White Cap Marine Towing and Salvage is a small marine salvage firm based in New York City.[1]
The firm operates out of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, a small inlet that connects to the much larger Jamaica Bay.[2][3]
The firm is owned by Jack and Bernie Schachner, and specializes in rescuing or salvaging the smaller recreational vessels and smaller fishing vessels that operate out of the smaller inlets around Jamaica Bay. White Cap is also a franchisee of Sea Tow, the leading marine assistance services company.[4]
The National Park Service employs the firm to remove abandoned craft from the ecologically protected Gerritsen Creek, part of the 25,000-acre (100 km2) Gateway National Recreation Area.
In 2009 the New York Daily News reported on White Cap's assistance in the salvage of a large, historic brass bell.[5]
The 500 pound bell had once been at the top of a 1,200-foot (370 m) tower at Coney Island, and had been lost when the tower collapsed during a storm, 95 years earlier.
The typical salvage fees for bringing smaller abandoned recreational craft to where they can be disposed of safely started at $1500.[2]
According to NBC News and the Brooklyn Daily, many boaters simply abandoned their recreational boats in 2008, without realizing they could still be identified as the boats' owners and could still be fined to pay for the boats' disposal.[3]
According to a profile of the firm in the New York Times, larger salvage operations can earn the firm tens of thousands of dollars.[1]
Bernie Schachner described rescuing the crew of a small fishing vessel who offered them "20,000 clams"—with "clams" referring to actual mollusks, not cash.
References
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Nick Corasanti (2013-08-16). "When There's Trouble at Sea, This Captain Sees His Paycheck". New York Times. New York City. p. A16. Archived from the original on 2013-08-18. Retrieved 2013-08-16. Captain Jack, as he is universally known at Gateway Marina in Sheepshead Bay, is a professional boat salvager and, along with his brother, Capt. Bernie Schachner, is a co-owner of White Cap Marine Towing and Salvage Inc. Summer is their busy season.
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Gary Buiso (2008-06-27). "Abandoned boats plucked from Jamaica Bay". Community News Group. Archived from the original on 2013-08-16. Retrieved 2013-08-16. Early in the morning of June 17, the National Parks [sic] Service was joined by Sheepshead Bay-based White Cap Marine Towing and Salvage, a local business hoping to do its part to help the environment.
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Richard Pyle (2008-06-22). "National park bay in NYC is nautical graveyard: Scores of boats litter the shores and lie submerged in shallow waters". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2013-08-16. Cruising Gerritsen Creek with Capt. Bernie Schachner at the helm of his 26-foot "emergency response" boat White Cap Salvor, Daskalakis pointed out a half-dozen abandoned boats lying in weeds along the shore. Up ahead, Schachner's brother and business partner, Capt. Jack Schachner, maneuvered another launch so his crewman could attach a line to a shabby motorboat on the beach.
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Mara Gay (2014-03-02). "National Weather Alerts Bleed Into Coast Guard Radio Channel". Wall Street Journal. New York City. Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2014-08-06. Captain Jack Schachner, owner of Brooklyn-based White Cap Marine Towing and Salvage Inc., a Sea Tow franchise, said the temporary fix negotiated between the agencies is less than comforting. There would be a problem, he said, "If you happen to be calling a mayday while this thing was happening, and it was your last shot at getting help."
