Our crazy Tuesday at CHV

Hey everyone, Maeve here! It’s so great to be back at Camp Harbor View again this summer. I really missed things like taking a boat to work and fishing everyday because I have a very unique job. Monday was a pretty normal day which consisted of the sun beating down on us. We fished and met some new kids like usual. The next day, Tuesday, was quite different. In the morning we knew that there was a possible chance of rain later but that didn’t bother us because the sun was out at the time so we went on with our routine. We got our rods ready, cut up some bait and checked the crab traps.

We added the crab so our lobster could have a friend

There were two crazy things that happened on Tuesday and the first was when we checked the crab trap. When Preston and I pulled up the crab trap there was a lobster in it! It was pretty ironic because last year we had lobster traps and we didn’t catch one lobster and now we had a lobster in the crab trap. We put some rubber bands on the lobster's claws and went to show the kids. I think our senior harbor educator, Kristen, was just as excited about the lobster than the kids were. We kept the lobster in a bucket all day and gave it new water periodically so that we could show all the kids that cycled through our station. Something cool I learned that day about lobster that I did not know before was that lobsters are “immortal”. If a lobster isn’t eaten by us humans or bigger predators, they will never die. Nobody has ever found a dead lobster and I think that is kind of creepy.

This was our view of Boston right before we got rained on!

The second crazy thing that happened on Tuesday brings us back to the weather. We were in the middle of our third rotation and I was sitting there fixing a rod and it started pouring rain. The drops were so big and we didn’t even have any warning. We got soaked just running to the shed about 50 yards away and the rain didn’t give up for like 15 minutes! Luckily, once the rain stopped it became a beautiful day again. By that point in the day it was time for us to go home and we showed some last kids the lobster and then we put it back into the ocean. I'll keep you guys posted on our unusual finds in the crab trap at CHV! -Maeve Fittz

Rain Rain Go Away

Hello again fellow adventurers!

This week we had our first real run-in with mother nature in the form of a rain storm. When the clouds open up, not too many kids are motivated to stand out in the rain and fish. Therefore, we have to turn to some other methods to keep ourselves, as well as the kids, busy and entertained. One of my favorite pastimes is drawing, and any chance we have to break out the sidewalk chalk, I take full advantage.

Drawing Marty the Marlin

I think everyone of all ages likes to relive the days of filling the driveway with drawings and bringing their imagination to life through chalk drawings. With the help of a few eager kids and even some of the Children's Museum staff, we filled the tent with dozens of nautical drawings, from local fish species to some more tropical ones, such as the marlin that I drew! 

Look at that view!

In the early afternoon the sun finally broke through the clouds and we could once again resume fishing. Although the fish weren't biting, I still had a good time getting to know some of the families that came to test their luck at fishing. One family that was visiting from Great Britain came over to fish for the first time ever! Having grown up near the ocean, I had learned at a young age to fish. Therefore it was almost funny to think that I was teaching a father and son at the same time how to fish, but I was honored to be able to be a part of it. The son was a natural, and was casting as far as me in no time! The father on the other hand, may need a few more practice casts. The best part of the experience was seeing the look of excitement on the son's face when his father told him the first thing they were doing when the got home was buying a fishing rod! Just being able to make an impact on even one family's life means so much to me, and it's a huge part of why I love working here. 

Until next time, keep on exploring!

-Luke C.

One Extreme to the Other

     The heat was unbearable last week.  I felt like I was going to pass out, but I continued to work to the fullest.  The kids were small in numbers but big in heart, they did not stop even with 90 degrees plus.  The work became strenuous, the sun felt like it was piercing my body.  Sunblock became my new best friend.  Safe to say it was hot.

When it was Hot

     The rain followed the heat.  It was nice to have it cool down but it was bad because it rained.  I like the rain as much as the next guy, but its only good here and there.  I'd rather have the 75 and sunny than 95 and humid.  The rain was not heavy enough to keep us inside, but it did pick up just as we were leaving.  Just our luck.

S.E.A

          This is the week of lobsters! We have caught four lobsters and it's only Wednesday. Today at the McDonough Sailing Center we had an overflow of crabs and we had a record setting trap in which we caught four lobsters in one day. Like always, my friend, Mae, was very excited to see the Harbor Explorers show up. The week so far has been cool even though it rained on Tuesday. I am looking forward to Thursday even though I'm not the greatest fisherman to walk amongst men. I am really happy that this week most of the kids have been showing up everyday and they are all really excited to show up and be involved.  

The Kids With The Lobsters that We Caught Today!!!!!!!!!!

      Piers Park this week has been terrific. The kids who are showing up are always consistent and all they talk about is how much fun they are having with the Harbor Explorers. Today we caught a load of crabs, we had about thirty or more crabs in one catch. The kids were all very excited because we have not caught that many crabs since the first week. We had the most crabs in the history of crab races and we didn't know who was the winner.Unfortunately we caught no lobsters this week at Piers Park, but we are still excited for what's up ahead.

Us Playing Sardines

Only a Fraction Of The Total Crabs We Caught

This week we also went on a fishing  trip tournament around the harbor and I was on the winning team. My team was full of cool people and all the fishermen on board were cool, including the Captain. I thought it was really cool that the captain was using an iPad to navigate around the harbor. My team caught a total of thirty fishes including some skates, that we released back into the ocean. Over all the trip was pretty good even though is was really cold and all the fishes were hiding and didn't come out.

And They Said I Couldn't Fish

I Did It Mom

Adios : Jazeel Mendes

First time for everything!

  Hey readers! Kiauna here..

So, for the first time ever, I led a lesson all by myself today! When I left my house this morning, to my disbelief, it was pouring outside. I'm usually outdoors fishing with kids so as you can imagine I was not too excited about my day. That changed of course once I arrived at Courageous Sailing. 

JB taking a guess at what animal she got

Once at Courageous, my Senior Marine Educator, Sarah, informed me that I would be leading my own activity for the kids. I'm not going to lie, at first I was kind of nervous. I had never led an activity for the kids and I wasn't sure I'd be any good at it. "What if the kids all hate me after this?", I thought to myself. It can be sort of overwhelming to be left in charge of something, believe it or not.

Warm and indoors, I discussed sea animals with the group of kids. We put our favorite sea animal into different categories (Mammals, Invertebrates, Fish, and Other). Once someone shared what their favorite was, we had to decipher which category it fell into. The kids were so smart. They knew most of the 5 main traits of a mammal. In case one isn't familiar with these traits, they are the following: they give live birth, have fur/hair, breathe air, warm-blooded, their babies feed on their milk. The milk comes from a mammal's mammary glands. Hence, the name of the class, mammals. There's a fun fact for ya!

Talking about/grouping our favorite marine animals

After an interesting learning experience, it was only right that we did something fun with the new knowledge. I decided to play a game with the kids that would allow us to explore the new things we'd learned. Using the animals we had talked about (and a few that we hadn't) I wrote the name of an animal on a post-it note the kids took turns getting one stuck to their forehead..sounds silly, I know! The person with a post-it in their forehead did not know what was written on that post-it. They had to ask everyone else a few questions to try to figure out what the post-it said. One catch; they had to be yes or no questions only! For example: "Do I have a blowhole?" If the group answered yes I would then know that whatever was on my forehead was definitely a mammal. Makes sense, right? It's not as easy as it sounds, trust me! Rainy day aside, we still had a lot of fun. We even got a couple of Courageous Sailing's staff to join in! Turns out, I was nervous for nothing because everything went smoothly and I actually had a great time being a leader!

We had Kayla stumped 

Take chances, be a leader, and do great things,
Kiauna Peete (Kiki)

Out of the DOWNPOUR, into the OFFICE!!

       It's Thi, back at it again, blogging it up! I was really excited for the All Access Boston Harbor trip out to George's Island, but boy, was I in for a surprise at the day at the office. The trip had to be cancelled due to the random downpours of raindrops as large as sea snails! Already at the office, I had resigned myself to the thought of staying inside, away from the great fun out on our harbour. Then, there was a quick expedition to the youth room on the other side of the office building.

       The blank walls called out to us, and we knew they wanted to be covered with works from our staff, all ocean- and Boston Harbor- themed of course! Creatures of all sorts flooded my mind, blabbering about to be painted first. Sea horses, crabs, lobsters, sea stars, barnacles, whales, striped bass, herring, and seaweed were already dancing across the white canopies of streamlined sheets of paper.

Kind of like this, but much more realistic

        My hopes were too big for me to follow up on, but most of the Junior Program Assistants (fondly referred to as JPAs) helped paint the 15 or so marine animals that we were going to cut out and tape onto the sheet. Rustic red, yippy yellow, bronzing brown, perplexing purple, bolding black, and the Big Blue were splashed across the 8 1/2" by 11" piece of paper!

Just a squid!

       The end of the day was soon and so the paintbrushes became washed, the painted masterpieces drying neatly in a pile, the very large piece of wavy wallpaper rolled up into a large scroll, and everything else put exactly how it was. We then headed back to the office, wrapping up that part of the day.

       I had a blast just staying inside and just painting again, but I cannot wait for the AABH trip out tomorrow with my first trip with the little bro - Vinh!

          Stay hydrated!
              Thi Tran

What Comes After The Sequel

The beginning of my third week working at Piers Park and McDonough so far has been terrific. By my third week I've met over 30 kids and they were all great kids to teach. The kids that I have worked with are all hard working and always looking forward to learning new things. When I first started working I expected the kids to be rowdy and wild but they proved me wrong and they were all awesome. My favorite activity to do with the kids is "drip,drip,drip,drip,drench" and this game is another version of "duck,duck,duck,goose" in which we use water to drop it on people instead of saying goose. I love this game because it cools the kids down when its really hot outside and they have fun doing it.

The Awesome Game Of Drip Drip Drip Drench

Today on a rainy day when I expected no kids to show up, there was a total of 5 kids that showed up and that's a third of the kids that we usually have. The kids really made me smile today by showing and letting the Blue Team know that not even rain is going to stop them from showing up. Today we had a blast because we tried to fish and every time we reeled  the rods there was always a crab on the other side. Over all we had pretty good day in the rain, we colored, played games and everyone was happy that they showed up today.

Henrique  Catching Some Crabs

Sarah teaching the kids the importance of the  balance of the ocean. Sarah explained to the kids how the fish's inside works and how they reproduce and how they change over time.

 The kids were coloring after we came up from the dock. They were all very excited to color the different types of fishes we had available. I even colored a crab to be involved with the kids.

The Rain Can't Stop Us : Jazeel Mendes

When it Rains it Pours

     It only took two days for the Children's Museum crew to have a rainy day.  Instead of the usual showing children crabs and showing them how to fish, we went inside the Children's Museum.  It is not as easy as it sounds.  We had to catch at least five crabs on a day where the crabs just were not showing their big hands.  We sat under the smallest of ledges in order to stay dry.  We took turns running out from under the ledge in order to pull up the trap and the net.  Standing in the rain was not my favorite part of the day.

     We went inside the museum and showed the children the crabs inside. The children are always amazed when you show them the spikes on the crab (that shows it is a green crab).  While the space was restricted to standing room only we were still able to educate those who were there.  When it rains it pours children inside the museum, when one child came over they all started to come over.  Rain is not a friend of Save the Harbor Save the Bay.

Fishing before the rain