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<\/p>\nAfter a summer filled with day camps, multi-day voyages, wildlife encounters and maritime career exploration, the Los Angeles Maritime Institute is shifting into a busy fall season of school programs, community sails, scouting opportunities and STEM partnerships.<\/p>\n
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SAN PEDRO \u2014 Summer may be winding down, but for Southern California\u2019s maritime education centers, the end of camp season does not mean the end of time on the water.<\/p>\n
At the Los Angeles Maritime Institute, or LAMI, the close of summer marks a transition from youth camps and multi-day voyages into a fall schedule that includes school field trips, community sails, scouting programs, maritime studies partnerships and new STEM initiatives.<\/p>\n
Alice Taylor of LAMI said the organization\u2019s summer programs continued to draw young people interested in everything from basic marine exploration to extended tall ship voyages.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur dockside week-long Explorer day camps continue to be very popular for 6- to 10-year-olds looking to explore marine life in the ocean and learn the basics of being on a sailing ship,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n
Those camps are typically held at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, although LAMI also offered three weeks of dockside programming in San Pedro this summer. Taylor said the organization\u2019s longer overnight programs remain a major part of the summer season, particularly the five-day Adventurer Camp and 12-day Voyager camps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main focus of our summer camp program though is our 5-day sleep-away Adventurer Camp and our 12-day Voyager camps taking place during our summer sailing season and which draws the most interest,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n
June and July also brought private three- and five-day voyages for school groups and other organizations, while LAMI\u2019s pirate-themed birthday parties continued to appeal across generations. Taylor said the organization recently hosted pirate celebrations for a 5-year-old, 40-year-old and 60-year-old, illustrating that the tall ship experience is not limited to school-age participants.<\/p>\n
Participation was somewhat lower than last year, Taylor said, a trend she believes reflects broader pressures facing summer camp providers.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents are still doing pandemic catch up with need for summer school classes,\u201d she said. \u201cFamilies are staying close to home and watching their budget, but even with scholarships some students not electing to be away.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, LAMI continues to see returning campers, including young people who come back often enough to advance into junior deckhand opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cA consistent cohort of return campers often leading to their being able to secure junior deckhand opportunities,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cMany sibling or best friend pairs sign up as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization\u2019s longer voyages are especially appealing to returning participants, Taylor said, because they offer more time at sea and access to destinations such as the northern Channel Islands.<\/p>\n
This summer, those voyages also produced several memorable wildlife encounters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 12-day Voyager camps saw Orca whales near San Miguel Island on one sail and on the other 12-day voyage over by Santa Barbara Island,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n
Another standout program brought together a co-ed group of 14- to 19-year-olds for a five-day Mariner-in-Training voyage funded by the Fox Family Foundation through the LA2050 initiative in partnership with AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Taylor said participants worked toward completing LAMI sail training logbooks while also hearing from professionals working in the maritime industry.<\/p>\n
For some students, the experience goes well beyond simply learning how to handle a sail or steer a ship.<\/p>\n
Taylor pointed to one camper from a 12-day July voyage who was especially motivated to complete every requirement in the LAMI TopSail Youth Program Sail Training Logbook before the trip ended.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne stand out camper worked hard to finish their LAMI sail training logbook,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThis camper stood out as very motivated to get every task signed off before the nearly two weeks at sea were over.\u201d<\/p>\n
The logbook includes junior, intermediate and senior levels, each combining practical and theoretical knowledge. Taylor said successful completion of each level is recognized with a certificate and LAMI seal placed in the passport-sized training book.<\/p>\n
Those experiences can also shape what students choose to pursue later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are often the pathway to a student deciding on a marine biology or ocean engineering academic pursuit or an entry into the mariner trades here at the ports,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n
The educational value extends into more personal development as well. Taylor said students frequently build confidence through activities that place them in situations far outside their normal routines.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see increased confidence in our sailors from climbing out on the bowsprit or up the main mast in a challenge-by-choice activity,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cTaking a turn at the helm of an over 100-ton vessel when they don\u2019t even have their learner\u2019s driving permit on land combines leadership, confidence and problem-solving.\u201d<\/p>\n
As students return to school, LAMI\u2019s schedule shifts accordingly.<\/p>\n
Taylor said fall programming includes school field trips for fourth-grade students and older, with a focus on STEM education and maritime history. Returning maritime studies programs from Port of Los Angeles High School, USC and Orange Coast College also resume during the school year.<\/p>\n
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The fall calendar will bring a mix of community and school-based opportunities, including a Wonderful Watts to Water grant sail and additional programming with Girl Scouts.<\/p>\n
Taylor said some Girl Scout groups are using proceeds from cookie sales to fund day sails and overnight experiences rather than traditional recreational outings.<\/p>\n
\u201cGirl Scouts [are] using their cookie money to go on day sails or overnights rather than a trip to Disneyland,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n
She added that Girl Scouts are also exploring the idea of bringing back a Mariner scouting program. That would complement LAMI\u2019s existing co-ed Scouting America Sea Scout Ship 1992 program.<\/p>\n
Sea Scouts will gather at the Port of Los Angeles in November for a rendezvous that Taylor said is expected to draw participating ships from as far away as Hawaii, Colorado and Arizona over Thanksgiving weekend.<\/p>\n
One of the organization\u2019s most significant fall developments is the formation of the LA Waterfront STEM Network.<\/p>\n
Taylor said a press conference with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is scheduled for Sept. 25 to highlight the new effort.<\/p>\n
The fall season also provides continued opportunities for summer participants who want to remain involved.<\/p>\n
Taylor said LAMI encourages campers to tell their teachers about field trip opportunities, while older students ages 14 to 21 can consider joining Sea Scouts. Students may also participate in LAMI\u2019s volunteer deckhand training program and continue progressing through their sail training logbooks.<\/p>\n
That continuity is part of what makes maritime education programs valuable beyond a single week of summer camp. A young person may begin with a day sail or camp experience, then continue into more advanced training, scouting, volunteer work or even a future maritime career.<\/p>\n
LAMI\u2019s public-facing programming will continue throughout the remainder of the year as well. Taylor said the organization plans to offer two public sailing opportunities each month through its Explore the Coast\/Explora La Costa program and community Sunset Sails.<\/p>\n
Additional fall and winter events include Long Beach Gives on Sept. 24, a 24-hour day of giving that will support American Pride, the official tall ship of the City of Long Beach. LAMI also plans to return to San Pedro\u2019s D\u00eda de los Muertos altar displays and close out the year with the Holiday Harbor Light Parade, where the organization expects to provide the grand marshal ship at the front of the procession.<\/p>\n
Holiday parties, both dockside and under sail, are also part of the year-end schedule.<\/p>\n
Another major development will be LAMI\u2019s return to its main dock in the center of the new West Harbor development in San Pedro. Taylor said the area is continuing to take shape, with new businesses opening and the promenade along the main channel becoming increasingly walkable.<\/p>\n
Taken together, the schedule reflects a broader reality for maritime education organizations across Southern California: their work does not stop when summer does.<\/p>\n
Summer may bring camps, longer voyages and time away from school, but fall brings a different kind of opportunity. School partnerships resume, students can deepen the skills they first learned during summer and families can continue finding ways to get on the water well beyond the traditional vacation season.<\/p>\n
For LAMI, that means moving directly from a summer of tall ship camps and Channel Islands voyages into a fall filled with STEM education, scouting, public sails and maritime career exploration.<\/p>\n
The season may be changing, but the ships are still sailing.<\/p>\n
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