Participating in the Regatta For Lake Champlain this year was a new experience for many people from the Sailing Center. Thanks to the generous donation of the use of his boat, our crew sailed on Harold Brown’s J29, Dog House.
For my part, I had only sailed on the boat once before, but I was on the foredeck and not in the cockpit. Comparatively speaking, though, the newness for me was nothing compared to that of the majority of the crew of the boat.
This year the crew was made up of a select few CSC campers. They were a group of kids from a variety of our classes (all of whom had taken level III), who excelled in sailing. Some of them I had taught before and some of them I had just seen around the sailing center, but it made no difference to the students; everyone was receptive to what I had to say.
Once the race started and everyone settled in to the groove, it really started to get fun for me. I remember when we first put up the spinnaker we were on a reach and everyone was feeling the power it brought to the boat. The crew just started to go “ohhh this is so cool!” and “I love the spinnaker.” One student, Lucie, said to me, “So this is why you kept trying to get us to do this,” which made me laugh. Everyone was having a great time. I remember all the kids were very impressed with the bathroom on the boat.
As the races rounded the final mark we were head-to-head with the boat Tumble Weed, and everyone started to get very competitive all of the sudden. We put up the shoot and everyone settled in. They were all asking us how they could trim the sails to make us go a little faster, every minute we got asked “should we pull the pole forward?” “How is the main, should we pull it in?” or “look at the Windex it’s shifting!” It was great.
I think that of everything that all those campers did this summer at the CSC, this was the highlight of their experience. I know it will stand out in my memory as one of my best days with the CSC. I hope that next year I get a chance to do it again.
Well it’s the middle of another week, new kids, new adventures and new challenges. Looking back over the last half of the summer I remember the sailors that have passed through and the familiar faces of those who have come back. It’s great to have so many kids and adults getting pumped for sailing and trying something new or honing in their skills. All of our programs are so fun that it is hard find one that is better than another. With these programs sailors of all ages have a change to sail various boats, finding out how each one moves and sails in different ways, which in turn helps them to experience different aspects of sailing and apply them to every boat they sail. Understanding weight placement on the smaller 420’s helps the sailors to apply proper placement on the bigger keelboats. Although many sailors like particular boats, switching it up on them and throwing them into something new, may cause them to take a step back to adjust, but they still can do everything and anything. All in all this summers has seemed to fly by and the sailors coming in and out seem to having a blast. It’s great to see come coming back, and I look forward to the future new sailors to take to the lake.
This summer weather wise is one to remember for seasons to come. We’ve had all sorts of interesting weather patterns: Big storms with hail, big winds with huge waves, & weather moving in from the east.
So this week started off with some great wind. On Tuesday, I was able to take out a group sail from a Barnes Elementary summer camp. It was interesting to see some kids who have never sailed before learn and explore a Sonar for the first time. We had a lot of wind that day and we were able to have a lot of fun and sail out near Lone Rock.
On Wednesday, we took out group sails with the Vermont Adaptive program from the Howard Center. It was cool to see how comfortable this group was on the sailboat and how quick they were to adapt to a new skill and try steering and working the jib sheets. There were some really cool kids in this group who, despite being hesitant, were willing to get on a boat and go sailing outside the breakwater. There was not as much wind but we were still able to go fast enough and have a good time. So far it has been a great week and I am looking forward to the next few days.
Another week of camps at the sailing center just ended. We had an all day level 1 camp, for which Justin and myself were the instructors. We had a huge variety of wind throughout the week. On Wednesday of last week the wind was blowing a nice 3-4 knots. The class rigged 5 open bics and everyone was excited to do the windward leeward course we had set up.
As the first 2 boats reached the marks the wind started to pick up, quickly rising to over 15 knots! Several of the bics were zooming around the mooring field, having a great time. All of the sailors stepped up their game for the heavy conditions as the instructors worked to get everyone to the docks. We had a few turtles, and one rudder fell off, but overall the kids were excited about how they had sailed in such heavy winds.
Friday we had a perfect amount of breeze and we took the open bics out again. On the last day it was awesome to see how so many of the campers felt confident in their boats. Many of the campers had never sailed dingys before coming to camp and the last day they really showed how much they had learned.
There has been sweet wind for the last few days and the 420s are boats to be in when its blowing. They are faster (once on a plain), right on the water next to the action and can take more wind then our keel boats. The only bad part of a big wind day is that the kids cant go out in there own boats. This means rides with an instructor in the boat, Lucas a fellow instructor teamed up to give our two classes rides. On the final ride of the day, Lucas comes flying towards me on a broad reach witch quickly starts to plain as a puff catches up to them. It was like stand on the side of the highway and seeing some one buzz by in a convertible, one instructor and two kids all with the biggest grins from ear to ear, attempting to hike out.
One night this week, as the sun was setting and illuminating the Adirondacks across the lake, I was watching an adult class practice capsize recovery off the dock. The waterfront was busy that evening – people were fishing, lounging, and enjoying each others’ company and the beautiful evening on Lake Champlain. A nice gentleman approached me and asked what was happening on the water, gesturing to the class which was cheering as one student successfully righted a 420 for the first time.
I told him about the class, and he said that he had sailed on the Jersey shore for many years and was visiting friends in Burlington for the weekend. He was pleased to see people learning to sail, and asked me: How do you become a member of the Community Sailing Center?
It’s a question I get often as Waterfront Coordinator, and one that I really love to answer: Anyone and everyone can be a part of the Community Sailing Center! This gentleman was stunned and excited to learn about the CSC as I told him about our youth camps, adult classes, partnerships with Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sport, the King Street Youth Center, the Howard Center, and even our rental and storage programs which are open to the public. As our conversation ended, he left with a great appreciation for the CSC, and perhaps a new idea to bring home to New Jersey.
It is my first season instructing at the sailing center. The season has started out great. The kids were psyched to get out on the boats and feel the wind in their hair. We always start out with a few games dealing with boat parts and safety and the kids were really getting into it. During one of the games one of the kids jammed her finger, but she didn’t let on to it hurting. We went into some running and yelling games to let the kids get it out of their system, during this game I noticed that this girl was holding her finger and didn’t look comfortable when I asked her what happened and then took her in to get some ice on it. After we got some ice we started back to join the group. On the way back she tripped and skinned her knee. We went back to the office and got her all cleaned up. During this she said “this is the best day of her life” and that she was have a lot of fun despite the two minor injuries. It was great to hear that and made me feel even more proud to be a part of a great program that gets kids outside and enjoying the resources available to everyone.
The waterfront coordinator desk is one of the most important parts in this machine that is the Community Sailing Center. We have some of the greatest employee’s, volunteers and customers. Whatever is happening at the Sailing Center it’s bound to start right here at the Waterfront Coordinator desk. So, for those who have been by and had to wait for the computer to stop freezing you don’t have to wait anymore. We have a new computer with more power, gadgets and yes a bigger screen. I don’t know about everyone else but I am excited. This makes it possible for faster service along with yes you guessed it more twittering and blogs. If you haven’t checked the sailing centers Facebook page or tweeted with us then you’re missing out. We will be tweeting daily about what’s going on at the Sailing Center and informing you as best we can about everything that we can. This new computer will be an asset to the office and I am excited to start using it. For anyone who stops in the office you will notice a major upgrade to the Waterfront Desk. So, feel free come on in and check out our new computer and then you can go out for a great sail.
Earlier this week as I was watching some renters de-rig their boat while a class of 11-15 year old boys ware practicing capsize recovery on the Atlas dock. Groups of two were getting in and out of the water and capsizing then righting their boats, while the rest of the group looked on from the dock without much interest. Most groups seemed to be doing this without much direction from their instructor and with fairly little trouble. The last group, however, had a tougher time of it. One student in particular was having trouble hoisting himself up onto the centerboard in order to right the boat. After a few minutes this camper was beginning to get frustrated and was losing confidence. Just when it seemed that he was about to give up and climb back on the dock in defeat, his co-campers began to offer words of encouragement and instruction: “Try going feet-first,” “Use all your muscles!” “You can do it!” Pretty soon, they were even chanting his name. It still took a while, but he was finally able to right the boat. This camper may have been able to do it on his own, but I think it was the encouragement and support of his fellow middle schoolers that gave him the confidence to finish his task.
