The boat's keel is the foundation of the boat's structure, the beam that runs the length of the ship from the bow to the stern at the bottom of the boat. Boat builders used to call laying the keel of a boat "Laying Down".
Traditional boat builders lay the keel first, in the location from which they will launc the vessel, and then build the boat up from the keel.
40 years ago, Clearwater's keel represented not only the foundation of a new vessel, but also the founding of an environmental movement to clean up the Hudson River.
photo: Pete Seeger at the boat's construction site in South Bristol, Maine, 1968.
Further Reading
Etymology of the word "Keel" - Some scholars think that the word "Keel" might be the first English word recorded in writing. Gildas Bandonicus, a Celtic monk, uses this word describing the invasion of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons in 540AD.
