ALL ABOARD SOLARIS

PR Contact:
Kirsty Gaukel. Press & Marketing Manager, [email protected]

Solaris Inquiries:
​Erin Boss, Education Program Manager. [email protected]

  Hudson River Maritime Museum Announces 2024 Schedule
​for Solar-Powered Tour Boat, Solaris

KINGSTON, N.Y.  - The Hudson River Maritime Museum’s solar-powered tour boat, Solaris, returns with a splash for the 2024 season. After a winter break, the museum’s crew and docents are excited to bring passengers back for regularly-scheduled lighthouse tours and sightseeing cruises from mid-May through the end of October.

The season preview begins on May 11 with a full day of FREE cruises as part of the City of Kingston’s Earth Day Festival. Complimentary sightseeing cruises on Solaris will begin at 11am, and will continue on the hour, every hour with the last cruise sailing at 4p.m. Each cruise will last approximately 45-minutes. Admission to these cruises cannot be booked in advance; interested passengers can reserve on a first-come, first-served basis via a sign-up booth in the yard of the Museum day-of, beginning 30 minutes prior to each cruise.

Public, ticketed cruises begin on Saturday, May 18. Throughout the season, regularly-scheduled cruises will operate Thursday through Sunday from home port at the museum’s Kingston waterfront. Cruises depart at 1pm, 2:30pm, 4pm, 6pm, and 7:30pm daily, with an additional 10am cruise on Sunday mornings. For July and August, Wednesday cruises will be added to the schedule for additional opportunities to catch a ride.

The schedule includes daily trips to the historic Rondout Lighthouse, which stands on the breakwater jetty where the Rondout Creek meets the Hudson River. During lighthouse tours, passengers disembark and are led through the lighthouse by the museum’s knowledgeable crew and docents, culminating in unique 360-degree views from the observation deck at the top of the lighthouse. Other cruises include routes upcreek to explore historic wrecks along the Rondout’s banks and gentle sunset cruises on the Hudson River.

The 2024 season is also packed with exciting themed cruises. Each Thursday at 6pm, Solaris will welcome a local musical artist to regale guests with acoustic sets complemented by the ambiance of local waterways. One one Friday evening each month, Kingston Wine Co. will lead a relaxing tasting tour highlighting flavors of the Hudson Valley’s wineries and cideries. Deep-dive history tours throughout the season will be led by local experts Bill Merchant, Harv Hilowitz, and Justin Wexler covering topics ranging from Native American history to the history of the D&H Canal.

In addition to cruises departing from Kingston, Solaris will serve the Dutchess County side of the river in weekly trips departing from the Rhinecliff Landing Boat Launch, including Sunday afternoon Rondout Lighthouse tour offerings throughout the season, and Wednesday evening cruises in July and August.

Finally, Solaris will be making special trips downriver to Poughkeepsie from June 17-19 and July 1-3, and upriver to Hudson from July 8-10 to offer public cruises from these respective waterfronts. Stay tuned for more details!

Tickets for our regular season are now on sale at www.hrmm.org/all-boat-tours.html. Descriptions of cruise offerings are located on the same page below the calendar. Every Solaris ticket includes a free all-day pass to the museum.

For those seeking a more personalized tour experience, Solaris can be chartered for private groups. Pair an intimate reunion, family excursion, birthday or anniversary celebration with a peaceful cruise on the river. Guests are welcome to bring their own food and drink

Solaris Cruises 2024
Rondout Lighthouse Tour
Adults (13-61): $35
Seniors (62+): $30
Children (3-12): $25
Take a guided tour of the historic Rondout Lighthouse, accessible only by boat. Built in 1915, the lighthouse is one of only seven remaining on the Hudson River. Led by our experienced and knowledgeable tour guides and crew, passengers are ferried to the lighthouse aboard Solaris and disembark to explore the lighthouse's interior, a unique way to experience first-hand the lives of its keepers. The tour culminates in an optional climb to the top of the tower and onto the observation deck! Enjoy stunning views of the Hudson River, the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge and, on a clear day, the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse in the distance. 

Dual Lighthouse Cruise

Adults (13-61): $35
Seniors (62+): $30
Children (3-12): $25
Infants (0-2): Free

Experience stunning views of the Esopus Meadows and Rondout Lighthouses on the Hudson River during this popular two-hour cruise each Sunday morning! Marking the entrance to Rondout Creek (Kingston, NY), the Rondout Lighthouse is a beautiful yellow brick structure. Completed in 1915, it is still a working navigational light. Located off of Black Creek in the Town of Esopus, the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse warned mariners away from the "Esopus Meadows," a shallow marshy area that the lighthouse is named after. Finished in 1871, it is the only wooden lighthouse left on the Hudson River. These are two of the remaining seven lighthouses on the Hudson River. Each has a long history as a beacon of light for mariners and home to lighthouse keepers and their families.Please note: On this sightseeing cruise, Solaris does not stop at either lighthouse. To visit the interior of the Rondout Lighthouse, please register for the Rondout Lighthouse Tour.

Hudson River Sunset Cruise

Adults (13-61): $35
Seniors (62+): $30
Children (3-12): $25
Infants (0-2): Free
Cruise into the beautiful end-of-day sights and sounds on the Hudson River and feel free to bring your own beverage (alcohol included) to relax fully. Enjoy the stunning scenery of the Catskill Mountains as they loom over the shores of Kingston and Sojourner Truth State Park. This tour cruises north on the Hudson River, culminating with a spectacular view of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge as the sun sets on the horizon

Rondout Creek Sightseeing Cruise
Adults (13-61): $35
Seniors (62+): $30
Children (3-12): $25
Infants (0-2): Free

As we cruise up Rondout Creek, passengers explore the industrial history of the area and view historic structures including Island Dock, the Wurts Street suspension bridge, the Wilbur Train Bridge, and the remains of cement and bluestone industries. The trip culminates at the former Lock 1 of the Delaware and Hudson Canal by the Eddyville Bridge. Don't miss this opportunity to see this historic river port and canal terminus from the water!

Wrecked and Abandoned

Adults (13-61): $35
Seniors (62+): $30
Children (3-12): $25
Infants (0-2): Free

For most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the village of Rondout boomed with barges, passenger steamboats, tugboats, and shipbuilding yards. Even during World War II, military vessels were built on Rondout Creek and sent off to war. Today, the Rondout Creek dominated by personal pleasure craft is almost unrecognizable from the industrial hub of the past, but the wrecked and abandoned vessels that line the creek or lay at the bottom of the river are archaeological evidence of the area's impressive history. Passengers will explore sunken vessels such as the steamboat Mary Powell and see for themselves the ribs of wrecked vessels surfacing at low tide!


Live Music Cruises
Adults (13-61): $35
Seniors (62+): $30
Children (3-12): $25
Infants (0-2): Free
Join us for an evening of live music with a wide variety of performers on Thursday evenings throughout the summer. The solar-powered electric motor of Solaris is extraordinarily quiet, allowing the music of the Hudson Valley to take center stage on this floating music venue. The intimate environment of *Solaris* provides the opportunity to chat with local musicians between songs and experience a one-of-a-kind performance of indie rock, sea shanties, folk, soul, and more. Passengers are invited to bring their own beverage (alcohol included).




Elements of Taste Cruise
Adults (21-61): $45
Seniors (62+): $40
Enjoy sampling, sunsets, and history aboard Solaris. Led by Kingston Wine Co.'s knowledgeable staff, these cruises cover Hudson Valley-produced wine, cider, and other beverages  - complete with tasty samples!

Native History Twilight Cruise with Justin Wexler
Adults (13-61): $35
Seniors (62+): $30
Children (3-12): $25
Infants (0-2): Free

For countless generations, the Lenape People relied on the Hudson River and its tributaries for their survival. Drift with us into the past aboard the Solaris, a 100% solar-powered vessel, on a tour led by ethnoecologist Justin Wexler to learn about the day to day life of local native peoples five centuries ago, before European colonization.

Justin Wexler of Wild Hudson Valley has studied Hudson Valley indigenous culture, languages, and history for over twenty years.

D&H Canal History — A Conversation with Bill Merchant
Adults (13-61): $35
Seniors (62+): $30
Children (3-12): $25
Infants (0-2): Free
Join D&H Canal Historical Society Historian and Curator Bill Merchant for an engaging conversation about the history of the Delaware & Hudson Canal and the industrial port of Rondout. Bill will bring a different historical artifact from the D&H Canal Historical Society collections for discussion on each trip. Quiet and comfortable Solaris will take you up Rondout Creek to Lock No. 1 at Eddyville - the first lock and weigh lock on the D&H Canal.


Lenape History with Harv Hilowitz
Adults (13-61): $35
Seniors (62+): $30
Children (3-12): $25
Infants (0-2): Free

Did you know? The Hudson Valley has been inhabited for over twelve thousand years by Native Peoples. While on the Mahicannituck (Hudson River), passengers will learn about the Indigenous Lenape people, their ancestors and history, and how they interacted with the landscape and with other tribes. Scholar Harv Hilowitz leads guests through the history of what happened after first contact with the Europeans, the journey of the Lenape diaspora, and their presence here now. Questions and conversation are encouraged.

Harv Hilowitz is a historian of Indigenous and Hudson Valley history and a Contributing Scholar to the Hudson River Maritime Museum.

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