So Long, Farewell

Hello again fellow adventurers!

Well it's unfortunately that time again, the summer is coming to an end. Since the first day of work three years ago, I knew this was going to be a special place to work. I thought I came into this job with a decent amount of knowledge of the harbor, but I could not have imagined how much I have learned in the past three years. From simple things like how to correctly tie a fishing line, to life lessons like how to handle a bullying situation between two kids, I have experienced a multitude of situations that have made me the person I am today.

Fishing With the Mayor!

By far my favorite site this summer was Camp Harbor View. Aside from soaking up the sun and playing frisbee on our down time, the personalities of the kids and counsellors at Camp Harbor View were unmatched. Everyone arrived to the boat in the morning with bright smiles on their faces, ready for whatever exciting events were to unfold over the course of the day. For the first time in three years, I was regularly a part of catching stripers and skates on site. I was just as excited as the kids when we would reel up one of these fascinating creatures, and for some of the kids it was their first time seeing an animal come out of the ocean!

Out of all of the Better Beaches events I attended this summer, my favorite was Aquapalooza. This event truly showed me that music can be the common denominator in bringing a bunch of strangers together in a room (or in this case, on a boat). Bridget, Emily and I were by far the youngest ones on the boat, but age was truly just a number on this cruise. I was amazed to see some of these people in there 50's, 60's, and 70's grooving to the rhythm of the music the entire cruise! while we were regularly taking breaks to catch our breath. That was one of the funnest days I experienced all summer, from the music to the personalities, all around just an amazing day. I would highly suggest this event to all of our 21+ readers, because it is an awesome experience. 

The Dirty Dotties!

When I return to school in the fall, I will be returning with new friends, and tons of new memories. Every single summer my friend group grows, as well as my life experiences. I'm constantly learning new things from the people I meet through Save the Harbor, and I wouldn't want to have it any other way. I will be graduating in the spring with a degree in Marine Biology, and I truly believe that my time here at Save the Harbor has helped me make it this far. I'm excited for what the rest of the year has in store for me, and hopefully I will be back to make more memories in the summer.

Until next time, keep on exploring!

-Luke C. 

There's nothing like working in this city

Fishing and Crab Catching at CHV

Hello again fellow adventurers!

As the summer winds down, I'm beginning to reflect more and more on the summer. Out of all the sites I visited this summer, I would have to say Camp Harbor View has been my favorite. I think it's awesome that Save the Harbor is allowed to play even a small role in the daily activities that go on out on Long Island. No matter how long I've been working here, it still puts a smile on my face when I see a child's face light up when he or she sees a fishing rod and realises they are going to get to use it.

Gon' fishin'

Camp Harbor View has proven to be the best site for fishing, at least in my experience, over the past few years. I have been in attendance for two stripers and three or four skates this summer, which is by far the most that I have ever seen caught at one site. I'm sure I have the same surprised look on my face as the kids when we reel up a striper, because they have seemed to elude me throughout my time here with Save the Harbor. One thing we don't have any trouble catching at CHV is rock crabs. The trap we have at the end of the dock is always filled with crabs when we pull it up, and every time is a new adventure.

Showing off Crabby the crab

Until next time, keep on exploring!

-Luke

Coming Back to CHV

Hello again fellow adventurers!

Look at all those excited campers!

After some time apart, I was finally reunited with Camp Harbor View this week! Although I had to sacrifice some beauty rest, getting out on the harbor with a boat full of eager campers and watching the sun rise over the Boston skyline makes the morning commute well worth it. After breakfast and the morning announcements, the kids and staff were released onto the island to begin another day of fun activities. We did meet with the usual fishing club kids in the afternoon, and we even caught ourselves a striped bass! The real excitement didn't come from a day of fishing however, because it was amazing race day on the island!

Instead of running fishing in the morning, we were assigned a station or "leg" of the race. When teams of counselors and kids came to our station, we gave them the task of finding two shells, a crab, a piece of trash per team member, and a piece of a brick. Once all of these had been found, the group received a clue to their next location. Although there was no cash prize for the winning team at the end, the amazing race taught the contestants many valuable lessons along the way. At our station, we were able to stress the importance of maintaining the harbor by keeping it as clean as possible. By picking up any trash you see, you're only helping the entire ecosystem down the road, as we continue to keep the harbor in pristine condition since the start of our mission twenty years ago. Hopefully after our little exercise, these kids and counsellors won't think twice about picking up stray trash next time they're on the beach!

The Amazing Race!

Until next time, keep on exploring!
-Luke C.

Captain's Coming

"At ease!"

This is one of the following phrases after the captain says "Captains Coming." This is a game that I play at school with my orientation groups. At Stonehill College I serve as one of the many Peer Mentors, the individuals who serve and organize orientation for the numerous incoming freshmen, and this is one of my many favorite games to play.

It was almost nostalgic to play this game this past weekend at Piers Park. The game is a rendition of the infamous Simon Say's. It carries a heavy nautical theme that allows our children to feel closer to the harbor. It consists of a Captain who says phrases that range from Mermaid (the kids fall to the ground and act as mermaids in groups of three) to swab the deck.
It is so amazing to watch and though it sounds fairly easy, please do not be fooled, especially in this time of Olympic prestige the game gets quite competitive if I do say so myself.

Enjoy these photos of our staff and group(s) playing Captains Coming.
-Ahmed

Best Fishing Trip Ever

As everyone knows this year is my first and so last Thursday we went on a fishing trip. It was also my first fishing trip. I was excited and ready to catch some fish, I knew it was going to be wicked hot that day and we'd be out on the water chilling. I've been on boat back and forth this summer. We met up at the dock near courthouse station and were separated into groups and placed with captains and their boats. This boat was beautiful. It was smaller than the ones I'm usually on. My group included Bella and Amanda and Amanda's guest. Just us four and the captain and his daughter. His boat was nice, it had a living room area, two rooms and two bathrooms, a little kitchen and the top deck. Unbelievable that all that stuff can fit on the boat. So we set up the rods and go around fishing with real bait and lures. We drive around searching for bites but nothing.

We come to a stop and get ready to go swimming. In the middle of the ocean! I was anxious and unprepared. Even though I can swim, knowing that there was no way I would reach the ocean floor that was probably anywhere between 30-50 feet below me is really scary. By the time I decided to jump in everyone was off the boat, onto the raft waiting for me. I gave myself a pep talk and everyone was encouraging me and telling me I should just do it, it's fun and if I know how to swim it'll be fine. I finally just did it and didn't think about it and jumped in. The water welcomed me with a cold splash that was refreshing. I was so happy and proud of myself! After that I was ready to get back up and jump in again.

The funniest thing happened that day. I decided that I wanted to jump off the boat and into the water. The girls and I lined up and the camera is rolling so we're ready then *BOOM*. Guess who slipped? Me! I feel my body going sideways and head first into the water and then I get kicked in the head by Amanda who jumped in before me. Here's a video for all of you to enjoy and laugh and show your friends and family ;D

Kharliyah Ortiz

All Summer 16

Chess Daily

Its unreal to see how our staff has developed into an great group of educated, young professional, chess players.

Checkmate, Maeve

By now you've probably seen my post titled "The Game of Strategy" in which I speak highly about this game, Chess. Its unreal to think that we started off as basic, subpar, chess players to now well skilled individuals who educate the children of Camp HarborView on environmental issues and also develop their skills.

Maeve teaching a camper "The Ropes"

The kids normally start off asking questions such  as "Why are we playing this?" and "How do the pieces move?" All normal questions to ask. Most times the kids start off hating the game but after playing during our downtime they normally end up becoming amazed by such a unique game. There are also the students of Mr. Sumpter, the chess master, who take it easy on most of us but now are challenged by our level of understanding and discipline. The transformation is amazing.

-Ahmed

Fan Pier Fishing

Hello again fellow adventurers!

This past week was action-packed with our best beach events of the summer. After the Beach Bash and Staff Day, the week was concluded with the annual Fan Pier Fishing Tournament. With the help of some very generous captains and expert fisherman, the Save the Harbor staff was given the opportunity to test our luck at catching some elusive striped bass. That day the sun was beaming down particularly hard on the city of Boston, so we made sure to stock up on plenty of water, Gatorade, and of course sunscreen. With teams assembled and boats stocked to the brim, we departed Fan Pier and ventured out into the harbor.

The captain of the boat I was on was set on catching live bait. Once we spotted a school of Pogies (also known as Menhaden), we casted weighted treble hooks right into the middle of the school in hopes of reeling them in. These hooks, which resembled grappling hooks, were designed to snare a fish out of a large school, and hold them on the hook until you can reel them in. Well, they worked exactly as they were supposed to, as we reeled in pogie after pogie until the bait cooler was filled up.

With plenty of bait to use, we headed over towards Hull High School, which was the captain's fishing spot of choice. We spent a few hours at the spot with nothing to show but a few bites. While it was frustrating to see boats around us feel in a 40 inch striper, that's how fishing goes some times. There's only so much you can do to help your chances, then its up to fate whether or not you land a big one. We still had a great time relaxing out on the harbor, swapping stories and becoming friends with the captain and his wife. Overall the day was a great success, even though we had no fish to show for it, some of the other boats made up for that so we could take a great group shot at the end of the day.

Until next time, keep on exploring!
- Luke C.

The Winners!

Flowers in the Sand

This is the small flower that I made

Hello everybody. On Sunday the 14th I was at Constitution beach in East Boston for a sand raking event with Andres Amador. It was very hot out but we made the best of it. First, everybody got a rake and a piece of paper with some examples of flowers since we were about to cover the beach in large flowers. Second, everybody spread out and gave themselves plenty of space to make a giant flower. I made 2 big flowers and then one small one but they were all different which was the important thing.

As I was in the middle of one of my flowers, Bruce came over to me and recommended that I wet my hat to stay cool. It really helped and after that the heat wasn’t so bad anymore. We kept drawing in the sand until it was time to take some pictures. The artist, Andres, had a drone that was flying above our heads and taking pictures of the flowers. He was controlling it from the ground and it was such a cool invention. We were only in the sun for 2 hours or so and overall, we had a really fun day making some beautiful art.

-Maeve

Meeting Marty Walsh & Awesome day at Tenean!

Hey everyone, it's Mauricio again and I'm back with more from this summer. This time it'll be all about how I met the mayor and how fun it was at Tenean Beach day! It was a cloudy Saturday morning and I had to attend Tenean beach day with Kristen and Jahari! When I got there I was very surprised it was a great event. There were many games and activities. They had a mini treadmill, bouncy houses, soccer, basketbal, football , and even a gaming truck. We had fish printing going and Nora was telling pirate stories and teaching the kids pirate skills.

The best part of the day was getting to meet Mayor Marty Walsh. I have met Menino before so this wasn't anything new, but its a new Mayor and hes a great guy. Hes done a lot for Dorchester and the city of Boston. From helping clean the beaches and getting more parks in the city. I'm glad we have a good man like him in Office. Also there was free food so I was even more happy. -Mauricio

We Caught A Lobster!

Hey Everyone,

Yesterday was amazing at Spectacle Island for Staff Day. We all gathered at the pier and took pictures which was fun because we rarely get to spend time together as an entire staff. When we got to the Island we had an hour to play sports or go in the water. Rusenny and I went to tan for a while then we got in the water which was so cold but after turned out to be amazing. We relaxed then ate lunch as we listened to music. In the end the whole staff got into the water, it was nice to see everyone smiling and splashing in the water, shows the inner child in all of us which is a good thing because we need to enjoy the summer while we can. I hope that next year could be just like this and even better as a crew. I can say it was a good day spent.

Views of Us Leaving to Spectacle Island

Then today at Courageous which sadly was our last day we finally caught a lobster, and it was awesome! All the staff at Courageous was measuring it to see if someone could take it home to eat and it surprisingly turned out to be a perfect size. But in the end we returned it to the ocean. Later on that day, I just colored with the girls and they were just saying how they enjoy fishing.

The Lobster We Caught at Courageous

At Community Boating it was the usual, new class learning about pollution and the trash that surrounds the Charles River and how we could take care of the environment. It was sad though because that would be the last class for Community Boating which hit me because I think I'm going to miss it. I enjoyed and I’ve learned so much at Courageous and Community Boating, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me next year.

-Till Next Time, Nieomi

Fun at the Seafood Festival!

Hey Guys,

On Friday we had the Carson Beach Bash and Splash and it was pretty awesome. It started off really hot and I was scared because it would be my first time working with so many kids but in the end I enjoyed my day.  Amy was telling Rusenny and I that we were in charge of Fish Printing because we took such good care of the paint when we were at another event which made me feel mature because she saw potential in us. Throughout the day, kids walked by to make Fish Prints and it was so funny because they continued to ask us if it was a real flounder! LIKE YES… but it was cute. I enjoyed it because the whole staff was together and it was nice to spend time with them.

Views at Carson Beach

On Sunday we had the Seafood Festival which was probably the best part of the summer so far, everyone was gathered in booths. Families from all over Boston came down to eat and enjoy. The Save the Harbor Save the Bay booth was a huge success with the Fish Prints, Clam Painting, and Coloring. Rusenny, Bella, and I went to get spray paint tattoos which were pretty cool because I’ve never gotten one before. Later on that day, Rusenny and I were painting clams and we thought what better than to paint Nemo and Dory and SpongeBob and Patrick. The kids enjoyed painting different things and I would love to do it again.

 Clams Rusenny and I painted

Tattoos Rusenny, Bella, and I did at the Seafood Festival

This summer turned out to be way better than what I expected I’m enjoying more, connecting more with others and finding myself. I love it here and I don’t want the summer to end.

-Till Next Time, Nieomi

I SEA you!!

On Sunday we participated in an annual seafood festival. We had so much to do there, we had fish printing, clam shell painting, and shirt printing, and of course the kids loved it! It was really great seeing all the kids paint create different patterns and designs on the clams. We also had this wonderful bubble machine which brought most of the attention to our children's section. Although we did not do face painting this time we definitely got our face painted and got body tattoos. All you could see was kids with different designs on their faces and bodies. You might think this is a

bit funny when I tell you that kids weren't the only ones in line to do all of our activities. It was a blast! And of course we can not forget about ALL THE SEAFOOD there. It was really good! For those who missed out on this wonderful event I hope you come next year or soon and visit so that you really understand all the fun I'm talking about about.      



- Isabella Perez-Alvarez






     

Spectacular Staff Day at Spectacle

Hello again fellow adventurers!

All of the hard work we've been putting into making this summer the best summer ever was finally rewarded with everyone's favorite day of relaxation, staff day! After quite the morning debacle, a broken down boat, a last minute ferry ride, and a quick island hop, we eventually landed on Spectacle Island. With all of the essentials packed, lunches, sports gear, and of course bathing suits, we were ready for a beautiful day to ourselves.

The before.....

In my element

We began the day with some friendly (but competitive) sports. Some staffers got a football game, while myself and a few others tossed the frisbee around. I never waste an opportunity to toss the frisbee, so it makes me extra excited when there's a group of people down to toss it around! After about an hour of sports, we had all worked up an appetite to devour the mass amount of food we brought along to the island. With our bellies full of J. Pace sandwiches and cookies, it was time to go swimming! (after waiting 30 minutes of course).

Like tossing the frisbee, I take every opportunity I can get to go swimming. Since I was little I've been swimming in lakes, ponds, and the ocean all over the South Shore and New England. It may not have been like the warm waters of Bermuda, but on a hot day the water was extremely refreshing and a great way to keep cool. Reluctantly, the day had to come to an end, and we waded out of the water to catch the ferry home. All in all I'd say it was another successful staff day, and just what we needed to get everyone through the last few hot weeks of August.

Until next time, keep on exploring!
-Luke C.

....and the after!

A break from the kids

Hello everybody. So usually people think Mondays are boring but this Monday was an exception because it was staff day for Save the Harbor. We took the ferry to Spectacle Island for the day and we did a lot of activities. In total the staff consists of about 30 people so we had tons of sandwiches, chips and water. When we landed on the island we put all of the food down and we ran up the hill to one of the highest points on the island. When we got up there we basically split into two groups. There was a group for frisbee and a group for football. I decided to play football because I am not good at frisbee at all. We played a really long game in the blaring sun for a while until we needed water and we decided to go back down to the dock.

We ate lunch under a big tent in the shade where we had delicious subs, chips and cookies.  After lunch we went in the ocean for a swim to get a release from the heat. The shore was really rocky so you needed sandals to walk down to the water. Of course only a handful of us actually had water shoes so it was a struggle to get into the water but once we did it felt great. The water was super refreshing and we played some frisbee. When we got out we relaxed for a little while before the ferry came to take us home. We had a great day on Monday playing with our coworkers and friends on Spectacle. We all love working with kids but it was nice for a change to spend the day with our friends. I love the people I work with but now it’s time to get back to work with the kids this week.

See you later

-Maeve

Trying to Pull up this Lobster Trap!

Hey Guys,

On Monday it started off slow at Courageous, then as the kids continued to fish I met two sweet girls, Adele and Fiona, and they kept making jokes with me and telling me how they enjoy fishing which was really nice because some of kids don’t have as much patience.

Fiona and Adele Fishing at Courageous

As the day continued, Andrea and Sam went to go check on the Lobster Trap, and this trap had been under the water for more than 6 years. It was such a struggle because it was super heavy and all of the kids joined in to pull it up but nothing worked. We had to tie a rope to the lobster trap because it kept breaking and nothing worked which was disappointing. Everyone was so determined to see what was in it but I’m sure it was just mud and mussels.

Everyone trying to pull up the Lobster Trap

The other lobster traps had two little green crabs and they were so adorable. All the girls walked over to me and were like, “Can I hold the little baby?” They were the cutest crabs ever.

The Two Baby Green Crabs we found in the Lobster Trap

At the end of the day we were at Community Boating and there was a new class so they learned how to fish. I was with Kharliyah and a group of girls separated from everyone else and they were so nervous because they didn’t know what to do. One of the girls caught a Bluegill Sun Fish and it was so beautiful. It was also the first time I unhooked a fish from the fishing rod.

Bluegill Sunfish

Well, until next time everyone, 
Nieomi

Splashing Into the Beach Bash

Hello again fellow adventurers!

It's that time of the summer again, time for the annual Beach Bash and Splash! With Carson beach packed with hundreds of eager kids and even more hotdogs, the stage was set for the perfect day at the beach. It was low tide in the morning when the Beach Bash began, so myself and a few other staffers tried our luck at clamming with some of the kids. We walked along the shore stomping on the ground, looking for spouts of water to shoot up, indicating that there was a clam below. With the tide quickly rising, only a few tiny clams were found intact before we had to move on to some other fun events around the beach!

From face painting and fish printing to sports, there were so many fun stations going on every which way you looked. Kids were running around with magnificent pieces of artwork on their faces courtesy of the expert face painters, and even some of the counselors were lined up to get their faces painted. Once all of the groups had made it to the beach, we all gathered around to sing a couple of sea shanties before splashing our way into the water. All of the Save the Harbor staff taught the kids our own personal sea shanty "Hey Hey Bo Diddily Bop" which is always a crowd favorite. Then David Coffin gave us his best rendition of "Haul Away Joe" before the mad dash to the water.

After a quick dip in the water, it was time for lunch. With a full staff of cooks, hundreds of hotdogs were handed out to fill the hungry little mouths running amok around the beach. At the end of the day, I think it was another successful Beach Bash. I've now been a part of the last three, and I think they only continue to get better and better every year. I can't wait to see what's in store for next year!

Until next time, keep on exploring!
-Luke C.

Save the Harbor/Save the Boxers

It was an early Monday morning. The crew was rallied up and ready to tackle one of our final weeks. To gauge attention of persons, children, and beach-goers we (Luke, Chris, Joe, Abel & I) grabbed a few shovels and started replicating a beach couch we had saw on the internet. It was not an easy task. We failed twice but as the cliche goes, third time was a charm. At one point we had our own pre-Olympic type events that grabbed the attention of a few persons on the beach.

If you know anything about me personally yet I would hope that it about my love for dogs. With a love for dogs comes an immediate affection for them. We met a great new friend on this slow Monday. A stray dog by the name of Jax. Before finding out his name on the collar we checked we chose to dub him "Red Rocket." He was a happy, jittery, beautiful boxer. Fully healthy and energetic. Joe and I raced up and down the beach to find the owner of this amazing dog with zero luck. Thankfully, his collar had adequate information on it to allow us to return him to his owner. Jax seemed a bit tired and dehydrated so we fed him some water in the meantime.

The frantic owner picked up the phone and was ecstatic that we had called to inform her that we found the dog. Our team did well! Lauren, the owner of Jax, sent her friend Jeff and her daughter to get the dog as we waited by the beach house. It was a great reunion for the McCormack housing residents.

-Ahmed

Messy Monday at the Museum

This week I'm back at the children's museum and the weather has been very cooperative with us. This week the water wasn't looking so good and we barely caught crabs, but luckily we caught just enough so show the kids. You can identify green Crabs by their five points in the front which ironically spell out "GREEN". But, of course they couldn't believe it when we told them they were caught just out here in the Fort Point Channel. On Mondays the Boston Children's Museum has an event outside called “messy Monday's” not only do they get messy but they are definitely creative and have as you can see in the photo of the left. This is a wooden block with colorful paper that pop up with hearts and so much more. I thought it was very clever to have the kids make their own masterpiece.

-Isabella Perez 

Finding Dory at the Beach Bash

Hey Guys,

Well on Friday I had MLK and it was interesting because they had a speaker who was teaching us about savings and what we can do to improve the ways we save. I had fun with my group because we did different activities and got to know each other a little more. I honestly can’t wait until the MLK Talent Show because it shows what talent that other young teens in Boston have and the fact that they aren’t afraid to show it is really brave.

Yesterday was exciting at the Discover Quincy Beach Bash. Rusenny and I were doing fish printing with the kids and there was one particular girl who was so cute trying to put the paint on but she was so little she couldn’t reach the table and her grandma and I were laughing. In the end her Fish Print came out really cute.

Our Friend who made the cute Fish Print

Later on, I made a Fish Print of my own, and turns out it looked exactly like Dory, initially I wanted it to be pink but it turned out to be a nice shade of bluish purple. It was the first time I’d ever done a Fish Print and I can’t wait to do it again.

The Fish Prints Rusenny and I made

Towards the end of the Day, Pirate Mary Read told the kids stories of Boston, like ‘Hoover the Talking Seal’ and at first no one believed her, not even me but then she told us to look it up. It was just so fascinating because who would’ve known that an actual animal spoke. She also taught us about the Fish Scale Clouds and how they stand for a sudden weather change within 12 hours. It was a good day and the weather was beautiful.

Pirate Mary Read telling her amazing story

 -Until Next Time, Nieomi :)

what was it?

Not too long ago a young boy was fishing in hope to catch something big and stunning. He wanted to catch something no man would ever forget. He want to catch a shark! He pulled up the reel, put it down and pulled it back up then threw it in. He gave up and sat down for a bit, but he never gave up on what he was striving for. As soon as he came back and pulled up the reel there was something all right! We thought it was just a piece of trash from afar then we took a closer look and it only looked more of a sack of eggs than what we originally thought it was. We got a magnifying glass and saw that there was some type of organism inside for sure. As we were looking at it and saw sienna floating around we pretty must thought it was either shrimp, mosquitos or even fish. We knew it had to be something! It was slimy and just not the best thing to hold. I hope one day we find out what it really is. The young boy although determined to catch a massive sea creature, he did not. Whomp, whomp!

- Isabella Perez-alvarez