The Compass Project, started four years ago by Pat Ryan and John McDonald, is a boatbuilding school for 12- to 14-year-olds in Portland. It serves “at risk” students who attend middle schools in Portland and the neighboring communities. Students attend two-hour classes weekly for 12 weeks, where they build Bevin skiffs, dinghies or small sailboats.
Located on Anderson Street near Marginal Way, the nonprofit school has an annual budget of $200,000. There are five employees including Ryan and McDonald. Ryan, a licensed clinical social worker, Coast Guard licensed captain, is executive director. McDonald is a master builder who graduated from The Landing School in Arundel, and also a special needs teacher. Grants, corporate sponsorships, individual contributions and the sale of some of the built boats fund the Compass Project.
Students hail from King and Lincoln Schools in Portland, Windham Middle Schools, an alternative school in Westbrook, Spurwink School and the YWCA Fair Harbor Shelter for Girls.
They spend a couple of hours in the Compass Project’s rented space weekly. There, they learn how to design a small boat and how to construct it.
McDonald is the teacher. He is surrounded by volunteer mentors who donate their time and talents. Norm Nelson, recently retired from Long Island and New Jersey and always a sailor, is such a mentor. He is also involved with Carmans River Maritime Center on the south shore of Long Island, N.Y., which builds wooden boats and emphasizes the maritime history of that area.
Nelson provides support for the teenagers and helps them to measure and cut the required lengths of wood to make a boat. He also gives a hand with fundraising for the organization and introduces neighbors to the project. He will also assist in staging the July 16-18 Boat Building Festival on Monument Square in Portland, the Compass Project’s major annual activity to raise money.
The three-year-old festival is a community event. There are 15 teams, five members to a team — five sponsored corporate teams, five sponsored youth organizations and five open registration teams for the public. A huge tent covers much of the square; all the 12-foot skiffs, built on sawhorses, nestle underneath. Because the city has dubbed the three-day event as a festival, there is entertainment as well including steel bands and other musicians, knot-tying lessons and vendors selling food. Spectators will see how a boat is created, and if they stay long enough, see the finished product. And they can follow the Duck Boat, which scoops up all the completed skiffs and takes them to East End Beach on the last afternoon, where the boats are launched with celebration.
Ryan, the director, is grateful for the generous support many company sponsors give to the July festival. “I believe strongly in giving students the right role models and a hands-on experience. At-risk young will then flourish as their pride and self-confidence emerge. No longer afraid to remain in school, these girls and boys evolve into leaders.”
The students themselves echo Ryan’s thoughts. Abdi, a Somali boy, comments, “without this boatbuilding program, I might not be doing anything.” Krista, 14, states,” girls can do as much as guys when it comes to boatbuilding.”
For more information, call the Compass Project at (207) 774-0682.