After a long but active winter of preparing for its first full season of sailing and science programs, the Boothbay Sea and Science Center launches the 2014 season on June 23. BSSC is a community based program offering sailing and science programs to youth ages 5-17.

This year BSSC has a new home at the Little River Boat Club and Marina (formerly Spar Shed Marina) in East Boothbay. Located at the end of Brewer Road (off of Ocean Point Road), the marina is providing moorings, launching space, touch tank space and a staging area for the program. Little River offers secluded safe sailing for the younger sailors and direct access to open water for the keel boat program sailors, as well as ready access to a tidal science program environment.

The center is especially pleased to announce an “all star” staff for 2014. Joining BSSC for this season are Jasper Nutt and Jeffrey (Jeff) Hankins as senior sailing instructors, Charlotte Nutt as sailing instructor and Carla Scocchi as the director of the science program.

“We are ecstatic to have such a qualified and motivated group of individuals to lead the programs this year,” said BSSC President Pauline Dion. “We are also proud to say that not only does this group have excellent credentials and experience in their fields, but all of our staff are certified in First Aid and CPR and the sailing instructors are Certified US Sailing Level 1 Instructors.”

Jasper Nutt was born and raised in Edgecomb. He spent his summers sailing along the coast of Maine and at the Southport Yacht Club. When Jasper was 8 years old, he and his family spent six months sailing the Caribbean. In the year 2000, they began a circumnavigation of the world on their 60-foot ketch Danza. Nutt believes that his childhood time at sea was instrumental in determining his path in life and he looks forward to contributing his creative vision to inspire a lifelong enthusiasm for sailing and science in BSSC students. Since their return in 2005, Nutt has completed an engineering degree at the University of Maine and worked as a science intern at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay.

Jeff Hankins, Jasper Nutt’s cousin, has been a sailor and a scientist since he was old enough to know what it meant. He was a participant in the Southport junior sailing program from age 8 to 18. Jeff attended St. Mary's College of Maryland, where he earned a degree in biology. While there he sailed four years on the offshore sailing team. After graduating from St. Mary’s, Hankins worked as a deckhand for Ocean Classroom and for a season, as head coach of the Salisbury School varsity sailing team. For the past two years, during the summer, Hankins has led extended wilderness trips with Chewonki in open boats. He is a licensed captain, lifeguard, and EMT. 

Charlotte Nutt is Jasper Nutt’s sister. At age 4, she left with her family on their sailboat to circumnavigate the world. She comes to BSSC with a passion for sailing and her past experience includes five summers as a volunteer sailing instructor at the Southport Yacht Club where she taught junior sailors ages 7 to 13 basic boat-handling skills. During the past two years, Charlotte Nutt has been working in rural India with mentally challenged boys teaching them how to write, color and play sports. She believes that the language barrier coupled with the boys medical challenges taught her to have patience and clarity when communicating while still remaining engaging.

Carla Scocchi comes to the Boothbay Sea and Science Center with a bachelor’s degree in marine biology from the University of Rhode Island. Since graduating, her work experience includes a seven year tenure with Sea Education Association (SEA) at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. While at SEA, Scocchi’s work experiences included senior admission counselor, assistant scientist, senior assistant scientist and chief scientist. In her role as chief scientist, she developed and implemented a leadership-focused program in collaboration with University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. She was responsible for program development, staff training, and creating opportunities for students to achieve leadership goals. Scocchi also acted as principal investigator, academic coordinator, taught oceanography, and supervised all scientific activities, equipment, staff and safety protocols.

To celebrate the opening of the season, the center is offering the first week’s introductory sailing program (June 23-27) free to local residents ages 5 to 17. The first week’s program will end with a hot dog cookout on Friday, June 27 at noon as there is on all Fridays of the season. Parents or students interested in the introductory program should contact Pauline Dion at info@boothbayseaandsciencecenter.org or call the program at 207-350-5357 and leave a message.