THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506250053
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE AND ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 134 lines
Despite pesky rain storms and oppressive humidity, visiting tall ships drew thousands of people to the riverfront Saturday while crews of those vessels streamed inland to scour shopping malls for bargains.
The atmosphere was decidedly relaxed at Town Point Park - everywhere, that is, but on two of the smaller vessels in port for Americas' Sail '95.
Aboard the schooner New Way, 15-year-old Jose - once an admitted car thief and drug dealer - was elbow deep in cookstove grime, doing his day's duties as he scrubbed the half-century-old ship's stove.
And he wasn't complaining. No small miracle for a teenager who hesitated when asked what his personal motto was just a few years ago. ``You sure you want to hear it?'' he asked in a warning tone. Then he said, ``Kill or be killed.''
The New Way, and its sister ship, the Bill of Rights - both in Norfolk this weekend - share a mission similar to those of the much larger sail training ships of the U.S. Coast Guard, Venezuela and Uruguay tied up at the Nauticus pier.
All are intended to transform teenagers into well-trained young men and women filled with confidence and a sense of purpose. The difference is that the two smaller craft have a more basic mission, too: saving lives.
Drawn from broken homes and mean streets, the 40 troubled teenagers aboard the two topsail schooners are part of VisionQuest, a program launched in 1973 and loosely based on the Native American tradition of providing rites of passage for youths making the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Most of the youths are from Pennsylvania, the majority referred to VisionQuest by the courts. Some are truants. Others have problems with substance abuse - drugs and alcohol. A few come from homes where violence is the norm. Many already have long criminal records.
The two ships are part of OceanQuest, an advanced VisionQuest program open to only the most promising and hardest working of VisionQuest's participants.
Each schooner, sailing on five-month cruises, handles about 20 youths at a time. Even with an aggressive year-round schedule, only a fraction of the 1,200 youth annually involved in VisionQuest make it to the sailing program.
Those that do make it have the benefit of the sea - a good instructor in calm and storm, said Alissa Coggims, 25, of Mattapoisette, Mass., the assistant program master on New Way. ``You can't manipulate the ocean and you can't hide from it,'' she said. ``It's very humbling.''
They come aboard with no knowledge of the sea, Coggims said. But over the months they learn quickly and are soon able hands. And the important thing is that they start taking pride in what they are doing, a first for many of them.
``The kids learn how to do all the work,'' from scrubbing the decks to cleaning the engine room, Coggims said. And they learn to sail, mastering the wide-ranging skills needed to survive on the seas.
``These kids are the hardest working teenagers in America,'' Coggims said. Being aboard ``gives them a chance to learn the work ethic and to gain some self-respect . . . they learn what their potential is.''
The youths work hard all week. Sunday is the day their efforts are rewarded - if rewards have been earned. Today, for instance, the crew will be off to the YMCA for swimming and recreation.
A dip in a pool may seem of little note to most folks, until one considers that these kids live in an environment where the luxury of a shower is a once-a-week event. All other days, they must sponge themselves clean from a ration of water in a ``hygiene bucket.''
No, this is not a leisurely life of a yachtsman. Ask any of the kids.
Jose - the youths are not allowed to give their last names - is from Philadelphia, where he began leading a life of crime just to help his family make ends meet. His father, a Marine, was killed in a car accident in Hampton Roads in 1988 while driving home.
``It was the wrong way, but I was trying to support my family,'' he said of his crimes.
He's proud to have made it to the New Way. ``I earned my way here,'' he said Saturday, taking a break from his chores. At the same time, he's looking forward to leaving.
For the first time in his life, he's mapping out a strategy. He plans to finish high school and then go to a community college. After that, he's interested in attending Duke University or St. Mary's College. He wants to study medicine.
Coggims believes he can do it. ``He's very, very intelligent and hard-working.''
They are traits Jose said Coggims convinced him he had.
``She taught me how to put my energy into positive things,'' Jose said. ``I've learned there's always another choice. You can keep trying and eventually you will make it, if you don't just give up. And I've learned to ask for help, that you don't let your pride get in the way.''
Another youth, 18-year-old Jennifer, said the program has taught her similar values. She's an alcoholic who began to face up to her problems only after she wrecked a car while driving drunk last year. Four prior stints in rehab programs failed.
Being in the program has helped her, she said. ``They really make you deal with your problems.'' As a result, ``I'm a somewhat nicer person. I like my life.''
She now talks of becoming a nurse someday, but admits that - unlike Jose - she's fearful of the day she has to leave New Way.
``I do very well in structured programs, but when I am given my freedom, I go crazy,'' she said. But she's learning confidence, slowly. And, on board New Way, she's also learned something else.
``Being on the water is very peaceful,'' she said. ``I look at the sunset and I appreciate it.''
Virginia Beach residents Mike Balckmann and Kristen Steinbreuck decided to make a day at Norfolk's waterfront.
``The size of these ships is unbelievable,'' Balckmann said. ``I'd love to take a cruise on one of those. They're pretty awesome.''
``I like the historic aspect of the ships,'' Steinbreuck said. ``With all that rigging it's amazing how they figured to sail these ships.''
For Mark Johnson, a career Navy man from Hampton, seeing the tall ships reminded him of bygone Navy days.
``You can call them real ships that were manned by real sailors,'' he said. ``I'd love to take a cruise in one of them.''
Johnson's wife, Sharon, was just as impressed.
``They're incredible,'' she said. ``Anyone who can sail as far as these ships did and maintain them is doing an incredible job. And the workmanship on these ships is also something else, like works of art.''
Lee and Nancy Moir came down to Norfolk from their Richmond home especially to view the ships.
``I liked the fact that the captain from the Miranda was doing well with his English,'' said Nancy Moir, who teaches English in Richmond. ``He would apologize for his English, and I liked the fact that he tried and put out an effort.''
Marshall Dugger from Virginia Beach savored the sight of the majestic ships, especially the Coast Guard cutter Eagle.
Dugger was impressed that a piece of nautical history had been preserved.
``For once,'' he said, `` they didn't scrap something . . . they kept something from the romantic era.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
JIM WALKER/Staff
Alissa Coggims, 25, is an assistant program master on New Way, part
of OceanQuest, a program open to youths with varied problems. The
sea is a good instructor, Coggims says. ``You can't manipulate the
ocean and you can't hide from it.''
by CNB