Ocean Havens, The Impossible Dream & Shake-A-Leg

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to Food for Thought withBilly and Jenny, brought to you by
the Box Center. For more thanfifteen years, this dining duo has been
eating their way through New England,mixing it up with top chefs, jumping
behind the line of the hottest restlanceand giving you the inside scoop on where
to wine, dine and spend yourtime. So get ready, it's Food
for Thought giving you something to chewon. Hey, everybody, welcome into

(00:23):
Food for Thought. Billy Costa here. Thank you so much for tuning in.
Aga keep meaning to ask you howmany years have we done Food for
Thought now? Oh my god,I think it's been about five years.
There's no way it's been five years. It really has, I swear really
Yeah. Time flies? Wow,So we should be having like an anniversary
party. We probably should. Wow. Anyway, thank you so much for

(00:44):
tuning in over the five years.Jenny's get the week off. We have
to do a show together. Wehaven't done that a long time, I
really do. We got to bringJenny back in here since the pandemic.
Jenny has done it from home right, yeah she has. Wow, and
I come in every single week anddo the show. I'm just saying anyway,
thanks again for listening over the fiveyears. If you know me at

(01:07):
all, you know my absolute passionis voting. That's my thing. A
lot of guys love to golf.Me. I don't golf at all.
I vote. Imagine if you couldgolf and vote, that's a lot of
spare time, you know, alot of time on your hands. So
I choose voting. So I happento keep my boat at Charlestown Marina.
And Charlestown Marina is a part ofa company called Ocean Havens. And Ocean

(01:32):
Havens owns several marinas all over BostonHarbor, the East Boston Side, the
Boston Side, as well as Charlestown, And it so happens. A dear
friend of mine is a Legassi who'sin studio right now and as a part
of Ocean Havens well a co owneror owner. I thank you for having
me. This is your first timein the iHeart studio. Yes it is,

(01:53):
and it's beautiful here, it reallyis. It's like one hundred and
fifty thousand square feet and nobody here. It's fascinating, isn't it It is?
Yes, But I'm beautiful so excitingto see all the photos on the
walls and all the great people you'veinterviewed over the years. It's amazing.
Oh yeah, the memories and theposters from kiss concerts and jingle balls are

(02:14):
gone by. Anyway, I wantedto have an in because A. I
keep my boat at beautiful Charlestown Marina, and I was down there recently for
a special ceremony because you and yourlovely husband Chuck were awarded best marina in
the country. That's true. Now, how did that happen? Yeah,

(02:35):
So you know a little bit abouta background here, Bill. You know
us, We've grew up, grewup in Newburyport. We love voting,
so it's Chucks and my passion,much like yours. We've had many different
businesses in our career, but wekeep going back to boating and a well.
Two thousand and seven we saw someopportunities in Boston Harbor and we bought

(02:58):
one marina out of bankruptcy bust YachtHaven used to be. Oh yeah,
Boston Yacht Haven was your first inthe harbor? Yes, oh, I
thought Charlestown was. Now the secondwas Charlestown Marina, and that was a
mess. Also it was actually closeddown by the DP in the Attorney General's
office. So we saw this greatopportunity rebuild this marina. Now fast forward,

(03:20):
we opened, We started the constructionin twenty fifteen, and this past
year we were happy to receive thisincredible award. It's a national award for
best large marina in the United States, meaning Lodge. We have three hundred
and seventy one slips at Charlestown Marinaon two piers, Pier six and Pier
just Charlestown alone, three hundred seventyone slips. Yes, wow, most

(03:45):
of them seasonal. I'm guessing someof them what they call trenchant and the
right. That's a lousy word,don't you think. Yeah, we have
trench and slips available. They shouldcome up with another word for them.
Through visiting guests, we should say, right, you go, you know
what you and Chuck should come upwith that. Just change the whole boating
world now it's visiting guests. Rightto your point about that, eighty percent

(04:09):
of our customers are local, thepeople like you, Bill, who live
in Great of Boston. They lovevoting, they love Boston Harbor, they
love the proximity of Boston Harbor.From there you can go north to Maine
or south to the Cape, orvisit the Boston Harbor Islands, which a
fabulous voting areas. Peattown is astraight shot out of Boston. Absolutely,

(04:30):
that's weird because Pete Town is basicallya straight shot from anywhere when you think
of it, right, I usedto be in Salem, I was in
Newburyport. You're in Gloucester, straightshot to Pete Town. And you folks
run that marina as well. Yes, yes, so we actually have seven
marinas now that Ocean Haven owns andmanages Provincetown. That two came on in
about twenty fifteen. Great great marina, Great fun town. Didn't you just

(04:56):
spend the weekend in Pete Town?I did with my college friends. Did
that go a blast? Please everybodygo to Provencetown and please go to Drag
Queen karaoke at the Bradfit, becausethere's nothing more fun in life than doing
that. I walked by two orthree times. I kept saying, honey,
we gotta go, We gotta makeplans to go. Every time I
go to pe Town. It seemswe've gotten better. Uh, you know,

(05:17):
there's just a really nice energy there. It's it's terrific, but just
the natural environment. We took thetender over to raise points. Seeing the
seals in the harbor just absolutely beautiful. And there's something about the sky we'll
see the color. It's just magical. And I've got to give shutouts to

(05:40):
a couple of restaurants. I mean, this is food for thought, right
aj Aj the executive producer. SoRoss Grill we love. Every time we
go to pe Town, we goto Ross Grill. We did that and
we also found this place we weren'texpecting to find. Oh my god,
what was it called. Now,it's kind of an outdoor patio where they

(06:02):
don't serve food, but there's likea little market place where different types of
food you can grab and go andsit on the patio and the view is
magnificent. As it called the rawBar or something along those lines. And
by the way, they make greatcocktails there and it's a great place to
stop on your way to dinner somewhereelse or something. I think it's the

(06:23):
Raw Bar if I'm not mistaken,But anyway, it's right where there's another
indoor market where they have all kindsof grab and goal food places. Anyway,
Pete Town is awesome. Now,I know you're about to launch or
publicly announce a new acquisition, andthis is a big deal because this,
I believe will be your first inMaine. So we're going to take a

(06:46):
break. But right after the breakagain, we're talking with Anne Legassy and
we're also going to get Harry onthe phones. Now I met Harry a
few weeks ago. There's a catamarancalled The Impossible Dream, and you and
your husband Chuck are involved with thatas well. Exactly yes, and describe
it in a sentence. Yeah.So it's accessible sale vote that comes up

(07:10):
the East Coast every year, andwhen they heard about Childstown Marina, because
we're one hundred accessible marina, weinvited them to come to our marina.
All Right, we're gonna break itdown, we're gonna talk about it.
We're actual, we're gonna talk withHarry, who's currently on a tour of
the East Coast with the catamaran TheImpossible Dream. We'll take a break.
It is Food for Thought. I'mBilly Costa and we'll be right back.
You're listening to Food for Thought.Brassy. You buy the Box Center and

(07:33):
Salem Waterfront Hotel and suits. Hey, folks, welcome back. It is
food for thought, and we'll focuson to some degree on food this week.
But like I said at the topof the show, my absolute passion
in life is voting, and everyso often, if you don't mind,
you can indulge me. Okay,on the show, we're talking with a

(07:54):
legassy sheen or a husband Chuck ordear friends of mine, and they operate,
I would argue, one of thebiggest marina companies in the country right
probably now definitely family owned marina company. Yes, yeah, so you've got
seven marinas in all, and they'reearlier in the show, you alluded quickly
to Yacht Haven In, which wasyour first acquisition in the Boston marina world,

(08:15):
and my wife Michelle and I gotmarried there and I still have some
questions now. I know you don'tdo a lot of events over there at
yataen In. It's one of thecoolest well, it's our absolute happy place.
We were there the other day forcoffee, by the way. But
you do events, but only tosome degree. How does that all work?
Yes, yeah, we're limited becausewe're on a residential pier, so

(08:37):
we're limited in terms of what wecan do there, but there are some
opportunities, so please reach out toour general manager Jack. You would definitely
like to speak to you. Soit is a very special place. It's
a ten room in one hundred slipMarina right in the North End. So
we like to say we're in thebest part of little Italy. Yeah,

(08:58):
and it's you know, there's onehundred restaurants up the streets, so we
do not have a restaurant nor liquallicense, but you're a block away from
Hanover Street and you've got a beautifullounge down said, Well, what we
did for the wedding ag is webooked the whole inn, so we got
all ten rooms and everybody who wasstaying in the end that was the wedding.
Like you're not inviting anybody else who'snot staying at the end, and

(09:18):
it makes for such a really cooland intimate event. Anyway, there's that
on Yacht haven In. We werethere the other day. We brought the
inflatable over. We went to lunchin the North End, booming but a
boom and back home. So that'sYacht haven In. You recently acquired the
Boston shipyard over on the East Bostonside. Funny thing about East Boston side

(09:39):
of Boston Harbor. For years andyears, boaters, myself included, have
dreamt about the East Boston side ofthe Harbor being developed because it really is
a magnificent view of the city ofBoston. And now it is fully developed
with condo towers and apartment complexes andyeah, Boston Shipyard and a marina there

(10:01):
now, yes, yep, yep. So we took that property over about
four years ago. It is amass port property, so we're a tenant
to Massport. But the site isamazing, very historic. We have one
hundred and fifty slip marina. Butin addition to that, we have a
shipyard, so we have what's calleda designated port area. We do a

(10:22):
lot of boat repairs. We havea steel fabricator that builds docks, you
know, Boston pilots as our tenant, so you know, the the our
future plans, and we do havefuture plans with the shipyard, is to
continue with this marine industrial uses.As you know, there's a lot of
water transportation on Boston Hayber now,so we have to maintain those ships.

(10:46):
And as we all know, thebig talk on the town is the wind
farms. So we have one ofthe world's largest wind farm construction company on
that site with the US headquarters andactually building the wind farms there, engineering
the engineering offices. So yes,so it's pretty exciting. Little East Boston
has a world headquarters for wind farmin our ship yard. So you're just

(11:09):
going to continue developing over on thatside because it's a huge property. It's
yes, it's thirty acres of landand twenty five acres of water. Sheet.
Well, you recently hosted a freemovie night for families, which I
was, Yeah, happy enough tobe there. What a great event.
Yeah, terrific, So we clearlywant to work with the East Boston community.
We have an event we call CinnaMarina and it was terrific and we

(11:33):
were able to get Super Mario Brothersthis year, which was big hit for
the community. I got to seeSuper Mario Brothers. Yeah, well,
not them, I saw the movie. Oh yeah. And then we do
kids in voting day because we knowa lot of families don't really know what's
going on in the shipyard or maybedon't have the advantage to get on a
boat. So we work with ourtenants and massport fire and water taxis and

(11:56):
kids come down, climb on boats, try to figure out what this is
all about. The kids love it, and I think the parents love it
just as much. Well, somethingelse you folks do. And by the
way, your staff is amazing nomatter where you go. I go over
to Dave and it's just an amazingstaff. But something else you do is
it Occasionally you'll have the coast Guardcome in for legitimate voters and you know,

(12:18):
evaluate their boats and kind of geton board and check them out right
exactly. We're all about safe votingand green voting too. That's one of
our big initiatives and all our marinas, you know, we all want to
protect our ocean and so we're verymuch into, you know, environmental practices.
One big exciting new project we hadthis year which took off is recycled

(12:41):
shrink wrap. I mean, Imean sound crazy, but when you look
at shipyard or a boat storage,it's all covered with this white, heavy
plastic. We found this vendor outof the new Port Boat Show who said
we can recycle all your shrink wraps. So now we provide that service for
all our customers who store their boatswith us. The fifteen dollars who can
buy a bag that shrink rab getsshipped back to this newport company and they'll

(13:03):
recycle that plastic. You're kidding me, and I might be keeping my boat
in the water and which means I'mgoing to have to wrap it. Wow,
that's a great thing. Yeah,it's it's a great program. I
mean, it just took off.I'd say all of our customers who shrink
wrap their boat used it because Ait's only fifteen dollars a bag, but
B they know they're doing the rightthing for the environment. That's awesome,
guys. You guys are always thinking. Okay, so before we went to

(13:26):
the last break, we're talking aboutyour new acquisition in Maine. So you
and Chuck and Ocean Haven's now aregoing to be opening a brand new marina
in Portland, Maine, which isa beautiful ports city. Yes it is,
and it's actually already opened. We'retaking over the ownership of the marina.
It's called Fort Point Marina. It'sa beautiful marina that was completed in
twenty twenty. It's quite large.It has one hundred and fifty slips in

(13:52):
addition to the one fifty slips.They have six mega yacht slips too,
So there's a notion here to attractthe big guys who are sailing in the
New England coast to come to Maineand build it, and they will come,
the big guys. So you're talkingabout like the four hundred footers and
everything. Yes, we can takea boat up to five hundred feet there
and I believe I'm sorry, didyou say five hundred feet? Yes,

(14:16):
Well, there's a big guy atCharles Town Arena now, the Saint Nicholas.
Am I allowed to say that youcan? He just left, But
that's okay, that's fine. Everybodycan see it, and everybody google's who
owns that boat. Yeah, there'skind of an up and down to the
big guys. It's gorgeous to see, but then you lose your view,
right right. That's okay because theview of the four and five yachts and
the curiosity you want to see what'sgoing on. It's absolutely kind of cool.

(14:39):
So Portland, Maine, and it'sgoing to be called Fort point four
points and it's if you look atdowntown Portland all are you familiar. We're
a little east of the cruise shipterminals, so it's walking distance to all
the downtown restaurants, the pubs,the hotels, the shopping. I mean,
you're a foody guy, you know, Portland's an incredible foody tow.

(15:00):
No, we've shot our TV dinershow prior to that might. No,
we've shot my TV diner show andcurrently we've shot Dining Playbook in Portland several
times. It is a major restauranttown and a beautiful port city. So
isn't there a grand opening or something? Yeah, So we're planning a rendezvous
for all of our customers, ourOcean Haven customers who can come up to
Portland in the weekend of the Augusttwenty fourth, twenty fifth, twenty six.

(15:24):
We're giving deep, deep discount ondockage in fuel. We want people
to come discover main if they haven'tdone that yet. We're going to start
the weekend with a pub crawl throughdowntown Portland. Great watering holes in Portland,
that's what I hear. Yeah,have you been to Portland. I
haven't, but I've heard it's agreat spot. Oh my god. Yeah.
And by the way, even ifyou're not, if you're driving,

(15:46):
it's it's a lot shorter than peoplerealize. You're there within ninety minutes of
Boston, Portland, Maine. Andyeah, restaurants, bars, places to
hang scenery and by the way,if they want to go up there for
the grand opening, a lot ofgreat hotels, great hotels. We actually
have some customers coming up staying inhotels, not on their boats. Oh

(16:06):
yeah, I was thinking of drivingup because for a weekend from it's a
long cruise right right, unless Ihad like a long weekend or something.
It's definitely Bill considerate. We havea list of hotels that we're working with
and uh yeah, so we're gonnahave it, and then we're gonna have
live entertainment and food on Saturday nightand there's some activities planned and I'll in

(16:27):
a great raffle, like you know, we're all about great God. Yeah,
and before we go to break andget Harry on the phone the wheel
spinning, are you guys already planningsomething beyond Portland. We're always looking at
great opportunities, and like you werevoters, we like, we know some
great locations that we're not into yet. Got to keep it under and the

(16:53):
raps right now, Bill, Butyeah, we're always looking at great opportunity.
I thought I was going to getbreaking news. AJ was standing by.
We have a breaking news sound bed, and I thought I was ready.
She had her fringer on the button. Okay, we have to take
a break, but this is verycool. Again. Recently I got to
meet Harry. I got to geton board this incredible vessel. It's a
giant catamaran, custom built, barrierfree for a handicap people of all types,

(17:21):
and they cannot only go on acruise on this boat, but they
learn a lot too. Right now, absolutely, Harry will talk about it,
but this is a life changing experiencewhen people get on this vessel and
working with Spalding Rehab has been anincredible partnership. And that's why it's just
amazing. You know that we havenewly diagnosed folks who have spinal cord injuries.

(17:42):
Okay, get to go sailing.And as it happens, Harry's going
to be on the phone from Portland, Maine. Who knew we'll take a
break. We'll be right back.You're listening to Food for Thought, brought
to you by the Box Center andSailing Waterfront Hotel and Sweets. Hey,
folks, welcome back to Food forThought, Billy Costa here and again,
and Legacy is my in studio guestOcean Haven's. They own and operate several

(18:03):
marinas in and around Boston. Harborjust opened a brand new one in Portland,
Maine. They also own and operatethe marina in pe Town, which
I was just at and again itwas fabulous. And now we want to
welcome into the conversation Harry Hogan andHarry I believe you're calling in from Portland,
Maine. I am well, Harry, welcome to Food for Thought.

(18:26):
And I had the privilege of meetingyou, I think two or three weeks
ago. You had the catamaran ImpossibleDream in port here in Boston at Charlestown
Marina. What an incredible vessel andit was custom designed just for handicap people,
right, Harry. Yes, MikeBrown, who was a paraplegic,

(18:48):
wanted a boat that he could sailaround the world, and he wanted to
be able to do it independently.And he and his team did him an
amazing job with design of it andwhere, and when we signed the deal
over which Deborah Mellon was orchestrated,he had tears come to his eyes and

(19:12):
we said, Mike, what's what'sup, and he goes, well,
I'm really proud it's going to goto an organization that's going to put a
lot of people with disabilities out onthe water. So we're excited to be
the carrying the spirit of the ImpossibleDream forward. Uh. And you're actually

(19:33):
in the middle of an East Coasttour. I know I mentioned you were
in Charlestown, and now is theImpossible Dream in Portland, Maine. Yes,
we're we're in Portland right now andwe just had We've had several groups
that we've taken out from here andwhich which universal is the the the emotions

(20:00):
that a person experience is from likehow do I get on a boat and
you know, am I going toget eaten by a shark? And too
when they come back with smiles ontheir face, and how do I do
this again? And you know,just it's like therapy, you know,
getting out on the water, andthe water we believe has healing qualities.

(20:23):
Well, we got to take abreak, Harry, but I can't wait
to hear more about not only thetour that's currently going on, but the
foundation Shake a Lake Foundation, becauseI know you're out of Miami. You've
got so many things. That's whyI wanted to have you on the show.
We started talking a few weeks agoin Charlestown. I'm like, I
can't believe you're doing all this anyway, we have to take a break,
but Harry, stand by and we'llget right back to you. It's Food

(20:45):
for Thought. I'm Billy Costa andLegassi is in studio and we'll be right
back. You're listening to Food forThought, brought to you by the Box
Center and Sailing Waterfront Hotel and Sweets. Hey, folks, welcome back to
Food for Thought again. Billy Costahere, Legassy from Ocean Haven's is my
special in studio guest, and we'vegot Harry Hogan from Shaker leg Foundation on

(21:07):
the phone from Portland. We're talkingabout this incredible catamaran that is in the
middle right now of an East Coasttour situated right now in Portland where they
take handicap people of all tights outon the high seas on a beautiful boat.
Where did where did the tour actuallystart? Harry? It started in

(21:27):
Miami this year. It started inMiami and it will go up to really
Portland and we'll be going around alittle here and then we head back.
And this year we were delayed alittle bit because we had a complete makeover
of the boat done New Sales fromNorth Sales and had it painted and new

(21:52):
centerboard. So we feel that shelooks good and she's fast. And this
year we're entering the Ida Louis DistanceRace, which is a race from Newport
to mont Talk to Martha's Vineyard andback to Newport. It's about a twenty
four hour course. That's a beautifulcourse. Wow, I'm dying to get

(22:15):
to Monk. Yeah. So whendoes that happen there? That happens on
the eighteenth and the nineteenth of August, and so we're what we're excited about
is that we're participating in event witheveryone else and we feel we're equal because
we have a boat that's fully accessibleand hopefully will be fast. Well who's

(22:42):
your competition? Do you know whothe competition is? All? Right?
Yeah, well ourselves. So thisis the first year they're putting in academy
and peror request we approached them andthat's where I first learned to sail.

(23:02):
I'm from Newport and at twelve yearsold, I learned to sail there,
so coming back now with the impossibledream and they were very supportive of the
race committee and our goal is towork together to get more multi holes in

(23:22):
the event next year. Sure,getting back to the tour itself and away
from the race for a moment,how do you go about choosing the people
who can actually you know, thehandicap folks who can actually get on board
and take a cruise around the harbors? How does that happen? Because I'm
sure a lot of people listening maywant to get involved with it. Sure,

(23:47):
Well, what we've done. We'vebeen doing this for nine years now
and we've established relationships with leading hospitalsand organizations up and down the coast.
And an example of how this happens. We wanted to come to Boston and
a woman, Pamela, who isa paraplegic and is involved with sci Boston.

(24:15):
We were looking for a place andshe said, oh, you've got
to stay at Charles Hallmarina And wegot on the phone with Anne and she
was just so excited and supportive,and so we've been going there and then
the relationship that we built with Spauldinghas been great. And then we also

(24:37):
work with Franciscan's Children's Hospital sei Bostonand others and then each so we developed
these relationships with some of the toprehabs in the country down and we're from
here, we'll go down to NewYork and out of New York will take

(25:02):
out people from Keshler Rehab and fromthere we'll go down to Baltimore and Kennedy
Krieger Rehab take people out, andthen we'll go down to North Fork or
Annapolis North Fork until we make itto Miami. But anyone that wants to

(25:23):
get on board, any person withthe disability and their family that want to
join us for an outing, theycan go to our website, which is
the Impossible Dream dot org. Wow. Typically, how many people on a
single cruise we between twelve and fifteenpeople, depending on the number of wheelchairs

(25:49):
on board. And when they're onboard, they also get to participate in
the actual sailing of the craft,right, Yeah, and that's especially for
the kid Yeah, asking them dothey want to drive the boat? And
there's a little pause, but thenthe smile pops up and they get behind

(26:10):
the wheel and now they're driving thisboat and the adults too, So it's
really rewarding for us to see thistransformation take place. Well, I gotta
tell you, Harry, long beforeI had the privilege of getting on board
recently for a cocktail reception and hadintroduced me to The Impossible Dream and off

(26:33):
and on, I've seen the boatcome in and people getting on and off,
and I've just so been impressed.But you know, we're going to
take a break. But on theother side of the break, Harry,
I'm sure programs like yours, theShak a Leg Foundation and everything that's going
on with the Impossible Dream, I'mguessing you need fundraising off and on or
constantly, because it doesn't sound likean inexpensive operation what you're doing. So

(26:56):
we're going to take a break,and when we come back, I want
to get an idea as to whatpeople out there who might be listening might
be able to do to give intothis program and get involved with this program
and or Shake a Leg Foundation.So we're going to take a break,
but we'll keep the conversation going.Billy cost to here, I've got an
the Gassy in studio and Harry isstanding by in beautiful Portland, Maine.

(27:18):
We'll take a break. We'll beright back. You're listening to Food for
Thought brought to you buy the BoxCenter and Sailing Waterfront Hotel and sweets.
Hey, folks, welcome back.It is Food for Thought, just a
fascinating conversation we're having and the legassiesand studio from Motion Haven's. I've got
Harry Hogan on the phone in Portland, Maine that he's currently on an East
coast tour with this incredible sailing vessel, the Impossible Dream, which is custom

(27:44):
built specifically for handicapped folks. Howare you still there? Right, I'm
still here now and off the air. A couple of minutes ago you struck
up a conversation with me about thepeople on board and how they all get
to share each other's store, rightHarry. You know, fortunately, Harry
has had me out on the boata number of times, and I am

(28:04):
just so impressed with the camaraderie ofthe folks, whether it be the actual
people in a wheelchair, or theirparents, or their their husbands or wives
or friends. I think they allobviously they all leave there with such an
incredible positive experience, Harry, Butjust talk about, you know, the
conversations they have, like what's thebest wheelchair, how do you do this?

(28:27):
Or so this this community that oftentimesprobably doesn't get together, has such
a very positive experience on the sailboat. Yeah, there's and what's interesting sailing
out of your place and it's soaccessible. So number one, we can

(28:48):
easily get people down on the dockand out on the boat, so that
relieves a lot of stress. Andso now being on the boat, there's
a magic about being on the boat, being on the front of a catamaran,
feeling the wind in your face,and to see the parents just smiling
and saying, especially with the kids, I haven't seen my child smile like

(29:12):
this before. And we all focuson the folks with disabilities, but what
we're really learning too is the parentsreally are in need too. They're living
with the ability. So getting themas a as a family out on the
boat, they start talking with eachother and believing more can happen. And

(29:37):
then it becomes a support network andyou've got parents talking to parents and kids
and adults talking with each other andwe brainstorm and that that's how we've grown
with this. It's been very organicand Boston has become a source of inspiration

(29:59):
to us. And what Anne andChuck had done with their marinas and how
friendly they are and how welcoming everyonein Boston is. So we feel proud
and we, I hope, areable to articulate the feelings that all these

(30:21):
people have on the boat. Harry. It was also cool to see you
doct in Charlestowne, which is inclear view of Spaulding Rehab, which is
one of the best in the world. I mean, I was so excited.
I'm standing there having a glass ofwine with Anne and suddenly the president
of Spaulding Rehab came up and saidhello to me, and I'm like,
oh my god, this is thebiggest celebrity in Boston right now. So

(30:44):
it's always a cool group of people. And I know you share each other's
stories, And would you mind,Harry, telling me the nature of your
injury and what your story's been like, Sure, I just graduated from Providence
College in nineteen ninety and then Ihad a car accident and ended up paralyzed

(31:10):
and life changed in a moment.And there's the physical paralysis you go through,
but then there's the emotional paralysis likeI can't do this, I'm such
a loser, and all of thatbut I was fortunate I had a family.
I have a family that was verysupportive and encouraging. My brother Pah

(31:30):
Horgan was on the PGA tour andso he always pushed, you know,
don't give up. Harry and Iwent out to Colorado to have rehab and
I wanted to leave walking in laidbraces, and that wasn't happening, and
so again I was feeling way down. But I also had a goal of

(31:53):
going skiing, and I went skiingand I was transformed. I just I
forgot I was disabled, and beforeyou know it, I'm going to this
other rehab and drafted up a planto create a summer program for people with

(32:14):
disabilities, and then a boat builder, Rick Pierson from Tillotson Pierson said,
I'll build a handicap accessible boat,you develop the program, and we did
that with the State of Rhode Island, the d EM and it was put
at Fort Adams State Park with Salenew Court, and we launched a boat,

(32:37):
but we launched more a movement thatanything's possible when you get people working
together and the water has these qualitiesthat you can't get elsewhere, or just
nature participating in nature can be transformative. And then I had got a call

(33:00):
from doctor Green in Miami to say, I'm embarrassed, I have people from
Miami going up to Rhode Island togo sailing. Can you start a program
here? And we did that andso for the past thirty years we've developed
it into We converted an old USCoast Guard seiling base into a community boating

(33:23):
center. We just had three hundredkids a day on site during summer camp,
and we serve veterans and a wholevariety of people. And it's that
family unit that keeps coming back.And then Deborah Mellon, Deborah who's a
paraplegic and volunteering with us for years, and it was after her accident that

(33:46):
she found sailing as a way toempower her and she had she wanted to
do something, and you know mostpeople buy a little boat. She went
and got a sixty foot catamaran andit's we really didn't even know what we're
gonna do, and we've gone upthe coast with it. Our first year,

(34:07):
we took out President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara,
and for him, he had hisbiggest smile on his face. Well,
he loved the water or loved thewater. Yeah. Wow, what
an incredible life you've you've led,Harry, when you really think about,
I gotta go back to this PGAthing. Now, wait a minute,

(34:30):
huh Now, Harry Hogan, areyou telling me that you're in the famous
golfing family Hogans No, Horganska.It was pH pH Horgan. Yeah,
and he was he's no longer onit. He was there and they went

(34:51):
to the Senior tour and and sincehis heart his shoulder, as pH would
say that golf is the ultimate capitalistsport because you don't make the dough,
you're out, so it doesn't matterif you're wounded or injured. You know,
I know you operate basically out ofMiami, and you're running a lot

(35:14):
of programs down there as well.Right, Yes, where we operate on
year long, like summer is summercamps. We go into the fall,
and we have school programs and we'rejust launching a new locational program. We've
got an appropriation from State of Floridaand we're going to train young adults with

(35:36):
disabilities and wounded veterans on how towork in a marina setting, repairing boats
and building boats. Wow. Justthink of that. Folks, if you're
listening and you think you're having atough day, okay, or you don't
feel like going to work, here'sHarry Okay in a wheelchair, incredibly bad
accident and what a life you've turnedout, Harry. It's just it's an

(36:00):
amazing story. You know, Ican't keep up with you. It's interesting
because you know, we had tofind a time when we could talk to
Harry on the phone because he's constantlyon the go again, is there a
website that people can go to Harry? Yep, there's the Impossible Dream dot
org. You know all one,you know one word, and then there's

(36:23):
also shake a Leg Miami dot org. You can wears sister organizations and if
there's anyone out there that wants toget out on the water that has a
disability or a family member with thedisability, we'd love to have them get
involved. And when it gets coldup in Boston during the winter, come

(36:47):
on down to Miami. We havea fully accessible facility, we have scholarships
for those in needs, and wewant to get everyone on the water with
disability. SA we can and quickly. You have a YouTube channel, Yeah,
yeah, I don't know that.That's okay. I didn't want to

(37:09):
put you on the spot. Butsomething else you have is a YouTube channel
so people can reach out and tryto find it on their own. But
Harry, we're gonna let you go. Okay, thank you so much,
and good luck on the rest ofthe tour and on the race. Yes,
thank you. Well, we'll keepyou up to date, Billy and
look forward to seeing you on thewater again real soon. You got it.

(37:30):
Thanks a lot, Harry, goodluck, bye bye, Okay,
thank you, all right, thankyou. Anne. All right, and
we're gonna take a break and we'regonna wrap it up with and Legassi.
We'll take a break right now andwe'll be right back. You're listening to
Food for Thought. Brocks you buythe Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel and
sweets. Hey, folks, welcomeback to Food for Thought. Billy cost
here and Legassy is still in studiowith me, and we would be remiss

(37:52):
if we didn't didn't talk about theHarbor, but more specifically, this is
Food for Thought. There are somany awesome restaurants scattered all over Boston Harbor.
You couldn't be operating out of abetter place. Absolutely Billy, and
you know what I don't know.Most people may not know this, but
there's actually a free water shuttle runby the Navy Hospitality Group which connects Pier

(38:15):
six restaurant to the ship, tothe real house in East Boston and now
the real house in the seaports.So it's a fabulous way to get around.
You know, you can start itany of one of those points and
get boat over to a great restaurant. And it's funny you mentioned that,
because you're right, a lot ofpeople don't realize that exists, Like AJ's
the executive producer. I bet youdidn't realize. I had no idea you

(38:36):
could get down to Boston Harbor andwater taxis take you anywhere you want to
go. At one time a fewyears back, we did a restaurant crawl.
They were about six or eight ofus. Dylan, our program director,
came with his wife Ally, andit was awesome, like we'd agree
that we're going to pull up toa spot, quick appetizer and a drink
or a beer, and then upwe go. We go to the next

(38:59):
place. We had a ball.We had a ball. In fact,
my son Chris got married last weekendto his wife now my daughter in law,
Hannah, and we started at thebrand new meet up. By the
way, breaking news, there's abrand new meta a chef William Douglas opened
up. He's got one in sevenYeah, he's got one in the South
End, he's got one in Newtonand now he's right on Boston Harbor on

(39:22):
the East Boston side. And sothere's that obviously Real House East Boston,
which is a fabulous restaurant. Oneof the best outdoor bars in the country.
Absolutely, and don't forget Real HouseOyster bar. But people should know
this, it's not just oysters.They have the best pizza there. I
keep hearing that. It's phenomenal.You can get a pizza in a salad

(39:45):
and a beer, so it's nota pricey you know, white tablecloth restaurant
is just so cool. But becauseof it, it is so busy,
so they do take reservations, sokeep that into it. And don't forget
Pier six, which is Pier There'sPier six where the restaurant is and you're
and then there's Pier eight, whichis also your marina. But Pier six
one of the best outdoor resolutely andthe best pain killer you'll ever have outside

(40:07):
of Saint John and one of thebest views of Boston Harbor that you can
imagine. And this is all rightthere on the harbor. I'd be remiss
if I didn't mention my friend ChristianCanty, who has Woods Hill Pier four
which was the famous Anthony's Pier fourspot and now it's a beautiful spot dining.

(40:29):
Her food is outstanding. But somany places. But you're right,
the real house Oyster Bar is fairlynew to the harbor on the seaport side,
right at Fan Pier, which youguys also operated, right, Yeah,
so you have fan Per Marina,which is terrific location. Again,
come down, there's a water taxi. There's a ferry that goes there.
So you don't need a boat,Billy, No, you don't, which

(40:51):
I thought of that before I gotanother boat. Money of free boating opportunities
are minimal money to get around.We have a really fun tenant. We
have a couple of really fun tenants. We have cycle boat at Charlestown,
which is a great way to cyclearound on the harbor. Yeah, we
have the electric boat and Indian waffMarine are down next to the aquarium.

(41:12):
Get on any of these boats withfriends at the cycle boat your cycle,
although I notice most people aren't.They're just drinking, which is fine.
There's they've got a captain and he'ssober. Yeah. Yeah. And then
the latest one out there, soyou're gotta come down and check it out.
It's called the Tiki Boat. Ohyeah. And they're a tenant out
of East Boss and we have twotiki boats, which are basically pontoon boats
floating around Boston. Yeah, it'snow. They're really fun. Hut.

(41:34):
That sounds so fun floating around andjust having cocktails and laughing and doing sing
alongs. And don't forget brand newto the harbor tail wind there until we're
new. You have a seaplane takeoff right out of the water and it'll
take you to several locations I know, New York, New York City,
Nantucket. Yes, wow, andgreat to have you in well. Great
to see you, Billy, dothis more often. Great and I'll see

(41:55):
you on the dock. We'll seeyou there. We gotta go, but
listen up. Next sixty minutes