The Revitalist

last Sunday's  NYT ran on obit of the man pictured above, Mike Davis, a man I had never heard of but a man I am in awe of- he wanted to get people out onto the water in small rowing boats! My hero. I'd like to get out on the water more in a small row boat.

To accomplish his goal Mr. Davis built and taught people how to build replica Whitehall gigs, modest seeming  wooden rowboats apparently named for the Manhattan street where they were first built- Whitehalls, however are far from modest(think dinghy), being instead the most archtypal  wooden rowing boat  you could imagine- somewhere between Captain Ahab on a whale boat and George Washington being rowed across the Delaware river- those  boats were Whitehalls or near Whitehalls.

This obit caught my interest in the spirit of this blog because I love boats and rowing and water(doesn't everyone) but I also was pleased to learn about a man working to get people back onto the water in a traditional fashion in a traditional vessel- how many old views of Boston/ Salem/ Newburport/ Portland/ etc have you seen with a look down a city street and the backdrop is a sail( or a rowing boat).

This makes me think of a great recent opening in Boston, the new Harry Parker Boathouse, built by Community Rowing, inc.,  not for profit in Boston whose mision is about getting people rowing-

The building they were able to get built, dedicated to rowing, is fantastic and worth a visit. Architects Alex Anmihian and Nick Winton have produced a stunning success.