Sam Merrett does not come to the Apollonia from sailing. Instead, he was working in alternatives to fossil fuels. Merrett’s first business was in his Ohio college town; he converted diesel vehicles to operate on vegetable oil.⁠ ⁠ In 2013, Hudson Sloop Club hosted a visit from the Vermont Sail Freight Project. He marvels, “I was, like, ‘Oh shit, here I am modifying cars and trucks to run off vegetable oil—which is no doubt better than diesel, right?’ But when you think about sustainable, renewable energy, it’s hard to be as clean as wind and solar. And then I just started looking around for boats.” ⁠ ⁠ Tap the link in our bio to read the full story of the The Schooner Apollonia, written by @juliasexton, photos by @colinclark.