Friday, February 17, 2012

It's not just about Boston

One more sign of Spring: I'm booking my volunteer week on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. It's not about Boston sailing but it is about sailing and Clearwater's mission is surely not limited to the Hudson River.

A week volunteering on Clearwater teaches about 400 children, 40 at a time, about the river, it's history and the river environment overall. What's learned there applies to most rivers, most harbors, most environments and, generally speaking, about this planet and how we need to take care of it.

Among the other benefits, I get to be a deck hand on a tall ship. It's hard work on the one hand, but easy on the other since much of the heavy lifting is done by the 40 kids. (It's a really good, practical lesson in physics, watching 40 school kids raise a 3,000 lb. main sail.)

There's the teaching part, too, and as I tell the kids as I introduce myself, "I'm not a teacher pretending to be a sailor..." It does seem to work out and I'm looking forward to it.

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