Mentoring has always been at the heart of Rocking the Boat’s approach to youth development. Boatbuilding Program Assistants, for example, just a few years older than new students tentatively handling a block plane for the first time, are always ready to answer questions and offer friendly guidance.
“A double-crested cormorant!”
“A what? I can’t see it.”
“There!” Yantzia, an Environmental Science Program apprentice and high school senior only weeks from graduation, pointed out a tall, black bird with a goosey neck to the people in her rowboat. It was June 2, and the passengers were guests of Rocking the Boat’s first-ever Community Birding event.
Every Thursday afternoon, 12 middle school girls walk down the hill from their school and into a different world. They cluster in Rocking the Boat’s workshop ably handling tools that only a few weeks prior were entirely unfamiliar. They haul 12’ sailboats from their storage area to the muddy shore of the Bronx River, climb in, and deftly maneuver on the water that they had only recently been intimidated by.
We are pleased to announce the election of Manda D’Agata as our new Board President. Currently the Treasurer for a private investment firm, Manda was introduced to Rocking the Boat through a Goldman Sachs corporate volunteer day in 2009. She became a supporter and then joined the Board in 2016.
A number of years ago Sam Huber, an amateur boatbuilder and a longtime friend of Rocking the Boat’s offered to restore an old rowing skiff for a family friend. The boat, a Spurling Skiff, was the native craft of Little Cranberry Island (also known as Islesford) on the Maine coast and was designed by the island’s last full time boatbuilder Arthur “Chummy” Spurling. Once Sam got into the project, he quickly realized it was far bigger than he had originally anticipated.
