A sailboat is an incredible thing. It’s a complex machine, made of simple machines. Pulleys, levers, wheels and axles orchestrate a ballet of mechanical advantage, powered by friction, muscle and currents of air. On a tall ship, Newtonian physics is taken to a high level. Harnessing the wind and tides is one of humanity’s greatest achievements.
Operation Sail, 2000
But none of that would have occurred to me at age 13, walking – terrified – down the pier at Garrison to meet Clearwater for my first volunteer week. I was there because, like many teenagers before me, I had become fascinated with the sea through books and movies. My parents – who are environmentalists – knew about Clearwater, and probably realized this was the safest and cheapest way to get me on to the water and out of their hair.
That was 30 years ago, and I’ve volunteered every year since, for a week, 3 days, a month, whatever life allowed. When I was 15, I lectured 17 year olds about water quality. When I was 18, I broke an ankle on something or other. Clearwater gave me confidence and nature taught me humility.
Capt Samantha Hicks, 1st Mate Carlos Duran, Volunteer Arthur Jones, YMATH 2010
Clearwater’s Volunteer program is an education in itself. You learn to teach, and haul, and scrub, and then you teach and haul and scrub like you never thought possible. I’m not sure exactly what it was – probably the scrubbing – but I fell in love with everything immediately. The river, the boat, the chores, the community, all of it. That week really changed me. Before Clearwater I was a lazy, privileged, entitled teenage boy. Afterwards I was still all those things, but my eyes were open. From that point on I was also an educator, a mariner, a lover of nature and the effect it has on people.
Clearwater teaches a lot more than life skills and the proper application of sunblock. Aboard was the first place anyone asked me my pronouns, challenged my white privilege, or taught me about the Munsee, and the Lenape.
As I’ve matured, my role at Clearwater has too. As a perennial volunteer I got pretty good at scrubbing and became a passable educator. Later, I was more useful in the galley – empowered teenagers eat a ton. After college I became an unofficial clearwater videographer, and spent one glorious summer embedded aboard as a documentarian.
Some light filmmaking
Clearwater’s mission to “steward the Next Generation of Environmental Leaders” wasn’t what drew me to the river that first week, but it’s what drives me now. I had unknowingly joined a lineage of people who believed that teaching folks to love this river could change the world.
Three decades later, I’m proud to have played a small part in passing that legacy on. I was once the kid discovering the river, and seeing that same spark ignite in younger generations is one of the great joys of my life. I certainly don’t think of myself as an “environmental leader”, but I see unlimited potential in the younger generations. Nowhere is this clearer than in our Youth Empowerment Programs, no-cost three-day, two night adventures on the mighty Hudson River and camping on the shoreline for teens 14-18.
Young Men at the Helm, 2015
Just showing up, year after year, alongside people who care deeply about this river was what eventually brought me to Clearwater’s Board. It felt like a natural extension of the work I’d already been doing for decades: educating, advocating, hauling lines, telling stories, and helping build a community rooted in stewardship. Now I humbly serve as the Vice President of the Board of Directors, and I have to say, it’s not as much fun as sailing, but we all have a role to play. I still do get to volunteer now and then, and I try to do it during the annual Young Men at the Helm. It’s a deeply meaningful program, but it’s not the only time I get to see young people fall in love with the Hudson.
Arthur and Nibling, 2023
The fight for the Hudson, for water everywhere, and for the climate generally are all connected, and it’s not a fight that can be won in a generation. My parents must have known this when they pushed me toward Clearwater in the first place; they understood what the river could teach me. The whole family loves the sloop of course. My brother has always enjoyed sailing with me, and now that he has a family, I get to watch my nibling fall in love with the same wind and water that shaped me.
I’ve now been on the river long enough to see it change first hand. Today the Hudson is cleaner than it’s been in generations. We used to pull garbage out of the river every day, now the threats are less tangible but still very real. The people of NY and NJ deserve what most communities on the water take for granted; a river that is walkable, swimmable, fishable, and accessible to everyone. Clearwater’s mission adapts but it will never be finished, and my personal Clearwater voyage is far from over.
About Arthur:
Arthur Jones has spent his entire life in range of the Hudson and currently lives in Jersey City with his wife and their dog, Sherman. A passionate lover of nature, animals, and all things water, Arthur has been a dedicated Clearwater volunteer for over thirty years. He currently serves as Vice President of the Board and chairs the nominating committee. Professionally, Arthur is a delivery consultant for Airtable, a media tech strategist, and thought leader in Digital Asset Management.
For almost sixty years, Clearwater has nurtured a deep and abiding love for the Hudson River because of the generosity of donors like you. Help us keep the Clearwater magic alive and the sloop sailing for the next generation.
