Members of the Oyster Bay Hispanic Community Sail on the Christeen

In keeping with its mission of giving people of all ages access to the Bay through recreation and education, the WaterFront Center reaches out to local organizations and families.  Public sails on the Christeen, community night (July 23rd), kayak rentals, Sunday morning family sails on Sonars, Bay Day, and Oyster Festival are examples of low-cost or free opportunities to get out on the water.  In addition to these, the WaterFront Center invites local organizations to enrich the lives of their constituents by providing programs.
The WaterFront Center approached Youth and Family Counseling Agency (YFCA), which spearheads the BOB program for teens during the summer, as well as other year-round services, to see if they had local groups who might enjoy an experience on the water.  YFCA’s Hispanic Outreach Counselor, Ingrid Morales, identified families primarily from the Oyster Bay Hispanic community who would enjoy an evening sail on the Christeen.  Funding for two sails was provided by the Oyster Bay Sailing Foundation.  The first sail was on July 7th, and the next sail is on Sunday, August 3rd.
The first sail was a grand success!  The families became the crew on the Christeen, the oldest oyster sloop of its kind in North America.  They also learned how to tie a variety of knots important to sailing, and about the oyster industry here in Oyster Bay.  Experiencing a touch tank of live local marine organisms turned out to be a shared learning experience, as we learned about similar animals in other countries as well.  The WaterFront Center’s Education Director, Kristin Johnson, and Ingrid Morales translated the information into Spanish for the participants.  Our Captain Pete Macandrew is also versed in some Español.
After the sail, Captain Pete said, “It’s always rewarding to give people their first experience sailing.   However, in this case, it was particularly wonderful to have members of our local community who live so close to the Bay who haven’t previously had the opportunity to go out on the water, hoisting the sails, appreciating the soft evening breeze and being curious about the estuary.”
The WaterFront Center and Youth and Family Counseling Agency appreciate the generosity of the Oyster Bay Sailing Foundation in funding these two sails for the local Hispanic community.  This is a partnership that we hope will continue in the future.
For more information about the WaterFront Center, visit www.thewaterfrontcenter.org or call (516) 922-SAIL(7245).