Foundation for Underway Experiential Learning (FUEL)

In 2020, SHENANDOAH's unique educational mission was in peril. The ship required costly repairs. Three hundred elementary students from Martha's Vineyard lost their opportunity to embark on a weeklong voyage that year, a rite-of-passage that 5,000 Island students before them benefitted from. Then, a significant generational transition happened. After 57 years at SHENANDOAH's helm, Captain Robert Douglas donated his beloved SHENANDOAH and his life-work educating youth to the nonprofit organization FUEL, founded by his protégés, Ian Ridgeway and Casey Blum, LCSW. FUEL made repairs and improvements to the ship enabling weeklong educational voyages for 280 youth and 340 total people this summer. FUEL plans to host 1,200 learners aboard SHENANDOAH by 2025 while also constructing a new ship that will triple the impact of FUEL's mission with year-round voyages.