The last day of the BSSC’s Stay’s'l Program (ages 8-17) was on Friday, Aug. 15.

Once again the program, at full capacity, implemented diverse activities to maximize fun and good seamanship. Monday was focused on keelboat basics, including parts of the boat, fundamentals of sail trim and a review of onboard hazards, such as the boom, winches, and the traveler to name a few.

Tuesday was sailing time in little boats with a complete and busy itinerary of activities that included tennis ball overboard recovery, turnabout races, rowing races (backwards, forwards, first to do ten 360 degree turns, etc.) and mooring practice.

On Wednesday, we were privileged to tour the U.S. Coast Guard Station Boothbay Harbor. We were amazed at the level of sophistication inherent in the search and rescue procedures and equipment.

Curiously enough, it’s now possible to triangulate the location of any radio that keys into channel 16. A phenomenal rescue technology, as well as a powerful deterrent for anyone tempted to abuse the emergency channel. On Thursday BSSC sailors saw keelboat practice in the Little River, with an emphasis on docking and mooring pickups.

Friday “fun day” finished off our season, with a lunch time cookout followed by thrilling on-the-water naval battles of capture the flag, tennis ball tag, and generally “messing about” in boats.

The BSSC Mizzen Program (ages 5-7) also enjoyed its last day of the 2014 summer program sailing season last Friday. True to form, the Mizzen sailors moved ahead with proving that 5, 6 and 7-year-olds can indeed master the art of rowing and sailing. It goes without saying that all of our sailors were extremely proud to demonstrate their remarkable capability and skill of rowing a little dinghy entirely on their own.

We also spent time sailing in turnabouts and in BSSC’s 23 foot Sonar keelboat. On Wednesday morning, the Mizzen sailors toured the Coast Guard Station, as well as the Maine State Aquarium.

Wednesday's storm made our weekly harbor trash pickup on Thursday a treasure trove, with plenty of debris in the water. We collected all we could find, constructed trash castles, and then made sure everything ended up where it belongs, recycling everything we could. The rest of our week was spent sailing, rowing, playing silly games, practicing the bowline, and, of course, snacking.

To learn more about the Boothbay Sea and Science Center, visit www.boothbayseaandsciencecenter.org.