 BOAT CAPTAIN'S EXCURSIONS TEACH STUDENTS ABOUT NATURE Palm Beach Post -- Monday, February 26, 2001 By: Sharon Wernlund, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer ABOARD THE RIVER SCOUT - Sixth-graders aboard the River Scout on the Indian River abruptly stop their chatter as boat captain Rick Binder sights something just off the port bow. One or two fins, maybe more. These 11- and 12-year-olds anxiously search the murky waters northeast of the Stuart Causeway for any sign of life. Suddenly, their silence erupts into cheers as a trio of dolphins poke the surface. The ham of the pod tosses up a fish and gobbles it whole. "I'm never going to forget the dolphin," says sixth-grader Stephen Gilroy, 11, of Stuart Middle School. "This was like a once-in-a-lifetime experience." Lasting impressions such as these are the emotional glue that bonds Binder to these youngsters and his job with the Environmental Studies Center. Except for a brief stint as a commercial seaman in the 1980s, Binder has been at the helm of the River Scout for nearly 21 years. What brought him back for good? "I really missed the kids and Stuart and realized this job was more purposeful," says Binder, 51, of Stuart. "My hope is to plant a seed in their minds to gain an appreciation of nature. "Hopefully when they are of voting age, they will take up issues that adversely affect the rivers.... I don't expect everyone to want to be a marine biologist. I just want them to be caretakers of their environment." A part of the Martin County School District, the Environmental Studies Center in Jensen Beach provides lessons about the area's water, woods and wildlife to students from kindergarten to the seventh grade. It was established in 1972. Traditionally, fifth- and sixth-graders take an annual field trip on Binder's 30-foot open fisherman. Fifth-graders are ferried to a spoil island about a mile south of the Stuart Causeway to learn about mangroves, gopher turtles, marine animals and more. Sixth-graders stay aboard as "river doctors" to perform a battery of tests, from measuring salinity to determining dissolved oxygen, to assess the health of wherever they happen to be - the Indian River or the St. Lucie River. And though Binder, a Coast Guard-licensed boat captain, was hired strictly to transport youngsters from place to place, his role has evolved into education, too. Working with instructors like John Wakeman, Binder shares his knowledge on a variety of topics from native birds and compass use to reading maps and navigation. "Rick is one of a kind," says Wakeman. "We really couldn't do this program without him... The kids pick up on the love he has for marine life, the rivers and the environment in general." Longtime friends and cohorts, Wakeman and Binder work together to make field trips educational and fun. Wakeman is high-energy, with a gift for gab. Binder is low-key and soft-spoken, with a dry wit. Here's a sample: As Wakeman waits on the bow for the signal to drop the anchor, Binder tells the youngsters to look for the X in the water. Some of them do, and both men start to smile. "You can't see it with your eyes," muses Binder. "You have to wear these special sunglasses." Binder and the River Scout are booked for these in-shore excursions 150 days out of 180 school days. When the school year ends, their rigorous pace continues at the center's six-week summer camp. Last year, students and campers tallied an estimated 5,000 passengers. "The boat doesn't get much of a break," says Binder. When he's not running the boat, Binder is busy maintaining the 1972 Thompson Craft to look and perform its best. For the past 20 years, Outboard Marine Corp. in Stuart has provided free parts and labor for major repairs as well as donated River Scout's twin 175 horsepower outboard motors. Wherever the River Scout takes him, Binder is constantly on litter patrol. On Mondays, he's the first ashore on the spoil island to gather debris, beer bottles and cigarette butts left by weekend visitors and campers. Floating trash also is routinely retrieved and stowed. "I've got a recycling bin that's filled to the top with cigarette butts," says Binder. Even off the job, Binder is usually outdoors as an avid surfer, kayaker and hiker. A member of the Florida Trail Association, Binder is chairman of the Stuart chapter, the Tropical Trekkers, and trailmaster in charge of maintaining its trail since 1988. His preference for casual clothes and an office without walls mirrors his simple life. Material things hold little importance for him. Single, with no children, his checking account is a year or so old. Haircuts are rare. He's driven the same car for years. His home has no television. Binder is a mild-mannered guy, but don't let that fool you, says Wakeman. When someone does something that hurts the environment, Binder isn't apt to look the other way. Years ago, one boater made the mistake of showing his bounty of a half-dozen whelks to Binder, Wakeman and students on the River Scout. While emphasizing the difficulty of finding these large marine snails, the man said he intended to use the shells to make door stops and lamps. "I remember Rick just chastising him for taking so many from the river," says Wakeman. "He told him, 'There aren't a lot of these left because of people like you who don't respect the environment.' The man didn't know what hit him." Copyright (c) 2001, Palm Beach Post. |