Yacht Club brings Sea Scouts to Port

The Port Washington Yacht Club is bringing the Sea Scouts to Port and will host an open house next week to introduce young men and women to the organization and recruit a crew.

The event will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday, April 14, at the Yacht Club, 430 N. Lake St. There will be information on the organization, activities, refreshments and the opportunity for teenagers and young adults ages 14 to 20 to sign up to be part of Sea Scouts Ship 7992.

Sea Scouts is part of Scouting America, and while it shares the same ideals as its parent organization, its focus is on developing leadership skills through the challenges of sailing and other pursuits involving the water. Its members, not the adult leaders, are the ones who chart the course of the Ship, which is the Sea Scouts equivalent of a Troop.

“Sea Scouts is a whole different level of Scouting,” Cliff Polheber, the skipper, or adult leader, of the Port Sea Scouts said. “The aims and ideals of Scouting are still core, but the youth leadership and ownership of the program and the unique challenges of sailing all culminate in the unrivaled rewards of a job well done.”

The Port Ship will focus on sailing to leverage the skills and boats of Port Washington Yacht Club members.

“In the beginning, the focus will be mostly on sailing,” Tom Petersen, chairman of the Port Sea Scouts Committee, said. “But it will be up to the members of the Ship if that’s where they want the focus to remain. If they want to add something like scuba, they’ll have to figure out how to do that.”

Members of the Port Sea Scouts Ship will spend the summer learning how to sail on boats owned by Yacht Club members, taking trips to meet members of other area Ships and have the opportunity to join sailing crews for races.

The program continues through the winter with skill-building programs, field trips and social events.

The Port Washington Yacht Club is the sponsor of Ship 7992, and organizers said Sea Scouts is an ideal fit for the club, whose members have the experience and boats to teach sailing and the desire to share what they love about the sport with young people.

“Our members have an incredible amount of experience to share,” Dan Garcia, the club’s liaison to the Sea Scouts Ship, said. “These young people will learn to sail, be introduced to a wonderful hobby and develop leadership skills.”

And it’s not only the Sea Scouts who will benefit. By teaching young people to sail, club members will develop the next generation of sailors who will be prepared to join crews for everything from day sails to races held by the club, Petersen said.

“I think of this as a great partnership because we have people who need crew, not only to race but just to go sailing,” he said. “And if we have young people who want to learn how to sail and need boats to go sailing on, we have that.”

For more information, contact Petersen at ship7992@gmail.com or (262) 235-0148.