The Hudson River Maritime Museum has big plans for this season, says an article pubished on dailyfreeman.
Solar-powered boat Solaris
They include free sailings on the solar-powered boat Solaris on two separate dates in May, a special vessel visiting in July, and courses for children and adults throughout the summer.
Kerry Gallagher, the museum’s education coordinator, said Solaris’ season of sailings in the Rondout Creek and Hudson River will kick off with free trips during the city of Kingston’s Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, May 13.
Free trips
For those who can’t get aboard that day, free trips will again be offered on Saturday, May 20, as part of the MyKingstonKids Fest, which is moving to the Rondout Waterfront this year, Gallagher said. Museum admission will be discounted to $5 for adults and free for children that day, she added.
“We want to get kids in from families who may not normally be able to afford to get the whole family in,” Lisa Cline, the museum’s executive director, said.
Sunset and a popular tour
Discounted rates, for slightly shorter Solaris rides, will be offered on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.
Solaris will also be offering other special events. They include Thursday night music cruises at sunset and a popular tour that shows off boats and barges that were scuttled around the Rondout at the end of their service lives.
Freight transportation
“Wrecks are abundant,” she said.
Cline said they recall another era when the Hudson River dominated freight transportation and the river saw far more traffic than petroleum tankers and container vessels. “There were so many boats and barges back then,” she said.
Premier educational ship
The popular Solaris rides out to the Rondout Lighthouse will also return this year, Cline said.
Cline also said that at least one vessel will visit the museum this year. It’s a sailing environmental education ship known as “Golden Rule.” It is scheduled to visit Friday, July 7.
“Started in 1958, it was the premier educational ship before Clearwater and Greenpeace,” Cline said.
Historic suspension bridge
Gallagher said it was created by artists with an anti-nuclear weapon message and is currrenlty supported by Veterans for Peace. She said a host of special programming surrounding the vessel is planned.
Other special events include a special day of events in the Clearwater Barn on Saturday, June 17, dedicated to a time capsule found at the Rondout Creek Bridge in 2021. The discovery came during a $44.6 million multi-year reconstruction project by the New York state Department of Transportation of the historic suspension bridge that links Kingston and Port Ewen.
Woodworking and sailing classes
“It was found in caissons of the bridge,” Cline said.
The museum’s Boat School will offer a number of woodworking and sailing classes this spring and summer.
A series of adult woodworking classes in May include Understanding Wood on Tuesday, May 2; Woodworking Tools-Their Use and Care on Wednesday and Thursday, May 3 and 4; Basic Joinery on Tuesday through May 9 through 11; Machine, Tool and Shop Safety; on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 16-17; and Advanced Joinery through May 23 through 25.
Highlighted other adult classes
“You can learn how to get comfortable with tools, sharpen tools and assemble joinery,” she said, adding that a participant can take all the courses or pick individual classes.
Cline highlighted other adult classes. They include Live Edge Table on Saturday, May 20; Timber Framing on Friday and Saturday, May 26 and 27; Skin-on-Frame Canoe from Saturday through Thursday, June 10-15; and Build Your Own Adirondack Chair on Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18.
Super-expensive fiberglass
Adults will also be able to pitch in on a wooden sailboat restoration from June 10 to 15. “It’s a wooden racing sailboat from 100 years ago,” Cline said. “We believe it came from the West Coast.”
She said it dates to a time when sailboat racing was far more accessible to the average person than super-expensive fiberglass boats with Fortune 500 corporate sponsors on the sails.
“They’ll have an opportunity to take on planking and reframing the hull,” she said.
Opportunity to work
For youngsters, the Building and Sailing Boats school from Monday through Thursday, July 31 through Aug. 3, and Monday through Thursday, Aug. 28 through 31 afford pre-teens and teens 12-16 the opportunity to work alongside shipwrights in the morning to build a wooden boat while going out on the water in the afternoon, Cline said.
“They’ll sail on a similar boat to the one they’re building in the afternoon,” she added.
Environmental lessons
A separate session Monday, June 19, through Thursday, June 22, while schools are still in session is geared toward homeschool families, Gallagher said.
Gallagher, who comes from an environmental science background, said she likes to ensure environmental lessons are found in all programs and exhibits. She referred to an exhibit on sail freight as a method of transport using alternative energy.
Active-duty military personnel
But nothing beats getting up close and personal with the river. “The best way of getting someone into the environmental movement is to get them out on the water,” Gallagher said.
The museum’s regular hours are Thursdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Regular admission is $9 for adults, $6 for seniors 62 and older, and youngsters 18 and under. A family rate for two adults and two children under 18 is $25. Admission is free for children 5 years and younger, veterans and active-duty military personnel, museum members and Council of American Maritime Museum members.
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Source: dailyfreeman
