LOVE TO WRITE?  Learn more about a special "Writers' Week" edition of the Black Dog Tall Ships KIDS CRUISE. It's a one-week literary sailing adventure for 25 teen writers aboard a fantastic tall ship in the waters of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and Newport, Rhode Island.  Merlyn's Pen editor R. JIM STAHL will be aboard to work with teen writers. The July 2010 program was a great success!

The wonderful folks at Black Dog Tall Ships have invited Merlyn’s Pen editors and special teen writers 12 to 17 to come aboard for a week-long celebration of writing, literature, sailing, and the sea. Writers get to "rough it" for a week, have fun, help sail a tall ship, work on their writing with Merlyn's Pen editors, share their stories, swim, and explore the coves of Buzzards Bay and Martha's Vineyard. Here's a chance to experience life aboard a tall ship in the spirit of literary greats from Melville to Hemingway.

Highlights of Week        Email merlyn@merlynspen.org for more info.

• Write and receive positive feedback on your writing every day.
• Sail, swim, and explore beautiful New England coves and harbors.
• Participate in daily workshops on topics like “How to Show, Not Tell,” “Creating Characters that Live on the Page,” “Writing the Personal Essay,” "Finding Your Voice,” and "Writing What You Know."
• Work with Editor-in-Chief of the Merlyn's Pen New Library of Young Adult Writing, R. Jim Stahl. Mr. Stahl edited the early poems and stories of many writers earning awards today.
• Learn with friends the art of working together to raise sail, keep watch, steer a tall ship, read the sky, wind and current, and navigate safely from port to port. Sailing experience is not required! 
• Make new friends, write, and create with teens from around the U.S. 

Life Aboard a Traditional Tall Ship

Kids Cruise trips take place on the famous Shenandoah, a schooner reminiscent of the great coastal sailors of the 19th century.  Neither fancy nor modern, the ship offers writers a chance to experience coastal sailing as their peers might have a hundred years ago. Based in Martha's Vineyard, the vessel is one of the famous Black Dog Tall Ships, whose captains have more than two decades' experience in bringing kids safely to sea in the waters around Martha's Vineyard. The captain and experienced crew offer students a safe, fun adventure that requires no prior sailing experience—only a desire to make new friends, "rough it" for a week, work together as a team, and step back to a time when literature's greatest lines were written by oil lamp. In the interests of safety and community on board the ship, students will be expected to respect appropriate rules of courtesy as well as the safety needs of the ship, its crew, and fellow students.

Where Does the Trip Take Place? How Much Does It Cost?

The 5 1/2-day Kids Cruise program begins Sunday evening and ends Saturday noon at the charming Black Dog Wharf in the historic port of Vineyard Haven, in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Fast ferries from Rhode Island, New Bedford, and Woods Hole, Mass., offer parents and students easy access to the Black Dog Wharf, only steps from the ferry dock. Parents are invited to explore the Shenandoah during boarding Sunday afternoon. Tuition is $900.

Safety and Security

The Shenandoah is U.S. Coast Guard inspected and certified for coastal waters.  Students sail only in the area between Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, and Rhode Island, and emergency services from nearby Massachusetts and Rhode Island hospitals are readily available. Special dietary and allergy considerations should be discussed with Kids Cruise prior to enrolling, and are eagerly accommodated. Students sleep in simple but cozy single-sex cabins of two to four bunks, and staff are on duty 24/7. 

The Tall Ship Shenandoah Under Way

To receive more information, email Merlyn's Pen your name, grade, state, and contact phone number, or contact Kids Cruise directly. In the subject line, please write: Writers' Week. Contact info is below.

Merlyn's Pen & The New Library of Young Adult Writing

11 South Angell St., Suite 301

Providence, RI 02906

1-800-247-2027  merlyn@merlynspen.org  www.merlynspen.org

The Black Dog Tall Ships Co.

P.O. Box 429

Vineyard haven, MA 02568

(508) 693-1699  Fax: (508) 693-1881 Email:office@theblackdogtallships.com