My Favorite Boat

In another lifetime, I fell in love with a boat. Not just any boat. This boat. The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. And, as it turns out, more than 35 years later, I’m still in love with that boat. Just look at her, she’s beautiful, in a functional, working-class boat kind of way.

I had the opportunity to take a two-hour evening sail on the Clearwater last week and jumped on it. I hadn’t been aboard since I moved out of the Hudson Valley in 1987. So how did it feel to be back? In a word, magical.

I first went aboard her in 1981, as a weekly volunteer, albeit one who knew absolutely nothing about sailing or boats. Or staying on deck, as it turned out. I got knocked into the water that first week when the tiller swung round unexpectedly and I went flying over the taffrail. It was a good opportunity for the crew to practice their man overboard drill. I was fine, by the way.

I came back as a volunteer that fall, lived aboard that winter, working my way into a couple of monthly volunteer slots the next few seasons. Then, a step up, winter maintenance coordinator in Saugerties, and paid positions (not much money at all, trust me!) as bosun and, later, relief cook. I loved every minute of it, even the hot and sweaty maintenance days scraping paint.

I learned as I went along, everyone eager to instruct and share. Captains were patient, first mates were generous with their explanations, and I was a quick study. Back in the day, I could have told you what every single one of those lines in the photo below was for, but now, well… Hey, don’t they look cool all organzied like that?

The Clearwater has a big mainsail, 3 tons of total weight when you combine the 66-foot boom, smaller gaff, and sail itself together. It takes everyone on board to raise it up, singing a shanty to help with the work. There wasn’t a lot of wind the evening we went out, but just seeing the white sail against the blue sky with the boom hanging way out over the water made my heart oh so full of happiness.

Clearwater has never been a fancy boat. The accommodations are cramped. How cramped? Well, check out the photo below. Below decks, from that bell to the beginning of the bow, is the fo’c’sle, where five crew members sleep. It’s about the size of my trailer, although slightly different proportions. So when people ask me how I live in such a small trailer, I just laugh. I’ve lived in much smaller quarters, with four other people.

I used to climb out on that rigging below the bowsprit and help furl the jib. Kinda fun to do when we’re motoring to the dock, with the waves just below your feet. It’s also a great place to hang out when you want to get away from everyone else, you can just lay in the rigging like its a hammock (although not on a windy day!).

While the boat has been refurbished from stem to stern, topmast to keel, some old things remain, like this chartbox that scrolls the entire length of the Hudson River, from Albany down to Manhattan. I spent one winter manually updating those charts with new notations of lights and buoys and hazards to navigation, and replacing a few worn-out sections as well. Seeing it back by the tiller where the captain can easily check their bearings was like seeing an old friend still doing fine after all these years.

All too soon, it was time to strike the sails and return to shore. I enjoyed some conversation with Captain Rory and thanked the crew for the great sail experience. And then, with many a backward glance, I walked slowly to my car. I sat there for a little while, watching the rigging in the last of the dusk light before I drove away. Fair winds, Clearwater, I’ll see you again sometimes. (And thanks, Captain Betsy, for sailing with me that evening and exchanging stories and memories.)

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I guess I’ve learned more from the Clearwater than anything else. All I did was help to plant a seed, and I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.