Dedicated mariner shares his love of the ocean and history
By Alex Wilson 07/02/2009
Tall sailing ships and charities that use them to build the courage and confidence of kids have inspired the founder of the American Tall Ship Institute, which recently made Channel Island’s Harbor the permanent home of their spectacular 136-foot schooner Bill of Rights.
Executive Director Stephen Taylor is developing programs to help young people plot a course toward a brighter future, and promote understanding of coastal history and marine biology among people of all ages.
They’re also creating offshore education programs with the Ventura County Maritime Museum, which is working on moving into the former Port Royal building near the ship’s dock at Marine Emporium Landing.
The Bill of Rights ties up right next to the replica stern wheeled riverboat Scarlett Belle, giving the area a historic vibe. The concessionaire of trips to Channel Islands National Park, Island Packers, also books weekend coastal sailing cruises to help support the charity.
During a recent public voyage, crew members, volunteers and paying passengers teamed up to lift the heavy rigging, and were encouraged to take turns at the wheel of the mighty sailing vessel. People aboard small pleasure boats and fishing charters waved at the spectacle as sea lions and other wildlife swam by.
Taylor moved west to California to work for the Los Angeles Maritime Institute several years ago, and saw how lives of troubled kids are turned around by working on tall ships for their TopSail Youth Program.
“It was an amazing experience to see that first-hand for the first time. Especially middle school kids that are in gangs, that’s something I hadn’t imagined before, and so that program is very important to me,” says Taylor. He acquired the Bill of Rights from the L.A. charity after they built two new tall ships for their program.
Taylor says when they get a group of kids on board they learn the value of teamwork, because the mainsail and all its rigging weigh almost a ton, and there are no modern winches. “So if you have all these kids getting together to pull that sail up, that means something to them,” says Taylor. “They can feel what they’re doing and they can visually see exactly what it is they did. They put all the sails up and the only way that can occur is if they all work together.”
Taylor says that for some of the kids he’s sailed with, it’s the first time adults have expressed confidence in their potential. “It can be as simple as asking a kid what he’s going to do in college, and when you ask a kid a question like that and they say, ‘Nobody’s ever asked me that before, I never even considered going to college,’ that’s a powerful thing to hear,” says Taylor. “Then the kid will come back later and might say he wants to be a doctor or a nurse, or wants to work on computers.”
Leo Lewis of Oxnard is an enthusiastic volunteer on the Bill of Rights and believes in its positive impact. “It changes people’s lives. It changes youth. You watch them, their eyes glow, they’re so excited,” says Lewis. He says they need more volunteers to help maintain the vessel and operate programs, and it’s a fantastic way to give back to the community.
More information about the tall ship and their programs is available on their Web site at www.americantallship.org.
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