All Access!

Sometimes things get so busy at Save the Harbor / Save the Bay in the summertime that we don't have time to enjoy all the great things you can do on Boston Harbor.

Yesterday I had a chance to go to Georges Island on All Access Boston Harbor with kids from the Somerville YMCA, Camp Harbor View, and some volunteers from Skanska, a construction company that is one of our long-time youth program partners. We all had a great time, and all of us did things we had never done before!

We met at the Bank of America Pavilion , where Frankie, Kat and David introduced us to Harry the Lobster (Larry's younger brother).


The kids from the YMCA had a great time with Ibi working on this weeks murals.


They also enjoyed using the field guides, and touching the tiny skeleton shrimp we found under the dock.


Before we left for the island on the boat with Captain John, David told us all what to expect and then taught us to sing a Sea Shanty, "Haul Away Joe!"



When we got to Georges, we ate lunch, explored the fort, looked for crabs on the beach, and learned how to skip stones. We also cleaned up every bit of trash we carried onto the island!

On the way home we saw Kat and her crew at Castle Island. We got back to the pavilion before the big thunderstorm, just in time to hear Theo Epstein's band perform a sound check. They were great!

I'll try to post a short video of David and everyone singing and some picture from Georges Island over the weekend.

Bruce

What you could do at Georges Island

At Georges Island there are three things you can do:


1. You could go on the beach and skip stones, find beach glass or you could catch crabs. If you are interested then you should meet Frankie, he will be the one to show how to do all those things.


2. You could sing sea shanties, go explore the dark caves of Fort Warren that is said to be haunted by the Lady in Black with David the "creepy tour" guide.





3. I've saved the best for last: you could learn how to fly kites with me, Darius! I will also show you how to put it together. By the time you leave, you will be the world's best kite flier!

All Access Boston Harbor

Hi, my name is Darius, and I’m also part of the All Access Boston Harbor Program. Every morning I wake up, brush my teeth, wash up, and travel to the Bank of America Pavilion. Once I get there I stand and greet the groups. When all 200 visitors arrive we get on the boat called the Virginia C. It’s a 45 minute boat ride from here to George’s Island. During lunch I turn red because the sun is so bright. After lunch I take some kids kite flying along the beach. Most of these kids have never been kite flying before and it’s my job to teach them no matter how hard it is. In order to get the kite flying there needs to be wind, once the wind starts blowing, the kite usually flies itself. We fly kites all afternoon until the boat leaves the dock at 2:00 pm.

Hi, my name is Frankie, and I’m a Junior Marine Educator for the All Access Boston Harbor Program. Everyday I take out 200 people, children and adults, to George’s Island. I walk the wrackline everyday with the kids to find crabs, shells, and other animals living near the shore. Last week we caught close to 20 Asian Shore crabs, 2 Red Rock crabs, and tons of Green crabs. On the walk back to the boat the kids and I enjoy skipping rocks. We usually have a contest to see who can get the most skips. I enjoy each and everyday and wouldn’t trade this job for anything.

All Access Boston Harbor

David talking about Boston Harbor

Hello, my name is David, and I'm the host for All Access Boston Harbor for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.

Today we had a very full boat with excited kids from all around the Boston neighborhoods, some of whom had never before been on a boat. There were quite a few more who were going out to Georges Island for the first time as well. Every day there are always many "firsts" and I try to identify them whenever possible. We saw the usual lobster boats on the way out to the island and, of course, Castle Island and Spectacle Island were still where they were the day before.

Once we got to Georges and everyone had their lunches many of us set off to explore the massive Fort Warren that encompasses the island. While we were looking for the infamous "Lady in Black" in the dark tunnel others were down on the beach with Laura looking for crabs and jelly fish, and anything else along the wrack line (high tide line) that one might find on any given day. Frankie had a group of kids with several of our kites high overhead, perhaps also looking for the "Lady in Black" from above?