A cacophony of applause and excitement roared along Pier 40, at noon on Dec. 19, as clusters of socially distant spectators lined the Village Community Boathouse to celebrate the christening and gifting of one of their treasured boats to the avid rower, Mayor Ed Glaser of Rockland, Maine.
Sunday’s ceremony marked the very first time that the Village Community Boathouse (VCB) has donated one of their prestigious handcrafted rowboats. While the decision to give the craft away was a harrowing one, they believed there was “no more appropriate home,” as Mayor Glaser is a board member of Station Maine, a nonprofit organization that, similar to VCB, is “dedicated to offering boating opportunities, at no cost, to youth of all ages.”
With the approaching winter season, all water-dependent activities will be docking their vessels —preparing them for the freezing temperatures—and taking stock of their equipment. It was during this winterizing process that Lorne Swarthout, the head of the VCB’s boat building program, recognized that he couldn’t begin construction on next season’s boat until they created more space in the boathouse; prompting the team to conduct research into which rowing program was most deserving of their donation.
“We’re like people who have to give away a beloved pet,” said Sally Curtis, President of the VCB. “We want our boat to have a good home. To me, that means that it will be well cared for and used to help folks, particularly young people, get out on the water.”
Along with their free year-round boat building program, VCB offers a (also free) rowing program to introduce the public, “to the joys of rowing and sailing.” These services allow those who participate to get up close and personal with New York’s Harbor, while also having the opportunity to learn from experienced ship builders who can pass their knowledge of the craft onto those who are interested.
The specific boat that was gifted to Mayor Glaser was a Whitehall gig, which was given the title GML after the initials of the boat’s donor’s children. The gig’s model is a nineteenth century, traditional wood crafted, four-oared boat, “once used to ferry sailing ship captains in from their moored ships to the Whitehall Street pier,” said VCB. Now, in the twenty-first century, it is being used for leisure and education.
GML was one of four boats constructed with the help of sixth and eight grade children from 203 street and Tenth Avenue, coordinated by the two non-profit’s, New York Restoration Project and Floating the Apple. Before its official relaunch, GML was adorned with a crisp layer of black paint and a yellow racing stripe, making it the envy of every boat it encounters.
“GML has served VCB’s public rowing program for more than twenty years and the boat is still going strong,” said Deborah Clearman, Board member of the Village Community Boathouse. “We feel that GML will continue to serve our mission in her new home.”
