Vermont farmer and baker Erik Andrus not only uses draft horses on his farm and to deliver baked goods, but also plans on reviving the lost art of shipping freight under sail power. Andrus has a Kickstarter going to fund the the consturction of a 39 foot sailing vesel, the “Ceres” which will carry 12 tons of rice and other shelf-stable goods from Ferrisburgh, Vermont to New York City.
The Ceres is already under construction and is due to start sailing by this fall. You can follow progress on the project at: http://vermontsailfreightproject.wordpress.com/
And James Howard Kunstler interviewed Andrus on his podcast.
Someone revive the west coast version . . .
Two Years Before the Mast is a great book…
There is a Puget Sound Sail Freight organization. And did you hear about the hipster chocolatiers in NYC? The Mast Brothers? They shipped 20 tons of cocoa beans up by sail, if I recall correctly.
Hey Ruben–thanks for the comment–and I’m happy to hear that hipster chocolatiers are shipping by sail!
This may be the same thing Ruben was talking about, but maybe not: http://www.salishseatrading.com/
Here is an interview Janaia Donaldson from Peak Moment TV did with the proprietors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m59EUo_IIWU
They have a csa delivering produce by sailboat in Puget Sound.
This post reminds me of a great documentary that i watched. its about a group of kids that refurbish a fiberglass hulled hobby sailboat and use it sail the Caribbean, its pretty inspiring. In the documentary they point out that Haitians are the best sailors since the majority of the freight is/was powered by sail. I just searched and you can still watch the full movie at: http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/228817/detail/.
Dimitri Orlov just posted about this project, and square boats in general.
http://cluborlov.blogspot.ca/2013/05/whats-new-in-square-boats.html
And here is a google return on the Mast Brothers, who I mentioned earlier…
mast brothers chocolate sailboat – Google Search
Hey Ruben–thanks for the links–Kelly and I will be hearing Orlov speak at the Age of Limits conference later this month. And all I can say is, wow, a hipster chocolate sailboat. Is sailing the new fixed gear? Kidding aside, it’s pretty cool.
Well, I would feel a lot more fondly towards hipsters if they would all start working in sail freight…