A new start at Newport Sea Base

At 62, some people start thinking about retirement. For George Wood, it was time to declare victory, move across the country and start from scratch. As he took the reins of the Newport Sea Base, the Boy Scouts of America-operated community center that holds maritime education programs for numerous youths, Wood was eager to face new challenges.

He began work Thursday, filling a position vacant since August. At that time, his predecessor Charlie Abbott was fired for undisclosed reasons after six months with the base.

Wood is used to running a wide variety of programs, like those the Newport Sea Base offers. In addition to coaching a winning sailing team at the College of Charleston, S.C., he developed the college’s offerings for students, ranging from physical education classes to the sailing association, as well as classes for adults in the community.

“We taught a lot of people how to sail,” he said.

Wood got to the College of Charleston 31 years ago with a doctorate degree in physical education and a desire to teach. Fatefully, he volunteered to be the advisor for the sailing club, which he said had “four little boats” at the time. It led to a coaching career that won the school’s teams 15 national collegiate sailing championships and produced 60 all-American athletes.

“I haven’t had a real job since,” he joked. “One thing led to another, and my avocation became my vocation.”

Newport Beach is a familiar area to Wood, who has traveled around the country for sailing events.

“Sailing is a small world,” he said. “I have lots of friends here in Southern California, from Long Beach to San Diego.”

Still, Wood will miss the Carolina low country — “the fishing and the mosquitoes and the humidity.”

Yet he looks forward to running a program that goes beyond sailing — the sea base’s offerings include kayaking and motor boating. And though as a child in Richmond, Va., he never made it past Cub Scout, he said working with the Boy Scouts was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“Like vegetables, if you stay too long in the bin you rot,” he said. “People don’t often get a second chance to start over in the same area.”