Share The Harbor and Swim the Harbor

Why hello everybody!

I started my week out at George's Island for our Share The Harbor event, where we take families out to the island for free and they get to enjoy the day as if they were on an AABH trip! It's always adventurous making the trip out with hundreds of families because there is such a wide variety of interests. Most of the older kids want to go explore the dark tunnel while many of the younger kids want to fish or play sports with us. I happened to be fishing this day and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

The fog was so thick you couldn't see the water!

It was a foggy day out on the water that day. We had a boatload of families sign up for fishing on this day and most of our aspiring fishermen were younger kids. This means the excitement level and screams of joy were very high pitched. Now when I tell you that we were catching crabs galore, I mean every time I turned around some was reeling up another green crab. One woman consecutively reeled up two about four times! My favorite little friend was fearless and only 4 years old! Normally, when the kids first see the crabs they shy away until we hold their claws down. This little pirate was running from rod to rod each time a crab was pulled up, reaching take the crabs off himself.

My brave little friend

On Friday, I had the privilege of working at Atlantic Wharf. I always love working with the kids here because they're not allowed as many field trips as the camps we normally see on All Access. So, getting to fish print, crab, and fish is all that more special to them. At the fish printing station, everyone squealed when we told them that the flounder was actually real. All of the kids were struck with awe after seeing the foot-long, striped bass that the crew at the Children's Museum had caught. Each one wanted to shove their hand into the tank in hopes of feeling the fish's scales.

Holding up a female green crab for everyone to see

 Fishing was even more exciting for everyone. It's funny fishing with the kids who are really young, because although you tell them to wait until they feel a tug, they do just the opposite. One little girl named Malia was a very enthusiastic fisher. The minute her weight hit the water, she'd reel the line right back up. She was having a grand old time, but had absolutely no patience to actually catch a fish. I tried to encourage her to wait a little longer each time, but "a little longer" to her meant all of 5 more seconds. Even though the kids didn't catch a striped bass, they still had an amazing time, which is all I wanted.

Helping some boys untangle their line

Catch you next time,
Patrice