{"id":268,"date":"2019-08-19T19:25:30","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T19:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/?p=268"},"modified":"2019-09-06T12:57:51","modified_gmt":"2019-09-06T12:57:51","slug":"the-man-retires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/campus-currents\/the-man-retires\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Man\u201d Retires"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>\u201cThe Man\u201d Retires<\/h1>\n<h2>The Master of the <em>Pentagoet<\/em> leaves the helm with pride.<\/h2>\n<p>THE SLACK IN <em>PENTAGOET&#8217;S<\/em> bow dock line is not to Capt. Harry Stevens\u2019s liking. He unwinds it from the bollard in an efficient whirl of motion, pulls it snug and secures it. He walks to the deck exit, crosses onto the dock and steps away from <em>Pentagoet<\/em>, which he has used to teach vessel handling to thousands of students. It is July 31, and after 27 years with MMA he has retired.<\/p>\n<p>Stevens is a revered figure (aka The Man) on the waterfront, known for his high standards of instruction and meticulous care for the 39-year-old tug.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of people have said it\u2019s the finest boat they\u2019ve ever seen for its age,\u201d says Stevens.<\/p>\n<p>He first worked for MMA part-time as an AB on <em>State of Maine<\/em> training cruises, but hopped aboard <em>Pentagoet<\/em> as Chief Engineer in 1992, later becoming Captain. Since then he has taught (or co-taught) three programs that have helped launch many careers: ship handling, tug and barge operations, and workboat operations. Stevens typically taught 100-plus students per 14-week semester.<\/p>\n<div class=\"videoBox\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/elMcVVVg0Fw?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div class=\"videoCaption\">\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harry Stevens leaves Maine Maritime Academy after 27 years of service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen students first come aboard, a lot of them are nervous,\u201d says Stevens, \u201cbut I tell them, \u2018Relax. We\u2019re going to do this. And the more you do it, the better you\u2019re going to be.\u2019 That\u2019s why I never drive the boat. They do. And they have to have hands on the equipment to learn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see them from day one until they finish. Their confidence increased. They can handle it. And that gives me great pride.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bq1\"><p>\u201cA lot of people have said it\u2019s the finest boat they\u2019ve ever seen for its age.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Instilling a good work ethic is as significant to Stevens as proficiency handling the 1,400 horsepower tug in challenging maneuvers and tasks. \u201cWhen you get a job,\u201d he says, \u201cbe on time and do whatever it takes to get the job done. Don\u2019t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Have pride in what you do, no matter what it is you\u2019re doing. You\u2019re from Maine Maritime Academy, and that means a lot is expected of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_272\" style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone sideImageR pres\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-272\" class=\"wp-image-272 size-full\" src=\"\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/08\/pentagoet.jpg\" alt=\"Tug Pentagoet\" width=\"250\" height=\"294\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-272\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The venerable <em>Pentagoet<\/em> has served almost three decades of students, all under the careful watch of Capt. Stevens.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>For the <em>Pentagoet<\/em>, Harry says, \u201cI have a great love for the boat. I\u2019ve been with her for many years, pretty much on a daily basis, and it\u2019s just the best thing I\u2019ve ever been able to do or been allowed to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For his waterfront coworkers, he says, \u201cWe\u2019re like a family. We take care of one another. There\u2019s a lot of stuff going on here, so we have to work together. We know we have to get these different jobs done, we do it, and we\u2019re a pretty tight group overall. I love the people I work with and always will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As he walks along the dock away from the <em>Pentagoet<\/em> for the last time as Captain, he pauses and turns back to take an appraising look. \u201cThe feelings right now are of pride and sadness, but knowing that the boat is going to go on and on,\u201d he says. \u201cThe program\u2019s going to be strong, and I feel I was a part of making that happen.\u201d<span class=\"articleEnd\">\u2588<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"photoCredit2\">Photos: Billy R. Sims<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe Man\u201d Retires<br \/>\nThe Master of the <em>Pentagoet<\/em> leaves the helm with pride.<\/p>\n<p>THE SLACK IN <em>PENTAGOET&#8217;S<\/em> bow dock line is not to Capt. Harry Stevens\u2019s liking. He unwinds it from the bollard in an efficient whirl of motion, pulls it snug and secures it. He walks to the deck exit, crosses onto the dock and steps away from <em>Pentagoet<\/em>, which he has used to teach vessel handling to thousands of students. It is July 31, and after 27 years with MMA he has retired.<\/p>\n<p>Stevens is a revered figure (aka The Man) on the waterfront, known for his high standards of instruction and meticulous care for the 39-year-old tug.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of people have said it\u2019s the finest boat they\u2019ve ever seen for its age,\u201d says Stevens.<\/p>\n<p>He first worked for MMA part-time as an AB on <em>State of Maine<\/em> training cruises, but hopped aboard <em>Pentagoet<\/em> as Chief Engineer in 1992, later becoming Captain. Since then he has taught (or co-taught) three programs that have helped launch many careers: ship handling, tug and barge operations, and workboat operations. Stevens typically taught 100-plus students per 14-week semester.<\/p>\n<p>\ufeff<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harry Stevens leaves Maine Maritime Academy after 27 years of service.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen students first come aboard, a lot of them are nervous,\u201d says Stevens, \u201cbut I tell them, \u2018Relax. We\u2019re going to do this. And the more you do it, the better you\u2019re going to be.\u2019 That\u2019s why I never drive the boat. They do. And they have to have hands on the equipment to learn.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/campus-currents\/the-man-retires\/\">&#8230;Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":539,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions\/539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue2-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}