NMHS Takes the Young Idea to Sea by Peter Stanford o SEA-what a weal th of history, Libertad and Simon Bolivar, in port, providing another exampl e of the varietlore and challenge is wrapped up ies of cultures and experience that charin those two words! In a time when perhaps too much information acteri ze the human race. comes to young people in evanescent And who knows what experiences images on a screen, and too many mesour young sailors will encounter on their voyage? Or what impact the voyage will sages are encoded in sound bites dehave on their bodies, minds and spirits? signed to shock, not to inform, the idea of young people going to sea under sail We ' re not in business- in this business to encounter the wild ocean which makes in great waters-to forecas t or dictate up most of our globe has great appeal. answers to these open-ended questions. In our work in the National Maritime It's the openness of the experience that Education Initiati ve, whi ch Walter we prize, from which we, too , will be Cronkite chairs for the Society, we have learni ng. And in another decade or so the world will be learn ing fro m these explored programs across the country which encourage that vibrant, slower- Nicole Scott , Walter Cronkite and Jonathan young citizens. Numbers that Mean Something moving and farther-reaching experience Pappas aboard USCG Eagle,Ju/y 1992 (Photo: US Coast Guard) We're very pleased and proud to be of the seafaring heritage of mankind . And we have increasi ngly turned our New York on Sunday, 20 July, to arri ve launching these sail training cruises attention to getting young people di- in Boston the following Saturday. These aboard the Rose . A total of sixty innerrectly to sea-not for an afternoon sail , will be young people from Boston, many city kids will share in this experience. valuable as that can be, but fo r the regu- of whom will have trained in the Hull We plan to ex pand this program until, when the year 2000 rolls around , we lar, watch-standing business of making Lifesaving Museum rowing programs. an offshore voyage in a sailing ship. They will sail part of the way in have hundreds of young Americans at The Ride of a Lifetime company with the working replica of sea, sailing from many US ports. In 1992, as part of the OpSail program Captain Cook's Endeavour, which will Butourpurpose doesn ' tend with this that year honoring the 500th anniver- jo in up with the Rose in Long Island achievement. We look fo rward to worksary of the voyage of Christopher Co- Sound. There will be interchange with ing with seaport citi zens to set up youth lumbus to the Americas, we collabo- the Austra lian crew of the Endeavour centers where we can stay in touch with rated with New York State in an essay and , perhaps for the first time for some the people who have sai led with us, to be contest, fro m which two winners were of o ur people, a realization that the other a resource for the further explorations, chosen. These young people and their side of the world we inhabit has people adventures and achievements that each teachers embarked with Walter Cronkite just as real as we are-with different person should have a chance to go for. Wearea longwayfromachieving this aboard the US Coast Guard Bark Eagle speech and ways , but encountering the to sail from New York to Boston. same kind of difficulties we all meet in full-fledged program. But we are workThe high school students, Nicole Scott life and cherishing shared dreams . ing to get there. We had a good year last of Rockland County and Jonathan Pappas When a crew of young New Yorkers year, and the thing to do with good forof Long Island, had never imagined any- show up on the Boston waterfront to tune, we believe, is share it--espec ially thing li ke life aboard a big sailing ship board the Rose fo r the return voyage to to share it with the young people who can that makes her way across the shifting New York , they' ll find the crews of at bring such rich dividends to our nation !sea by leaning on the wind . least two South American tall ships, the and to humanity in coming years. "We climbed the rigging and there The frigate Rose off France , 1996 (Photo: Philip Plisson) were a lot of ropes to be hauled," said Pappas, explaining that their job was basically to help the US Coast Guard I cadets in an unusual apprenticeship. This kept them busy, scrambling to perform their duties. There were quiet moments, too, in the still night watches when they could see the mastheads tracing their trail across the stars. And they'll never forget the arrival in Boston. They saw thousands of people on the shore cheering them in , with people shouting and cannon goi ng off. Not Just for the Few Not everyone can go to sea, but many more young people should share this experience than get any chance at it now. Accordingly, NMHS is sending 30 young people and their teachers to sea aboard the frigate Rose, sailing from
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