 Back by popular demand, woodworker, boat builder, and woodcarver Andrew Willner will offer a course of practical and decorative woodcarving using basic carving tools and woodworking skills. This class will take place Friday, December 9, Saturday December 10, Friday December 16 & Saturday December 17. 5:30PM-9:00PM Fridays & 9:00AM-5:00PM Saturdays. This course will demonstrate a variety of carving and woodworking techniques including tool sharpening and maintenance, design, drawing and layout, incised lettering, low and high relief carving, and much more. The first project for all students will be a sign for home or boat with incised lettering and decorative feather ends. Returning students are welcome to try their hand at more complex or difficult carvings. General Registration: $375 Individual Member Registration: $350 Household Member & Above: $335 Materials Fee: $30  Want to read more about carving lettering? Here is an excerpt from a fabulous article in Fine Woodworking You can download the full PDF here. 
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 The aphorism "A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats" was first popularized by John F. Kennedy in a speech 1963 and is usually applied to economics. However, let's imagine applications for the concept of a rising tide lifting all boats, or people, in the maritime universe. If we welcome more boats into our racing fleet, doesn’t that improve the level of competition? If we invite more people from different backgrounds to come sailing with us, doesn’t that suggest the probability that we'll have a wider range of talents and gifts among sailors on the boat? If we welcome sailors from previously underrepresented communities into sailing, might we discover previously untapped talent? Might all participants grow by learning about diverse cultures? Might we begin to heal the divisions that exist in our society today? This concept is the motivation behind our work with the Women on the Water sailing program, AdventureSail, sailing program scholarships and other initiatives. The concept also underlies our sixth annual Riverport Women's Sailing Conference, which is a joint program with The Sailing School at HRMM and Kingston Sailing Club. We pivoted to virtual events in 2020 and 2021, but we are excited to return to an in-person format for the sixth annual conference on Saturday, March 25, 2023. Please mark your calendars! All presenters will be expert women mariners, and the thrust of the conference is to introduce women to sailing, build people's sailing skills, and boost sailors' confidence in a woman-centric environment. All women are encouraged to attend, and we are open to male participants joining us as well.
Let’s inspire each other. Let’s work together to solve problems, bridge gaps and learn from each other. We hope you will join us on March 25, 2023.
For more information, please go to https://www.hrmm.org/riverport-womens-sailing-conference.html.
During the past month, the support of HRMM staff and volunteers who have come out to help the Sailing School with Fall boat work has been inspiring! Volunteers have cleaned boats and sails, organized equipment, repaired boats, and put away boats for winter.  Our fleet consists of two keel boats, two Capri centerboard boats, One Snipe centerboard boat, three 420 centerboard boats, one Catboat (Tidbit), and eight Optimist Pram centerboard boats. That is a lot of boats to care for! The boats all get a lot of use during the sailing season, with many of the boats being sailed up to seven days a week during our four month season. Normal wear and tear is intensified by the high number of sailing students and classes aboard our boats, and there are a LOT of repairs needed at the end of this season.  Thanks to our wonderful sailing instructors (Instructor Betsy in witch costume is pictured above) and HRMM staff, we have created a robust list of work tasks to be done, and we have accomplished some of these tasks, but we have many remaining over the winter and into the spring of 2023 in order to be ready for next season. All sailboat owners know (new boat owners will learn this quickly) that part of owning a sailboat means doing maintenance and repairs. If you are interested in learning more about how to care for sailboats, want to meet some really cool people, and have fun working on projects with staff and other volunteers, please let us know by going to https://www.hrmm.org/volunteer.html to let us know you’d like to volunteer! If you are not able to physically volunteer but would like to support the maintenance of our sailing school fleet, please check out our wish list and donate here if you are able: https://www.hrmm.org/wish-list.html .  We love our volunteers, and we look forward to continuing to work together to ready our boats for the 2023 season and bring sailing to many more people in the future. Thank you!
 Photo Above: The Author's son Joshua at the helm in New Foundland Article by Jonathan Harkness I joined the Hudson River Maritime Museum after seeing the focus on women in the Sailing School. My earlier experiences on sailboats were with obnoxious, privileged, and often drunk, white men. I was more into adventure and not drinking on boats and instead ventured off to do other things over the years. However, I purchased our family’s keel boat in the spring of 2021, in an effort to find a family activity in which we could all participate and hopefully inspire some new adventures and acquisition of additional skills. Your WOW activities were great for Vicki, and the three of us took an adult sailing class together in the summer of 2021, which was a great family bonding and learning experience. Vicki and I enjoyed attending the Riverport Women’s Sailing Conference remotely in November, 2021. As a matter of fact, our son Joshua’s college, The College of the Atlantic, also joined the conference, and he was able to participate from Maine as well. Then I attended the Captain’s License course at HRMM in March, 2022. Later in the spring of 2022, we joined the HRMM remote lecture with Tracy Edwards, and we were able to tour Maiden when the famous vessel came to Kingston in June, we met Tracy Edwards and participated in the Kingston Sailing Club Welcomes Maiden barbecue. These were all amazing experiences. Since building our skills through The Sailing School at HRMM, Joshua and I crewed on a friend’s 28 foot Bristol Channel Cutter doing coastal cruising from Glovertown, NewFoundland to St. Johns, Newfoundland this summer. Our adventure included one all night sail, at 20 knots of wind, begun at 2 am, to avoid an impending storm. Joshua and I were on watch by ourselves, all night, with just a brief check-in, by the captain. Since that trip, Joshua and I have been asked to consider being crew members on a trip to Greenland with a friend who has sailed to northern Labrador. We are so glad that Vicki and I created these opportunities for Joshua who said that he and his girlfriend now have a goal of completing a transatlantic crossing to Scotland and Ireland after college graduation. The Sailing School at HRMM’s enthusiasm for sailing and focus on inclusivity have thoroughly inspired Vicki, Joshua, and me. Thank you! By Jonathan Harkness  Photo Above: The author's son Joshua fishing in New Foundland
Reposted from August 23rd, 2022.  Thanks to community partnerships, a wonderful event unfolded at the Hudson River Maritime Museum (HRMM) in Kingston, New York and on the Hudson River on Saturday, August 13, 2022. Fourteen middle school age girls from underserved communities that usually do not have access to waterfront activities and sailing, along with eight adult women mentors, spent a day at the Rondout Creek waterfront and sailing on the Hudson River as part of the National AdventureSail Program, organized by the National Women’s Sailing Association. Participants experienced the world of sailing for the first time: the beauty of the Hudson River, the tranquility and peace of sailing, the focus and skill required by sailing well, the ability to stay calm despite challenges, the teamwork required and the connections built as part of a crew. Girls and mentors met their skippers and crew members, everyone suited up with life jackets, boarded their boats, and eight sailboats headed out the Rondout Creek to the Hudson River. The day was spectacularly beautiful with fluffy clouds, sun and blue skies, warm temperatures that were not too hot, and a brisk 12-15 knot breeze over sparkling water. Many of the boats opted to sail under mainsail alone (in contrast to the usual jib and mainsail configuration) to ensure the new sailors were comfortable. Everyone enjoyed a beautiful sail on the River, South of the Kingston/Rhinecliff Bridge and North of the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse, until 1:00 pm, when they returned to the dock at HRMM.
It took a village to create this memorable event: The National Women’s Sailing Association provided guidance and information as well as donating backpacks for the girls. Kati Haynes of HAYNES MARKETING + MEDIA documented the day with her beautiful photographs. MentorMe of Ulster County identified interested girls and mentors, explained to parents (many of whom do not speak English) what the day would entail, got permission from parents and transported the girls to the waterfront. The Hudson River Maritime Museum provided the venue, and The Sailing School at the HRMM provided three sailboats along with skilled, certified sailing instructors who volunteered as skippers, and Kingston Sailing Club members provided five sailboats with volunteer skilled skippers and crew. Kingston Sailing Club members also donated breakfast foods, water bottles for each girl, and an ice cream cake, the Bruderhof Community donated lunch for everyone, Mother Earth Storehouse donated snacks for the girls, Adams Fairacre Farms donated a beautiful fruit tray for breakfast, and the National Women’s Sailing Association provided string backpacks for all the girls.   Thanks to community partnerships, a wonderful event unfolded at the Hudson River Maritime Museum (HRMM) in Kingston, New York and on the Hudson River on Saturday, August 13, 2022. Fourteen middle school age girls from underserved communities that usually do not have access to waterfront activities and sailing, along with eight adult women mentors, spent a day at the Rondout Creek waterfront and sailing on the Hudson River as part of the National AdventureSail Program, organized by the National Women’s Sailing Association. Participants experienced the world of sailing for the first time: the beauty of the Hudson River, the tranquility and peace of sailing, the focus and skill required by sailing well, the ability to stay calm despite challenges, the teamwork required and the connections built as part of a crew. Girls and mentors met their skippers and crew members, everyone suited up with life jackets, boarded their boats, and eight sailboats headed out the Rondout Creek to the Hudson River. The day was spectacularly beautiful with fluffy clouds, sun and blue skies, warm temperatures that were not too hot, and a brisk 12-15 knot breeze over sparkling water. Many of the boats opted to sail under mainsail alone (in contrast to the usual jib and mainsail configuration) to ensure the new sailors were comfortable. Everyone enjoyed a beautiful sail on the River, South of the Kingston/Rhinecliff Bridge and North of the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse, until 1:00 pm, when they returned to the dock at HRMM.
It took a village to create this memorable event: The National Women’s Sailing Association provided guidance and information as well as donating backpacks for the girls. Kati Haynes of HAYNES MARKETING + MEDIA documented the day with her beautiful photographs. MentorMe of Ulster County identified interested girls and mentors, explained to parents (many of whom do not speak English) what the day would entail, got permission from parents and transported the girls to the waterfront. The Hudson River Maritime Museum provided the venue, and The Sailing School at the HRMM provided three sailboats along with skilled, certified sailing instructors who volunteered as skippers, and Kingston Sailing Club members provided five sailboats with volunteer skilled skippers and crew. Kingston Sailing Club members also donated breakfast foods, water bottles for each girl, and an ice cream cake, the Bruderhof Community donated lunch for everyone, Mother Earth Storehouse donated snacks for the girls, Adams Fairacre Farms donated a beautiful fruit tray for breakfast, and the National Women’s Sailing Association provided string backpacks for all the girls.  The Sailing School at the Hudson River Maritime Museum has been blessed with a generous number of boat donations which have allowed us to run our programs for children and adults. We have many classes for beginners to more experienced sailors on a variety of types of sailboats. Take a look at the photos below - perhaps you will inspired to take a sailing class and try out some of our boats.
Local sailors from the Sailing School at the Hudson River Maritime Museum and the Kingston Sailing Club (www.kingstonsailingclub.org) hope to see you on the water soon!
 Image: young sailors learning on board a Capri 14.5 centerboard sailboat with friends, as part of The Sailing School at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. So you've gone sailing with a friend a couple of times, and you've decided, "I love this!" Now, you're wondering what you can do to learn more about sailing. The first step is to take a class - or better yet, several classes, to really get the wind in your sails and be as safe as possible. And what better place to learn than on the beautiful Hudson River? The Sailing School at the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston, NY, is certified by US Sailing, and offers on-the-water classes for both youth and adults. Signing up for classes is easy on our website. In addition to taking on-the-water classes, you might consider reading a few books and online articles, even take additional online classes. Check out resources such as US Sailing, Practical Sailor, and Scuttlebutt. After you have taken some lessons, you will discover that there is so much more to know, and we sailors learn every time we get out on the water. So the next step is definitely the best one: get out on the water as often as possible! If you are fortunate, you may be able to sail with friends. But if you haven't made any boat-owning friends yet (we could all use more of those!), why not check out a local sailing club or yacht club? The Kingston Sailing Club welcomes new members to join, and you don't even have to own a boat! The club offers community sailing opportunities at an affordable price for associate members, so until you make friends or acquire your own boat, see what the Kingston Sailing Club has to offer new sailors! (You might even want to try out racing! The Kingston Sailing Club offers a Spring Racing Series and a Fall Racing Series every season, and it sponsors two regattas as well.)  Image: two sailboats racing in May, 2022, as part of Kingston Sailing Club's Spring Racing Series However you decide to build your sailing skills, just get out on the water and do it! You will be glad you did!
 Maiden crew at the finish of the 1989-1990 Whitbread Around the World Sailing Race Tracy Edwards, MBE, was captain of Maiden, the first all women's crew to race the Whitbread Around the World Regatta in 1989-1990. Her amazing story is told in the 2019 documentary film of the same name Maiden. Tracy has gone on to a distinguished maritime career, and in recent years, rebuilt Maiden and created a charitable foundation called the Maiden Factor Foundation, which is bringing the vessel and her inspiring story to people around the world. The organization raises funds for and works toward access to education for all girls and others who do not have access around the world. We encourage you to learn more and support the foundation here: www.themaidenfactor.org
The famous vessel is now on a world tour, visiting well-known sailing locations around the world. She is currently touring famous US ports such as Annapolis, Maryland; New York Harbor; Newport, Rhode Island, and YES! Kingston, New York. Don't miss out on the fun! If you are a boat owner, you can join the flotilla to welcome Maiden to Kingston on June 8 or see her off on June 11. You can join Tracy Edwards and the crew for dinner June 8, and you can tour the vessel and meet the crew on June 9 or 10. Information and signups here: https://www.hrmm.org/maiden.html
 As a child, I spent my summers on Cape Cod. I took swimming lessons on the beach. My mom said that all year we used our brains in classrooms, so during the summer we should use our hands outside. Across the parking lot, there was a new sailing school.
The next summer I was signed up with one of my little sisters. We were hooked. This program was called Bourne Community Boating. It was a half day, 4 week program, and one day a week was dedicated to science. We went on field trips to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and to Massachusetts Maritime Academy and to investigate local marine species and ecosystems. This summer camp has changed my life and the lives of others who attended the camp. One camper turned counselor spent a semester at sea and sailed to Fiji. Others joined sailing teams (Bourne HS joined with the next town) and continued to sail in college. Kids went on to study marine biology and environmental policy, things they were exposed to at BCB. My sister’s major is Marine and Fishery Sciences. I was first a camper, then an instructor in training, instructor, then head instructor. Over my 9 years there, I grew immensely. I discovered my love for teaching and practiced lesson planning and being flexible because sailing is so weather dependent. I met people with incredible stories, such as a family who hadn’t set foot on land in a year. I made lifelong friends who I didn’t see during the school year, but when we came back each summer, it was as if no time had passed at all. Very similar to HRMM’s sailing program, this was a community based program. We had barbecues, and there were scholarships available. We started an adaptive sailing program for individuals with physical or mental impairments which would make it more difficult for them to assess the water. We partnered with local veterans groups. It was awesome how this program was not competition focused, but promoted seamanship, caring for and understanding the environment around the water, and included people from all walks of life. I’ve been sailing for a number of years, but it wasn’t until I came to Kingston that I discovered the history around sailing. The Hudson River Maritime Museum is an awesome resource to find out how people have been interacting with the river for hundreds of years. The people I met at HRMM and in the Kingston Sailing Club are so welcoming and fun. This program is unique because we learn all of the things around sailing such as repairs/ woodwork. We learn the applications of sailing such as sail freight. There is such focus on environmentalism, and HRMM is actually doing something about improving the marine environment with Solaris and partnerships with Sloop Clearwater and Apollonia. If you would like to get connected with our amazing sailing community at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, visit our website, https://www.hrmm.org/sailing-school.html to learn more about sailing opportunities for youth and adults. |
AuthorStaff and volunteers of the Hudson River Maritime Museum's Wooden Boat School and Sailing & Rowing School. Archives
March 2023
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