A 1976 River Rats crew Photo/courtesy Marc Edelman, Facebook
All’s cool with these little rats in the pool … or, more like down by the river! A reprise from 2018 in ode to the tradition of summer recreating on the river in the Rumson-Fair Haven area. It’s all about River Rats, one summer rite of passage in the area …
Summers in the Rumson-Fair Haven area are rife with river-oriented activities that have become tradition.
River Rats’ sailing “camp” is no exception. OK, nobody was camping. It was more like a little club. Still is.
It’s been a sort of rite-of-living-on-the-Navesink passage for decades — since 1955. Kids learn how to boat and do a lot of summer fun bonding in the process.
“When you die, that does not mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and the manner in which you live.” ~ Stuart Scott, ESPY Awards 2014.
“Jack was victorious — a true champion.” ~ Jack Forster’s family
Former longtime Fair Havenite, Jack Forster, more recently of of Ocean Township, “gained his wings” on Feb. 2, 2023 after “a courageous battle with cancer.” He was 91.
Just when you think the sun will shine on river days of spring in the Rumson-Fair Haven area, an inclement chill stifles that exhale of respite warmth.
The tease of sun drenching that’s meant to stay a while becomes a mere reminder of the rite-of-passage river time to come. The reminders bring the light back. They soothe a little. They give us the cue that the sun will eventually drown the chill. The river’s image always reminds us it’s there, the sun coming to sop up the Navesink’s shoreline, those clinging home’s comfort caught in the shadowy drench.
Yes, the chill took the breath out of that exhale tease. With another deep inhale, sunny days promise restore river time springtime warmth. They’re coming soon. Start the inhale. Take a look at the birth of spring on the Fair Haven riverfront.
Take it in along with the promise of warmer days ahead from the National Weather Service … (Click on one image to enlarge, scroll and enjoy! Ahhhhhh!)
It’s that longtime rat pack with which kids sail away the summer — River Rats.
Summers, since 1955, a group gathers at the end of Battin Road in Fair Haven to learn how to sail and bond. You’ve gotten a glimpse into those summer days down by the river with the good rats before.
This is yet another, more expansive shot.
It’s the Retro Pic of the Day circa 1970s; and it’s brought to us by RFH grad Marc Edelman.
A 1976 River Rats crew Photo/courtesy Marc Edelman, Facebook
Distanced sail, anyone? Some good little rats are taking to the river for a little camaraderie and sailing instruction these days. The pandemic hasn’t taken away the river, after all, and its rites of passage, like sailing.
Summers in the Rumson-Fair Haven area are rife with river-oriented activities that have become tradition. River Rats’ sailing “camp” in Fair Haven is no exception. OK, nobody was camping. It was more like a little club. Still is.
It’s been the way of growing up on the Navesink for decades — since 1955. Kids learn how to boat and do a lot of summer fun bonding in the process.
Summer is in full swing down by the river, heat waves, storms and all! And a big part of summering in the Rumson-Fair Haven area is all about hanging out down by the river — on the dock, on a little strip of sand, or sailing away with your River Rats.
A 1976 River Rats crew
Photo/courtesy Marc Edelman, Facebook
Call it a ratty reprise …
Summers in the Rumson-Fair Haven area are rife with river-oriented activities that have become tradition.
River Rats’ sailing “camp” is no exception. OK, nobody was camping per se. It was more like a little club. Still is. In fact, it’s that time of the year when kids start signing up for summer River Rats fun. In fact, it’s about that time to sign up for the Rats season.
It’s been a sort of rite of living on the Navesink passage for decades — since 1955. Kids learn how to boat and do a lot of summer fun bonding in the process.
The following Retro Pic of the Day, an annual ode to summer riverfront life in the area, was originally posted on Aug. 1, 2016. Take a look back with us again …
A 1976 River Rats crew Photo/courtesy Marc Edelman, Facebook
Summers in the Rumson-Fair Haven area are rife with river-oriented activities that have become tradition.
River Rats’ sailing “camp” is no exception. OK, nobody was camping. It was more like a little club. Still is.
It’s been a sort of rite of living on the Navesink passage for decades — since 1955. Kids learn how to boat and do a lot of summer fun bonding in the process.
Sometimes all you need is a little boat, a lot of heart and some solace in a river ride at sunset. That’s what it was all about for at least one lone kayaker on Monday night … and likely many before and after.
The sky was colorful and the scene was a serene one at the River Rats boat launch in Fair Haven. It’s a picture that countless native Rumson and Fair Havenites have been in. It’s worth more than a thousand words but needs very few.
Take a look and transport back to your last river ride …
A 1976 River Rats crew Photo/courtesy Marc Edelman, Facebook
With the recent death and impending memorial of former longtime Fair Havenite and River Rats purser, Warner White, thoughts turn back to some good old days of being a kid rat, so to speak, and hanging out down by the river.
It’s a rite of passage in the Rumson-Fair Haven area that kid life be rife with river-oriented activities.
River Rats was the king of that sort of thing — especially in the summertime. The little riverfront nook at the foot of Battin Road in Fair Haven was that special place where kids and boating-bonded buddies learned how to sail and navigate riverfront life with the sand between their toes and perpetual smiles on their faces. It was a unique little sailors’ club. Still is.
River Rats has been a Fair Haven institution since 1955.
It all started like this: “In October 1955 shortly after he moved from New York, Captain Walter Isbrandtsen wrote to a friend: ‘I have purchased a house in a small community on the New Jersey coast where I am gradually becoming active … in an organization known as Dads Incorporated … whose activities include a newly established program designed to take full advantage of a neighboring river …'”
Captain Isbrandtsen organized the family-oriented sailing group and became the first Skipper of River Rats, as it is written in the River Rats’ biographical history.
So, the Retro Pic(s) of the Day takes us back to the U.S.A. bicentennial year of 1976 and a bunch of young River Rats.
This crew is comprised mostly of RFH classmates who gathered by the boat launch at the end of Battin Road in Fair Haven to offer a glimpse of their day as a reminder of what growing up by the river is all about.
While being a River Rat was a staple of summer life for many a Rumson-Fair Haven area rugrat, there were still those who didn’t sail into waterborne activity success. Some, instead, capsized inside at the thought of a wave taking the wind out of their little sails.
But, staying away from the banks of the Navesink was never even a flicker of a thought in an area youngster’s brain.
There was so much to do there — like wading, watching, feeling the sand between the toes and, well, having a heart-to-heart gabfest with a friend while fetching and freeing sand crabs and munching on a big bag of Doritos … tucked into a festive picnic basket, of course.
Yup. That’s was the summer scene for some. And it was more than enough. Sometimes, between Dorito chomping, sand, wading and chatting, the sunset would seem to creep up and those kids would realize that the River Rats had come to shore and gone home.
The walk home with that picnic basket, an empty bag and that buddy was the exhale for the night. The dream was a simple, sweet, well-lived one.
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