If you’re new to rowing at VCB, you may not know that in addition to our trademark Whitehall gigs housed at Pier 40, the boathouse has a substantial collection of smaller craft including Whitehall rowboats (as opposed to gigs), wherries, and prams. In the past (that is, before Covid), we used some of these boats to run free community boating programs in Prospect Park in Brooklyn and Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, both home to small lakes that were in fact originally designed for rowing.  Because of a shortage of volunteers this year, we have decided to reposition the Prospect Park fleet, with two small Whitehalls going to the Sebago Canoe Club on Paerdegat Basin in Jamaica Bay, where that group will use them for community rowing events, and a third going to bolster the fleet in Van Cortlandt Park. 
If you’d like to check out the rowing scene at Sebago, the club is hosting three Open House dates this summer — one each in July, August and September. Click here for more details or email Rob Buchanan at [email protected]

Meanwhile, here’s the schedule for VCB’s free rowing program in Van Cortlandt Park this season: 

Friday May 6, 4-7 pmFriday May 13, 4-7 pm
Friday June 17, 4-7 pmFriday June 24, 4-7 pm
Tuesday July 19, 4-7 pmTuesday July 26th, 4-7 pm
Thursday August 18, 4-6:30 pm

If you’re interested in helping out in Van Cortlandt Park, you can email the program coordinator, Marcel Dejean, at [email protected].