BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Boston nonprofit Courageous Sailing offered the local community free rides on their sailboats on Sunday for their Open House.
Started in 1987, the organization’s mission is to help people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities “access and enjoy the water [and] the sport of sailing.”
Caitlyn Ridgely, the director of adult programs and events, said Courageous Sailing does this “because a lot of people can see the water, but don’t have access to the water, and so our program, in particular, is aimed at getting people out and connected with the greater city that they’re living in.”
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The nonprofit offers steep discounts and even free rides for children who can’t pay to help introduce them to the sea.
57% of the summer students last year didn’t have to pay for lessons, said Courageous Sailing, and an additional 10% received partial, need-based scholarships.
“Our programs continue to evolve in response to community need, but we still hold true to our founder’s belief that ‘Every child’s perspective is improved fifty yards offshore,’” said their website.
One of their programs was their Open House on Sunday, where Courageous Sailing took people out on the water in the Boston Harbor on 19-foot sailboats for 20-minute cruises.
Jennifer Bodde is the education director at Courageous Sailing. “It just fosters so many life skills,” she said.
“It just demands them. You’re working together with other people. You have to communicate.”
WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.
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