FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

“RiverWise” Kingston to NYC Hudson River Trip
Maritime Museum’s Solaris and Apollonia Partner on Educational Voyage
 
Kingston, NY – Are you RiverWise? After a highly successful “RiverWise: North River Voyage” completed in June, 2020, the Hudson River Maritime Museum, in partnership with the Schooner Apollonia, is pleased to announce the continuation of its educational initiative to bring the Hudson River to the general public through virtual programs. “RiverWise: South Hudson Voyage,” brings carbon-neutral vessels Solaris and Apollonia together for a fleet sail from Kingston, NY to New York City in mid-August, 2020. The vessels leave the museum docks on Thursday, August 13, 2020 and will be gone for approximately 12 days.
 
The South Hudson Voyage is part of a broader effort the museum calls “RiverWise.” During the voyage museum staff and crew will collect film footage, conduct interviews, and produce short films, photos, and social media content to teach the general public about the Hudson River and allow them to experience it in real-time, as the crew does, from the comfort of their own homes.
 
After the voyage, museum staff will process the hundreds of hours of film footage collected on both voyages and begin to create short documentary films about the Hudson River and its history, with emphasis on the four themes highlighted this year – lighthouses, shipbuilding, towing, and sail freight.
 
The museum is seeking donations to support both the voyage and the documentary films.
 
Members of the public can follow along via the voyage website – www.hudsonriverwise.org – tracking the boats themselves, reading the daily Captains’ Log, and learning more about the history and maritime heritage of the Hudson River through interactive maps, educational videos, documentary films, and more. Livestreamed footage from each boat will also be available on the museum’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/hudsonrivermaritimemuseum.          
 
All public programs will be done virtually. When the vessels are in port, no shore programs will be provided and visitors will please refrain from gathering in groups at port to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The public is encouraged to view the vessels on their voyage from suggested public parks listed on the interactive map available on the RiverWise website.
 
This trip is funded by individual donations and sponsorships. If you would like to support the South Hudson Voyage and the museum’s documentary films, please visit www.hudsonriverwise.org/support for more information on sponsorship and donation opportunities.
 
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About the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Located along the historic Rondout Creek in downtown Kingston, N.Y., the Hudson River Maritime Museum is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries, and related industries. HRMM opened the Wooden Boat School in 2016 and the Sailing & Rowing School in 2017. In 2019 the museum launched the 100% solar-powered tour boat Solaris. www.hrmm.org

About Solaris. Solaris was built by the Hudson River Maritime Museum’s restoration crew under the direction of Jim Kricker. Solaris is the only US Coast Guard-approved 100% solar-powered passenger vessel in the United States. It does not plug in. Designed by marine architect Dave Gerr from a concept developed by David Borton, owner of Sustainable Energy, Solaris is commercial in design, meeting all U.S. Coast Guard regulations for commercial passenger-carrying vessels. www.hrmm.org/meet-solaris
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About the Schooner Apollonia. The Apollonia is the Hudson Valley’s largest carbon-neutral merchant vessel. Powered by the wind and used vegetable oil, Apollonia can transport her cargo sustainably. This mission-driven, for-profit business has a transparent and reproducible business model - to provide carbon-neutral transportation for shelf-stable local foods and products.  Connecting the traditions of slow food, fair trade, and carbon neutrality, we will inspire and train a new generation of Hudson River stewards and create green living-wage jobs in the growing river-based economy. www.schoonerapollonia.com

Solaris and Apollonia spent the night rafted with Clearwater in Albany. 

We spent the day in and around Albany, meeting all sorts of friends along the way!

We went up to visit the USS Slater and met up with Clearwater near the Dunn Memorial Bridge for a short fleet sail. 

We also had some fun with a kids' project hosted by Tanya, one of our on-board educators. More of these are coming, so stay tuned!

We have been conducting interviews with folks all along this trip, so we got to have a little preview of the films to come today! 

​First was an interview with Louise Bliss and Don Hagerman who are involved in the restoration of the 1903 racing sloop Eleanor. After a decade of hard work, Eleanor went in the water just last week! Stay tuned for more information and videos about this fascinating project. 

We also got some beautiful drone footage and a sneak peak of the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse! We'll be interviewing historians there and getting some interior shots this week as we head back down river. So stay tuned for more!

This trip really has two missions - did you know? One is to bring the Hudson River closer to you with livestreams and social media posts and short videos like these while the voyage is underway.

The second mission is to collect interviews and footage all along the way, so that we can produce a series of short documentary films once we get back! 

If you would like to support these efforts, please consider sponsoring one of our for themes for this trip: lighthouses, sail freight, towing, and shipbuilding. 

And finally, here is our end-of-day video, closing out Day Three of the North Hudson Voyage! Thanks to everyone who has donated by mile and to some brand new sponsors (who we'll be announcing soon)!

See you tomorrow and stay tuned for more on those interviews mentioned in the video!

As we depart Catskill and pass along the Catskill Mountains, we thought we'd share this wonderful video about the Hudson River School of Art, which was inspired by the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River.

Do you have a favorite Hudson River School artist or painting? Post it in the comments!

It's the first day of RiverWise! Solaris and Apollonia are on their way to Catskill, and they'll pass by several lighthouses along the way up to and returning from Albany. We thought we'd share this documentary film from ABC News in the early 1980s. Thankfully, all seven of these remaining lighthouses have since been saved and many have had major restoration work done. But it's good to see how far we've come!

Can you snag a photo of Solaris or Apollonia as they go by the Rondout and Saugerties Lighthouses today?