Last week I took a group of kids sailing who had never been on a boat before, let alone a sailboat. This is not at all uncommon at the Sailing Center, but I don’t think these kids ever thought they’d go sailing in their lives and definitely didn’t know what to expect when they got on the boat. It was a day with very good wind and we we’re cruising as soon as we got off the dock. The kids loved it. They were so amazed that we were moving without a motor and even became scared as the boat started to heel. As their eyes grew in wonder, their smiles grew too and soon came the questions. They wanted to know everything about sailing that I could tell them in a short three hour period and wanted to see as much of the lake as they could. We sailed northwest towards Lone Rock and as the new sailors looked back, they experienced Burlington in a whole new way. “Wait, is that really Burlington?”, one girl asked. They’d lived near the lake their whole life but had never been able to experience something quite like this. Being on the water feels like second nature to me, and sometimes I feel I take the lake for granted. These students were excited about their new experience; and one kid even stayed to help me put everything away, asking more questions as we did. This was one of my favorite days at the Sailing Center all summer. I was so thrilled to be able to share sailing with young people who might never have been able to get out on the water without the Community Sailing Center.
-Emma
