by Tom Adamo –
On October 23rd, fourteen 7/8th grade Penobscot Community School students, their teacher Michelle Charette, Ed Tech Debbie Buesse, School Bus driver Gretchen Pemberton and Bagaduce Watershed board members Tom Adamo and Wendy Rapp traveled up the Bagaduce River on Maine Maritime Academy’s navigation Training vessel Susan B. Clark. The vessel was named to honor the first woman Captain of American Flagged oil tankers.
This excursion was the first co-sponsored BWA and MMA river trip designed to introduce students to an on-water experience of the Bagaduce Watershed and a brief campus tour of MMA.
The day began with a presentation to academic and social life at Maine Maritime Academy. We visited the woodshop where MMA students construct half-models of sail boats designed by Joel White of Brooklin Boatyard. The students also visited a diesel lab where they could view half-models of actual ships’ engines.
Next, we all boarded the Susan B. Clark and traveled up the Bagaduce River from Castine to Seal Harbor Marine. BWA Board members spoke briefly about the river – its Wabenaki history and ecology. Captain Finn Welch then turned us back toward Castine to the confluence of the Bagaduce and Penobscot rivers. Finally, we were treated to lunch on the MMA mess deck, followed by a brief tour of a dormitory.
Despite the cool Fall weather, the students and adults all loved the exposure to the watershed and to getting to know MMA a bit better. The BWA hopes to offer similar programs to other school students on the Peninsula in the spring of 2024.
