? It's on Wisconsin ?
? Well that's the place ?
? For me... ?
>> A Tall Ship Festival
is a great way for landlubbers
to take a peak into a long gone
nautical world.
[bell rings]
All the while
keeping solid ground nearby.
? ?
Brianna Thom
looks like the other tourists.
But the end of the festival
marks the beginning
of her adventure.
>> That's cramped, but you're
not in there all that often.
>> Brianna will be joining
six other girls on board
the Tall Ship Unicorn
for a week-long sailing trip.
>> It's like summer camp for me.
Other kids go to
Camp U-Nah-Li-Ya, or something,
in Green Bay,
and I go to boat camp.
>> Brianna says each trip begins
with tears and homesickness.
But it soon passes.
>> Once you get on and you're
comfortable, you don't even
really think about your family
all that much.
You're just like,
"Yes, let's keep going!"
It's an adventure.
>> But the focus of this voyage
is not on sailing.
>> My husband and I have owned
this boat for 14 years.
>> Dawn Santamaria
owns the Unicorn, and is
Executive Director of a program
called Sisters Under Sail.
>> I knew we had something
really special we could offer
to other girls.
We had this beautiful ship, and
I wanted to use it for good.
>> The Unicorn has the only
all-female tall ship crew
in the world.
>> We're not doing that
to make a statement.
We do it really
to deliver our mission.
>> Then the two clippies
get clipped right back
to your D-rings.
>> They provide empowering
life lessons to a different
group of teenage girls
each week.
>> Awesome.
>> It really is important to us,
that if we were gonna teach
this empowerment program,
that we want it to be women
leading the program.
>> So you say "laying aloft,"
which means you're going to
climb aloft.
>> Dawn wants the girls
to learn confidence,
and they don't start off easy.
>> We encourage.
We try to see
that they are capable
of stretching themselves.
I don't care
how high they climb.
That's so not what
this activity is all about.
It's really about getting them
to look at challenges,
and how they face challenges
in their life.
>> Yes!
[cheers and clapping]
>> Brianna has dealt with
these challenges before.
>> This is my third year
aboard the Unicorn.
Back on deck!
>> As an alum, Brianna
actually has more responsibility
that we give her.
>> It's probably easier
if you go up here.
You wanna come up here, too?
I don't want to feel like
a know-it-all, like, so I don't
want to step in too much.
This way.
>> She'll be asked to take on
more leadership.
>> All this to get a flag
untangled!
>> The girls will have a chance
to bond over chores, like
washing dishes and night watch.
>> It's really quick.
Like, since you're down there
at night, you like, talk
during dinner, you talk while
you're down there.
You kind of become like
a little family for the week.
>> Okay, I'm gonna
blow the horn!
[ship horn blares]
>> The first day is always
the one where they like
deer in the headlights.
You know, they're not really
sure what it is that they've
signed on for.
They're not really sure what it
is we're gonna ask them to do.
They have no idea
about the ship life.
>> Dawn says the lessons
about leadership, teamwork,
and communication
teach themselves.
[indistinct talk on tall ship]
>> We're just kinda there to
put it into a nice little pile
and to help them connect
the dots between what it is
they're doing aboard the ship,
and how that translates
to higher lessons in life.
>> You're just kind of yourself.
You learn to be yourself,
and you find out
who you really are.
>> Brianna has taken the lessons
of past trips home with her.
>> Usually I'll be, like, "Yeah,
I really know myself now!"
And then you get back to school
and it's, oh, I don't want
to stick out.
>> But if you can climb seven
stories to lower the topsail.
>> This one right here we untie,
or the other side?
>> High school is easy.
>> You just realize that
it's not all that important
to be cool in high school.
It's more about
making good friends,
and just surrounding yourself
with people who care about you
and will help you.
>> Lower topsail!
>> Every day, these kids
are learning skills,
and it's like building blocks.
I can always tell
that Wednesday is the day.
They're really feeling like,
"Hey," you know, "I got this.
I know what I'm doing.
I know what things are called."
Then you're no longer trying to
necessarily bring the child out.
Now you're really just trying
to get it to solidify.
By Friday, when they're reaching
their new ports and their
parents are there to greet them,
you know, they're like, "Wow,
what'd you do to this kid?"
>> You come out here and it's
just a completely different
experience, so it's a cool way
to see the world.