He lives on a sailboat on Philly’s waterfront

Don Baugh owns a million-dollar view of Philly’s waterfront at a fraction of the cost: The Ben Franklin Bridge rises to his north; the big 16-inch guns of the Battleship New Jersey to his east.

A mama duck and her ducklings were the only river traffic gliding in between on the clear water of the Delaware River on a recent day. But Baugh, 69, said the view is not so peaceful when rollicking nor’easters blow in, swaying his bed like a pendulum and mobilizing ice floes.

“When that ice pack comes, and the wind comes out of the Northeast, you know it’s just gonna slam against your boat,” Baugh said.

Baugh lives on the Wind Gypsy, his 34-foot-long sailboat docked on the Delaware River at Pier 3 Marina on Columbus Boulevard, between Arch and Market Streets in Philadelphia. He bought the boat used and kept the name because he believes it’s bad luck to change it. It has an electric hookup, heat, and high-speed internet. From inside the cabin, he directs the nonprofit Upstream Alliance.

“Me living on a boat, and having an office on a boat, is the perfect venue for me to launch my programs,” Baugh said. “I have a base of operations in place where there’s normally very little access and can bring other people to the water.”

While some walk the talk, Baugh sails it. He’s founder of Annapolis-based Upstream Alliance, a nonprofit that strives to connect people to the river through better access, education, and exposure. He’s a frequent presence on local waterways, whether it’s taking schoolchildren on urban kayak trips through Camden on the Cooper River or paddling with politicos to show the promise of the area’s other Shore.

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In between, he hunts for grants for his programs designed to draw people to a river they’ve largely been cut off from. One goal is to get Black and brown residents on the water so they see the river is not just a place “for rich white people from the suburbs.” Upstream Alliance also runs programs on the Chesapeake Bay and Hudson River.

A lanky 6-foot-3, Baugh has to duck to enter his cabin. There, the gregarious captain holds virtual and in-person meetings from a laptop on a table inches from a tiny stove, oven, and sink. Although there’s a shower onboard, he can use a shower, bathroom and laundry machines at the marina.

“All this for $400 a month,” Baugh said of his slip fee. “That’s pretty good.”

He uses a bicycle to pedal to meetings in Center City and drives home to Annapolis on weekends in a car he keeps in a nearby garage. He also docks a motorboat and kayak at the marina. Baugh moved to his sailboat in Philly seven years ago.

He started Upstream Alliance in 2015 after retiring as lead educator at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, where he worked 37 years and would often commute by kayak. Donors pulled him aside at his retirement party, urging Baugh to start his own 501(c) (3) nonprofit.

“I said, ‘What do you want me to do with the money?’ They said, ‘That’s your problem,’” Baugh recalls with a laugh. “I wasn’t looking for a job. But I do feel like I was put on this earth for a reason. How could I say no?”

He spent six months trying to find a vision for a nonprofit. That became clarified when the Philadelphia-based William Penn Foundation approached him for advice on waterfront recreation programs. The foundation funds the Delaware River Watershed Initiative, a coalition of environmental groups, landowners and farmers trying to keep waterways and forests clean. Baugh also had contact with other environmental groups around the Mid-Atlantic about starting a nonprofit.

Baugh paddles not only through the water, but through Philadelphia’s bureaucracy, bringing officials to the river so they get a fresh view of it. He laments the lack of accessible kayak launches in the city.

» READ MORE: https://www.inquirer.com/health/philadelphia-delaware-river-pollution-swimmable-maritime-20220328.html

But he especially laments the city’s combined sewer overflow (CSO) system, an antiquated method that combines pipes for storm water runoff and sewage. In heavy rains, the Philadelphia Water Department’s treatment plants can’t handle the volume. So the combined storm water and sewage divert to large outfalls that flow into the river.

The river through Philly is much cleaner than in decades past thanks to the Clean Water Act passed in 1972 and is designated for “secondary contact,” which includes rowing, power boating, and fishing. Environmental groups like his, the American Littoral Society, and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network want it designated as “primary contact,” which would mean people could use it for recreation including direct touching of the water, splashing, or immersion without getting sick. But there’s been pushback from maritime users who cite safety issues.

There are so many competing needs in a city, but clean water is a right everyone should have.

“When you live on the water, it becomes personal,” Baugh said. “There are millions of gallons coming out of the CSOs, almost like another river. You see condoms flowing after a storm. I jokingly call them indicator species telling you it’s sewage you’re seeing. I don’t think the public understands this fully. I get that there are so many competing needs in a city, but clean water is a right everyone should have, and particularly a city with people of color who have been marginalized.”

Brian Rademaekers, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Water Department, said the agency is “currently investing billions of dollars in addressing combined sewer overflows.” He noted the department’s Green City, Clean Waters program, a long term plan to reduce the volume of stormwater entering the combined sewers and expand stormwater treatment capacity.

Philadelphia Councilmember Mark Squilla, whose district runs along the river from South Philadelphia to Port Richmond, took a tour of the river by kayak with Baugh and other officials last summer. The group paddled inside a combined sewer overflow.

The tour “really opened my eyes to the possibilities of the water for recreation,” Squilla said. “People drive an hour and a half to go to the Shore or the mountains, but we have water right here. I think people don’t recognize the opportunities.”

Squilla said the master plan for the waterfront has a focus on land trails. He’d like to see water access with public ramps that boaters, paddlers, or jet skiers can use to launch or get out and eat in a restaurant or walk the city. He said the construction of a cap over I-95 to create a 12-acre park connecting Old City to Penn’s Landing will start this summer and could be a boon for boaters when completed in two or so years.

Baugh has made more headway in Camden County, where he and officials from the county’s parks department are creating the Camden Water Trail, which will run 13 miles along the Cooper River from Cherry Hill into Cooper River Park, and through Camden to the Delaware River with boat access along the way. He hopes to encourage people to explore the Cooper River and its back channel and plans a soft launch this fall with full completion in 2025. The trail will include signs for safe access and information, maps, and an online portal.

“In Camden, the spirit is there,” Baugh said. “I love that the Black and brown community has embraced it. I want to teach people in Camden the skills through programs that will train them to be able to train and hire local people as instructors. Wouldn’t that be great?”

This story has been updated to reflect efforts by the Philadelphia Water Department to address combined sewer overflows.