Next Wednesday, April 10th, from 6-9 the Working Harbor Committee is presenting Sailing Ships at Work – Past, Present and Future. If you are in the New York area be sure to stop by. (Click on the banner to the right to learn more.) The future of working sail may come in all sizes, from large sailing bulk carriers to the sailing barges that only disappeared within the last fifty years in parts of the world. Here is a very interesting working sail project by Vermont farmer, Erik Andrus. He is building a sailing barge to carry non-perishable produce down Lake Champlain to the Hudson River and onward to the market in New York. They are attempting to raise $15,000 by April 25th on Kickstarter. The barge, to be named Ceres, is already under construction and will carry 24000 lbs of cargo and requires a working crew of two. She draws just 2 feet of water fully laden. Thanks to Bowsprite for passing the news along.
The Vermont Sail Freight Project
Vermont Farmer Building Sailboat To Transport Produce To NYC
A fine romantic notion, but how’s he going to get that thing through the canal “without using a single drop of gasoline”?
Lois McClure sailed to Manhattan in 2005. Pretty sure it wasn’t sail alone, as she travels with her companion tug CL Churchill. But still, it will be an interesting experiment to see commercial sail return to the Hudson. http://www.lcmm.org/our_fleet/lois_mcclure.htm
I also believe that the sloop Clearwater has carried pumpkins to market down the Hudson a time or two. It will be interesting to see more regular commercial sail on the big river.
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Outstanding idea. Whats the hurry and the wind is there to be used. There are many more applications for sure.