Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette
	The Very Rev. John S. Brancho of St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church blesses the boats gathered around the Gateway Clipper Fleet boat along the Allegheny River for the annual Blessing of the Fleet yesterday. Several other clergy gave their blessing to the boats as well. Click photo for larger image.

Thirty skiffs, yachts and kayaks -- and as many geese -- floated in clusters along the Allegheny River at Point State Park yesterday afternoon awaiting the 13th annual Blessing of the Fleet.

From the roof deck of the Gateway Clipper Fleet's Keystone Belle, clergy from six local congregations offered prayers via loudspeaker for boaters and their crafts.

But this year's event, meant to draw attention to boating safety, did not end as planned with a flyover by a STAT MedEvac helicopter dropping a wreath into the water for those who lost their lives in the rivers.

Coast Guard Capt. George Boyle, the master of ceremonies, offered apologies to the hodgepodge congregation seated on houseboat lawn chairs and sprawled on the bows of ski boats in bikinis and swim trunks, explaining he would have to throw the wreath from the deck of the Keystone Belle.

New Federal Aviation Administration regulations prevent a helicopter from opening a door midair and tossing something to the ground, said Capt. Boyle.

After six clergy members blessed the boats and the wreath, Capt. Boyle turned to the holy men and women and asked their advice: "How do I throw it?"

"Like a Frisbee," they yelled back. "Yeah, fling it like a Frisbee."

The 76-year-old captain asked the assembled boaters to "offer your own private prayers for those who have lost their lives in the water in years past and pray that no one will lose their lives in 2007."

In the short ceremony, the Rev. James R. Bedillion of St. Mary of Mercy Church, Downtown, recounted the story of Jesus weathering a violent storm at sea. When his disciples woke him from slumber, he told them faith would pull them through.

"Bless these boats, their equipment and all who use them," he read from a 1989 book of blessings published by the Conference of Catholic Bishops. "Protect them from the dangers of wind and rain and all the perils of the deep. May Christ, who calmed the storm and filled the nets of his disciples, bring us all to the harbor of light and peace."

Other celebrants included Rabbi Stanley Savage of the Orthodox Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob Congregation in Uptown; the Rev. Audrey Frank, an Assembly of God chaplain who works in nursing homes; the Rev. Thomas Funk of Calvary United Methodist Church on the North Side; chaplain William Kind of the Shrine Mariner Yacht Club; and the Rev. John S. Brancho of St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, who came out on the day of his congregation's patron saint.

Capt. Boyle read a proclamation signed by Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl honoring this as Safe Boating Week and recognizing the 36th anniversary of the U.S. Boat Safety Act. The mayor's proclamation mentioned that 70 percent of boating fatalities in 2004 involved victims who had not been trained in boat safety and 90 percent of those victims were not wearing life jackets.

The captain and three other Coast Guard officers on board the Keystone Belle said all boaters should take a training course, observe fire regulations and follow a few basic rules: Don't drive drunk, wear a life jacket, look before you turn and be considerate to others.