While his father was a captain in the United States Coast Guard, it was his experience as an anthropologist and archeologist that triggered his nautical interests.
[2] After spending time in Istanbul and seeing how individuals could easily rent a boat and take it out rowing on the Bosporus, he came to the conclusion that the same thing should be available on the Hudson River.
With financial assistance from the Open Space Institute, Davis decided that the group should build boats and make them available for public use.
[2] The boats that Davis constructed were Whitehall gigs, a longer version of the traditional Whitehall Rowboat that dates back to a 250-year-old design that was the type of boat George Washington used to get his troops across the East River during the Battle of Long Island.
Other spinoff groups, such as the Village Community Boathouse, are now located at Pier 40, the East River Crew[usurped] on East 96th Street, Rocking the Boat in the South Bronx, in Weehawken, New Jersey and at five other locations north of New York City.