"Islands of the Lateen Sails [is] an appropriate name on account of the great quantity of canoes that were seen to come out of these islands to the sea, all with sails - as soon as these islanders had seen our ship, that it seemed they covered the sea all around us. For a while they gave us great pleasure and a wonderful entertainment, to see their canoes so well made, of narrow boards painted in various colors and skillfully joined and laced together, in a fine and very beautiful form, so light that they looked like birds that fly in that sea." — Carlettis, Italian traders aboard the San Pablo, 1596
Our islands were once known for its people who excelled in swimming, canoe building, and sailing. It takes no stretch of the imagination to see that a community with a deep and historic affinity to the ocean, that built ingenious sailing canoes and voyaged to distant islands using their own system of navigation, would likely have continued to thrive on the water today had their maritime practices not been disrupted by colonial rulers. The Cultural Maritime Training Center aims to re-establish a strong maritime community in the Marianas by providing professional training tracks that lead to careers on and in the water — professions that are a natural fit for islanders.
The CMTC is located in 500 Sails' boatyard in Lower Base, Saipan. The facility is a working boatyard with classrooms and administrative offices. Learning activites take place in the classrooms, the boatyard, in the canoe house (Guma Sakman), and aboard canoes that serve as floating classrooms.
