University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

TopSail

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TopSail

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Content

TOPSAIL

by

Christine L. Detz

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(BROADCAST JOURNALISM)

DECEMBER 2012

Copyright 2012 Christine L. Detz

ii
Table of Contents

Abstract iii

TopSail Script 1

Bibliography 12

iii
Abstract

TopSail is a youth sailing program based out of the Los Angeles Maritime
Institute in San Pedro. The goal of the program is to provide the area's youth a place to
challenge themselves and learn life skills while sailing tall ships. Students learn how to
plan and execute sailing trips; sometimes these trips last a few hours, sometimes they are
overnight. An example of the duties performed by the kids during a sail includes: raising
and adjusting sails, standing lookout in the bow of a pitching, rolling ship, taking the
helm and steering the set course and as well as climbing the rigging and balancing while
furling sails. The program is open to kids ages 12-18, primarily from underserved
populations but the main focus is on middle school students. LAMI believes the TopSail
program fosters the "relationships between individual rights, power and responsibility by
providing real life experience in the workings of society."

1

AUDIO VIDEO
Intro shots of boats NATS

SOT ED STEINER
Shots of kids boarding the Exy
Johnson
The story we hear probably most often from
teachers as two groups pass one kid will say to
another ‘hi howya doing?” and his friends all go
why are you talking to him and the answer is
it’s ok because we sail together. It’s that
powerful, it breaks down those sorts of barriers.

Capt. Mike actuality with the kids
From “safety speech” file
The boat we’re on is called the Exy Johnson,
she has a twin right in front of us called the
Irving Johnson. They’re state of the art sail
training vessels designed for kids to use. and
you are the crew of the Exy Johnson today.
Anything this boat needs to do as far as
maneuvering or sail handling or whatever else
happens, you’re gonna be a part of.

NATS Ashley and Capt. Mike radio
check

NATS

2
VO NARRATION

Shots of kids mulling around Jacuzzi

WS of Los Angeles Maritime Institute
building

Sequence of CU of rope with pan to
mast
TALL SHIPS - THE VERY SIGHT OF ONE
BRINGS TO MIND IMAGES OF A TIME
LONG SINCE PASSED - BUT FOR A
GROUP OF LOS ANGELES AREA MIDDLE
SCHOOL STUDENTS A TALL SHIP
REPRESENTS SOMETHING
ELSE…ACCOMPLISHMENT.

THESE SHIPS ARE PART OF A PROGRAM
AT THE LOS ANGELES MARITIME
INSTITUTE IN SAN PEDRO. SINCE 1992
TOPSAIL HAS GIVEN UNDER-SERVED
YOUTH, AGES 12 TO 18, THE
OPPORTUNITY TO THRIVE IN A
CHALLENGING AND UNUSUAL
ENVIRONMENT.

SOT ED STEINER

CG: Ed Steiner
Volunteer Training and Event Planner,
TopSail

“Shaggy” teaching kids how to belay
They’re kids that are done with school, they’re
done with people larger than them telling them
what to do and taking a test at the end of the
week. They see it as a way to set them up for
failure so to contrast that we invite them aboard
like family. Our take on it is ‘we’re glad you
guys are here, if you weren’t here we wouldn’t
get to go sailing, so come on aboard, toss your
gear over here. Let’s pull on this string, we’ll
get that piece of wood off the dock.”

3
SOT ALICE ROBINSON

CG: Capt. Alice Robinson
Co-founder, TopSail

Marilyn learning to belay
Our primary target are ladies and gentleman that
are from areas that don’t have a lot of money.
These are ladies and gentlemen that are well on
the road to possibly doing something that’s not
socially acceptable.

SOT CAMILLE OSBURN

CG: Camille Osburn, Teacher Kranz
Intermediate School

We’re about a 94 percent Hispanic/Latino
community and it definitely is a poverty stricken
neighborhood. Our school kind of has this bad
reputation but yet we take students sailing on a
tall ship in the Pacific Ocean, it’s pretty unique
and fantastic.

Sequence of kids hauling a rope with
CU of ropes

NATS
VO NARRATION
Sequence of kids hauling up life raft
CAMILLE OSBURN AND KRANZ
INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL BECAME
INVOLVED WITH TOPSAIL IN 1993 WHEN
THE SCHOOL WAS CHOSEN TO TAKE
PART IN A STUDY LOOKING AT THE
EFFECTS OF SAIL TRAINING PROGRAMS
ON YOUTH.

SOT CAMILLE OSBURN We had 3 groups, 2 groups that went sailing and
one that didn’t. And what we monitored was
their absentee rates and academics to see the
effects of the sailing program.

4
VO NARRATION OSBURN AND HER COLLEAGUES
THOUGHT THE EXPERIENCE WOULD BE
BENEFICIAL FOR THE STUDENTS BUT
EVEN THEY WERE SURPRISED BY THE
STUDY’S FINDINGS.
SOT CAMILLE OSBURN It turned out that the group that went with
myself, they all had 100% attendance rate after
they went through the program. They finished
the program in mid-October and they were in
school every single day afterwards. Each kid
increased their academic GPA by 2 points.

SOT ED STEINER

Kids out on the bow
Just imagine you’re a middle school kid from 12
miles over that way, half those kids that come to
us tell us they have not seen the ocean, which
seems an amazing thing to begin with but when
you take the trouble to go to their
neighborhoods and look at what they’re living
in, it’s amazing that half of them have seen the
ocean

VO NARRATION
Looking up at flowing sail, pan to
deck
THE IDEAL PROGRAM CONSISTS OF FIVE
ONE-DAY SAILS AND CULMINATES IN A
FIVE-DAY VOYAGE TO CATALINA BUT
IT CAN BE ADAPTED TO FIT THE
SPECIFIC NEEDS OF THE GROUP. THE
MAIN GOAL – TO TEACH THE KIDS
ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY

SOT CAMILLE OSBURN

Every student is put into a team and the teams
have to cook, to clean and they have to do
watch. There were 34 people on board and the
students are responsible for making the meals.

5
SOT ASHLEY SANTONE

CG: Ashley Santone
TopSail Alumna

Andrew and friend getting ready to
haul rope
They put us in groups and every day the group
has a different schedule so one day one group
would cook, one would clean and one had
whatever other duties and everyday we switched
so we got to cook for each other.

We got to sleep on deck and it was really cold
but we had a lot of blankets. boys one night,
girls one night.

VO NARRATION
Sequence of Ashley coiling rope
ASHLEY SANTONE IS A FORMER
STUDENT OF OSBURN’S. SHE
PARTICIPATED IN THE PROGRAM WHEN
SHE WAS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. NOW
SANTONE IS IN COLLEGE STUDYING TO
BE A FIREFIGHTER

SOT ASHLEY SANTONE The experience I had when I was their age really
captivated me. It taught me teamwork, without
working together, learning how to sail the boat
it would have been chaos. The knots I’ve
learned here, I’ve used when I’m working at
home or firefighting stuff.

VO NARRATION
Ashley at bow telling students stories
from her experience
OSBURN ENCOURAGES HER TO COME
BACK TO MENTOR STUDENTS AS MUCH
AS POSSIBLE.

SOT CAMILLE OSBURN The former students, that angle always works
for the younger ones. It’s also good to see them
taking more of a leadership role when they
come back as helpers.

Sails unfurling NATS
Ready halyard!

6
Actuality of Cindy teaching the kids to
haul
From “cindy telling kids which sail
they’re hauling”
NATS
our rope is attached to the far end of this very
large sail, we’re pulling that end down there we
are the peak.

Heave ho, heave ho

Sequence of Chris encouraging kids to
haul
NATS

Come on faster guys. Come on 3’s

VO NARRATION
Sequence of Jeff teachibg Andrew
haul to coil rope in his hands
THIS SAILING PROGRAM RELIES ON
VOLUNTEERS TO MAINTAIN IT. THEY
LEARN THE ROPES JUST LIKE THE KIDS.

SOT ED STEINER Often when I do the volunteer orientation for
new volunteers I warn them to be prepared it’s
hard work. Sometimes it’s hard and cold,
sometimes it’s hard and cold and wet. I also
warn them to be prepared to spend some
emotional capital because you will get involved
with some of these kids at a level that is quite
unexpected and they are unable on their own to
access the kind of adult support that we’re able
to give them.

SOT ALICE ROBINSON
Pan from mast down side ropes to
Andrew

Sequence of Jenny coiling large rope
on deck
One of my young men came back a second year.
I said Dylan, Dylan where’s Corey? These two
guys were real close. And he said he got shot
on his porch.
One of the young ladies said ok, this is my street
because I wouldn’t let her get out too far away
and she said but do not stop the car. So I came
to a rolling stop and let my little girl out and
then I came around again to make sure she got
in the house. They have a different environment
that I become privy to.

7
VO NARRATION
Grant on deck with other volunteers
during a training session
GRANT TEVAULT HAS BEEN A LAMI
VOLUNTEER SINCE 2010. HE IS ALSO A
MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER AND DEALS
WITH AT-RISK YOUTH ON A DAILY
BASIS.

SOT GRANT TEVAULT
Sequence of Grant at white board

CG: Grant Tevault
TopSail Volunteer
These kids live everyday through things that
I’ve only heard about on the news when I was
growing up. Failure is normal, it’s accepted.
We’re trying to get them out of that kind of a
mindset where they’re burdened with things
adults shouldn’t even be burdened with.

VO NARRATION
Meeting with Grant and two other
teachers

TEVAULT IS PLANNING A TOPSAIL
EXPERIENCE FOR HIS STUDENTS. BUT
FUNDING - AND TIME - ARE TIGHT.
SOT GRANT TEVAULT
Sequence of Ms. Osburn and Andrew
in the nav station reading
It would be nice if we could keep them for 6
months out at sea where we could really change
some habits, really change their outlook on life
and make some permanent changes but we’re
just not set up for that, we don’t have that
opportunity.

VO NARRATION
Andrew and friends hauling rope to
make the square sails turn
LAMI SPENT FOUR YEARS AND MORE
THAN 8 MILLION DOLLARS TO BUILD
THE TWIN BRIGANTINES THE KIDS SAIL
ON.
SOT ED STEINER

Photos of the brigantines being built
They were built in a parking lot up here in San
Pedro. We started hiring world-class
shipwrights and buying hardwoods from around
the world. We still owe some money on the
vessels and it’s difficult to raise funds to pay off
that sort of thing but we’re trying very hard

8
Andrew and friend hauling rope to
make the square sails turn
NATS

I do the front, you do the back. No! Like the
back

SOT ALICE ROBINSON we put a lot of thought into what we did here to
make them kid friendly. They are very
protective of the vessel, the seem to like it

SOT ED STEINER The reason we built brigantines is to have a lot
of complicated 1 and 2 kid jobs to do. The
schooners, the other boats we have, are great,
they sail better than these but you have to put
10-15 kids on a line and they’re big and heavy
and the individual experience isn’t quite as good
as it is on this so again that stack of square sails,
10 kids each on an individual line, each either
letting go or hauling as we’ve asked them to do,
make that happen. It’s pretty amazing, it’s very
impactful.

Andrew actuality interview NATS
I thought it was going to be like a normal field
trip but it isn’t. It is better.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
That’s a good thing.

VO NARRATION
Short sequence of Claritza belaying
rope
BUT THE COST OF BRINGING THIS
EXPERIENCE TO STUDENTS IS HIGH AND
NO ONE IS TURNED AWAY FOR AN
INABILITY TO PAY.
ACCORDING TO TAX FILINGS, IT COSTS
LAMI MORE THAN ONE MILLION
DOLLARS A YEAR TO OPERATE THE
PROGRAM.

9
SOT ED STEINER

Sequence of Kevin and Cindy coiling
large rope on deck
We have a business where our best paying client
pays about half of our actual cost for delivering
the product, but that’s ok because we make up
for it by giving it away to most people anyway
(chuckle) from that you might deduce that it’s
difficult but we do a lot of fundraising, we’re
looking for a major sponsor.

SOT Camille Osburn We sold hot chocolates in the mornings and
then we did sno-cones once it got warmer and
we were able to raise some money that way. But
by no means are we covering the cost of how
much this costs.

VO NARRATION

Shots of sail being raised by two girls
THE PORT OF LOS ANGELES DONATES
350-THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR TO
THE TOPSAIL PROGRAM. THIS COVERS
ABOUT 70 PERCENT OF THE COSTS FOR
180 SAILING DAYS. IN THE LAST YEAR
LAMI PROVIDED MORE THAN 400
SAILING DAYS BETWEEN THE TWO
SHIPS MEANING THE ORGANIZATION
HAS HAD TO RELY ON OTHER
FUNDRAISING METHODS.

10
SOT ED STEINER

Shots of boats full sail racing each
other
I suggested to the members of the association of
orange county yacht clubs that they might pay
us a bunch of money to crew our boats, just like
the middle school kids, come aboard get an hour
and a half training and you’re sailing the boat.
Their eyes glazed over and their socks rolled up
and down. They thought it was a great idea. So
we charged them a bit of money, next year we
will charge more

VO NARRATION

Capt. Mike teaching girl how to steer
STEINER SAYS KEEPING THE PROGRAM
AFLOAT IS A CHALLENGE.

SOT ED STEINER

Moving gallat sail sequence
I’ve heard the state attorney general say that the
typical dropout kid will cost society $2 million,
I can’t make that number work but if he’s wrong
by a factor of 10 it’s $200,000 so every kid we
save from dropping out on these boats and we
do routinely. 5 or 10 a week I’m convinced
times that by $200,000 and look at the value of
this program and it certainly doesn’t cost us that
much to do it.

VO NARRATION ACCORDING TO A 2008 STUDY BY THE
CALIFORNIA DROPOUT RESEARCH
PROJECT EVERY GROUP OF 120,000
DROPOUTS COSTS THE STATE MORE
THAN 45 BILLION DOLLARS OVER A
LIFETIME.

11
VO NARRATION

Claritza putting belt on Marilyn
THOUSANDS OF KIDS HAVE COME
THROUGH THE TOPSAIL PROGRAM
SINCE 1992. VOLUNTEERS LIKE
ROBINSON FOCUS ON THE SMALL
VICTORIES.

SOT ALICE ROBINSON

Sequence of Marilyn climbing ropes
I had one little boy, one young man, say to me, I
took him aloft and he sat up there, you know
we’re 80 feet above the ground, or the ocean,
and he looked and said damn. If I knew I could
get a high like this I wouldn’t have done drugs.
And I think we won, we won

SOT ED STEINER

Boy climbing ropes

Shot of kids on the sail masts

Imagine the big bully kid who finds himself
throwing up over the side of the boat and one of
the young ladies is skipping about going hey
look what I just did I went all the way to the top.
NATS Myrna
“Myrra coming down”
it was scary at first but then it got easier, i liked
going all the way up there and seeing the view,
like the mountains and everybody looks so tiny

SOT GRANT TEVAULT

Sequence of dolphins swimming next
to the boat
Who doesn’t love tall ships? The romance, the
excitement and the adventure. To be able to sail
on one is an experience of a lifetime for the kids
and the adults.

SOT CAMILLE OSBURN

Shots of dolphins at side of boat

It’s really a great thing to see the kids transform.
When a student will come back and say come to
their high school graduation that is fabulous.
And what is beyond fabulous is I’ve been
invited to college graduations and these are kids
that probably wouldn’t have made a difference
in their own lives without this program. That’s
success to me

12
Bibliography

Osburn, Camille. Personal Interview. 11. Sept. 2012.

Robinson, Alice. Personal Interview. 15. Oct. 2011.

Santone, Ashley. Personal Interview. 24. April 2012.

Steiner, Ed. Personal Interview. 15. Oct. 2011.

Tevault, Grant. Personal Interview. 18. Oct. 2011.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract TopSail is a youth sailing program based out of the Los Angeles Maritime Institute in San Pedro. The goal of the program is to provide the area's youth a place to challenge themselves and learn life skills while sailing tall ships. Students learn how to plan and execute sailing trips

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Asset Metadata

Creator Detz, Christine L. (author)

Core Title TopSail

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Journalism (Broadcast Journalism)

Publication Date 12/02/2012

Defense Date 12/02/2012

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag at-risk youth,Los Angeles Maritime Institute,middle school,OAI-PMH Harvest,Port of Los Angeles,Sailing,tall ships,TopSail

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Birman, Daniel H. (committee chair), Cooper, Marc (committee member), Saltzman, Joseph (committee member)

Creator Email cldetz@gmail.com,detz@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-123410

Unique identifier UC11292553

Identifier usctheses-c3-123410 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-DetzChrist-1377.pdf

Dmrecord 123410

Document Type Thesis

Rights Detz, Christine L.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA