Our waters keep changing the lives of young’uns

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked, “Collins, when are you going to grow up?,” I probably could have had my mortgage paid off by now.

Listen, folks, when it comes to me growing up and being an adult, it’s simply a lost cause. There was even a period when friends called me Peter Pan. I guess this character trait is why I seem to get along with kids better than I do with many adults — maybe even to the point of being initially shocking to adults I may have just met.

I can’t say this for certain, but don’t a lot of you wish you could say out loud what you are thinking? That’s where I tend to break the rules of civility and out it comes like projectile vomiting. I know that’s pretty darn gross, but it’s a perfect example of this genetic abnormality with which I am apparently possess.

Having just returned from a vacation in the Turks & Caicos with my wife Karen, my daughter Camden and my 3-year-old granddaughter Alice, I had one of those moments when we visited the Conch Farm on Provenciales.

Very much like our own Waddell Mariculture Center, the Conch Farm raises conchs, cobia, snapper and grouper. We were on a guided tour of the facility with a marine biologist and several other visitors, mostly Canadian, when our guide was explaining how to differentiate a male conch from a female conch.

To me, at least, the difference was pretty darn easy to see especially when he let a lady hold — and stroke — the male conch.

I won’t tell you exactly what I blurted out, but there was stunned silence and, for the rest of the tour, the others kept a safe distance from me as if I had leprosy or something. They say kids will be kids and, in this case, I loved every second of it.

As you may or may not know, I guide people, on a part-time basis, in their boats. Sometimes it’s simply learning our local waters or docking when the tide is screaming, but my favorite is when folks want to learn how to fish these waters inshore, near shore and offshore.

More often than not, kids are in the mix and, for whatever reason, they seem to pick up on things quicker than their parents. It makes me tend to believe the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

Since starting this, I have gathered quite a following of young’uns. Some are now young adults that I started teaching when they were around 5 or 6 years old. Almost without exception, they are all ravenous boaters and fisherman.

In short, the water changed their lives. They actually look you in the eye instead of staring blankly at a smartphone where they rarely speak or become involved in the real world and all the beauty it has to offer.

I will say there is a period where it gets tougher, and that is when boys in particular discover the opposite sex. The only way around that very natural part of adolescence is to head far enough offshore where there is no cell service. By the look on their sad faces, you would think the world was coming to an end. It might take them an hour or so to get in the swing of things but, for the most part, this ploy works pretty darn well.

So why am I going on and on about kids? First and foremost, I am trying to convince parents to get their kids outside, away from the ever-present computer or dumb phone because they will be inheriting the environment — and environmental issues — very soon.

Thanks to the work being done by the local nonprofit Outside Foundation, here is an opportunity to introduce you and your children to the best part of the Lowcountry, that being our waters.

Next Sunday, March 5, the Outside Foundation will be hosting the “Kids in Kayaks Fundraiser” starting at 2 p.m. Departing from Harbour Town on Hilton Head, kids of all ages will journey to remote Page Island for fun, food and drinks while being introduced to the beauty of our unique estuaries.

Limited to 100 people, this fundraiser, which includes an auction, will ensure that every single seventh grader in Beaufort County will have the opportunity to spend a day kayaking. And for those who can’t afford the minimal cost of $25, a scholarship through the foundation will pay their way.

The Outside Foundation is approved by the Beaufort County School District. Kids will learn the basics of kayaking, plus fishery science, water sampling, marine biology and more.

Whether you have kids or not, they are our future. To reserve a place at the “Kids for Kayaks Fundraiser” on Page Island, go online to OutsideFoundation.org/pageafternoon or call 843-686-6996.

This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 7:21 PM with the headline "Our waters keep changing the lives of young’uns."