Four Out of Five Times this Week!

Hello Everyone!

Another week has passed at Save the Harbor. It was a typical week here with the different sites except one. This week All Access added an extra day on to its weekly trips to the Boston Harbor Islands. Instead of it being only on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursday, we also hold occasional Share the Harbor cruises on Mondays--a program that allows the general public to visit Georges and/or Spectacle with us. This would mean that the All Access team is going out to the islands more often.

On Monday it was kind of weird going to the harbor islands. The whole day, I thought it was Tuesday, but then reality hit me with the fact that it was Monday from time to time. Monday was also the last time we went to Georges Island for the week. Even though I love Georges Island, I was really excited to go to Spectacle Island. Even though Spectacle doesn't have a scary tunnel to stay cool in, people are allowed to swim there which is, in my opinion, better.

On Tuesday, I woke up in the morning waiting ready for my day at Spectacle. I packed my swim suit and a towel and headed out the house. I was so excited and was ready to jump into the water. Once I got to the Save the Harbor work space, I walked into the conference room with my coworkers in it  saying "Are you guys ready to swim today?" They looked confused. Kaya, the SHE for All Access then said that the All Access trip was canceled because of the incoming storms. At that moment all the excitement that I had for the trip was gone. For the rest of the day, we helped out one the camp groups that didn't know that the trip was canceled and taught them how to fish. There wasn't that much going on there until the last couple of minutes of their session. I was helping one of the kids reel up her rod and I notice that something was biting on it. It was hard reeling it up and I thought it got stuck. I take one look over the fence and I saw an eel on the end of the line. The little girl yelled "We got something!!" and some kids ran over asking what I caught. Right when I got it just beyond the surface level of the water, it took the bait and hook off the line...

Wednesday was officially the first day of going to Spectacle Island and it was amazing. First of all, it was really hot and humid so taking a dip into the water felt so nice after standing in the hot sun. Second of all we caught a lot of crabs using the fishing rods. This is awesome because the people using the rods could feel the excitement of reeling something up instead just standing on the dock and not really catching anything. All in all, Wednesday was the most exciting day out of the whole week. Thursday was the same thing routine, but more cold. So taking that nice dip into the water wasn't so nice.

Friday was the day that most of the All Access crew was at Atlantic Wharf. There was a similar event that happened earlier this year with Atlantic Wharf with a few groups of kids coming down. The only difference between that event and this was that this one was outside and in the warm sun and the other one happened indoors. This event had crab traps, fishing, fish printing and stories told by Tony the Pirate. The event was great with the Save the Harbor staff over at the Children's Museum lending us a Striped Bass for the campers and staff to look at. At the end of the day, we had lunch from Boloco, and called it a day. This week was different with us planning to go to the islands four times a week and me experiencing All Access being canceled for the first time. However, I think I will be experiencing more changes through the summer and when they come, I think I'll be more prepared for them.

See you guys on the harbor!
Imani

Hey it's me, Kharliyah Ortiz: Live and in Stereo

Welcome back to Save the Harbor!

Special catch from 2017

P&K reporting for Duty 2017 Spectacle Island

It's Kharliyah and I am welcoming summer 2018 with nothing but positivity and good vibes. I am really looking forward to another summer with Save the Harbor. This summer seems like it'll be a hot one, I will enjoy catching this tan and having fun in the Boston Harbor. 

This will be my third year working with Save the Harbor, I can't wait for our beach events. I am all about trying new things this summer. For the past two summers I have always enjoyed working in the Youth program with STH because I love kids. I am surrounded by kids at home and everywhere I go, I connect with them on a special level. The amount of potential I see in these kids has inspired me to add a minor to my studies at MCLA of child and family services. Through Save the Harbor, I was able to help feel like I am giving back to my community and able to be a positive influence in the youth's lives. Seeing how happy they are when they come fishing with us at our different sites puts warmth in my heart.

This year, I return as an LHE with a little more sense of responsibility to deliver these kids what can be an amazing time. We know how important it is for children to stimulate their minds with new information and fun. This year I intend on doing more than I usually settle for, stepping out of my comfort zone and keeping a hopeful outlook on things. I hope we get to see more come out of the Museum in the North End and get larger numbers of families and camps to come out to the islands this summer. 

See ya on the harbor!

                                                                          -Kharliyah

Sponsored by STH

First week, multiple creatures

Lovely Vacation in the Boston Harbor

Summer was off to a late start during the year of 2018. What felt like the longest winter ever, finally came to the end as the week of July 4th welcomed the Boston Harbor with warm winds and sunshine. Save the Harbor is back into action and the team this year has got plenty of tricks up their sleeves to give the youth what they need to have a fun summer. 

My first day back went smoothly over at Piers Park. We started the day with a game of "The west wind blows" where we learned each other's names. Next we played Indian Chief, which to my surprise, the kids were fairly slick enough to go unnoticed by the guesser throughout multiple rounds. Before we headed down the dock we went over simple, but pretty important rules, then our day began. I spent a good time fishing with this one boy, Ismael. For an 8 year old, he sure did know a lot about NASA and our solar system. When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he told me, "I want to work for NASA". He seemed to have his heart set on creating rovers and spacecrafts for them. It all started when I told him about how the tide comes in and out about every six hours. Ismael immediately began to tell me about the creation of the moon which led to more.

After a few minutes of fishing, Nieomi asked me to join her and Wesley on a kayak ride. In the water we paddled around the dock to see what all the fuss was about, another set of kids on a kayak were going crazy trying to catch a moon jelly from under the bridge. As we paddled under we spotted another and they grew happier to the sound of TWO jellyfish! Luckily, the jellies eventually made it around the dock in time for Garret to pick them up and show them to the kids. We spent the hot morning and afternoon session fishing and kayaking. What better way to spend my first day back?

Fishing

Proper Technique

Day two and three, we join Kharliyah on All Access Boston Harbor to George's island for the hottest Tuesday yet. The sun rose early and the rays shined bright on this day. We greeted about 200 camps and families at the pavilion each day who were all eager to ride the boat over to the island. Tuesday I met a wonderful pair of best friends who had never been to the island before. I asked them if they were planning to go into the dark tunnel and they insisted they would even if the black lady spooked them a bit. I informed them of our fishing lessons that would be on dock after lunch if they wanted to stop by and learn. I met them later that day at exactly 12:30pm on the dock and they told me about their adventure into the tunnel as well as the Island. They were most excited about the tunnel and being able to try fishing because these were things they never done before. I felt proud and helpful to be able to give them a good experience. These girls were not at all intimidated by the claws of the crabs or by the heat of the sun. They were good listeners and very patient when it came to fishing. Although we did not catch any fish, we enjoyed observing the crabs and talking about what kinds of fish they could pull out of the harbor. 

Fishing = Patience

Thursday was another incredibly hot day and I met a lovely family from the UK who had just moved into Boston. They were most intrigued and interested in fishing more than the island. When they saw the amount of crabs we had in our touch tank that morning they went wild. Most surprised about the different types of crabs we had in our tank, they wanted to touch them all and hold one of each. We caught a few giant Jonah Crabs that morning and a few, slightly small red rock crabs, along with some feisty green ones.

Fairly new to Boston, I informed them about a few must visit places like Prudential center and tower as well as the Children's Museum. They told me they really enjoyed our trip so I encouraged them to sign up for one of our Spectacle Island trips! The kids liked the sound of that and I let them know they could sign up online if they google-d Save the Harbor All Access Boston. The family was sure they would aim to return in August. I ended my week where I started, at Piers Park on Friday. We led an environmental lesson on the salinity of water that morning after kayaking and fishing by the dock. I helped Meaghan at station 1, where we used refractometers and learned about how salt gets into our oceans. One of the kids, Ferdinand knew lots about Estuaries. They were in amazement at the lack of salt we found was in our harbor compared to filtered water with sea salt we added. They measured the buoyancy of water with eggs and understood why it was necessary for marine life. 

18 crabs and counting

Will it bite me?

Learning something new everyday,

Kharliyah

A Witch Explorer who is Definitely NOT Afraid of the Dark: A Memoir

Today I discovered a whole new sense of adventure out on All Access! I boarded the Provincetown along with 600 of my closest friends from youth organizations around Boston and headed out to George's Island.

On the short ride out to the island, I made a few new friends. One boy told me all about how excited he was for his first time on the island, while his friend, who had been to George's Island before, filled me in on all the important sights to see while on the island - most notably, the scary dark tunnel at the back of the old abandoned military fort. We also spent some time discussing the trials and tribulations of starting the first grade, and how fast it would take for the Provincetown to travel around the whole entire world (the answer was, they decided, unequivocally, fifteen hours).

Definitely NOT the home to some scary monsters...right?

Another young girl I met filled me in about her life as a witch. Her mom was a witch, and she had a cape AND a hat, which meant she was a witch too. Seems about right, I told her. She must have used her witch powers to identify some sort of energy deep within me, because she told me to close my eyes, and then she told me when I opened them, I would be a witch! It's never something I had ever seen myself being, but we both agreed that being a witch suits me quite well, so I think I'll continue to be one for the time being.

After having lunch on the island, we all made our way over to Fort Warren, which is an old, abandoned military fort. With crumbling concrete, large, cavernous ceilings, and dark creepy corners and hallways to boot, the fort is quite the creepy but exciting place. As soon as we walked into the fort, David Coffin insisted that, since I was a newcomer, I had to run up a dark, tiny flight of stairs.

I poked my head into the doorway, took one look at the stairs descending into oppressive darkness, and immediately refused. Dark! Scary! Mystery! As my peers taunted me for being scared, I meditated on every single terrifying monster that lives in the dark from every singly horror movie I have ever seen, all of which are 100% real. I sighed, committed myself to death-by-being-swallowed-by-the-monster-that-inevitably-lives-at-the-top-of-this-flight-of-stairs, and set to walking up the stairs.

With one hand on the wall, I took another step, and was swallowed by darkness. Okay, not so bad. Another step, and another one, and another one. I was starting to kind of get the hang of this. I even started to feel confident about making it to the top of these stairs! I can do anything!

And then, at the top of the fifth stair, I walked right into a brick wall.

A dead end after just five stairs.

I walked back down the stairs to a chorus of well-deserved laughter. I looked pretty dumb, but at least I pushed myself!

Magically yours,

Melissa the Witch

Welcome Back Kharliyah!

Excited

I am super excited to be back at Save the Harbor for summer 2017! I have so much to look forward to this year and meeting new people and making new friends. This is my second year working for Save the Harbor because I loved it so much last year and decided to return. I am 18 years old and a recent graduate from O'Bryant high school, moving on to MCLA as a freshman in the fall. I learned a lot from working at Save the Harbor last summer.

I'm at the All Access site again, can't wait to get back out to the islands and catch something. The looks on the children's faces warm my heart and I love how ready they are to learn about marine life and the harbor. I also am looking forward to learning more about Boston Harbor and the history around it and sharing it with everyone I meet this summer. Can't wait to share stories and facts about myself and Save the Harbor with everyone.

Here's to a hot, fun Summer!

-Khar

Tropical

Views from the 617

VIEWS.

What a beautiful day in the neighborhood! It was a lovely Monday morning in Boston along the Charles River. Quiet and bright, the perfect day to go paddle boarding. Upon our 8:30am arrival we received good news from our partner, Molly, over at Community Boating that we could go paddle boarding today. We headed downstairs to sign waivers, get our guest passes, and headed out on the dock. Molly gave us a short demo on how to get into the water, onto the board, and how to paddle then she helped us pick out the proper board to go out on the river with.

VIEWS.

I chose a red board and our senior harbor educator Max kindly helped carry it down to the water for me where I steadily kneeled onto it and gently pushed away. We paddled out towards the river sticking fairly close to the shore. The view exiting the lagoon was so amazing I could have cried. The skyline was breath taking; the sky clear blue without a cloud in sight; the water as calm as ever as if it were untouched; and the ripples from my paddling cylindrical and hypnotizing. I soaked up the sun rays and captured every image in my memories. The views we got from there were everything to me.

I am so grateful to be apart of the All Access team and to be able to travel to different sites such as Community Boating Inc., this is a great job. It was my first time paddle boarding on the Charles and I'm sure it wont be my last, the opportunities are endless here at Save the Harbor and the learning is hands on. I listened as Molly explained what kind of fish and animals you can find in the Charles to some of the CBI students. Along our little journey in the river and the lagoon we saw ducks, geese, loons, and different types of flowers. At some point I am pretty sure the loon was following me. It would dive under for 15 seconds and reappear closer and closer to me and my paddle board, scaring me away rather than I scaring it off. The experience was unforgettable. Wait! Did I mention Max took an unexpected dip in the river? Because that happened!

To more adventures & more breath taking moments

-Khar

Ocean Critters

A squirting sea squirt!

In addition to our lovely catch of crabs, one of the children fishing on the dock with us caught a tunicate! We don't see those very often so a rush of happiness passed through me as I showed them what it can do. They giggled as I squeezed it and the tunicate sprinkled water onto them.

Our first week at Georges Island was a blast, each day we caught

Jonah & Green crabs in our
touch tank.

endless amounts of green crabs. We did have a little diversity, though, and

caught a Jonah crab in our crab trap! It was huge compared to the

tiny green crabs we had. All the kids that came over to fish were

intrigued by it and asked all these awesome questions such

as,"What kind of crabs are these?", "Is it a boy or a girl?", and I

enjoyed teaching them all the knowledge I myself have learned while working at Save the Harbor.

In fact I even used a field guide book with the kids to identify the Jonah crab we had caught.

Very similar looking to the Red Rock Crab, the guide book

indicated that the crab was a Jonah crab due to the black tips on

their legs and claws, whereas a Red Rock crab only has

black tips on its claws.

Petting crabs

Here's to many more adventures!

-Khar

Back Again!

Hi Everybody!
  My name is Sam and this is my third summer with Save the Harbor! I'm so excited to be back and I can't wait to make some new memories.

Enjoying the beach even on my days off!

  Some fun facts about me:
    I absolutely love dogs and have one of my own named Mickaleen! I love to play soccer in my spare time and I've just started to learn to play rugby. I'm going to be a sophomore at UMass Amherst this fall and I graduated from the O' Bryant where Ms. Ryan was my teacher and softball coach!

     One of my favorite things about working with Save the Harbor is the impact you have on the lives of some of the kids. For some, it's just another field trip but for others it's a chance to experience something new. Last summer I had the chance to meet a young man who was on a field trip with his summer camp! He had never been on the harbor and had a bunch of questions of the different islands and the fish that lived in the water. He told me all about his sister and his parents and about his paintball gun and his bicycle. He asked me to eat lunch with him and his friends when we got to the island and they tried teaching me about different Pokemon (I didn't understand at all). On the way home from Spectacle I saw him and he told me all about his day! He told me about how he went swimming and tried fishing. He came back a few weeks later for a trip to George's Island and he got so excited when he saw me I just heard him yelling "Sam! Sam!". It was amazing to me that he remembered me and had even more questions and stories to tell me about! I can't wait to make some more memories like this one!

Have A Great Summer!
Sam

Last Day on All Access

Thursday was a beautiful day with bad news, All Access came to an end for the summer. My summer was made by the hundreds of kids that come out to Spectacle island with us everyday. The kids swimming, fishing, and playing sports is truly an amazing thing to watch and take in. At first when you look around, it looks like summer madness. But when you look around again, everyone is happy and enjoying themselves. All the kids have smiles on their faces. All the adults have smiles on their faces and phones in their hands trying to capture the moment. Throughout the heat, everyone managed to keep that big grin that they had when they arrived on the island. I had a chance to learn more about everyone who worked with me this year on All Access. I thank all the kids and all my coworkers for making my summer great! This summer was amazing with All Access, I hope for more summers just like this one in the future! Until next time All Access, and keep on exploring, Preston.

Spending the summer in the sea and sand !

Hey guys !

I have had the best start to the week. It all started at the Rever Beach Sand Sculpting Competition, where we entered the amateur group competition and we won against some of our collegues with our marvelous alligator.

Next, I joined my All Access crew on Pedocks, where we relaxed in the sun and swam all day! On the boat ride to Pedocks, we played a ton of card games that I had never played before. I bonded with my fellow collegues in a way we never had before. 

This has to be the best start to the week I've ever had. I am so happy to have  had such an amazing few days. I can't wait for the rest of the week. Until next time !

~Jayda 

P.S. If you were wondering this is our official looking medal for the competition. 

So...Many...Kids!

This whole week has been a new experience for me. My site was moved from Community Boating and Courageous Sailing Center, to All Access. I went from having about 20 kids a day to 300 plus before 9:30 am. My first day was a little hectic, but I managed to get used to it. We take all of these kids on a boat to different island where they can explore the island, play games and swim on the beach. It's a new experience for many of the kids as well, since some of them have never been on a boat, or been to one of the Boston Harbor Islands.  

But the fun and games don't start on the island, they start on the boat. From card games, to juggling to the legendary game of double bounce, the kids start smiling long before we get to the island. The kids are fond of our game double bounce. If the ball comes to you don't let it bounce twice, or you;re out! I don't think there is a more entertaining and time passing game as double bounce. Not only does it let the kids have a little bit of fun on the boat, but it lets them interact with different kids from different programs.

See you next time, Preston

All Access V.I.P.

Today was a very special day for the All Access team and I, as we were presented with a chance to meet Governor Deval Patrick. We went to Peddocks Island with about 400 kids, where the Governor was partaking in a press conference. After the press conference was over, we presented the Governor with one of the hundreds of fish prints that the children in our program had made. The Governor was thrilled when we presented it to him, but I think the kids and our staff were more thrilled to see him.

After getting the chance to hang out with the Governor for a little while, we played the most intense game of kickball ever. Let the games begin! Both teams were evenly matched and neither of the teams were letting up. Run after run, out after out, base after base, these teams were battling to be the "Peddocks Island Kickball" champions. We weren't able to finish the game because we had to catch the boat back, but the kids loved every minute of it. I think some of the kids have a bright future in kickball!



See you next time, Preston

Blue Cross Visits Save The Harbor

This week has been a really busy week with Staff day, the Blue Cross Blue Sheild day, and the beach bash and splash on friday. I was really excited for the Blue Cross visit because most of my friends are working for Blue Cross so when they came in it was really cool because I had an opportunity to show them a part of Save the Harbor. The day started of well, I had a chance to play with some of the kids who were going to Spectacle with us and I had a chance to learn what the all access crew did. The kids were all coloring and they were all really excited to go on the boat and visit the island because some of them had never been before.

The Blue Cross Crew

The day on Spectacle was well spent, we had an opportunity to help the community by cleaning the trash of the beaches and cleaning the dock which was filled with sea shells. After we had finished our duties we had the rest of the day off to go and explore the island or go play kick ball with kids. A few people went on the kayak tour which I thought was really awesome. My friends and I took a long walk to the beach and explored the island. Towards the end of the day it drizzled a bit but no one was complaining and they were pretty excited because they had to run for cover and everyone was just laughing and having a blast. My friends' review of the Save the Harbor was a 5 out 5, they said that they all had a really amazing day and that they had a lot of fun.

Me and Andrea Sweeping Away 

Jazeel Mendes- Chao

Hey! Guess who I saw

This Thursday was like no other and not just because it was more windy then the usual that morning but because I got to do something new.

It was my first day being part of All Access and I was really excited. I was going to a new site and I wondered what it was going to be like? What do they do first? What do they do at all access? I kept thinking to myself. That's when I found out that the famous David Coffin was located at the that site. What makes him so famous you might ask? Well, I'll tell you! He has the legand of throwing and dumping people into the bay.  It's somewhat evil but the intentions aren't evil. Before you know it if you do not watch out for your back (literally) he will come behind you and dump you right into the water.

Imagine my surprise when I heard that. However, today was special. Not only because today there was about 500 children but because of something a little more different than the amount of children going to the island.

David tells people before we go off to do something new, to take advantage of the free oppertunity. At first I thought there really wasn't much you could do that is completely new or couldn't do at home so I disregarded the comment.

But then I fount out that Governor Deval Patrick was going to be at Peddock Island! Who would have guessed. That's when I decided that my mission for the day was to take a selfie with the governor. As soon as the governor was set and ready after the small speech, I extended my hand, introduced myself, and asked for a selfie. Before I knew it David was right there. And that was  my something new to do, I got my selfie with Governor Deval Patrick!

All Access, FUN... Goodbye Wilson

So far All Access is a win. At first I was really scared when I saw that about 300 kids where getting on the boat to go to an island with only about 5 or 6 of us. Chaos? Not really. The supervisors helped out a lot in keeping the kids together and organized. When we got to the boat I was introduced to a game of double bounce. It sounds easy until the ball is spun and does not go in the direction you think  it is going to head.

David is one sneaky guy. I thought I was safe and I had escaped his wrath but nope, I thought wrong. Before I knew it I was grabbed and put into the cold Spectacle Island water. It's actually pretty scary when you do not know what you are going to end up stepping on with your next step. So, I pretty much feel like a survivor right now. At first you play a nice game of Kickball (if Carlos does not aim for your soul) or go fishing with Sam and then once you are pretty tired and ready to relax you get to splash into the nice cooling water, and that is how you finish your day.

On our way back, staff and children decided to play an easy going game of Double Bounce. Double Bounce is almost like four squares instead that if you let the ball bounce twice before getting the ball you are out. We were passing by Camp Harbor View when the little boy who had the ball had mysteriously slipped out of his hand, hit the top part of smoke stack of the boat, bounced on the edge of the trash bin, bouncing onto the top of the string railing of the boat TWICE and then off into the water. That experience was one you had to see to believe, it looked like something that could only happen in Tom and Jerry.  The little boy felt bad, and we assured him that it was nothing to worry about, which is true I rather had the ball than the boy going overboard.

All Access was an experience to remember, a fun experience!

Doing something... fun

-Until the next one
Chavelyn S.

First Week of All Acess

This is my first  year working with little kids. It was really fun. We spent most of our day at Spectacle  Island.  We went fishing and played sports. The kids were really excited, especially for the sports. On  the first day we played kickball, most of the kids were really good , pretty much every kid that played hit at least one or two home runs. The second day the kids didn't want to play kickball, they wanted to play soccer instead. On our way to the field they were talking about the world cup, guess they are soccer fans. I was looking forward to it everyday because it was really fun . After the kickball and the soccer game, we went swimming in the beach. All access is really fun, I hope I get to do it again.