Clearwater Sloop Booted from Boat Parade Over Advocacy Banners

The historic Clearwater sloop, whose preliminary focus is water pollution advocacy and educational resources, was removed from the Sail4th 250 Parade of Sail on Saturday morning by U.S. Coast Guard officials due to advocacy banners displayed aboard, according to the organization that operates the ship.

The 106-foot long sloop–the most common type of sailboat with a single mast and two sails–departed from Port Side New York in Red Hook in Atlantic Basin, Brooklyn, with an anticipated return to the West 79th Street Boat Basin in Manhattan. The Clearwater was meant to be an escort to the Portuguese tall ship, NRP Sagres.

According to the Clearwater organization, the USCG vessel approached the sloop around 11 a.m., shortly after the start of the parade in New York Harbor, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater said in a statement. Officials then notified Captain Rory Kane that the sloop had to exit the parade and leave the exclusion zone. Upon asking why the vessel had to be removed, Kane was told it was due to banners displayed atop the sailboat’s sails, which read, “Save the Clean Water Act” and “Indigenous Rights, Racial Justice, Climate Solutions.”

One source close to Sail4th 250 told Straus News that all political and commercial banners were banned in advance of the parade, and that all participating vessels had signed an agreement against putting up banners or politically-aimed slogans. The only banners that were allowed on the vessels included national flags and those advertising the Sail4th 250 Parade of Sail.

In an official statement, Clearwater shared, “Neither the participation agreement nor the Captain’s Handbook explicitly prohibited the display of these banners, and Clearwater was never offered the opportunity to remove the banners and continue in the parade. We have not received that explanation directly from event organizers.”

Straus News observed the Clearwater onboard the Adirondack, a 100-foot schooner belonging to the Classic Harbor Line at Pier 62 in Chelsea. Passengers on the Adirondack were intrigued by the Clearwater’s signs, and there was no visible attempt at disturbance or protest from the sloop.

Twenty-nine passengers and 19 crew members were aboard the sloop when it needed to suddenly drop its planned voyage and festivities.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Sail4th 250 have not publicly responded to the organization’s account as of July 6.

The Clearwater has been using its sails to spread environmental and social advocacy messages since its launch in 1969. The vessel and organization were birthed by folk singer Pete Seeger and his wife, Toshi Seeger, along with other activists, who wished to address and improve the conditions of the Hudson River due to industrial pollution.

The Clean Water Act, an area of foremost attention for the organization, was passed in 1972 following performances by Clearwater advocates as part of the first Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970. Music, singing, dance, and acting eventually paved the way for comprehensive federal regulations, environmental caution, and necessary funding to clean up many of America’s polluted bodies of water, including the Hudson River.

Clearwater noted, “While we disagree with our removal, the safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority.”

The sloop was escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, and NYPD south of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, where it finished out the day’s activities in Gravesend Bay, with passengers and crew members singing songs and discussing ongoing threats to the Hudson River.

Since 1966, the Clearwater has persisted in its duty as “America’s Environmental Flagship.” Currently, it is the only full-size example of a sloop on the Hudson River, the design being a mimic of historic Dutch vessels. Its mission is to protect the Hudson from pollution and excess industrial development, advocating through education, youth empowerment, and community building. The sloop provides a sailing classroom program as well as outreach to students in their schools.

Clearwater’s website shares, “The sloop ‘Clearwater‘ is among the first vessels in the United States to conduct science-based environmental education aboard a sailing ship, creating the template for environmental education programs around the world.”

“Hudson River Sloop Clearwater does not view clean water, climate solutions, or human rights as political, but as fundamental values that have guided this organization since its founding, and underlie the organization’s efforts to protect the Hudson River and steward an intergenerational Hudson River community through education, advocacy, sailing, and music,” shared the organization.