KINGSTON – The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater launched America’s Environmental Flagship for its 55th sailing season this past weekend from its home port in Kingston.
The boat, modeled after the river sloop of generations ago, has a mission of Hudson River education, said co-Captain Rory Kane.
“Primarily what we do is education. We do station-based education so we will bring students on, and we will teach them about the Hudson River. We will go fishing with them. We have a trawl net that we will fish with. We divide them up in groups and teach them about the life, the things that live, the indigenous history of the Hudson River. We will teach them about navigation; we will let them actually steer the boats, and we will teach them a little of water chemistry or water sciences.”
The students of all ages love their voyage, Kane said.
“It kind of aligns with the original mission of the Clearwater which was to get people out on the river who have never the river from the perspective of sailing on it so that they can form a connection on it and realize it is worth protecting. So, I think doing that with kids is very exciting for them but really exciting for us, and I think it’s really important to get hits out on the river.”
During its sailing season, the Clearwater will navigate through the tidal waters from Albany to New York City.
“New York harbor is really fun to sail in. There is a lot of room down there and there is always a lot of breeze, so it’s nice.”
The sloop was the brainchild of the late Pete Seeger, world-renowned singer and environmentalist who lived in Beacon.
Kane had the pleasure of meeting him just once.
“I was demoing hull planks. We were replacing a section of the hull, so I had a mallet and a crowbar and I was out in February in 10 degree weather just chipping wood out of the bottom of the boat and he came onto the barge that the boat was up on with his orange hat on. He walked around and was just happy to see people working on the boat.”
Kane believes if Pete Seeger was here today, he would be pleased with the progress on the river.
“I think he would be pleased with how hard people worked to protect it. I think the cleanup of the river is an ongoing process. There is an endless amount of work to do, but I think he would be happy to see people living his ideal, which is just getting out and caring and doing something.”
The Clearwater sailing season runs through October.
