Lynn YMCA kids take harbor cruise

LYNN-Exploring the local marine life from the shores of Lynn beaches is one thing, but getting a first hand look at the creatures roaming the murky depths of the sea is a whole new experience from a boat in the middle of Boston Harbor.Students from the Greater Lynn YMCA can now say they have had such an experience thanks to the support of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s All Access Boston Harbor program.Students from the YMCA and other youth organizations in the Greater Boston area set sail from the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston this month on an exploratory trip into the harbor.The students toured the harbor and learned the history behind the region, including stops in the Boston Harbor Islands. For many students, it was their first opportunity to explore the harbor and the national parks contained within the islands.The free marine education and recreation program offers more than 4,000 youth from every neighborhood in Boston and from communities including Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, Everett, Chelsea, Quincy, Worcester and Springfield an opportunity to participate.Each trip begins dockside at the Bank of America Pavilion, where maritime historian David Coffin tells tales and sings songs that bring to life patriots and pirates from Boston Harbor’s past. The kids also sing sea chanteys and haul lobster traps before setting sail on the Virginia C. II for a narrated cruise to either Georges or Spectacle Island.On Georges Island the youngsters have the opportunity to explore Fort Warren, a Civil War-era fort with eerie tunnels, real cannons and a parade ground. The tour includes tales of the infamous “Lady in Black,” a woman who is said to haunt the island. Save the Harbor’s marine educators also lead beach walks and scavenger hunts for critters such as Asian Shore Crabs, Green Crabs, and Periwinkles, while teaching the young people about what it takes for these creatures to survive in a tidal habitat.The Spectacle Island trip includes a curriculum that is geared towards traditional seaside recreational activities like swimming, hiking, kite flying and fishing. On program days, the skies above Spectacle Island are painted with color as youth fly kites with Save the Harbor educators atop the Northern Drumlin on the island.On the shoreline most groups also take advantage of the swimming beach, staffed with a Department of Conservation and Recreation lifeguard, to take a dip in the Harbor or go for a hike around the island led by a marine educator.”One of the very best things about growing up here in New England is the opportunity to spend some time every summer at the seashore,” said Save the Harbor President Patricia Foley. “We are proud to share the benefits of Boston Harbor and the Harbor Islands with a new generation of youth, who we hope will become ?Harbor Stewards’ of the future.”