Our Programs
Our summer programs are designed to give teens and children the experience of tugboat and maritime life. In our capacity as a living museum, they can have the experience of preserving the boat or participating in the work of the boat--whether on safety watch, acting as bowtenders, or showing younger kids a little bit about the maritime world.
2007 Teens-on-Tugs |
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| Varnishing doors. |
Needle-gunning rust. |
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| Taping to protect the varnish against paint splashing. |
"Paint-roller-bot"! |
| Designed to meet the needs of NYC Department of Youth and Community Development’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), the Teens–on–Tugs program is administered by Tug Pegasus Preservation Project. Due to the active restoration activity aboard the tug Pegasus, on 2007 the program was held aboard the lighthouse tender Lilac. An original steamboat built in 1932, the Lilac is on the National Register of Historic Places. The preservation of this icon of New York’s maritime heritage requires both maintenance and ongoing restoration work. |
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| Charlie Ritchie and a student. |
Teens and rigging at South Street Seaport Museum. |
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| Teens and a scrimshaw exhibit at South Street Seaport Museum. |
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The SYEP program is a WORK/LEARN program, led by Charlie Ritchie, lead educator. Charlie was the Adventure Based Counseling Director for the Police Athletic League for six years. His expertise in adventure learning is pivotal to our youth programming. He supervises the work tasks, helps the teens through teambuilding, and teaches the importance or community service, work and respect for themselves and others.
Please see the 2007 Teens–on–Tugs Program Report for more detail.
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| 2006 Maritime Adventure Program |
The docents again participated in the Passport–to–the–Hudson program for campers, held aboard the lightship Frying Pan (see 2005 for more on the docent program). The Police Athletic League and Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance recruited the campers.
For the last two weeks of August, the docents went off to Cape Cod to try out the dory they’d refurbished over the winter and spring. |
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The refurbished dory and student docents. |
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Does it float? Can we row it? |
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2005 Maritime Adventure Program |
| Docent Training Program |
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The teens were trained in things nautical, including safety and emergency procedures, in the Docent Training Program. The participants were recruited through the Police Athletic League. With the tug Pegasus still in the shipyard, we held the program aboard the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 40, North River (Hudson River). |
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| Tying the human knot. |
Jack Othuis teaching the teens about the job of the Sandy Hook Pilots. |
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| Man-overboard training. |
Posing docents for Con Edison, one of our funders for the program. |
| Passport-to-the-Hudson |
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We partnered with the Friends of Hudson River Park for our Passport-to-the-Hudson program for campers age 8-13. The younger kids were taught in small groups led by the teens who were recruited through the Police Athletic League.
New York Water Taxi generously donated a segment of their route for the on-water part of the campers’ curriculum. Both of these youth programs were administered by the Tug Pegasus Preservation Project. |
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| Dominique leading the chart room work. |
Monique, working it out. |
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| The human knot, with the campers Jonathan and Deon leading. |
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2003 Maritime Adventure Program |
Another Summer Youth Employment Program where the teens were recruited through the Police Athletic League. This summer, there were rotating groups of 10 teens. Each week, one group would participate as docents and the other group worked on the preservation of the tug Pegasus.
One of the preservation projects was to make traditional rope fenders to protect the tug at her berth at Pier 62. This berth at Chelsea Piers was donated by Chelsea Piers LLP. |
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| Packing the tire that will become a fender. |
Alysha destranding line to turn into the covering. |
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| Whiskering the fender. |
The completed fender. |
| There were educational programs as well, including riveting demonstrations and tours of other historic vessels. |
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Darren Viligent of the 1925 tug Bertha demonstrated riveting. |
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Teens in front of the Bertha. |
Eric Fisher leading the tour of his 1884 tug New York Central No. 13 (right). |
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| 2002 Maritime Adventure Program |
For our first year of programming, we teamed up with the Police Athletic League (PAL) of New York. They offered us Charlie Ritchie as their adventure programming coordinator, and a long and fruitful relationship developed. |
| Docent Training Program |
Charlie suggested we initiate a work/learn program with the teens who had enrolled in New York City Department of Youth and Community Development’s Summer Youth Employment Program through PAL. We started the Docent Training Program with chart work, safety, and deck skills. Throughout the summer, half the teens worked on the tug Pegasus and the other half went aboard the fireboat John J. Harvey as docents. |
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| The Police Athletic League kids on their freshly painted deck. |
Rowing on the Hudson. |
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| Alysha and Jonathan working on tug Pegasus. |
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| Passport-to-the-Hudson |
Partnering with the fireboat John J. Harvey, the docents set up “stations” aboard for the campers, age 9-13, to teach them about using charts, the boat, the harbor, and knots.
The campers were recruited by the Police Athletic League from their camps all over the city. |
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| Teaching campers how to use charts. |
Captain Lenny, and learning how to steer. |
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| Learning how to tie knots at the knot station. |
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