Today, I had a group sail with a bunch of kids from Petra Cliffs. The wind was blowing strong at about 12 knots and some of the girls on board were not enjoying all of the excitement. The waves were tall with white caps hurdling over each wave. The sails were luffing and sheets were clanking loudly–scaring some of the kids on board. However, after we dropped the mooring and pulled in the sails everyone was more at ease, and by the time that we made it out to the middle of the Lake, they were having fun getting splashed by the waves and waving to their friends in the other boats. We even had a few Champ sightings while we were out riding the white caps. Everyone had a blast and by the end of it each kid could go home and tell their family and friends how they braved the heavy wind and huge waves in a sailboat.
Something that stood out to me today was the overall positive attitude in the boat. Amongst the 8 of us that were sailing, 3 wanted to go in because it was too windy out. I was impressed by how easily the other sailors were able to convince the other 3 to stay out. The excited sailors were able to distract the scared ones by pointing out the big waves and other boats around us. By taking their minds off the boat we were in talking and about how cool it was to see Burlington from afar, the sailors that were once scared were now having fun. These important life lessons on how to tackle difficult situations were being conducted in front of me between 7 and 8 year-olds. How awesome is that? I wouldn’t trade this job for anything.
-Sarah
