Big Oceans in the Big Apple?

A while ago I blogged about a young Australia guy, Nick living in Holland. With little sailing experience Nick decided that the only way he wanted to get home was to sail back to Melbourne, single-handed.  He has been blogging about this for nearly two years. After several months learning to sail offshore, raising money, Nick set off in his 26' Constellation, in September 2007. Currently Nick is in the Caribbean. This week I got this email from blogger David Traver Adolphus:

In July of 2006, Australian Nick Jaffe was stuck in Europe, and decided to he liked sailboats. An artist and software developer, he'd always liked messing about in boats, but had exactly zero experience in bluewater sailing. Over the next year, he developed the notion that the best way for him to get home to Australia would be to sail there, and he set about making that dream a reality. In September of 2007, he left Holland aboard his 26-foot Contessa, Constellation. On April 29th of this year, he completed a singlehanded crossing from the Canaries to Barbados. I have no stake in the voyage of the Constellation beyond being captured by Nick's spirit. I've been following his progress on his www.bigoceans.com website for over a year, and in the progress struck up a conversation with him. Nick's plans for the rest of his voyage are equally audacious, but between now and Australia he'll be stopping in New York. I'm only an armchair sailor, but I understand the scale of what he's accomplished so far, and of what he's proposing from here. If you have any interest in helping out, or know someone who might be, please let me know. His needs aren't great—I'd like to find him slips between New York and Maine, and he'll be looking for things like cordage, spreaders, paint… you real sailors will have a better idea than me, frankly. I'd also like to welcome him to the USA in style, so I'm also hoping to arrange a party for him; I know he has many friends and supporters on the East Coast who'd love to be a part of it. Maybe someone can donate a banquet room at one of the NYC-area yacht clubs? Please contact me and I'll start putting things together. I also think this is an outstanding sponsorship opportunity, but that's between you and Nick. Nick's story is an inspiring and heartwarming one, and two years later it's not even half over. Join his voyage—you won't be sorry.

So all you sailing bloggers out there on the East Coast, how can we entice Nick to the Big Apple? How can we help him? I am up for helping David organize things in NY. Clearly he is going to need help at other points on the Eastern seaboard.