All Available Boats:
The Evacuation of Manhattan Island on September 11, 2001
The Untold Story of the Largest Maritime Evacuation Since Dunkirk

New York, NY – On September 11, 2001, thousands of innocent men and women found themselves trapped in lower Manhattan, with buildings falling all around them. They looked out onto the waters, and help was already on its way.

All Available Boats: The Evacuation of Manhattan Island on September 11, 2001 (Spencer Books; January 2003) tells the story of a little-known side of New York's heroic response to the tragic events of that fateful day: the maritime rescue effort.

“The message of All Available Boats is that people do care, people will help, and that there is more hope than hate in the world,” says Mike Magee, M.D., the book’s editor. “While we seek to forget the pain and sorrow of September 11th, we will never forget the everyday heroes who showed the world what America is all about."

All Available Boats brings us the first person accounts of the captains and port workers who worked together in an inspiring display of unity to evacuate nearly 300,000 people stranded on the island of Manhattan. It became the largest maritime evacuation since Dunkirk in World War II.

“People thought they were being bombed. My main concern was for the safety of the passengers and crew. But everyone did what they had to do.”
-- James Parese, Captain of the Staten Island Ferry, Samuel I. Newhouse

“My mind told me I needed to get home, so we just started walking with no clear destination. […] We walked all the way from downtown up to Penn Station and the Port Authority, but nothing was running. Then we noticed an officer talking into his police radio, and by the grace of God, we overheard him say: “The boats are moving.” […] There was one problem, I told Penny. “I don’t go on boats.”
-- Jacqi Gibbs, VP and Diversity Manager, JP Morgan Chase

Magee found inspiration for All Available Boats after visiting an exhibit, Harbor Voices and Images, at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City. All profits from the sale of the book will go to support educational programs at the museum.

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All Available Boats
Mike Magee, MD
Price: $19.97 U.S./$30.99 CAN
ISBN 1-889793-11-6