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The Ty Hellriegel Peregrine Foundation took to the seas with over 100 hundred kids in tow Thursday for a day of fishing and fun in memory of Ty Hellriegel.
The beloved Bay Shore native had lived aboard The Peregrine, a replica of a 16th century Spanish pirate ship that was “also an ever-evolving work of art,” according to a web page dedicated to Ty’s Reef.
They “were as inseparable as mast and sail,” reads a Newsday article.
Hellriegel was just 35 when he died in a boating accident in September 2001. His family decided to sink his beloved ship in the Great South Bay.
Today, the sunken ship is part of the mile-wide Fisherman’s Reef, which stretches from the Fire Island Lighthouse to the U.S. Coast Guard Station.
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That’s where the charter boat Dixie headed to Thursday from the Captree boat basin, packed with kids from Youth Enrichment Services. It was the 17th annual fishing trip, and the weather held out, with calm seas and a few bursts of sunshine.
Some kids caught as many as 5 to 10 fish. Many had never fished before.
“Ty’s spirit was definitely with us,” said Jennifer Cantin, the foundation’s founder.
Click here to follow the Ty Hellriegel Peregrine Foundation on Instagram. Here for Facebook.
Scroll down photos from the day.
