RETIRED MEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GREENWICH, Inc. (RMA)
Invites you to its meeting, December 9, 2026, at 11 am at Christ Church, Parish Hall, 254 East Putnam Ave., Greenwich, CT. The program will also be shown on Zoom at https://bit.ly/30IBj21 and on local cable channels 24 (Verizon) and 79 (Optimum)
Bob and Bill Blake
“Being Harbor Pilots in One of the World’s Busiest Ports”
Ever wonder what it’s like to pilot an enormous 1,200-foot container ship into New York Harbor? Brothers Bob and Bill Blake have done it thousands of times in all kinds of weather. These two maritime experts discuss the challenges of steering everything from oceangoing vessels to passenger liners, freighters and tankers in and out of the harbor in one of the busiest ports in the wo
Bob and Bill were raised in Westchester County, NY and are second generation harbor pilots in New York Harbor. Bob began an apprenticeship as a harbor pilot in 1979 and came up through the hawse pipe before being fully licensed in 1986. Bill graduated from Emory College in 1987 with a BBA in finance although being a harbor pilot was always his goal. Both have been members of the Port of New York’s harbor piloting association, the Sandy Hook Pilots Association, for decades and have piloted thousands of ships in and out of the ports of New York and New Jersey.
Among these were the aircraft carrier, USS John F. Kennedy, into the harbor on her final call into New York and the USS Cole during “Fleet Week” in 2023 (the USS Cole had been attacked by terrorists in the Persian Gulf in 2000).
They may also share their thoughts about what happened on the bridge the night that the 984-foot cargo ship, Dali, crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Harbor in March 2024 and the 297-foot Mexican Navy Training ship, Cuauhtemoc, crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge in May 2025.
Our next presentation, on Thursday, December 17, is by C. Griffith Mann, “See! See! The Church Is on Fire! Conflagration, Renewal and Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris”
The Greenwich Retired Men’s Association offers a free program every Wednesday that is open to the public, both men and women; no reservations are required. Our social break starts at 10:40 am followed promptly by our presentation at 11:00. For additional information, including parking, see www.greenwichrma.org/upcoming-speakers.
