News from the Clean Up Boat

Charles River Clean Up Boat - Update 12-2

All the news from the river is good.  We had a great start to our 9th year of cleaning the river.  On May 12, the Charles River Yacht Club added 4 boats to the opening day clean up effort.  With a total of 5 boats, including the Lisa S, we removed most of the winters' residual trash between the BU Bridge and the dam.  We also picked up most of the floating trash upstream to the Watertown dam.  Thanks to Nick Pasquarosa, and the crew from the Charles River Yacht Club, for this jump start on the 2012 season.

Now things are back to normal.  On Thursday, May 17, we went all day and found less than 2 bags of trash.  The next day, Friday, Bob Gaffney ran into a pile of trash next to the dock at the Hatch shell.  Where it came from is a mystery.  Maybe it cam out from under the dock, or the activities at the Esplanade generated it.  All we know is that you have to keep working at it, if you want to keep the river looking beautiful.

This year almost everything is the same as prior years.  The Watertown Yacht Club is again providing us with a slip.  All four captains are back for another year.  Tom Soisson and Bob Gaffney have been with me from the start, and Mitch Lunin is in his 8th year.  The Galleria is again providing a recycle bin, and Angelo Tilas and the DCR folks are again hauling away the trash we gather after each trip.

Jonathan Burke and Lesley O'Garro, of the Museum of Science are again providing financial, and more importantly, a great deal of volunteer help.

Speaking of volunteers, it has been awesome.  We put the schedule for the season on the website in March.  It immediately began to fill.  Today we have crew well into August.  There are only 4 days in August without at least one crew, and many days in September are full.  There are still days across the schedule with only one person signed up, so we welcome one, or 2, more people on those days. Bottom line, if you want to come on the boat for a day this Summer, please pick a day, call Nancy Free, or me, and we will sign you up.  Our phone numbers and E-maill addresses are on the website...cleanupboat.org.

As to funding, thank you, thank you, to the folks who have sent donations early, it just makes a wearisome job that much easier.  We do not have any staff, and our fund raising consists of sending a request to folks who donated the prior years, and some phone calls.  Prior experience says although we worry about paying the bills during the Summer, one way, or another, someone steps up, and we get the bills paid.  Some day there may be an annuity in someones will, or a like happening will occur.  But, in the mean time, it's a whole bunch of folks helping as best they can, that keeps us going year after year.

By the way, other cities would like to have an organization like the Charles River Clean Up Boat.  Each year, people contact me for information, and help, in setting up an organization to clean their rivers and harbors.  Mobile, Alabama is the most recent to contact me.  I give as much information, and help, as I can, but without a lot of people like you, doing whatever they can to help, they do not succeed.  The approach of trying to force under funded government agencies to clean their rivers usually fails, and only makes the lawyers rich.  Our approach works well, and you are part of a great bunch of people who just get the job done.

The Charles River is a wonderful asset, we all do a great job of taking care of it, and everyone should take a few minutes to enjoy it.  Spring is here.

Tom