, and the crew said this wasn’t even a big load.
The main contract is to remove tens of thousands of cubic yards of debris from Nassau County.
When the contract was written, they estimated costs for lots of heavy equipment:
track loaders, large excavators, a hydraulic crane,
but it was hard to get all that equipment out into the marsh.
Most of the work has been done by men on foot, cutting through the phragmites with machetes, and dragging the debris out by hand.
These men will have touched almost every piece of the haul, dragging some of it miles through the marsh by hand.
The crew explained how trails are cut, fanning out into the marsh from deposit sites.
I took a break from the site to see if I coul find some of the trails.
One of the employees showed me pictures on his phone of a site they finished last spring. The marsh was growing back in over the signs of their intrusion.
I didn’t think about it at the time, but those were the only pictures he had on his phone; pictures of little shoots of grass coming in around what they had cleared.
When I got back to the Spartina, the tide was up around the loading site and the crew was ready to go.
Inspectors made sure that the load was full.
This will be compared to notes from a FEMAÂ inspector here and at the delivery site.
The pile looked great, and our hang out spot had become a little island.
We nudged away from shore in a cloud of diesl smoke.
The Spartina didn’t mind carrying the extra load. This is what she was made for.
The spartina marsh grass was doing what it was made for too, engulfed almost completely by high tide, with just their tips showing above water.
Back at Cedar Creek, we watched the container get hoisted onto land.
The trash was loaded onto a truck bound for a ‘certified transfer station’.
The Spartina was ready for a fresh container.
She would be busy for the rest of the day, with another couple loads,
but Josh had to see to some other jobs in the area.
It felt strange to be flying over the surface of the water, after spending so much time thinking about what was underneath it.
↑ Return to Top of Page ↑