Starting March 20, 2010 at The CCB Boat Ramp, volunteers of all ages will descend on Seaside Park to attack the pollution, litter and debris that has washed ashore over the past winter. But what started as a one day event, has now turned into a week-long assault on trash that will cross the Park City and the Greater Bridgeport Region.

CCB is hoping to partner with every man, woman and child to turn out that week of March 20-27 to raid every beach, every pond, every stream bed, every river bank and every puddle in Fairfield County to collect the flotsam and jetsam that is washing into our greatest natural resource, Long Island Sound. 

If you would like to volunteer, have a group that would like to participate or would like to donate trash bags, gloves, bottled water or anything else to the massive crew that will assault the litter on our shores, please call 203-382-3661 and let us know where you'll be, what you want to do and how you want to get involved!!! 

Click Here to download a Flyer with the week's schedule of events

We must thank all the dedicated staff and volunteers for the hard work they put in to make such a wonderful event:

• Mike and Sherry Duffy- after three days of cooking, shopping, preparing, and promoting, You guys have to be the joint MVPs for the evening- You gotta let us know where you shop for your cape and mask, cause you're a super hero in our Book!
• The CCB Staff- Eleanor, Melissa, Mike and Matt and of course we can't forget you Jane- you guys put in a yeoman's effort with all your unpaid hard work- The Silent Auction, The CCB Program, The 2010 CCB Bull Roast were all hugely successful because of your hard work and dedication- Thank you!
• John and Ron of Cheers Catering- Thank you for helping us procure a monstrous chunk of meat for a delectable culinary experience- Ron was at the pit at 7AM and John stayed til 2 cleaning up- Thank you both for all your help and hard work!
• Kelli's Cakes- If you missed eating it, you can't miss the photo of this work of art- The butter cream frosting, The Mini-Buxton on the Bow of a Hunter and the amazing artistry in decorartions made this the hit of the party!
• The Sun Kings- Mark and the guys once again played a fabulous show and warmed the night up with the cool sounds of the steel pans and the Caribbean music- It's just wouldn't be a Boat Bash without you- thank you!!!
• All the donors, contributors, businesses and organizations that helped raise funds for the CCB Junior Program and provided us with so many awesome prizes and submissions for the CCB Silent Auction and the CCB Raffle, you guys rock!
• Ryan and the Fayerweather Crowd who helped us get a great venue for this event and helped us with a boat load of support to make it a success- Thank You! You can't beat FYC for a good old fashion Boating get-together! We certainly appreciate it, but from all accounts we may have to move to a bigger venue next year because of how big this event is growing- it's all thanks to you!
• And for all those who joined us, got their memberships, purchased Buxton Bucks, contributed and much much more- Thank you one and all for making the night one for the record books and wonderful time for all!

Adults can get in on the action as well with our complete array Small boat and keel boat courses. Dont forget adults get a reduced rate on classes with a 2010 Membership and can use our 50 boat fleet to practice their skills.

The first round of classes will kick off in early spring, so act now to take the full advantage of the summer season just around the corner! For a complete listing of our adult program, please click on the Adult tab in this page.

To register for a course, we must receive payment and a completed adult or junior registration form. Please indicate the course you wish to register for by writing the course code on the registration form and please mail the form to us at 1494 Main Street Bridgeport, CT 06604. 

See you on the water!!

The CCB Crew sailing past Fayerweather in the Rainbows. This craft will be christened, The Jan Williams and a scholarship will be announced in her name at the 2010 CCB Boat Bash- Did you get your tickets yet, just $50 for two in advance!

With seas calm, winds gusting up to 25 mph and enough sunshine to warm the coldest of winter wallowers, The Rainbows proved to live well up to their reputation for a stable craft with lots of room to play. The CCB sailors enjoyed some of the best sailing Connecticut has to offer and we wish you were with us. 

But wait... you can be! Even if you emptied your checking account today at Kilington.

For just $35 a month, you can get your CCB membership to sail all year long. What's more when you get your membership, you're making sure one more kid gets to learn about the Sound, enjoy the sport of sailing and take command of their life for a lifetime of future success and happiness. Because when you sail at CCB, your dollars help us share the many life skills like team work, problem solving and self-esteem building that only sailing can offer a low income child who might never get the chance to hit the seas.

Please act now, because when the snow stops flying and the winds turn balmy in just a few short weeks, this offer won't be the only thing migrating back north.

All you need is a credit or debit card, a few minutes to sign up online and an email address and we can sign you and your whole family up for a whole years worth of sailing for just $35 a month. If you think owning your own boat is as easy, cheap or  even half as fun as using other people's boats for this low cost, you might want to spend a bit more time by that fire thawing out.

But if you want to help your community, have a ball while doing good deeds and get involved with a program that is setting sail for kids success- then what are you waiting for- sign up today!

The mouth of the Yellow Mill where we plan to host our 2010 Keel Boat Fleet and Fairfield U FJ fleet

This is a plan that has been years in the making and it looks like this year may just be the year it happens!!!

But here's what's cookin': WE NEED HELP!

The DEP is making us pull a full Structures and Dredge Permit and we'll  have to work with a host of other agencies for permission including the Army Corp, Harbor Commission and Port Authority- But the real challenge is we need a full study of the mouth of the Yellow Mill for the permit- So if you know of any engineers, cartographers, draftsmen, CAD people - whatever- who would like to help us build a new way for the public to access Long Island Sound, send them our way!! 

This is an exciting time for Bridgeport, and Connecticut Community Boating- Get on Board!

That's right Thursdays throughout the remainder of this winter and into the spring we will host open swimming lessons for kids ages 8 and up at the Shehan Center Pool at 6:30 PM. BUT NOT THIS WEEK

Due to the winter break and a shortage of volunteers, we will shelve the swim lesson this week, but will be back in action next week where we still have at least 26 open spots in the program. 

So if you're child wants to learn to swim and better yet, learn to sail free of charge when they pass the test, call 203-382-3661 to sign up!! 

The core of this plan will be derived from the great impending progress for the long abandoned Steel Pointe Development that has already taken place. No doubt you've seen the grass cut and the beautiful new fence installed last summer as well as the HUGE sign declaring the new home of our friends at Bridgeport Landing Development. But what you may not know is the support they have shown historically for the mission of Community Boating in Miami at  Shake-A-Leg as well as the excitement they have shown for Connecticut Community Boating. 

It is this community togetherness that will make the next chapter for CCB possible and it is with great excitement that we begin the process of developing a strategy with the City and with our neighbors to enter the waters of Bridgeport Harbor. 

The pending plan may well include any number of options beginning with a water taxi and mooring fleet in Bridgeport Harbor to host our fleet of keel boats and the Fairfield U FJs. But that's where we just begin. We're working on a vision that could include a floating boat house, a pair of Duck Boats in Bridgeport Harbor as well as plan to reopen Pleasure Beach that provides access to the public as well as provide protection for the many species of birds, mammals and marine life that have called the property home since the burning of the bridge on Father's Day 1996.

This will augment our facility at Seaside Park so that we might grow our offerings while still providing the important services for children and families as this is now and will always be the corp of what we do at CCB. We will just be able to do it better with more boats, improved and easier access and even more adventurous places to sail in the Park City.

But we may only do this with your support. If you agree that waterfront access is important and that every kids deserves the right to get on the water. If you believe that Long Island Sound is our greatest natural resource. And if you support our goal to bring Connecticut back to the water, then today is the day to make that support known. Please click here to contribute and get your calendar, your membership or your Tee-shirt or to hit the trifecta by getting all three and supporting us at one of the ranking contribution levels. 

Remember without you, CCB wouldn't have made it as far as we have in three short years, and it is because of you that we will sail upon new horizons in the coming years in Bridgeport Harbor.

Do Good. Have Fun. Sail Far. Connecticut Community Boating

Star fish on a rock- some f the cool species we hope to add to our tanks!

As part of a new program we are launching with the City of Bridgeport Public Schools, CCB is embarking on a brand new chapter in marine education. 

As part of the Maritime Explorers Program and in partnership with 3rd Grade teacher Kate Crossin  and the students of The Hall School, CCB will begin a monthly in-class project to explore Long Island Sound and the many aspects it holds  to enhance the students learning and enjoyment of math and science in real world applications.  

A 20-gallon aquarium- perfect for use by "All Hands on Deck"The project, termed "All Hands on Deck For Math and Science",  involves multiple groups from the school who will start by setting up marine aquariums in their classrooms and stocking them with indigenous species of fish and marine life collected from Long Island Sound. The tank will then take center stage for a series of hands on demonstrations and in-class lectures about the ecology and key features of our greatest natural resource, Long Island Sound.

Topics will include:

• How was Long Island Sound was Made? 
• What's it like at 60 feet deep? 
• Why is There so much Sea weed at the beaches?  
• And our favorite, How did that Plastic bottle get here?

And as the weather warms, the kids will come down to the CCB Boat Launch and Seaside Park to explore the waters in their back yard along with a sailing lesson at the end of it all in June.

Do you have one of these in your garage or basement? So why do we need batteries and aquariums you ask? Because it is our hope to put a salt water tank in every classroom in Bridgeport as well as a series of tanks at our Eco-Classroom at CCB. The need for aquariums is obvious, but the batteries, well thats where things really get cool.

As the first and only Off-Grid Educational Facility in Bridgeport, CCB generates it's own power, water and all the other things a salt water tank will need to run. And while we could use a dozen solar panels to keep it alive during the day, it's the night time when the power shuts off and the batteries kick in. We need at least a dozen deep cycle batteries to keep the pumps and filters running.

So if you have an aquarium, deep cycle battery, pumps, filters, hoses, stands or any other of the great many things required to keep our mission alive, please call 203-382-3661 to arrange pickup or come by to drop it off and take a tour of the facility. And as always, donations to CCB are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

It was an amazing year at CCB and we could not of have made so many strides for the Greater Bridgeport Area had we not received so much support from individuals like you. From Pledging the Plank to getting your CCB membership, you helped us provide sailing opportunities to more than 100 kids who would otherwise not be able to afford the sport of sailing. You also helped us to provide a great service to the community where we removed more than 500 bags of trash from the shores of Long Island Sound and helped clean up one of Bridgeport's most abused properties, The Former Land Fill at Seaside Park. We also made the first private expedition to Pleasure Beach to remove years of flotsam and jetsam that has drifted to the shores from places like the former Long Beach West settlement, abandoned with tons of garbage left to blow into the waters of Long Island Sound. Thank you to one and all who made all our efforts possible and supported CCB in our mission to reinvent the waterfront of the Greater Bridgeport Area. Please check out this video montage in honor of all those who worked so hard this season and made 2009 a successful year!

Your's Truly,

Capt Chris German, Executive Director