The Harkness Family at HRMM

          Photo Above: The Author's son Joshua at the helm in New Foundland 

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                                           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.
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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
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Photo Above: The author's son Joshua fishing in New Foundland