Sea-Fever blog

It’s a proud accomplishment for any academic institution to make the front page of the NY Times. For me it’s even more exciting when it one that uses maritime culture and heritage to change the lives of inner city youth and it’s even better when I know some of the people involved.

Today’s NY Times (June 26, 2008 ) has a great front page article by Sara Rimer about the Urban Assembly’s New York Harbor School entitled Taking Lessons, and Confidence, From the Water. It’s a must read for anyone interested or involved in maritime education. Here’s a link to my previous post, The Privilege of Sailing, that I did on the Harbor School along with co-founder Murray Fisher adding a comment.

Outcomes are what matters in programs like this and here’s some interesting facts from the article:

The Harbor School has 390 students in grades 9 to 12, 70 percent Latino and 30 percent black, with many from the Caribbean. Last year’s graduation rate was 63 percent, Mr. Fisher said, nearly triple the rate of the old Bushwick High School, which once occupied the same building. The citywide average is about 50 percent.

But more importantly the voices and pictures bring this success story to life. Please don’t miss the audio clips or slide show! If you only have time to do one thing today, please listen to student Jennifer Mendez and teacher Melissa Franco and you will get a better understanding about the power of the sea to teach and change lives!

Yes, she, Jennifer Mendez, 15, the girl from Brooklyn who used to be afraid of the water and everything related to it — fish, boats, bugs — was steering the Lettie up the river, along the Upper West Side. The captain of the ship, Denise Meagher, was standing by. But with her hand on the wheel, Jennifer felt as if she were the captain, responsible for the ship and everyone on it — the crew, her ninth-grade classmates and their science teachers, Roy Arrezo and Ann Fraioli.

A little later, Jennifer would write in her class journal, “I feel as if I can do anything.” Even, she confided, make the honor roll.

“I feel so privileged to learn about the water,” Jennifer wrote in her journal. “The Hudson River is like an ancestor of our past, and if we listen to it, it just might tell tales.”

Congratulations to the Murray Fisher and Nathan Dudley and all of the professional and volunteer leadership of the Harbor School for creating something special for New York City youth and for a well deserved acknowledgement on the front page of the NY Times! Also, congratulations to all of the Harbor School students who work so hard to make this unique program a success! Like sailing a tall ship, you’re all in the same boat so keep up the great work!

Photo credit: Ruby Washington / NY Times

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Monday was a bad day for historic schooner groundings on both coasts of the United States.

First, the Adventuress ran aground off Orca Island while transiting Wasp Pass in the San Juans off Washington State. Our friend, marine salvor and fellow maritime blogger Captain Richard Rodriguez is all over this story, literally! As you can see from his above photo, his vessel and blog share the same name: Bitter End. Thankfully, that won’t be the result for the Adventuress; no injuries or serious hull damage has been reported. (KING 5 video report)

Tragically, another historic schooner, Robertson II, met her bitter end last year in similarly treacherous waters off the coast of Washington state.

Meanwhile on the Atlantic Coast, the Sylvina W. Beal, a Maine windjammer ran also ran aground yesterday. The Canadian Press reports:

The U.S. Coast Guard station in Eastport, Maine, says it received a report Monday night that the schooner Sylvina W. Beal had run aground near Indian Island in Head Harbor Passage and needed help. he Coast Guard evacuated the (41) passengers from the 25-metre-long vessel. No injuries or pollution are reported and the coast guard says the vessel is not taking on water.

The good news is that there were no reported injuries, significant damage or pollution in either incident.

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Stunning photo!

“People look at fireworks with the Russian tall ship Mir illuminated in the background, on the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia, early Saturday, June 21, 2008. The tall ship Mir participated in festivities marking school graduation. Graduation ceremonies are held all over Russia now as students of elementary and high schools and military academies finish their education.”

via commercialappeal.com “Day in Pictures – June 21, 2008”

Photo: AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky

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Here’s a link to another great article by Bermuda Sun senior writer Meredith Ebbin about the youth maritime education program that I’ve been working on for the past six months with Northeast Maritime Institute.

Course opens up waterways of the world for students (June 13, 2008 )

Here’s a link In case you missed Ms. Ebbins first article, Pilot programme to train young seaman (May 23, 2008 )

This is a very exciting project. Ten young men and one young woman, between the ages of 16 and 30, most of whom dropped out of Bermuda’s traditional education system, have embarked on an educational journey which will ultimately give them the knowledge, skills, experience, credentials and confidence to launch professional maritime careers at home or around the world.

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I spent Sunday afternoon and had dinner with my good friend Caleb Pifer. ASTA board member Alix Thorne introduced us in 2002 while sailing aboard the tall ship Elissa in Galveston. As American Sail Training Association executive director I hired Cal as a high school student to be a summer intern the following year and several thereafter. After graduating from the University of Texas in Austin last year, Cal joined the Concordia, a tall ship owned and operated by Class Afloat, a Canadian educational nonprofit and most recently he joined sister organization, American Foundation for Education Under Sail Inc. as director of development of their Educational Partner-Ships program.

From Educational Partner-Ships website:

Educational Partner-Ships is the world’s only provider of tall ship–based educational voyages that utilizes your personalized program.

Unique in the field of education is the “prescriptive programming” of Educational Partner-Ships. With Educational Partner-Ships, each partnering school shares in design and delivery. It is a school’s guarantee that institutional or departmental goals remain at the forefront of program development. Let Educational Partner-Ships do the leg work that ensures that your program is truly your program.

Drawing on over thirty years of travel-study experience at sea, Educational Partner-Ships creates and delivers unparalleled learning opportunities aboard a variety of traditionally rigged sailing vessels.

These learning opportunities may include:

• Twenty Day January or Summer Terms

• Three Week Intercessional Class Offerings (Spring and Fall)

• Semester Long Programs

This exciting program is designed for colleges and universities that are interested in giving their students a unique experiential based academic program. I look forward to following Educational Partner-Ships promising future.

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(33 minutes)

Download MP3:Messing About In Ships episode 25 – June 5, 2008

Subscribe Via iTunes HERE

Shownotes: Messing About In Ships blog

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I haven’t been able to keep up my normal pace of posting over the past week mainly because a project that I’ve been working on at Northeast Maritime Institute (NMI) is about ready to launch. Here’s a link to an article by Bermuda Sun senior writer Meredith Ebbin which will give you a good snapshot of what our MATE (Maritime Apprentice Training and Employment) program is all about. (Pilot Program to train young seaman - May 23, 2008 ) Here’s a link to an earlier Royal Gazette article which provides even more background. (Young Bermudians get chance for careers at sea - July 19, 2008 )

NMI partners in this exciting and innovative program include the Bermuda Sloop Foundation, a youth development charity which owns and operates the sail training vessel, Spirit of Bermuda (above) and the Adult Education School, an alternative adult school that offers opportunities to persons 16 years and over who have failed to gain basic educational qualifications in the traditional system. NMI’s other partners in this initiative include Bermuda’s Marine & Ports, Maritime Administration and National Training Board.

The MATE program launches on June 2 in Bermuda with 3 weeks of STCW Basic Safety Training and Able Seaman’s classes, then the students will hop aboard the Spirit of Bermuda to sail to Fairhaven, MA where they will spend the next 9 weeks enraged in a rigorous academic and practical maritime education program.

Surprisingly for an island nation, Bermuda has lost contact with it’s rich maritime heritage. One of the MATE program’s objectives is to try to remedy this. But the most important outcome of this initiative will be that young Bermudians who have have fallen out the system will be provided with the education and skills training to pursue maritime careers at home or across the globe. It’s a very worthwhile project of which I’m really please to be a part.

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The Tabor Boy Project is one year old!

It all start after attending a Headmaster’s Council meeting at Tabor Academy on April 14, 2007. I have always felt incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to go to Tabor but that day really brought it home for me. While It is great to catch up with a few of the Council members that I went to school with or which I knew from living locally, the real inspiration came from the camaraderie and fellowship that spanned across the decades represented that day.

Last April Drs. John Crosby and Karl Kistler made a great presentation during the Headmaster’s Council meeting that became the inspiration for the first post on The Tabor Boy Project. Teaching Ocean Science at Tabor. Last Friday, April 11th, Dr. Crosby, this time with 5 Tabor students, made another fascinating presentation about the Caribbean studies program that took place aboard SSV Tabor Boy this winter. Clearly for me the highlight was listening to the animated young students tell stories that will stay with them for a lifetime. It’s great to know that at her advanced age, Tabor Boy still has it in her to excite young people, foster real learning and transform adventurous adolescents into young adults. Check out the Caribbean Studies section of Tabor’s website.

My mother found the these two photos in a shoe box last week. In the top one, that’s me on the left handing Captain George Glaeser a present. To the right of Capt. is Billy Rose, also Class of 1977 and First Lieutenant on Tabor Boy. For a little spooky foreshadowing, I’m wearing a t-shirt from the American Sail Training Association, an organization that I would go on to lead 24 years later. (2001-2006)

To me the above picture really captures the essence of my experience at Tabor. There’s Capt. and Mrs. G. sitting around with us boys and a couple of dogs: one big happy family. Of course, we all had our families at home but this was our Tabor family all brought closer by our shared experiences aboard Tabor Boy. For me The Tabor Boy Project has extended that family even farther.

I started using Google Analytics to track activity on The Tabor Boy Project in August 2007 and thought you may be interested in some of these statistics:

• 109 Crew members
• 425+ photographs
• 2,812 visitors
• 1,783 absolute unique visitors
• 19,144 page views
• 53 countries
• Dozens of blog and forum posts and replies,
• Countless messages between members

More important than any of these numbers is that The Tabor Boy Project, through words and pictures, tells the incredible story of this amazing ship that has changed so many young lives over the years. It has reconnected lost shipmates and been the catalyst for new friendships.

I had very few expectations when I launched The Tabor Boy Project on April 15, 2007. It was simply an experiment in using web 2.0 / social networking tools. One of the exciting things about it is you just don’t know what somebody will contribute. I sincerely thank all who have done so over the first year and I look forward to welcoming aboard more new members, reading more sea stories and viewing more old photographs over the next year. The Tabor Boy Project comes to life through your amazing contributions. Let’s keep telling the story together.  

Cross posted in The Tabor Boy Project and Sea-Fever blog.

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Nearly a year ago I launched a website called The Tabor Boy Project. From the Welcome Aboard:

For over 50 years, the schooner Tabor Boy has taken young Tabor Academy students to sea under sail. This remarkable ship has played a significant role in helping Tabor Academy transform adventurous teenagers into confident young adults.

The Tabor Boy Project is a living history project and social network by and for Tabor Boy sailors and supporters. While it will help create and preserve the rich stories that make up the schooner’s history, it will also connect shipmates that have been “lost” for years.

On April 1, 2008, The Tabor Boy Project welcomed it’s 100th member, a 2007 Tabor Academy graduate. Members span 6 decades: from the 1950’s to current students. There are hundreds of wonderful photographs and sea stories that tell this amazing ship’s history.

None of this would have been possible just a few short years ago. Photos that languished in shoe boxes in the back of alumni closets have experienced a new life on the website gallery and long lost shipmates have been able to reconnect through the member pages.

Web 2.0 social media tools allow us to build communities around common causes, interests and passions. They allow us to reconnect and have meaningful conversations about things that are important to us. They also allow us to collaborate to capture history, experience and knowledge in ways previously unimaginable. The Tabor Boy Project utilizes the Ning social networking platform which is powerful, flexible, easy to use and inexpensive.

I believe that the most important part of these types of projects is setting a strategy and having a few catalysts who can help build excitement. I was lucky to enlist 2 of my shipmates, Captain Bob Glover and Jamie Hutton (pictured below) from the beginning to jump aboard and work hard to spread the word. It’s all part of that teamwork ethic that was integral to the sail training experience and which has been a major part of each one of our lives since the days we first stepped aboard the Tabor Boy.

The Tabor Boy Project is an independent project and not something created, authorized or maintained by Tabor Academy. It’s content is generated by its members all of whom lives were touched by positive experiences at the School by the Sea and the schooner. Despite this, The Tabor Boy Project has been incredibly fortunate to have received interest and support from Tabor Academy leadership. Interim Development Director Kerry Saltonstall has been a huge advocate for The Project. We really appreciate and benefit from her frequent mentions in the Tabor Alumni and Friends e-newsletter Currents. Each time it appear, there is a nice uptick in new members. Thanks Kerry!

On April 14th, The Tabor Boy Project will celebrate it’s first anniversary. If you are reading this and have any connection what so ever to the schooner Tabor Boy, please join us. The Tabor Boy Project is a website for everyone who has ever sailed or who just is interested in the great work this ship (and school) has done to transform adventurous adolescents into young adults.

All-A-Taut-O!

Related posts:

The Tabor Boy Project - Storytelling and Living History

Flash Back - 31 Years Ago Today

The Privilege of Sailing

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I’m currently at the Ship Operators Cooperative Program’s (SOCP) conference on maritime education for primary and secondary schools at MITAGS and couldn’t find a more appropriate video.

I had the great fortune to spend my 4 years of high school sailing on a tall ship. If there was one educational sailing experience I could be jealous of, this would be it.

Check out the Class Afloat website for more info.

Last month the tall ship Roald Amundsen experienced severe weather. Here’s a video that will give you an idea of what it was like.

Related post: Fighting the Sea and Living to Tell About It

Here’s a short video to launch your high performance week.

If you are ever in Erie, PA, make sure you visit the amazing Erie Maritime Museum and the beautiful US Brig Niagara which offers one of the most authentic sail training experiences in America.

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Earlier today The Old Blog Cabin posted Sail training ship in Cobh after hurricane which included these photos of the damage sustained by the German sail training vessel Roald Amundsen.

The Irish Independent posted this story as well.  Crew safe after ship survives savage storm.

Former US Navy official Bob Harkins was a crew member aboard was quoted:

“This was the worst storm that I had ever heard of people sailing through and