Musicians stroke so rowers can
Hullapalooza will benefit Lifesaving Museum's program for youngsters
HULL -- A musical party by the water to benefit kids on the water is a theme befitting the location of a town perched on the sea. And that's the idea behind the fifth annual Hullapalooza scheduled for today at The Sea Note on Nantasket Avenue.
The proceeds from the event, scheduled from 5 to 10 p.m., will benefit the youth rowing program at the Hull Lifesaving Museum, a nonprofit institution now in its 30th year.
"Hull is on a peninsula but so many young kids, even if they live on a peninsula, don't have the opportunity to get on the water, visit the Boston Harbor Islands, and this program gives them that chance," said Corinne Leung, museum director and part of the six-person coaching staff that teaches children ages 12 to 18 the skills needed to row a boat. "The islands are part of the National Park Service; it belongs to everyone."
The museum, located at the mouth of Boston Harbor with stunning views of Boston Light, the Graves Lighthouse, and the city of Boston just 7 miles across the water, is in the restored 19th-century Point Allerton US Lifesaving Station. It is a shrine to all things lifesaving, including a display of the surfboat Nantasket, an antique 28-foot rescue boat that is smaller than what youngsters in the rowing program use.
The rowing program features a fleet of 14 boats, all 32-foot pilot gigs, a design from the sailing days of yore when pilot companies would race to ships coming into the harbor. The first boat out landed its company the job of bringing goods to shore, Leung said, so the boats were built for speed.
The boats used for training consist of six oar positions -- three to a side -- and one coxswain's seat. The six sailors have one oar each, using a two-handed sweeping motion to propel the vessel. It's a team skill, Leung said, and that's a key part of the learning process that's not just confined to rowing.
"Boats are a metaphor for life, really," Leung said. "They are vehicles for educating the kids not just about the harbor and the islands, but the parallels of teamwork, cooperation and taking care of things together."
The program is taught beyond Hull as well, including in the Seaport District in Boston and in schools on the South Shore and Boston, Leung said. Close to 500 youngsters a year take part in the program at its various locations.
"We provide the opportunity for kids in boats to learn basic skills, rowing skills, to learn about the environment, learn about boating safety," she said. "Whenever we go out, before we shove off, we consider the wind, the water condition, the tide. We educate the kids that those are the things you have to consider."
Once on the water, it's about the rowing and the occasional boat race between friends, but mostly it's about safety and education, visiting the Harbor Islands and "just having fun," Leung said.
And these are no fair-weather sailors: The program is held year-round, in all weather except thunderstorms.
"We row all four seasons, the boats are in continual use six days a week," Leung said. "Sometimes the best rowing is in winter. A lovely sunny day with the temperature around 38 is a gorgeous time to be on the water. You see things through a different lens that time of year."
The culmination of the fall rowing season is an event dubbed "Icebreaker," the Northeast Regional Open-Water Rowing Championships, scheduled this year for Nov. 17, showcasing the best young rowers from near and far.
"There's a whole fleet of boats all over the Northeast that are the same as the boats we use, and we bring them all together," Leung said. "They come from as far south as New York City and north as Downeast Maine, and even from the regions of Lake Champlain."
As many as 300 rowers pepper the waters for the one-day event, with teenage crews testing themselves and each other. The event ends with a 25-boat nautical-mile sprint across Hingham and Hull bays. According to the museum website, the youth crews cover greater distances during the day than collegiate crews race in an entire season, with events that include a grueling series of round-robin sprints.
Each year that Hullapalooza has been held, participating musicians donate their time and talent to support a different local nonprofit organization. The museum was the beneficiary of a previous Hullapalooza, organizers said. This year's event is strictly for the museum's rowing program. Other groups benefiting from prior Hullapalooza events were a coalition opposing runway expansion at Logan Airport in Boston; the Hull Seaside Animal Rescue; and the Hull Artist Studio Connection, an artists' cooperative. More than $10,000 has been raised collectively in the last four Hullapaloozas, organizers said.
The event features music for all ages, a silent auction and the raffle of a Heritage
Tickets are $12 and can be bought at the door. For more information on the fund-raising event, visit lifesavingmuseum.org/hullapalooza. The Sea Note is at 159 Nantasket Ave. 
