Fred Sitkins readies Inland Seas for more sailing adventures

Photo features Captain Lily with students

By Ross Boissoneau

Sun contributor

It’s a special year for the Inland Seas Education Association. Make that another special year: the organization is on track to serve its 200,000th person this year in its 37th season. At the same time, the ISEA is launching the bidding phase for construction and expansion on its Suttons Bay campus.

“We’ve served 192,123 participants since our founding in 1989,” says Skyler Singleton, communications coordinator for the Suttons Bay organization. The numbers continue to grow each year. “We reached nearly 10,000 participants in 2025 alone, so we are definitely on track to hit that 200,000 milestone this fall.”

Executive Director Fred Sitkins says expansion of the campus will enable it to continue to grow and serve even more. “It’s going to be really strong. Every year is a little bit better,” he says.

The success of the Campaign for the Future of Great Lakes Education provided funds for the organization to purchase property to the south of its existing Suttons Bay headquarters, purchase property south of its existing headquarters, as well as a acquire a new schooner, the Alliance, and take over the nearby Leo Creek Preserve.

Last year’s public announcement of the campaign coincided with the organization’s purchase of the nearby Millside building, which will be renamed the Inland Seas Education Center. It will include educational spaces, storage, and a maintenance workshop for its vessels in the lower level. However, a question of whether Dame Street, located between ISEA headquarters and the Millside Building, was a public or private road delayed the project.

That was resolved in January, and the organization was given the go-ahead for the project. It is now launching the bidding process for the campus expansion. Sitkins says bids for construction and renovation are due May 28, and he hopes to get construction underway by the end of June or beginning of July. Due to the delay in the permitting process, Sitkins says it likely won’t be finished until the fall of 2027.

In the meantime, he and the staff are preparing for what he anticipates will be another busy year on the water. “It’s always different. Every group has different kids,” he says.

The ISEA’s schoolship program is available to students from kindergarten through high school and college. It provides the students hands-on activities on the water, focused on science, technology, engineering, and math.

One change Sitkins has noticed over the years is that more students are serious and knowledgeable about the need to protect the waters of the Great Lakes.

“I see a higher percentage of kids who are aware of and tuned in to environmental issues,” Sitkins describes. “They want to make the world a better place. They’re more receptive.”

While the focus of the programs is on the Great Lakes, Sitkins says the lessons the students learn are applicable elsewhere. “They want to make their communities a better place.”

As if that wasn’t enough excitement, Sitkins will be embarking on his own sailing adventure this summer and fall. He will be heading to Sweden this month to help ISEA supporter David Verdier sail his boat across the North Sea from Ellos, Sweden, where it is being built, to Southampton, England. He’ll join him again in November to sail across the Atlantic Ocean from Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa, to St. Lucia, the Caribbean island country north of Venezuela.

Though it might seem that sailing across the Atlantic would be potentially more problematic, Sitkins says that likely will not be the case. He says the North Sea has a reputation for being challenging, due to several factors. “It’s shallow, so it’s rough, the waves are close together. It’s the busiest shipping area in the world. There are obstacles I’ve not dealt with – windmills, oil platforms,” he says. Nonetheless, “I’m looking forward to it.”

Once in the open ocean, Sitkins says they will be sailing with the tradewinds. “It’s a pretty downwind run the whole way,” he says. “There are squalls, yet it’s more predictable.”

Always looking to provide education for those interested, Sitkins will be posting digital updates during each of the legs for ISEA supporters. “I’m excited. I hope to see some wildlife,” he says.