Tag Archives: Three Rivers

How John Norton sails The Point and the three rivers… and survives

Image courtesy of John Norton.

Image courtesy of John Norton.

John Norton came to Pittsburgh from Australia in the early ‘80s, but it wasn’t until he moved Downtown in 2005 that he seriously began considering sailing the three rivers.

As he explained at a lunchtime talk on June 28 at Bruno Works, being immersed in downtown life and exploring the river trails made him wonder why he couldn’t have a sailboat. After all, there were already kayaks on the rivers. Why couldn’t the experienced sailor have a sailboat docked nearby, ready to be set out on whenever the conditions best suited him?

Few had seriously considered sailing the waters by The Point before (the Pittsburgh Sailing League is now defunct, plus, they would “cheat” and block the waterways for their excursions), so the University of Pittsburgh professor faced several problems. First of all, people thought he was crazy for trying. The complicated wind and water conditions, tricky topography of Pittsburgh, and bustling river traffic made the endeavor unfavorable, to say the least.

Sailors, by nature, are very cautious people, and those who have ever sailed before can understand why. A sailboat is completely at the mercy of swiftly-changing weather patterns. An experienced sailor needs to be able to react quickly and accurately. At The Point and on the rivers, while unpowered watercrafts have the right-of-way, they still are at the mercy of powerful speed and river boats.

Image courtesy of John Norton.

Image courtesy of John Norton.

Potentially worst of all are the barges, which do have the right-of-way since they are so large, fast, and hard to maneuver. Whenever John notices a barge, he immediately pulls over to the shore and waits for it to pass, since the situation can quickly and irrevocably become dangerous– potentially fatal. There is a lot of barge traffic on the rivers but they do move in definite channels, and maps of their routes are available online. Generally avoiding the center of the rivers is favorable.

Secondly, a lot of prime waterfront has already been spoken for, making it difficult to find a marina. He wanted a dock that was downstream from The Point, so that if the wind conditions died during his sail he could simply float back home. He managed to find a suitable spot by the West End Bridge to keep his Hobie Bravo, a 1-2 person catamaran he chose for its rugged construction, speed, ease-of-use, and lack of center hull (which has a less chance of getting stuck on something).

Image courtesy of John Norton.

Image courtesy of John Norton.

So in 2009, John set out on his 12-foot boat to sail The Point. Trial and error played a large part in those early sails. He began maintaining and evaluating reports of the river currents and wind conditions on the days he was sailing, noting how they affected his journey. Ideally for sailing, the current is flowing one way and the wind is blowing, more strongly, in the other direction. However, the winds and currents where the rivers meet change frequently and unexpectedly.

Northwest winds are the best for sailing the Ohio and the Monongahela Rivers, but not the Allegheny, as the buildings of the North Shore block the gusts. Mount Washington also causes significant problems in terms of wind direction. The ridge blocks southwest winds (which there are an abundance of this time of year), and gaps in the hills cause erratic winds from every which direction to swoop down the river.

“You spend a lot of time looking at flags,” John said about figuring out the wind direction when he’s on his boat. “I wish they put flags all on the river. I’m hoping the [Point State Park] fountain will be a bit of a flag.”

John maps his sail and posts them on his website. This one is of a particularly fast sail, with speeds shown in different colors. Image courtesy of John Norton.

John maps his sail and posts them on his website. This one is of a particularly fast sail, with speeds shown in different colors. Image courtesy of John Norton.

Forecasts for both the wind and current are available online on multiple websites, although they should be cautiously interpreted as they aren’t always reliable. John has spent a significant amount of time and effort figuring out these patterns and what it means for sailing The Point. He posts all this data, plus his overall experiences and a GPS map of his routes, on his website and encourages others to use it to educate themselves.

So why does John do it? Risk all those potential dangers, meticulously noting and scrutinizing weather conditions? For the fun, of course. He describes it as a visceral, challenging, yet rewarding, wonderful experience, beautifully explained in a bit of prose he wrote on his website titled “Why We Sail”:

“We look down at the water and watch the little bits of weed and debris pass. We look back at our rising wake and listen to the quiet gurgle of water moving under the hull. ‘We’re sailing,’ we say. It is a magical feeling.”

Image courtesy of John Norton.

Image courtesy of John Norton.

Weekend Music Events: Where You Should Be and When

So there are a ton of exciting things happening music and concert-wise this weekend through the Three Rivers Arts Festival starting Friday, June 7th as well as the start of the “Weather Permitting” concert series this Sunday, June 9th. Here’s a chronological list of all the bands coming by day and time of performance as well as what stage they will be performing on.

Three Rivers Arts Festival: 

Because there are multiple stages, you may find this map to be helpful.

Friday June 7th: 

12:00pm-1:00pm Indie pop rock band Jd Eicher and the Goodnights will be playing on the Dollar Bank Stage

Acousticafe, “Pittsburgh’s Best new singer/songwriters”, will be performing on the Second Stage at Gateway Center from 5:00pm-7:00pm

Jazz band Poogie Bell will be playing from 5:30pm-9:00pm in Katz Plaza

And the River City Brass Band will play at Point Stage Park  from 5:00pm-6:00 pm

6:15pm- 6:55pm Happy, dance music from Donora also on the Dollar Bank Stage

7:30pm-9:00pm The Headliner for Friday night is California-native, indie folk rock band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

English: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros ...

English: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros performing at Lollapalooza Chile Español: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros tocando en Lollapalooza Chile (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Known for the popular singles “Home”,  “Janglin”, and “40 Day Dream” from their debut album Up from Below, as well as songs from last year’s follow-up album Here,  Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros will cap off the evening on the Dollar Bank Stage. The band will also be releasing a self-titled third album set to release on July 23rd. As a side note lead singer Alex Ebert is also the lead singer of Ima Robot, the group responsible for the awesome theme song of the popular USA network series Suits. 

All fan-hood aside, I digress from the rest of the weekend music happenings.

Saturday June 8th: 

Arts Greenhouse Collective, a local hip hop education program, will school you with original beats and rhymes while performing from 12:00pm-12:30pm as well as 2:00pm-2:30pm on the Family Stage at Giant Eagle Creativity Zone.

Soundwaves Steel Band will be performing from 12:30pm-1:00pm as well as 1:30pm-2:00pm also on the Family Stage at Giant Eagle Creativity Zone

The Unknown String Band, “folk-grass pickin’ partners” from Pittsburgh will be on the Second Stage at Gateway Center from 1:00pm-2:00pm

The Shelf Life String Band, a bluegrass string quintet, will be performing from 3:00pm-4:00pm and from 5:00pm-5:45pm on the Second Stage at Gateway Center

YMCA Lighthouse Music Crew & Step Team, which features youth hip-hop and step routine, will perform on the  Family Stage at Giant Eagle Creativity Zone from 3:00pm-4:00pm

The Arts Festival will feature a ton of other great bluegrass bands on Saturday. Starting with the Allegheny Drifters from 2:00pm-3:00pm on the Dollar Bank Stage.

Great American Taxi will be bringing bluegrass infused rock Americana to the Dollar Bank Stage from 6:00 pm-7:15pm

Saturday night will cap off with bluegrass and American music legend Ralph Stanley, who will also be performing on the Dollar Bank Stage from 7:30pm-9:00pm

Sunday June 9th:

Acousticafe will play a second show from 1:00pm-5:00pm on the Second Stage at Gateway Center

AcoustiKids (a branch off of Acousticafe) will perform a show for children on the Family Stage at Giant Eagle Creativity Zone from 2:00pm-4:00pm

WYEP Re(imagiNATION) Showcase will be, well, showcasing some of Pittsburgh’s emerging teen musicians from 4:00pm-6:00pm on the Family Stage at Giant Eagle Creativity Zone

Big With Seed, an 8-piece “groove-laden rock” band, will perform from 1:00pm-2:30pm on the Dollar Bank Stage

Sleep Experiments will be bringing “ambient dream pop” to the Dollar Bank Stage from 3:00pm-4:00pm

The Deceptions will perform a rock, folk, Americana fusion from 4:30pm-5:30pm  on the Dollar Bank Stage

Grand Piano, a 6-piece local rock band, will perform on the Dollar Bank Stage from 6:00pm-7:00pm

And the first weekend of Arts Fest Music will cap off with Cello Fury featuring Joy Ike and Scott Blasey of the Clarks, this one-night only collaboration will perform from 7:30pm-9:00pm on the Dollar Bank Stage

WEATHER PERMITTING CONCERT SERIES BEGINNING JUNE 9TH:Weather Permitting Concert Series June 9th Poster

Starting June 9th Shadyside Nursery will be hosting a concert series in collaboration with Fukuda and Pandemic titled “Weather Permitting PGH.” Together they’re bringing a great mix of music, relaxation, food, drink, and summer fun every Sunday evening from 5:00 pm-9:00 pm. The concert series is called Weather Permitting and it boasts a “chilled out, relaxed, bring a blanket and some wine, nurse the hangover, bring the kids” environment.

The weekly outdoor concert will take place every Sunday through the rest of summer and is looking to bring in a diverse audience through, for lack of a better word, a diverse collection of musical groups, food vendors/trucks and children’s activities.

Admission is $10, which includes a complimentary beverage with proof of ID. Kids get in free, again this weekly event is family friendly. Shadyside Nursery is located on 510 Maryland Avenue (at the corner of Ellsworth Ave.) This looks like a great event if you’re looking to experience something a little different each week.

This Sunday’s Performers Include:

Lungs Face Feet, a local 8 piece brass, accordion, percussion band. They’re great fun as evidenced here:

Check out them out on Facebook.

Sunday will also feature Taluna, a Mediterranean folk/”Spacefolk” band from Italy.

Listen to more Taluna on their website.

Phew, that’s a lot to digest (and that’s not another strange band name, don’t worry). See you out there this weekend, I’ll be cutting it up at a few of these shows. Check back each week for more weekend music updates.