You have to crawl before you can walk. Following that tried and true axiom, each fall a new class of youngsters gets introduced to the water through the St. John Kids And The Sea (KATS) program.
But before they can sail, they have to row.
Instructors for St. John KATS, as the grass-roots maritime program is referred to, have been teaching local children the ways of the water for 20 years. A group of dedicated volunteers meets each Saturday for three hours with children ranging in age from 8 to 18.
The program, which has branches in Puerto Rico and Tortola, was launched in the wake of the drowning deaths of three Boy Scouts in Pillsbury Sound in 1986. What started as an adventurous camping expedition to an off-shore cay turned tragic when the Scouts’ little skiff flipped over. None of the boys could swim and there wasn’t one life jacket on board.
The tragic incident led sailing interests in the Virgin Islands and university officials in Puerto Rico to start a maritime education program. The first KATS program was launched in St. Thomas in 1987 and soon spread to the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
St. John sailors, the late Fletcher Pitts and his wife Robin Clair-Pitts, started the program in Coral Bay with a three boat fleet in the fall of 1988.
Over the years, St. John KATS has enjoyed the support of many local businesses and residents. Its fleet has grown to include 10 lasers, 20 optimists, 10 sunfish, two keel boats and a slew of chase boats.
While Fletcher passed away several years ago, a core group of volunteers — including Thatcher Lord, Vicki Rogers, Robin Clair-Pitts, Jennifer Robinson and Julie Fortunato — continue the program, ensuring that children on St. John are comfortable and safe on the sea. That list of volunteers recently grew by one — me.
The KATS staff also offers an adult version of the program from time to time. Although I live aboard a 39-foot ketch and sail frequently, I always have my husband on board. While he was off-island last year for medical reasons, I thought about taking Beltaine out on my own. I knew that I could pull a line and lift a sail, but I really lacked the confidence to captain the boat.
So I signed up for the St. John Adults ‘N The Sea (ANTS) program over the summer. Over four weeks sailing Ensigns around Coral Bay harbor, my confidence grew so that I felt comfortable in my sailing knowledge and ability. I now regularly take out a sunfish on my own and hope to compete in a women’s regatta some time next year.
Through the ANTS program, my appreciation for the St. John KATS instructors grew as well and I decided to join the team as a volunteer instructor. Also, they don’t reject anyone, so I didn’t have anything to lose.
To enter the program, children no younger than 8 must pass a simple swimming test. Then it’s into the row boats. The first week on the water, we had 18 kids who didn’t really know anything about boats.
Port? Starboard? Keel? Gunwale? Stern? Bow? It was a foreign language to the children. And forget about rowing commands, that was lost on the bunch. But they had enthusiasm, I will give them that.
I was amazed by the second week, when the kids were tossing about words which the previous week had produced blank stares.
“I want to be the bowson,” one kid told me matter-of-factly. “I can be the cocksman, I know all the commands,” another kid pleaded.
At this rate, we’d fly through the rowing program and have to graduate these kids early. But the next week the wind picked up and another instructor and I ended up rowing back to shore, as the little ones kept us going in circles. So, OK, I might have gotten a bit of ahead of myself, but the kids really did pick up on things quickly.
We still have to teach capsizing, which some kids can’t wait for and others are already paralyzed with fear just imagining. After Christmas our little rowing kids will graduate and move on to sailing. They will start out in a sunfish with an instructor, but will eventually sail on their own. They have optimists and lasers and keel boats ahead of them — a whole world of sailing.
It’s an amazing experience to watch these kids’ interest in and knowledge of sailing grow week after week. While this is my first year volunteering for the program, other instructors have had the privilege of watching their charges blossom into world class racers.
Former St. John KATS participant Hugo Roller Jr, now sails, as a freshman, with the U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen. His sister Mayumi Roller races at one of the top sailing universities in the country, St. Mary’s College in Maryland. Watch out for more from those two.
I can imagine one of the students in this year’s rowing class going on to greatness in the sport. While they wouldn’t, of course, only have me to thank, I would brag about the kid endlessly. We’ll just have to wait and see and in the meantime, keep sailing.

Next >