News stories tagged with "boats"

(05/13/11) The new exhibit, Paddling to Perfection, opens at noon today at the St. Lawrence County Historical Association as part of the weekend celebration of the 50th Anniversary Rushton Canoe Races in Canton. Boatbuilder J Henry Rushton built his first boat, a canoe, at his Canton boat shop in 1873. Within ten years, his boats, canoes and paddles were on display at world's fairs and expos.

The new exhibit explores Rushton's involvement with the American Canoe Association meet in 1886 at Grindstone Island on the St. Lawrence River and Rushton's award winning canoes at the 1893 Columbian World Exposition in Chicago. St. Lawrence County historian Trent Trulock told Todd Moe that the "Paddling to Perfection" exhibit includes photographs, books, and artifacts related to these two events.

(12/06/10) For nearly twelve months, Adirondack businessman and environmentalist Peter Hornbeck has been waiting. Hornbeck is a boat builder in Omstedville, in Essex County. Last year, Governor David Paterson appointed him to sit on the Adirondack Park Agency's board of commissioners.

But his track record as a conservationist sparked opposition from local government groups and from Republican state Senator Betty Little. Little convinced Democrats in the Senate to delay Hornbeck's confirmation. Once again last week, a key committee left his appointment on the shelf.

Now Governor Paterson is leaving office and Republicans appear to have won a new majority in the Senate. After all those months, Hornbeck's bid to sit on the APA board appears to have reached a dead end. On Friday, Hornbeck told Brian Mann that he's been in a kind of political limbo, with little information about the process in Albany or what might happen next.

(06/07/10) The Adirondack Park Agency has been trying for months to nail down new rules for boathouse construction in the Adirondack Park. Commissioners will try again at their monthly meeting in Ray Brook this week. They'll consider redefining "boathouse," after deadlocking on a similar proposal last month. Chris Knight reports there are new commissioners in the mix this time, and observers hope a new focus on environmental issues. more

(03/31/10) The Antique Boat Museum in Clayton will have a new leader later this spring. John MacLean, the museum's executive director for the last 8 years, is retiring in May and the Board of Trustees has named Fred Schmitt as the new director. Schmitt will oversee the museum's campus along the St. Lawrence, eight buildings, more than 270 antique boats and 40 full and part-time employees. He told Todd Moe that he has an academic background in history and museum studies, nearly 30 years of management and consulting experience with businesses and organizations worldwide -- and a love of boats.

(03/08/10) Governor David Paterson has nominated businessman and environmental activist Peter Hornbeck to serve on the Adirondack Park Agency board. Hornbeck, a boatbuilder from Olmstedville, has the support of his local town board and supervisor. In a letter issued last week, Minerva town supervisor Sue Montgomery-Corey described Hornbeck as intelligent and thoughtful.

"We believe that he will represent the needs of Adirondack communities and businesses well," Corey wrote.

But Hornbeck's nomination has drawn fire from other local government groups in the Adirondacks and from state Senator Betty Little. They point to the fact that he serves on the board of Protect the Adirondacks, a group that is currently suing the APA. Last week, Senator Little predicted that Hornbeck wouldn't be confirmed by the state Senate.

Until now, Hornbeck himself has kept quiet about the uproar that has erupted around his candidacy. But on Friday he spoke in-depth with Brian Mann.

(01/06/10) The Adirondack Park Agency convened the first of four public hearings on new rules for boathouses last night at its headquarters in Ray Brook. The proposal limits new boathouses to 900 square feet in size, 15 feet in height, and sets a minimum roof pitch for a boathouse. Contractors, architects and environmentalists turned out to comment. Chris Knight reports.

(The APA has scheduled three more public hearings on the revised boathouse definition: tonight in Old Forge and Thursday in Albany and Lake George.) more

(11/16/09) The Adirondack Park Agency Board of Commissioners rejected a plan on Friday that would have classified the lakebed of Lows Lake as wilderness. Martha Foley has more.

(08/03/09) Quadricentennial events continue all summer long in the Champlain Valley, celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of Samuel de Champlain's arrival in the region. Brian Mann stopped by for the Essex Day celebration in the town of Essex on Saturday and he sent this audio postcard.

(07/07/09) The Cranberry Lake Boat Club is celebrating its centennial with a series of events this summer. Last Sunday, dozens gathered to watch homemade boats, made of cardboard, duct tape, layer after layer of glue and paint, race around a buoy near the town beach. Teams displayed their makeshift boats as each was called one-by-one to the water. So, do cardboard boats sink or sail? Todd Moe found that most were seaworthy.

(08/12/08) An authentic British wooden bateau is being built on the grounds of Fort Ticonderoga this month. Two stalwarts in the preservation and re-creation of Colonial American traditions, Fort Ticonderoga and the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum have collaborated on the project. Bateau were nautical "work horses," used for everything from ferrying troops to hauling supplies and farm animals. The bateau is taking shape under the skilled hands of Dale Henry. His crew is working only with hand tools and using construction techniques that date back to the 18th century. Henry told Todd Moe the boat itself is based on the remains of a bateau raised from the lake floor in 1960.