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Building Bridges, Building Boats Completed Seasonal Workshops
River Rats battle rain and tides to finish difficult voyage from Cold Spring to Croton
Building Bridges, Building Boats in association with Philipstown Recreation has completed its Hudson River Workshops for students in grades 7 -9. The program, hosted by the Cold Spring Boat Club at their riverfront facilities, gave participants an opportunity gain hands on experience in boat handling and river arts.
This season there were three sessions lasting one week each that culminated in a serial tour of the river. Fourteen students, two adult leaders and a high school counselor in training, left from the Cold Spring Boat Club in four row boats on Monday and arrived on Friday afternoon at the Croton-Harmon train station. Each day found the students getting on the river at one location and coming off at another. This was accomplished with the support of organizations along the Hudson including the Garrison Yacht Club, the Open Space Institute, Atlantic Kayak Tours at the Annsville creek paddle sports center, King Marine and Scenic Hudson as well as the Cold Spring Boat club.
During the journey, the students, also known as the River Rats, were treated to impromptu lessons on river lore and history. The river itself, with accompanying wind and the tide, delivered its own lessons. The kids spent a good deal of time beach combing, which became an education in itself. A variety of interesting craft were spotted including the Half Moon on its way up the river and the Riverkeeper vessel that accompanied the rowboats for a chat.
The River Rats performed beautifully throughout, rowing through rain and headwinds. On the last day, the students pulled oars for three and a half hours straight before arriving at Croton Point Park. After lunch there was another two hours of rowing to reach the Croton Train Station for a total of 8 heroic miles of rowing for the day.
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