Monthly Meeting

May 6, 6:30 – 8:30

Presentation: Sailing and Rowing with Sailing Ships Maine

Join us for a presentation by Sailing Ships Maine, a Casco Bay-based nonprofit that uses traditional sailing vessels to deliver transformative, technology-free voyages.

Also featured will be Row Casco, a community rowing initiative using 32-foot Cornish gigs out of East End Beach in Portland. Row Casco opens the ocean to people of all ages through team-based rowing, with a focus on inclusivity, community, and maritime heritage — a natural extension of Sailing Ships Maine’s on-the-water mission.

Presenters will share how Sailing Ships Maine students live and work as active crew members — learning navigation, seamanship, and environmental awareness — while building leadership, teamwork, and self-reliance through direct experience at sea.

The presentation will also cover Sailing Ships Maine’s expanding adult and community programs, including Women-to-Women and family overnight sailing experiences designed to build skills, confidence, and connection on the water.

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Presenter’s Bios:

Captain Stephanie Wessell serves as Operations Manager at Sailing Ships Maine and is the lead instructor for the Women-to-Women and adult overnight sailing programs. A former liveaboard sailor who cruised extensively with her family, she brings a practical, lived understanding of seamanship, safety, and life at sea. Her teaching emphasizes confidence, competence, and the creation of inclusive learning environments where participants—particularly women—can develop skills and leadership on the water.

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Lani Peterson is Co-Founder of Row Casco, alongside Alex Agnew, Executive Director of Sailing Ships Maine, and serves as its lead community organizer, coxswain, and trainer. In her primary career, she is an award-winning storyteller, coach, and educator with over two decades of experience, holding a doctorate in psychology and specializing in leadership development and communication through narrative. Her work focuses on using story to build connection, insight, and organizational change, bringing a distinctive human-centered lens to her leadership in maritime education and community programming.

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Meeting begins at 7:00. 6:30 – 7:00 socialize with other MOACers.

Location: the Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church, 524 Allen Avenue, Portland (near Northgate Shopping Plaza). Here’s a Google Map link.

May 6, 6:30 – 8:30

Presentation: Sailing and Rowing with Sailing Ships Maine

MOAC

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