October 2, 200817 yr Ahoy, there! Intrepid gets 'green light' to return Thursday By Bill Hutchinson DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, October 2nd 2008, 12:45 AM Buffed and bolstered, a refurbished Intrepid is ready to end its two-year hiatus Thursday and retake its proud position on Manhattan's West Side. With a fresh coat of battleship gray paint and a brass band playing on its flight deck, the legendary World War II aircraft carrier is set to be towed up the Hudson this morning in a splashy return to Pier 86. "Right now, it's a green light," Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, said Wednesday night, cautiously eying the weather reports. He warned that if winds are as high as predicted - up to 30 mph - the 5-mile trip from Staten Island may be scrubbed for safety reasons. "It looks like they're going to be right on the cusp," said meteorologist David Wally of the National Weather Service, adding that the breezy weather will be accompanied by partly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s. If the return is a go, thousands of spectators are expected to line the West Side from the Battery to midtown to get a glimpse of the Intrepid's $15 million bow-to-stern restoration. If allowed to raise anchor, the Intrepid will leave Staten Island at 11 a.m. and is expected to arrive at Pier 86 at 46th St. by 2 p.m. The trip will feature: 300 ex-Intrepid crew members, including the carrier's former captain, 82-year-old retired two-star Adm. Doc Abbot, manning the rails. A fleet of tugboats towing the 27,100-ton vessel and a World War II PT boat providing an escort, along with a fireboat spouting red, white and blue water. A sail past the Statue of Liberty just after noon as the NYPD plays on the flight deck. A salute toward Ground Zero at about 1p.m. that will include the unfurling of a 60-by-40-foot flag from the starboard side. A welcome-home ceremony attended by all five borough presidents when the ship docks between 1:30 and 2 p.m. at the newly refurbished Pier 86. The project to upgrade the floating museum and pier cost $115 million. Once in place, the Intrepid museum will reopen to the public Nov. 8. New York Daily News article.
October 2, 200817 yr Former Capt at the helm !! With hundreds of shipmates ! Wow, I hope you take the time to go check it out and take pictures
October 3, 200817 yr I saw the coverage of the return on CNN today. Nothing very substantial, I'm afraid, just a tape of the ship being moved and some commentary. I didn't realize it'd been so long since she was moved to begin with. Buddha
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