The ocean’s for everyone

PASSIONATE ABOUT life at sea, Jamaica-born Captain Rayon Carruthers is determined to make sure that the country’s youth have equitable access to the pleasures of boating.

“I don’t want them to feel excluded,” Carruthers said in a recent interview with The Gleaner.

As a result, he has been able to provide more than 400 kids with free boat rides over the course of eight excursions. This has been made possible through his organisation Oceans for Everyone, which was established in 2017.

In 2019, the first expedition took place. Every trip, which lasts around four hours and runs from Port Royal to Maiden Cay, is intended for kids from all socio-economic backgrounds to have an enjoyable and educational experience with the boat captain and crew.

“I’ve been on the water for a good chunk of my life, and it became a really big part of my development growing up ... It became a big part of who I am and a big part of how I processed a lot of really hard emotions throughout my life. I always had the sea [as some] kind of a safe haven,” Carruthers said.

He further acknowledged that he would not have had many of those opportunities if he had not been “pretty fortunate” as a child.

So, for this reason, he developed an avenue that would provide the same opportunities he had to many other children in Jamaica.

“Maybe it can spark something in them or maybe it won’t, but I just want them to feel like they don’t have to be excluded from going to sea because their family don’t have money,” the marine research vessel captain stated.

His goal is to provide every child the opportunity to learn about boating, get experience, have fun, and envision themselves as capable of doing and being more as they develop new abilities and self-confidence.

Most of the boat rides and other expenses are funded by the organisation itself. In other instances, individuals will donate money to support its activities.

“A lot of people don’t particularly view the ocean as a safe place and that’s part of why I want to get this organisation going. I want to show kids, and adults too, that going out to sea can be safe if you do it the right way,” he told The Gleaner.

Carruthers, who resides in the American state of Georgia, was raised in the community of Red Hills, St Andrew.

UWI GRADUATE

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from The University of the West Indies, Mona, and was able to acquire extensive experience and training in this field.

In the years that followed, he worked with the Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society as a marine warden, then at the Mavis Bank Central Factory Limited as an environmental compliance and waste management officer, then at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) as an environmental officer, and finally as a scuba instructor. All of these positions allowed him the opportunity to promote environmental awareness among people of all ages.

Now a licensed captain to vessels up to 100 gross registered tons on coastal waters, as well as to engage in commercial assistance towing, Carruthers’ current objective is to better facilitate the participation of kids from all parishes throughout the island, so as to increase the number of children who join each boat ride.

He has occasionally chartered buses to bring kids from different parishes so they may partake in the activity, and mentioned that other parents had told him about the wonderful time their kids had on the boat ride. He went on to say that even if it costs him more, he is happy to give the kids access to this experience.

“Parents want their kids to have experiences, that’s just a natural part of being a parent. But life is hard and so, if I can do something about it to make it a little bit easier for kids to have certain experiences, then that’s all it is for me,” he said.

Parents or guardians who are interested in registering their children for a free boat ride can reach Carruthers at info@OFEJamaica.org

Donations are also welcomed and can be done through the organisation’s GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/a4d6bff1

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com