According to Dawes, teams of St. Thomas teenagers will get hands-on vocational training -- by assembling and rigging two eight-foot sailing prams purchased by Team Caribbean with donations from Cellular One -- that could lead to related careers in the marine industry. 

Pilot project supervisor, Bobby Danet, reports that the first team of junior boat-builders in the Frenchtown area is eager to begin. "Building a boat is something our island's teenagers can take pride in," says Danet, who explains that participants will also gain valuable skills in tools handling, woodworking and rigging. 

With financial assistance totaling nearly $20,000 from Oppenheimer Capitol and Carolyn Wardwell, nearly two dozen additional boat kits have been ordered for similar boat-building efforts on St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. Tropical Shipping donated kit transport to St. Thomas. Upon completion, the 25 prams will provide increased opportunities for local youth to participate in the sport of sailing. Several of the island-built prams will be added to the Team Caribbean Marine Program's Learn-to-Sail fleet of training boats.

Launched last August with a single Optimist Pram, the free Learn-to-Sail program recently enlisted the services of Meaghan Firestone as Sailing Instructor. Firestone supervises groups of six youngsters, aged five through twelve, who receive basic instruction in sailing during a four-week course offered each Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the southern end of Magens Bay.

A St. Thomas native and accomplished junior sailor who was introduced to the sport at an early age by parents Peter and Nancy Firestone, 17-year-old Meaghan is a qualified U.S. Sailing Assistant set to becomes a Certified Sailing Instructor at age 18. The Antilles School senior learned her sail-training skills at annual summer camps hosted by the St. Thomas Yacht Club (STYC).

With America's Cup veteran Dawn Riley providing encouragement, Firestone skippered the all-female STYC Team entry in the Marriott Frenchman's Reef International Match Race's Youth-Celebrity Regatta that earned national recognition in an ESPN special aired last December.

The boat-building program is the brainchild of an eleven member Marine Program Advisory Council begun last September. Drawn from a cross-section of the community that includes marine industry professionals, educators, and citizens concerned with youth, members include Kelvin Bailey, Jr., Rafe Boulon, Eduardo Corneiro, Robert ``Bobby" Danet,  Marie Freeman, Yvonne Freeman, Paula Morgan,  Joe Elmore, Irma Hodge, Riisa Richards and Maureen Venzen.

According to Dawes, the Marine Advisory Council is planning a series of ``AquaQuest" seminars targeted at educators on St. Thomas and St. Croix. Set for late March, the AquaQuest course agenda covers the fundamental objectives of the Marine Program: vocational opportunities in the marine industry, the recreational benefits of sailing, and the conservation of coral reefs, beaches and shorelines.