In September the crew of Second Wind successfully sailed down the Long Island Sound and East River, rounded Battery Park and made its way “Up the River” with a lovely anchorage overlooking the notorious prison “Sing Sing” on the scenic Hudson, a major transportation route in the days of steamships and barges.  This New York State maximum security prison was the home of “Old Sparky, ” the electric chair which transported over 600 men and women into the next life.  TV fans of “The Americans” might be interested to note that this list included the Rosenbergs for their convictions of spying for the then Soviet Union.

To me, a worst fate would be to be incarcerated aboard the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, a floating prison barge we passed in the East River, just across from the friendly confines of Rikers Island.   Rikers is well known to Law and Order fans, but the world’s largest prison barge is not so well advertised and probably for good reason.  While it was originally recognized as a vessel and staffed with a short-handed USCG crew, it was later deemed strictly a prison, not a ship, and therefore anyone trained in vessel fire-fighting or safety  were dismissed.  With rising sea levels and increasing storms it could become a worst-case Noah’s ark of humanity in some apocalyptic future.

If you have a loved one serving time consider the gift of a Laughing Pirate air freshener/deodorizer, because you can’t always pick your cellmate, but you can pick your choice of three great fragrances.