Around the World in 60 Days

Hello again fellow adventurers,

Well unfortunately it's that time of thew year again. The days are getting shorter and shorter, kids are getting ready to go back to school, and our summer programming is coming to an end. Just like last summer, this one has been jam packed with excitement. From the first day of orientation, I knew my fellow Harbor Explorers and I were going to run an amazing program. One of the best parts of my summer was that I got to travel to almost every site!

Sailing the deep blue of Boston Harbor

My summer adventure began at Piers Park. Located in East Boston, this week long day camp proved to be one of my favorite sites of the summer. From sailing the Boston Harbor, to playing games like fishy fishy cross my ocean, we were always entertaining and being entertained by the children in the Harbor Explorers program. I learned so much from these little kids, and definitely prepared me for having kids of my own later in life. 

Kayak selfies!

The next stop on my wild summer ride was Community Boating and Courageous Sailing Center. Having worked at these two sites last summer, I returned much the wiser and ready to continue where I left off. The highlight of Community Boating was taking the kayaks out on the Charles river. I had been kayaking many times before, but watching some of my co-workers like Dexter and Ruth attempt to kayak for the first time provided plenty entertainment. This summer we didn't catch nearly as many eels as we did last summer, but our fishing numbers were way up! It's always exciting to be a part of a child's first fish. Watching them be both excited at what they have accomplished, and also scared to touch the wriggling fish on the other end of the rod.

Crab race champion!

Courageous Sailing Center continued it's excitement from last summer into this one with the abundant life we found in the multiple lobster traps we have there year round. While green crabs and tunicates were always a guarantee, the mystery came from never knowing exactly what you would find in each trap! We caught a total of 4 lobsters throughout the course of the summer, and while none of them were big enough to keep (and eat!) they were still a major source of excitement for both the children and us counselors! We also managed to snag a few different flounder, a few rock gunnels, and a few different species of crabs through the summer. Of course the highlight of every day was releasing the crabs and having a crab race to see who got bragging rights for the day. While I only one once, I didn't shy away from bragging through the day that I won!

Just an aspiring artist and his canvas 

While I only spent a few days at Carson Beach, they were some of the best days of the summer for me! As a new site this summer for Save the Harbor, Carson had a major task of showing off one of Boston's most prestigious and cleanest urban beach! The highlight by far was working with world renowned sand artist Andres Amador creating sand art along the shores of Carson. The experience was like nothing I had ever been a part of, and now I want to make my own sand art whenever I'm at the beach! While I'm nowhere close to as skilled as Andres, I hope one day I'll be able to create works of art like he can.

Last and certainly not least was All Access Boston Harbor. So many fantastic memories were made at the various islands we visited on All Access. From the sea glass filled shores and spacious fields of Spectacle island to the beautiful beach of Peddocks island, we helped over 6,000!!! children experience what the Boston Harbor Islands have to share. with kickball games, to beach walks and of course swimming, All Access is the perfect way to show the public just how far Save the Harbor has come in cleaning up Boston Harbor. I think I'll miss All Access the most, but that only means I'll be looking forward to it the most next summer!

If there isn't a selfie, did it even happen?

It's been quite the amazing summer. I just want to say thank you to everyone in the Save the Harbor Save the Bay company that made it possible for me to play a part in this amazing program. I'm looking forward to making a return next year!

Until next summer, keep on exploring!

-Luke