August 2011 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 5. DISCOVERY SEMESTER AT SEA ENDS IN SOUTH BRISTOL By Eve Southworth
Ashley Charles stood on the bow of the schooner HARVEY GAMAGE, savoring her last few moments aboard before her graduation speech. The New York City high school senior had called the ship home for the past four months. Together with twenty- five other crew-mates — fellow students, professional crew, and teachers — Ashley had made the kind of journey most teens only read about or see in the movies: sailing HARVEY GAMAGE from St. Thomas in the Caribbean to South Bristol, Maine. She had traveled over 5,000 miles, visited twenty-five ports and eight different countries, exploring history, culture, and science along the way. Now the Ocean Classroom Foundation Discovery Semester was officially at an end. HARVEY GAMAGE had returned to its port of origin in the Damariscotta River, where it
Eastport’s Pirate Festival 2011 Will Offer a Full Week of Events Starting With The Invasion of Lubec on Saturday, September 3rd and Ending With The Pirate International Lobster Boat Race The Following Sunday September 11
People from all over Maine, New Brunswick, The USA, Canada and beyond are heading for Eastport for the 6th Annual Eastport Pirate Festival and Pirate Invasion of Lubec. This is a celebration of the areas 400 plus years of thalassic heritage. It has be- come one of the marquee events of summer on the coast of Maine and Atlantic Canada. It all begins Labor Day Weekend in the USA with the Pirate Invasion of Lubec on Satur- day, September 3rd and finishes with the spectacular Second Annual International (Pirate) Lobster Boat Race on Sunday, Sep- tember 11th.
The Invasion of Lubec kicks off the festival activities every year and happens the weekend before the actual Pirate Festival. The Invasion of Lubec this year happens Labor Day Weekend on Saturday, September 3rd. This has grown into a mini Pirate Festival offering a full day of activities of Pirate may- hem with the entire community and visitors alike in full Pirate Costume. The colorful Eastport Pirates will arrive by air, land and sea at approximately 9:30AM for the official Inva- sion. Lubec will be ready and waiting. For those that wish to Participate in the Invasion by boat and tall ship tickets are available from Eastport Windjammers at 853-2500 and Fundy Breeze Charters at 853-4660. Please call in advance to purchase and reserve your tickets because they sell out quickly. Lubec will have a Pirate Parade at 10:00 AM, their own Pirate Bed Race at 10:30 AM with the winners representing Lubec in the
had been launched almost thirty years ago. Built as a windjammer, HARVEY GAMAGE now is a sail training ship. Ashley faced the families and friends who were peering at the ship from the Gamage Shipyard. A slight breeze blew over the crew from the light fog that encompassed the ship during the students’ final moments together on the schooner HARVEY GAMAGE.
Ashley began with the following requests: “Raise your hand if you can remember how terrified you were on the passage to Saint Eustatius.” Every one of her classmate’s hands sheepishly crept up. During that first overnight passage, the bucking of the GAMAGE into swells provided most students their first taste of sea-sickness.
“Raise your hand if you can remember playing sardines in El Morro.” The students
EASTPORT PIRATE FESTIVAL
Eastport Bed race the following week. There will be children’s activities including a Bounce House and Super Water Slide. The waterfront will be filled with a Pirate Gladiator Joust, Dunk Tank and the Second Annual Lubec vs. Eastport Tug of War with the two towns strongest men and women participat- ing. All of Lubec’s restaurants and busi- nesses will be hosting a day long Taste-of- Lubec with incredible food a brew available for all participants. Proceeds from many of these events will benefit Lubec’s 2011 Bicen- tennial Celebration which also marks the 200th Anniversary of when Lubec and Eastport separated as one community. There will be water taxi service between Eastport and Lubec for the Invasion and all weekend of the festival.
The Eastport Pirate Festival has quickly grown into the largest pirate themed event in Northern New England and the Canadian Maritimes. Last year an estimated 10,000 pi- rates from the USA, Canada and beyond of all ages, both male and female participated in this fun filled family weekend event. Most of the events are free and friendly on your budget.
The backdrop for the festivities is the beautiful island city of Eastport (population 1603). A Pirate’s Ball, Pirate’s Parade, Pirate’s Bed Race, Pirate Ship Parade, Pirate Invasion of Lubec, Pirates Lobster Boat Race, Crown- ing of the King and Queen, Free music and entertainment, Kid’s Pirates Breakfast and day long events, Cutlass and Canon Demon- strations, great food and vendors are just a small part of the 75+ events and offerings that happen all weekend. Everyone including pets are encouraged to dress and speak like
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affirmed their fond memories of sneaking around the historic fort in Puerto Rico, playing a form of hide and seek in the 16th century crannies.
“Raise your hand if you’ve ever hated everyone all at once.” All the hands burst high with giggles and smiles. Living in a 91 foot space with twenty-eight people does tend to lead to some disagreements, as any sailor knows.
“Raise your hand if you’ve been touched by someone here. Raise your hand if you’ll miss the sound of a banjo at night, or the head pump.” The fifteen students’ hands went up for a final time, affirming the nostalgia already setting in for the unique sounds of the people and ship that became a part of them.
Every student is a stronger version of the ‘greenhand’ who signed on. After intensive hands-on training, the students became responsible for shipboard operations, navigation, and overseeing sail maneuvers. Wyatt Richard of Minnesota explained, “the crew are still there but you control the ship, the crew only says something if you are going to put the ship in danger.” Jon Dean of Dover, MA called his first experience in command, “the most difficult task we have performed. It requires the knowledge of a mate, the reaction time of a rescue diver, the patience of a teacher, and the strength of a boxer. This challenge will bring the most out of us and inevitably take us to our limit for the last time.” After experiencing the challenges of sailing such as hauling on lines at 2 am, striking sail efficiently in a storm, commanding a vessel, and learning to work
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with a variety of personalities, students developed coping and leadership skills, becoming captains of their lives. Graduation speaker Ben Voisine-Addis of Kennebunk, ME related, “We are stronger, both physically and mentally and are capable more than ever before.” Ben planned to join the army after high school. He now feels Ocean Classroom changed his view on the future. “The program has completely changed me…a whole new world was opened to me and I’ve realized how many things I need to do before I sign my life away.”
The Ocean Classroom motto repeated time and time again is “Ship, Shipmate, Self” is the not-so-secret recipe to happiness and success aboard the vessel. Following this mantra, students have come to bond with each other as shipmates. Ben Hudyard of Montana, the winner of the “Shipmate Award” related, “we’ve become so close because we work and sweat together…We count on each other, we need each other, together we make the crew.” Ashley, bringing her shipmates to tears, summed up the meaning of becoming a crew member in her graduation speech. “Do you see what has happened here? Each and every one of us has become part of each other. We finish each other’s sentences, play tricks, laugh together, cry together, learn together. Look around you. These are your true friends.” Eve Southworth has worked for Ocean Classroom Foundation since 2008 as a Maritime History Teacher, Literature of the Sea Teacher, and Summer Educator. For more information, visit http://
www.oceanclassroom.org
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