Folk musician Pete Seeger famously believed no one should grow up near the Hudson without getting in and on the water. But sailing can get pricey fast. Still, the region offers many ways locals can get out on the river — several directly inspired by Seeger’s vision — without spending big.
One opportunity comes through the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston. It’s located along the Rondout Creek, at the city’s old waterfront. And the museum’s sailing school, which was started with the Kingston Sailing Club, offers affordable lessons for both adults and kids.
“Most yacht clubs cost people thousands of dollars a year to join,” says Jody Sterling, the sailing program director at the Maritime Museum. “But because Kingston Sailing Club is a partner with the maritime museum, they don’t have to maintain a building or docks. They just meet at the maritime museum, and people keep their boats at nearby marinas.”
Sterling is among the many instructors who have a lifetime of sailing experience and even a background in education. (Hers is in teaching English at Dutchess Community College.)
A four-class session for adults starts at $475, but club memberships for associate members cost just $77. And adults who want to continue sailing can join the Kingston Sailing Club.
“I’ve been sailing for more than 60 years,” Sterling says. “I learn something pretty much every time I go out. So it’s a lifelong-learning type of sport. But you know, you can get the basics in some classes, and then build ‘sea time’ by getting out on the water with the sailing club.”
The museum also offers scholarships for kids. In the future, they hope to offer them to adults, too. Sterling says this is especially important due to the waterfront’s cultural significance and local ecology.
“There are so many people who live in the Hudson Valley who have never been on the Hudson River! It’s important for people to get out on the river to appreciate its beauty, as well as its cultural, historical, and biological importance,” Sterling explains. “It’s also an incredibly uplifting and inspiring experience to be out on the water, powered by sails that you can control on your own. Traditionally, sailing has not been very accessible. It’s been kind of elitist, and we’re decidedly non-elitist.”
Likewise, another accessible avenue for aspiring Hudson Valley sailors is Dutchess County’s Beacon Sloop Club. Members can take weekly seasonal sailing lessons in late spring for $50 per eight-week session. The group’s lesson coordinator, Mary Koniz Arnold, says that sailing on the Hudson brings both “joys and challenges.”
“Because the river is really a tidal estuary, there are a lot of factors and conditions to account for,” she explains. “Because the river is in a valley with mountains on either side, the weather can be fickle. You always have to stay alert!”
She also says Hudson Valley residents shouldn’t be priced out of sailing, especially because it’s such an important part of local history.
“The Hudson Valley and the Hudson River have a long sailing history of sailing for pleasure, commerce, and historically, for exploration,” she explains. This, she tells us, is why the club also offers free weekly trips on the river. Locals can learn more about the local waterways and environmental conservation, without having to navigate the water themselves, aboard the Sloop Woody Guthrie.
“There are several captains leading crews five nights a week and during Sloop Club festivals,” Arnold adds. She also tells us that if you own a sailboat, the Beacon Sloop Club manages the harbor and moorings near the Beacon Train Station and waterfront park. So avid sailors can use it as a home base.
And yet another affordable way to get out on the water is by way of the Sloop Clearwater. The nonprofit primarily operates as a “Sailing Classroom” that teaches school-age students about waterway preservation.
The organization offers public sails out 14 ports statewide for less than $50 per person. Even though this is less about teaching people how to sail and more about the aspect of environmental conservation, it’s an easy and educational way to voyage the Hudson Valley by boat, and to learn more about the Hudson River.
“Our field trip sailing classroom program is award-winning and can accommodate up to 45 students and teachers,” Sloop Clearwater’s director of environmental action, Jen Benson, says. “We also have youth empowerment programs that we run on board that are free for 14- to 18-year-olds, so they spend three days sailing and learning maritime skills and river science.”
Hudson Valley locals can sign up for sailing lessons at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, learn to sail with Beacon Sloop Club, hop aboard the Sloop Woody Guthrie or embark on one of Sloop Clearwater’s famous “sailing classrooms.” Regardless, reaping the benefits of the Hudson River is feasible and totally worthwhile for some serious summertime fun.
