March 12, 2007 — Set sail with the St. John Kids and the Sea (KATS) rowing program. The children's program runs from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays from April 14 through June 16.
"It introduces them to safe boating and helps them develop a relationship with the sea," says KATS instructor Jen Robinson.
The program targets children just turning eight. They learn knot tying, man-overboard procedures, capsize and recovery exercises, anchoring, docking and nautical language.
"And they learn how to have fun and be safe in the water," Robinson says.
Elena Glenn, now 10, took the class several years ago. The toughest part for her was learning how to tie up to a dock, because she had trouble making the knot.
"It took me a long time to get that right," she says.
The program costs $50 for the 10-week program, but scholarships are available, Robinson says. The class is limited to 24 children, and somehow it seems to work out that the amount of children who sign up fit the number of volunteer instructors, she says.
Children must pass a swim test that requires them to tread water, float on their back and swim about 50 feet using whatever stroke they can.
"They don't have to be a fabulous swimmer. I just need to know they can propel themselves through water," Robinson says.
The swim test takes place at Maho Bay, but the rowing classes are taught in Coral Bay from the KATS shed, located adjacent to the dinghy dock.
About 500 children have learned basic water skills since the KATS program began 19 years ago, Robinson estimates. Children who complete the rowing program may then go on to the basic-sailing program, while those who have learned the rowing-program skills elsewhere don't have to take the basic program.
KATS always needs adult volunteers, Robinson says. Founded by the late Fletcher Pitts and his wife, Robin Clair, the program began on St. Thomas in response to the 1986 deaths of three St. Thomas youths. They drowned while on an outing to one of the keys located in Pillsbury Sound off St. John. The St. John program followed shortly after in 1988.
Even if the youths do not continue on to the sailing program, Clair says, the basic skills they learn will help them throughout their lives. This is particularly important in the Virgin Islands, where youths are in constant contact with the sea, she says.
"The most important thing they learn is not to panic," Clair says.
For more information, to sign a child up, or to volunteer, call Robinson at 776-6187 or visit the KATS website.
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