Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
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 Clearwater off of Manhattan |
|
| Career (United States) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Clearwater |
| Builder: | Harvey Gamage Shipyard, South Bristol, Maine |
| Laid down: | October, 1968 |
| Launched: | May 17, 1969 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | gaff sloop |
| Length: | 106 ft (32 m) overall |
| Beam: | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Draft: | 8 ft (2.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | sails; auxiliary engine |
| Sail plan: | mainsail, main topsail, jib |
| Notes: | 4305 sq ft. (387.5 m²) total sail area |
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
  The Clearwater
|
|
| Location: | Poughkeepsie, New York |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1968 |
| Architect: | Hamlin, Cyrus; Gamage, Harvey Shipyard |
| Added to NRHP: | May 04, 2004 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 04000376 [1] |
| Governing body: | Private |
Contents |
[edit] The environmental organization
The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. is an organization based in Poughkeepsie, New York that seeks to protect the Hudson River through advocacy and public education. Founded by folk singer Pete Seeger in 1966, the organization is known for its sailing vessel, the sloop Clearwater, and for its annual music festival, the Great Hudson River Revival.
In 1969, the Clearwater made her maiden voyage down the Atlantic Coast from the Harvey Gamage Shipyard, ME to the South Street Seaport in New York City. [2] Folk musician Tom Winslow wrote a folk music song, Hey Looka Yonder (It's the Clearwater), in which the lyrics specifically mention the fundraising efforts for the sloop, and how "black and white" people got together for this program. [3] [4] [5]
Clearwater has gained national recognition for its activism starting in the 1970s to force a clean-up of PCB contamination of the Hudson River caused by industrial manufacturing by General Electric and other companies on the river's edge. Other specific Hudson watershed issues Clearwater is concerned with are development pressures in the southern half of the Hudson Valley, pesticide runoff, the Manhattan west side waterfront, Indian Point nuclear reactors, and New York/New Jersey Harbor dredge spoil disposal.
Clearwater's educational programs are intended to heighten public awareness of the Hudson River's unique ecosystem that blends freshwater streams from the Adirondack Mountains with the salt tides of the Atlantic Ocean around New York City.
One of the organization's biggest fundraisers is its annual music and environmental festival, the Clearwater Festival. Officially known as the "Great Hudson River Revival," it is America’s oldest and largest annual festival of its kind. The weekend-long festival has been held each June for over three decades, with attendances of up to 15,000 people.[6]
[edit] The sloop Clearwater
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. owns and operates the sloop Clearwater.
The sloop Clearwater is a 106-foot (32 m) wooden sailing vessel patterned after 1870's Hudson River sloops. With a large gaff rig, a hinged centerboard, and wide shallow hull, these vessels evolved to deal with the challenges of strong tides, shallow waters, and variable winds encountered on the Hudson River. Designed by Cy Hamlin and built by The Harvey Gamage Shipyard in South Bristol, Maine, Clearwater was launched in 1969. Built of traditional plank-on-frame wooden construction, the sloop is 75 feet (23 m) in length on deck, 25 feet (7.6 m) in beam and can hold up to 70 tons of cargo. The sloop rig consists of a single mast and fidded topmast which together rise to a height of 108 feet (33 m). A 65-foot (20 m) long main boom and 45-foot (14 m) gaff carry a 3,000-square-foot (280 m²) mainsail. A 28-foot (8.5 m) long bowsprit carries a 900-square-foot (84 m²) jib on the foredeck. In light wind, a 450-square-foot (42 m²) topsail may also be raised.[7]
In 2004, the sloop Clearwater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for her significance to the environmental movement.
For the early part of each sailing season Clearwater Inc. regularly charters the schooner Mystic Whaler, a privately owned passenger schooner, to present Clearwater's education program to more schools. Mystic Whaler is a traditionally rigged 110-foot (34 m) schooner, built in 1967 as a tribute to the coastal trading schooners that plied New England's waters over a century ago.
Sailing mostly on the Hudson River between New York City and Albany, New York, these vessels are used primarily to offer environmental and biological education programs to school groups, touching on river biology, environmental protection of waterways and related topics. Both vessels also offer sails for Clearwater members and the general public, as well as private charters.
In addition to the professional crew, Clearwater offers opportunities for people to sail as volunteer crew for one week periods or as an intern/apprentice for up to two months to learn sailing, environmental education and assist with vessel maintenance.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2006-03-15).
- ^ PBS Shop web site
- ^ Wirz Biograph Records web page
- ^ Seeger Sessions web site
- ^ Clearwater official web site Music page
- ^ Clearwater Festival homepage. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
- ^ Clearwater Sloop web page.
[edit] External links
- Clearwater
- Sloop Clearwater
- official web site Music page
- Photos of both sailboats and information about public sailing excursions
- Clearwater: Hudson River Rising Materials for Middle School Teachers
