The Stars are in Alignment for Clearwater   

The Clearwater is now 40 years old. With any wood boat, especially one that needs Coast Guard approval to carry passengers, keeping up with maintenance is the number one priority. So it is that the Clearwater requires some major structural replacement parts such as ribs, stringers and planks. The usual concept is to take the boat to a traditional boat yard out of the Hudson River valley and do the work there during the winter months. Since this type of work requires time and money, the idea is to get the major components fixed within the dead period, winter time, have the boat inspected by the Coast Guard for operational approval for the next summer season and move forward. All this requires individuals that usually are involved with the work schedule would have to live, or at the very least travel to a distant location such as Gloucester, Mass. Maine or Nantucket to get the work done. Not this time! Sometimes the wheels of life spin in such a way those individuals that would have had no connection with each other suddenly find a commonality that turns into a win/win for everyone, so it is in this case. With the donation of a very large houseboat to the Clearwater Organization, the need to move it, and the relationship that evolved, created a totally unique method of restoring the Clearwater right here in the Hudson River Valley.

During the summer of 2009 the donated houseboat was moved to New Ulster Marine on Rondout Creek. Kevin Drummond and the Clearwater skipper, Samantha Heyman, Captain of the Clearwater and “Captain Sam” to everyone, hit it off. Sam recognized the tremendous hands on skills that Kevin has in rebuilding or fixing anything that walks, talks or flies and Kevin, recognized in Sam, a real down to earth, no nonsense skipper who had her act together.

Then there is the rest of the crowd on Rondout Creek entwined in Kevin’s life in one way or another. Tim Ivory is one of those. Last of a breed, Tim Ivory, and the rest of the crew that all hang out together at the Cornell Machine Shop on Rondout Creek, were sitting around the fire, discussing the predicament of the Clearwater and the major repairs required when Tim said, “What the hell why not put it on the Black Diamond and more it right next to the machine and work shop that Clearwater has on Saugerties Creek. That way, the houseboat could be used as living quarters for the crew, a complete shrink-wrapped building could be built over the entire barge and work could be done with little travel time for anyone involved.              

So as crazy as it sounds that is exactly what happened over the last two months. Contracts were written, haggled over with the office of Clearwater, and a unique, dynamic crew all drawn together by the need to fix the Clearwater in a timely fashion began to get the job done. First the Clearwater was taken to Scrano Boat Building in the Port of Albany, picked up by Scrano’s huge crane and the Clearwater was placed ever so gently on the deck of Captain Matt Perricone’s, Black diamond spud barge and tied down. The following day the tug Cornell with the Black Diamond “on the hip” (tied along side), came down the river and tied up alongside its traditional winter headquarters and shop on Saugerties Creek.

Next Matt, leaving the spud barge there went over to Rondout Creek, picked up the big houseboat that was donated, and put it alongside the Black Diamond with Clearwater on its deck. As part of the agreement with Kevin Durmond of New Ulster marine, the task of building the complete temporary structure to enclose the Clearwater was assigned to Kevin. In the meantime the crew, tasked with repairing the Clearwater itself, took advantage of the warm, late November, December weather to start removing some of the problem wood that needed replacing.

This meant that no time was lost in getting started on the repairs.