The docks behind the former Garbo Lobster/Mohegan aquaculture property in the borough are bustling this summer as the Stonington Harbor Yacht Club Sailing Foundation has dramatically expanded its sailing instruction and marine biology programs.

Approximately 150 children, teens, and some adults are expected to take part in programs for all levels of sailors while another 175 will take part in the marine biology program taught by two instructors from Australia.

And now the non-profit sailing foundation, which is a separate entity from the yacht club, has even bigger plans as it hopes to buy the three buildings at 70-72 Water Street that it partially leases now from the Mohegan tribe and create a classroom, clubhouse, office, and storage space. The purchase of the prime real estate along Stonington Harbor is estimated to cost about $3.5 million.

"The net result of all of this is that kids are getting an experience they might never had a chance to get," said Spike Lobdell, the president of the foundation.

The foundation was created in 2004 and last year began running the operation out of the Mohegan site. It has turned the former lobster pond building along the harbor into a clubhouse and classroom space and uses the ground floor of 70 Water Street, to store some of the 50 sailboats and windsurfers in its fleet.

Lobdell pointed out that while the program grew out of the yacht club, more than half of the participants in the program are not club members.

The foundation also offers scholarships to those who cannot afford the fees, which are $100 a week for the marine biology programs and $660 for the four-week sailing programs. There are three-hour morning and afternoon sessions each weekday.

"This is a community program and we want it to be accessible to all," he said.

There are 11 sailing instructors and while most of the students are children and teens, Lobdell said "there is a huge untapped market for adults, especially women."

Lobdell said the combination of sailing and marine biology instruction teaches cooperation, teamwork, and communication along with an appreciation and responsibility for the environment.

The foundation also has a champions fund in which it sponsors elite competitive sailors such as world champions Erin Maxwell, a Stonington native, and Isabelle Kinsolving along with Clay Burkhalter of Stonington, who recently competed in the Bermuda 1-2 race and was a top finisher in the 2007 MiniTransat, a 4,200 mile solo trans-Atlantic race from France to Brazil.

This September, the foundation will host the Connecticut Special Olympic sailing competition for the third time and teams will train at the site all summer.

If the foundation can raise the money to buy the

property from the Mohegans, Lobdell said plans are to tear down the lobster pound along the harbor, which now serves as a clubhouse and classroom, to create more space for boats. The second floor of the large building at 70 Water St., which was the scene of the restaurant in the movie "Mystic Pizza," will be renovated for use for sailing instruction along with classroom and laboratory space with tanks for the marine biology program and offices.

The foundation's option to buy the property expires in December of 2010.

Lobdell said he would like to see the program continue to grow and serve kids from across the region.

"Nothing would please me more than to have 500 kids here, one-third of which would be on a scholarship," he said.