Seventy rowers braved the weather Saturday to participate in the 22nd annual Mobjack Rowing Association Christmas Eve Row at Williams Wharf on the East River. 

Coach Tim Ulsaker greeted the group with a tour of the framed-up and roofed Owens Community Education/Boathouse Center. 

When the boathouse project is completed, Ulsaker said, the Mathews Land Conservancy’s Williams Wharf Landing project will provide Mathews and its visitors with a $12 million public waterfront access for educational and low impact water activities. 

“It has taken over 21 years and $8 million to get Williams Wharf from a run-down boatyard to this point and the completion of the boathouse project will require an additional $4 million,” he said. 

He said the building’s sustainable design will utilize recycled material along with solar and wind power, rain water recapturing and geothermal HVAC. Since the Mathews Rowing Association’s board kicked off its December...