Education

Tall ship adventures with an environmental message

The schooner recently finished its last educational program of the year in Erie, Pennsylvania and back at its home port at Discovery Word in Milwaukee for the winter. After a decade on the water the ship was ready for a thorough maintenance regime.

When she returns to service next spring the Denis Sullivan will celebrate her 10th year with a trip to all of the Great Lakes. As the signature ship in the Great Lakes United TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE®, she will visit several ports during the race across the Great Lakes. Port cities will be Toronto, Cleveland, Bay City, Duluth, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Chicago.

As the signature ship and a dedicated science vessel, she’ll be helping to carry Great Lakes United’s message of freshwater conservation and protection to millions of individuals.

“We’re really excited to be sailing with Great Lakes United and being a part of this program,” said Tiffany Krihwan, Senior Captain of the Denis Sullivan. She added, “Anyone who comes aboard has the opportunity to learn about their individual impact on the natural resources and to validate this in their own life. The water that helps the Great Lakes survive is the same water that sustains the world.”

The Denis Sullivan will be joined by a fleet of over 15 others, some coming from as far away as the Netherlands and Germany to compete. Great Lakes United has partnered with the American Sail Training Association to help bring these ships to the lakes, and to promote a message of freshwater conservation.

“There is no better opportunity to energize people about the Great Lakes, than with a tall ship at your back and the water at your toes,” said Derek Stack, Executive Director of Great Lakes United.

For Great Lakes United, this is more than a simple race; it’s a race to protect the Great Lakes. By the end of 2010, the Great Lakes states and provinces are required to put in place water conservation plans. Part of the same agreements that shut the door to long-range diversions, the plans are intended to address an even greater threat: the wasteful water practices of those in the basin.

“Canadians and Americans are the worst wasters of water in the world” said Stack. “We’re seeing enormous energy being put into cleaning up these vital waters, but without a concerted effort on using water more wisely, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past.”

The message of conservation is one that rings true with the crew of the Denis Sullivan.

The Denis Sullivan represents a microcosm of the planet. At just under 3000 square feet of space, the schooner carries all the food, supplies and fresh water that the crew and students need to survive. While surrounded by water, the amount that is essential to survive is limited to the confines of the schooner. The difference available in your life is no more than 100 feet from you. The 2 gallons (7.5 litres) of water per person per day on board the ship is a sharp contrast to those on land where individual water use averages about 66 gallons (250 litres) per day.

“There is something special about seeing a student ‘getting it’,” said education officer Joe Ewing. “When a participant realizes that his or her actions either helps or hurts the situation. It is not just the mega-corporations or the community organizations that affect our environment. It is each and every one of us in our daily lives. That’s when what we are trying to do pays off.”

“On every one of our education voyages, whether it is a 90 minute Dockside Discovery with first graders, a 3 hour LakeWatch Expedition with middle or high school students, or a two week Science Under Sail adventure with high school and college age students or adults college, we emphasize the quality of water that we are in, why it is in the condition it is, what would be the ideal, and what it would take to get it to that level,” Ewing continued.

“If we can have our participants, whether they are 5 or 85 years old, leave the S/V Denis Sullivan, energized to go home and make a difference, we’ve been successful,” said Ewing. “If we can get a few of these people interested in doing some follow up investigation, we’ve been successful. If we can get one or two who might even consider a career in marine studies and the care of our planet, we’ve been successful.”

About the Denis Sullivan

The S/V Denis Sullivan is a 137-ft three-masted recreation of a 19th century Great Lakes cargo schooner. Celebrating its 10th year of operation in 2010, the Denis Sullivan sails the Great Lakes as well as into the Atlantic and Caribbean.

The ship offers an intensive, adventure-based, academic program designed to provide high school students, as well as college age and older, an opportunity to live and work aboard the Denis Sullivan. Students participate actively in all ship’s operations while investigating the different features of the marine environment. It is also an experiential study of history and culture viewed through the maritime lens.

Sailing on a tall ship provides a rare opportunity for students to live and work as real explorers in the spirit of the 19th century voyagers they otherwise can only read about. They can take aspects from over a century ago and apply them to the 21st century.

Many residents of Great Lakes communities lack the resources to make informed decisions about environmental issues that directly affect their quality of life. The integrity of the Great Lakes and freshwater resources around the globe are threatened by loss and degradation of habitat, urban growth, the invasion of exotic species, and the cycling of toxic chemicals and pollutants. Sailing on the Great Lakes links these communities together and fosters the sense of pride that is crucial to overcoming these ecological challenges.

To learn more about the Denis Sullivan contact:
Discovery World
Milwaukee, WI
414.765.8622 | www.discoveryworld.org

© 2010 Great Lakes News.