RiverWise Fleet Sail to Statue of Liberty

For immediate release:

RiverWise Fleet Sail Around Statue of Liberty
Hudson River Maritime Museum Partners with Classic Harbor Line
 
Kingston, NY – As part of the RiverWise project, the Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to announce that the museum’s solar-powered boat Solaris and carbon-neutral Schooner Apollonia will be conducting a fleet sail to the Statue of Liberty with five vessels from the Classic Harbor Line on Thursday, August 20, 2020 at 6:30 p.m.
 
Carbon-neutral vessels Solaris, a 100% solar-powered boat from the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and Schooner Apollonia will lead this fleet sail, joined by New York City's own Classic Harbor Line with its majestic tall ship schooners America 2.0 and Adirondack, as well as their vintage replica commuter yachts Manhattan II, Kingston and Full Moon. Classic Harbor Line's fleet, which is built in Albany, NY, by Scarano Boat Building, is the embodiment of one of the RiverWise themes for this year: local boatbuilding.
 
This fleet of seven unique vessels against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty near sunset offers a stunning photographic opportunity. Vessels are expected to arrive at the Statue of Liberty around 6:30 PM and Battery Park by 7:30 PM. The public is encouraged to view the vessels from shore. Battery Park is the best viewing area. Or, tickets are available for the trip aboard Classic Harbor Lines vessels. For ticket information, please visit www.sail-nyc.com.
 
Daily updates of the RiverWise: South Hudson Voyage, including live video, blog posts, and links, will be posted on the Hudson River Maritime Museum’s Facebook page and Instagram account. The public is invited to like the museum’s pages to be notified of updates. Daily updates will also be posted at the end of the day, along with additional history articles, on the RiverWise website’s Captains’ Log at www.hudsonriverwise.org/log.
 
The South Hudson Voyage is part of a broader effort the museum calls “RiverWise.” During the voyage museum staff and crew will collect film footage, conduct interviews, and produce short films, photos, and social media content to teach the general public about the Hudson River and allow them to experience it in real-time, as the crew does, from the comfort of their own homes.
 
After the voyage, museum staff will process the hundreds of hours of film footage collected on both voyages and begin to create short documentary films about the Hudson River and its history, with emphasis on the four themes highlighted this year – lighthouses, shipbuilding, towing, and sail freight.
 
The museum is seeking donations to support both the voyage and the documentary films.
 
The South Hudson Voyage is funded by individual donations and sponsorships. Mid-Hudson Federal Credit Union has sponsored in part Solaris, Apollonia, and the documentary films on Hudson River shipbuilding. The Daley Family Foundation has sponsored Apollonia. General support comes from the many individuals who have donated to the by-the-mile voyage campaign through PledgeIt. The North Hudson Voyage was sponsored in part by the Phelan Family Foundation, Ann Loeding, David Eaton, and the many individuals who donated to the PledgeIt campaign. Additional funding for both campaigns has been provided by the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.
 
The museum is still seeking sponsorships to help cover the costs of the South Hudson Voyage as well as this year’s four documentary film themes – lighthouses, tugboats and towing, shipbuilding, and sail freight. If you would like to support the South Hudson Voyage and the museum’s documentary films, please visit www.hudsonriverwise.org/support for more information on sponsorship and donation opportunities.
 
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About the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Located along the historic Rondout Creek in downtown Kingston, N.Y., the Hudson River Maritime Museum is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries, and related industries. HRMM opened the Wooden Boat School in 2016 and the Sailing & Rowing School in 2017. In 2019 the museum launched the 100% solar-powered tour boat Solaris. www.hrmm.org

About Solaris. Solaris was built by the Hudson River Maritime Museum’s restoration crew under the direction of Jim Kricker. Solaris is the only US Coast Guard-approved 100% solar-powered passenger vessel in the United States. It does not plug in. Designed by marine architect Dave Gerr from a concept developed by David Borton, owner of Sustainable Energy, Solaris is commercial in design, meeting all U.S. Coast Guard regulations for commercial passenger-carrying vessels. www.hrmm.org/meet-solaris

About the Schooner Apollonia. The Apollonia is the Hudson Valley’s largest carbon-neutral merchant vessel. Powered by the wind and used vegetable oil, Apollonia can transport her cargo sustainably. This mission-driven, for-profit business has a transparent and reproducible business model - to provide carbon-neutral transportation for shelf-stable local foods and products.  Connecting the traditions of slow food, fair trade, and carbon neutrality, we will inspire and train a new generation of Hudson River stewards and create green living-wage jobs in the growing river-based economy. www.schoonerapollonia.com