The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

based in

Beacon, New York Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2020 census placed the city total population at 13,769. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area as wel ...

that seeks to protect the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

and surrounding wetlands and waterways through advocacy and public education. Founded by folk singer

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

with his wife

Toshi Seeger Toshi Seeger (born Toshi Aline Ohta; July 1, 1922 – July 9, 2013) was an American filmmaker, producer and environmental activist. A filmmaker who specialized in the subject of folk music, Toshi's credits include the 1966 film ''Afro-American Wo ...

in 1966, the organization is known for its sailing vessel, the sloop ''Clearwater'', and for its annual music and environmental festival, the

Great Hudson River Revival The Clearwater Festival (officially the Great Hudson River Revival) is a music and environmental summer festival and America's oldest and largest annual festival of its kind. This unique event has hosted over 15,000 people on a weekend in June ...

History

In 1966,

and his wife

founded the organization and within three years had the sloop ''Clearwater'' built to advocate for cleaning up the

. The founding was influenced by community opposition to a proposed power plant at Storm King Mountain. In 1969, the ''Clearwater'' made her maiden voyage down the Atlantic Coast from the Harvey Gamage Shipyard in Maine to the

South Street Seaport The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District, in Lower Manhattan. The Seaport is a designated historic district ...

in New York City. Folk musician

Tom Winslow Thomas Griffin Winslow (November 13, 1940 – October 23, 2010)Tom Keyser, "Tom Winslow, folk and country-blues musician, dies at 69", ''Albany Times Union'', November 13, 2010. Found aTimes Union website Accessed November 16, 2010. was an Am ...

wrote a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

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. Based for many years in

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

, New York, the Clearwater moved its office to

Beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

, New York, in 2009.

Environmental advocacy

Pollution of the Hudson River

The Clearwater and the

Clearwater Festival The Clearwater Festival (officially the Great Hudson River Revival) is a music and environmental summer festival and America's oldest and largest annual festival of its kind. This unique event has hosted over 15,000 people on a weekend in June ...

have worked to draw attention to the problem of

pollution of the Hudson River Between 1947 and 1977, General Electric polluted the Hudson River by discharging polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) causing a range of harmful effects to wildlife and people who eat fish from the river. Other kinds of pollution, including mercury c ...

. Pollution in the river has included mercury contamination and sewage dumping, but the most discussed issue has been

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

's contamination of the river with

Polychlorinated biphenyl Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by ...

s (PCBs) between 1947 and 1977. This pollution caused a range of harmful effects to wildlife and people who eat fish from the river or drink the water. The activism of folk singer

and the Clearwater led to the area being designated as one of the

superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agen ...

sites.

Recognition

Clearwater has gained national recognition for its activism starting in the 1970s to force a clean-up of the PCB contamination caused by industrial manufacturing by General Electric and other companies on the river's edge. Other specific Hudson watershed issues with which Clearwater is concerned are development pressures in the southern half of the Hudson Valley, pesticide runoff, the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

west side waterfront, Indian Point nuclear reactors, and New York/New Jersey Harbor dredge spoil disposal. Clearwater played a key role in the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

(EPA) decision to compel one of the Hudson River's biggest polluters to begin removing toxic PCBs from the water and restoring one of the most polluted portions of the river. In 2002,

was named a "Clean Water Hero" for his prominent efforts in the passage of the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...

. His tireless devotion to working through Clearwater and promoting its message to effectively use the law in prosecuting polluters of America's waterways has made the

one of the most successful environmental laws in the country. The EPA said after Seeger's death in 2014 that "the incredible work" of Seeger and the Clearwater organization helped make the Hudson River cleaner. "His leadership was extraordinary," regional Administrator Judith A. Enck told

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the ...

Environmental education

Clearwater's

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating disci ...

programs are intended to heighten public awareness of the Hudson River's unique ecosystem that blends freshwater streams from the

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...

with the salt tides of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

around

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Sailing mostly on the Hudson River between

and

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Ci ...

, the sloop Clearwater is used primarily to offer environmental and biological education programs to school groups, touching on river biology,

environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair da ...

waterways A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

and related topics. It offers 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 Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' ( sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' ( iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

and assist with vessel maintenance. From 1996 until 2018, Clearwater chartered the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

''Mystic Whaler'' to present Clearwater's education program to more schools and the public.

Music and festivals

One of the organization's biggest

fundraisers Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

has been its annual music and environmental festival, the

. Officially known as the "Great Hudson River Revival," it was America's oldest and largest annual festival of its kind. The weekend-long festival was held each June for over three decades, with attendances of up to 15,000 people. The festival raised funds and consciousness on the plight of the river and the earth. Net proceeds went directly to support Clearwater's environmental research, education and advocacy to help preserve and protect the Hudson River and its tributaries, as well as communities in the river valley. Music ranged from Blues to Rock, Reggae to Salsa, Bluegrass to Jazz, and Funk to Folk. The festival was cancelled in 2022, but organizers are considering reviving it in 2023. In 1984, Seeger founded the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus as a community choir that promotes environmental and social justice causes. The chorus carries a model of the Sloop Clearwater to their appearances at festivals, parades and other performances throughout the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

area and beyond. The chorus appears on Seeger's 2008 album ''Pete Seeger at 89''. The chorus has performed in Dortmund, Germany, bi-annually since 2001. It also runs a

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

, featuring folk music performers, at the Memorial United Methodist Church in

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , subdivisi ...

, from October to May each year on the second Saturday of each month.

Walkabout Clearwater Chorus

The Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, a supporter of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, was founded in 1984 by Seeger. The chorus is made up people who love to sing and promote environmental and social justice causes. Its model of the Sloop Clearwater appears with the chorus at festivals and parades. The chorus performs at concert venues and festivals throughout the

area and beyond. It appears on Seeger's 2008 CD ''Pete Seeger at 89''. The Seeger Session of Liedstoeckel, Cuppatea and Walkabout Clearwater Chorus was performed live at UZ-Pressefest 2009 in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is th ...

, Germany, where the chorus has performed bi-annually since 2001. The chorus also runs a coffeehouse with a different featured folk music performer each month. The concerts take place at Memorial United Methodist Church in White Plains, New York, twice each month from October to May of each year.

Sloop ''Clearwater''

Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. owns and operates the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

''Clearwater'', the centerpiece of Clearwater's public education programs. ''Clearwater'' serves as a movable classroom, laboratory, stage, and forum. The ''Clearwater'' is a wooden sailing vessel designed after 18th and 19th century Dutch sailing sloops. With a large

gaff rig Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the ''gaff''. Because of the size and s ...

, a hinged

centerboard A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised to ...

, and wide shallow

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, these vessels evolved to deal with the challenges of strong

tides Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tabl ...

, shallow waters, and variable winds encountered on the

. Designed by Cy Hamlin and built by The Harvey Gamage Shipyard in

South Bristol, Maine South Bristol is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,127 at the 2020 census. A fishing and resort area, South Bristol includes the villages of Walpole and Christmas Cove, the latter on Rutherford Island. The tow ...

, ''Clearwater'' was launched in 1969. Built of traditional plank-on-frame wooden construction, the sloop is in length on deck, in

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

and can hold up to 70

tons Tons can refer to: * Tons River, a major river in India * Tamsa River, locally called Tons in its lower parts (Allahabad district, Uttar pradesh, India). * the plural of ton, a unit of mass, force, volume, energy or power :* short ton, 2,000 poun ...

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

. The sloop

rig Rig may refer to: Objects and structures * Rig (fishing), an arrangement of items used for fishing * Drilling rig, a structure housing equipment used to drill or extract oil from underground * Rig (stage lighting) * rig, a horse-drawn carriage ...

consists of a single

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...

and

topmast The masts of traditional sailing ships were not single spars, but were constructed of separate sections or masts, each with its own rigging. The topmast is one of these. The topmast is semi-permanently attached to the upper front of the lower m ...

which together rise to a height of . A long main

boom Boom may refer to: Objects * Boom (containment), a temporary floating barrier used to contain an oil spill * Boom (navigational barrier), an obstacle used to control or block marine navigation * Boom (sailing), a sailboat part * Boom (windsur ...

and

gaff Gaff may refer to: Ankle-worn devices * Spurs in variations of cockfighting * Climbing spikes used to ascend wood poles, such as utility poles Arts and entertainment * A character in the ''Blade Runner'' film franchise * Penny gaff, a 19th- ...

carry a

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot ...

. A long

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestays. The word ''bowsprit'' is thought to originate from the Mid ...

carries a

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsail ...

on the foredeck. In light wind, a

topsail A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail- ...

may also be raised. In 2004, the sloop ''Clearwater'' was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

for her significance to the environmental movement. The ''Clearwater'' has a smaller sister ship, the Sloop Woody Guthrie, that is used in education about the river. In 2012,

and Lorre Wyatt released the music video and single "

God's Counting on Me, God's Counting on You ''God's Counting on Me, God's Counting on You (Single)'' is a 2012 Single (music), single by Pete Seeger featuring Lorre Wyatt & Friends, produced and arranged by Richard Barone and Matthew Billy, and released by Billy Barone Productions. Originall ...

", which they recorded and filmed on the ''Clearwater'' while sailing on the Hudson in 2010. The song references the ''Deepwater Horizon'' Gulf oil spill of 2010."God's Counting on Me, God's Counting on You"
YouTube, accessed December 5, 2012

References

External links

ClearwaterWalkabout Clearwater Chorus and CoffeehouseClearwater: Hudson River RisingInterview with the Environmental Action Director of the sloop Clearwater
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clearwater Environmental organizations based in New York (state) Hudson River Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Individual sailing vessels Replica ships Poughkeepsie, New York 1969 ships Water organizations in the United States Education in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Dutchess County, New York