RiverConnect

420 sailboats. Credit: Peter Burka / CC BY-SA 2.0

The mission of RiverConnect is to provide opportunities for youth in the Hudson Valley to develop relationships with the Hudson River through on-the-water experience. Our goal, this spring, is to get sixteen kids out on 420 racing dinghies to experience the adventure and challenge of our beautiful, but underused waterway. 

Our initial season of RiverConnect will be in collaboration with the Hudson River Maritime Museum, who will provide instructors, equipment, and river access.  Eight students from Rhinebeck and Red Hook in collaboration with eight Kingston students will get to participate.

The sailing program will meet once a week for six weeks this spring (and hopefully again in the fall if all goes well), with students spending time both on the river and in the classroom. Students will learn how sails work, how to read wind and tides, and how to navigate safely around other vessels. They’ll practice knot-tying, capsize drills, and navigation, while also learning about Hudson River ecology. Sailing “420 Dinghies,” a popular sailboat model for racing and instruction, students will launch from Rondout Creek, a narrow tributary that flows into the Hudson.

We hope to create future partnerships with river-focused groups like the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club and Riverkeeper. We want students from Rhinebeck and around the Hudson Valley to cultivate the type of environmental stewardship that is based in a relationship with the natural world around them. 

Tuition is $375 (with scholarship option!)

This program will take place on the following:

Six Thursdays, 3:30pm-6:30pm

MAY 14

MAY 21

MAY 28

JUNE 4

JUNE 11

JUNE 18

JUNE 25