About Us

Sam Teel
Captain
After more than four decades teaching at Maine Maritime Academy on the coast of Maine, Sam is getting ready to retire from the “chalk” after the Fall 23 semester is completed. Many of those years were spent teaching a class called SHIPHANDLING; maneuvering boats, tugs, and ships. The facts, techniques, and nuances of vessel control were taught. The movement, physics, hydrodynamics, and hands-on aspects of ship and boat handling were practiced. Over the years he probably had upwards of
1500-1800 students in Shiphandling class alone. For many, it was the first experience of handling a vessel accurately, precisely, and successfully. Students refined and grew in their abilities and understanding.
Throughout the years, Captain Teel has encountered many students following graduation and they still refer back to those early lessons. The primary and perhaps most lasting lesson was his rules of Shiphandling. Three rules, six words, GO SLOW, THINK AHEAD, BE PATIENT.
Today, they are the Captains and Mates from MMA. Many of his students have come ashore and retired from a life at sea. His rules for Shiphandling have become rules for life, rules for family, relationships, and finances. Sam has discovered that those words have resonated around the world. The rules of Shiphandling have traveled further than he ever imagined. He is proud of all his students, what they have accomplished, and their many contributions to the maritime industry.