Book excerpt: On the morning of September 11, 2001, as the World Trade Center tragedy unfolded, thousands of men and women on or near the waters of New York harbor converged to help in any way possible. Answering the U.S. Coast Guard's radio call for "all available boats," hundreds of vessels of all types raced across the Hudson and East Rivers and the Upper Bay of New York harbor. Over the course of the day, these boats would evacuate over 300,000 people from Manhattan, pump water from the harbor to feed hoses, bring in needed supplies, rescue people in the water, and carry firefighters, police, and medical and emergency service workers to Ground Zero. This is their story.