Thomas Dugay Something to smile about - Thomas "TJ" Dugay, a junior at Boothbay Region High School, was selected by Ocean Classroom Foundation to spend a semester at sea beginning January 20. (Photo Joe Orchulli II)

The deadline for students to submit an application to be considered for a semester at sea with the Ocean Classroom Foundation was October 31 and a student has been selected.

Boothbay Region High School junior Thomas Dugay will be joining 19 other students on the schooner Harvey Gamage for four months at sea beginning January 20.

"Thomas was the only applicant, but he is a very good one and we are happy to have him join our voyage crew. I am told that this program competes with other travel programs at BRHS and this opportunity kind of snuck up on the school population. For next year, we will open it up to sophomores as well as juniors and so expand the pool," said Bert Rogers of Ocean Classroom Foundation.

"Thomas impresses us as a hard-working and inquisitive young man. He has an explorer's mindset and is very eager to accept the challenges of this great adventure," Rogers said.

The voyage will begin from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands on January 20, 2008 and will last for four months and approximately 8,000 nautical miles exploring the entire Caribbean Sea and the U.S. Eastern seaboard, ending back in Boothbay Harbor on May 13.

The "Ocean Classroom" program is the flagship offering of the Ocean Classroom Foundation. The goal of the program is to provide young people with the chance to explore the maritime world as a full member of the ship's company while academically engaged in rigorous, relevant, hands-on explorations of the life, culture, and history of the ocean world.

When Thomas arrives by plane in St. Thomas, he and his crewmates will begin by doing day-sails to become acquainted with the vessel as well as sanding and painting the ship.

"We will be sailing to St. John, Trinidad, Grenada, The Dominican Republic, the Barrier Reef and much more.

"We will also be exploring tropical rain forests, active volcanoes and wildlife," Thomas said with great enthusiasm.

The crew will also be studying how tourism affects poverty in cities like Haiti and Jamaica. They will also be checking the acidity levels of the water from the Caribbean to Boothbay Harbor and how that affects the color of the water.

Even though Thomas said that he is a good student, he said that he learns things much better hands-on so the semester at sea is a good fit for him.

Thomas has been on some deep-sea fishing trips as well as lobster boats and hopes to get his lobstering license. He also hopes to attend Maine Maritime Academy when he graduates. Thomas also enjoys photography and purchased a special underwater housing for his video camera so he will have a lot to share upon his return.

"We will be working as a team to sail a 131-foot schooner, learning navigation using a sextant, controlling the sails, it will teach us a lot about responsibility," Thomas said.

Thomas plays football at BRHS and is an avid drummer forming a local rock band. He moved to the Boothbay region with his family from Naugatuck, Connecticut on April 1.

The Ocean Classroom program allows all students involved to participate fully in the life and operation of a ship, to receive continual training in the arts and sciences of traditional seafaring, to introduce students to the ocean as an environment subject, to ecological imperatives and a place of natural wonder and profound beauty.

Ocean Classroom Foundation recently relocated to Boothbay Harbor from Newport, Rhode Island and Rockland and offered the $17,500 scholarship for a fully accredited four-month period at sea aboard the schooner Harvey Gamage. The program is fully accredited by Proctor Academy of Andover, New Hampshire.