Join us for an evening with Jonathan Harley, a former Chapoquoit Yacht Club commodore—the youngest ever—and the former head of the US Olympic Sailing Team for 25 years when his teams won 29 medals. This event is Friday, August 28 at 5 p.m. Free and open to all.
On this evening, the last in our summer speaker series co-hosted by the library and CYC, Harley will recount an early adventure at sea: his 366-day trip in 1972 from New Bedford to Tahiti and back aboard the 50′ ketch Diogenes. Harley’s photographs of Tahiti and the Galapagos pre-date the boom in tourism and bring to life his experiences on the high seas.
Harley has served as head coach of sailing teams at numerous schools, colleges and yacht clubs, including Providence College, Portsmouth Abbey School and Duxbury Yacht Club, among others. He headed for seven years the sailing training program at the Mystic Seaport Museum. He spent his early years teaching sailing at CYC on Chapoquoit Island, where his family has had a home for decades. He has served several stints running the CYC sailing program.