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 purchased 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 our Twitter page 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.
It is my first week of teaching this week, an I’m with the little guppies. They are so much fun to teach and just be around, they all are happy and friendly. Even though I would have told you little children at such a young age would be hard to teach because of their low age, I would now say that they are easier then the older children. it is understandable that they will not retain as much as an older child or understand as easily but for some reason they actually put forth an attempt to learn. By simply making learning fun the guppies just drink it all in, the whole experience of sailing and even after a few days of heavy wind they soon are looking for something knew to learn and experience. Plus the guppies are at the age that they learn to fear or not fear scary things and I can see it when I’m sailing with them, that conflict of enjoying the feeling of fear and being afraid to push the envelope. Just an all around fun class to teach and just be apart of. Maybe I’ll be lucky later in the summer and get assigned to the guppies again, can only hope.
Another week in progress, as more and more students arrive. There are lots of familiar faces and some new ones. Everybody’s psyched and ready to go. Little feet running around all over, it’s the first session of the Little Guppies class. It’s a full class of all new little sailors, ready and willing to sail. So full of excitement and energy they run around eager to help with anything they can. We rig up two of the Sonar’s, my fellow instructor Robert and I helping the Guppies through the task. Finally completed we get to have our first taste as a group of this fine sport. It’s breezy, blowing about 25 knots. The Guppies don’t even seem aware of the wind, as they just want to be on the water. We cast off and immediately start to heel. I hear screams and look over expecting to see a group of scared faces. Instead I see 4 faces wide smiles screaming with joy. Not an ounce of fear in their little eyes. I let the main out to flatten the boat and get told in chant form “WE WANT TO TIP”. With a smile on my face I happily oblige.
It was my first day instructing at the sailing center. The day was starting out great. The kids were psyched to get out on the boats and feel the wind in their hair. We started 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 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 general feeling down on Lake Champlain is one of excitement as the 2009 season has officially begun. The wild weather (heavy wind & wild squalls) have made everyone down on the lake feel that this year will again be different from last season. With our new “Floating Breakwater” and Atlas dock in it’s new place we are ready for what this season will throw at us. The lake is finally warming up to temperatures more suited for swimming, and the boats are ready to go. We also have great new faces down here at the Sailing Center. Our new staff have adapted very quickly to the daily operation of the classes, rentals, and facility. This should be another great season down by the lake! Don’t forget to come down on Friday nights for 420 racing!
I took a job at the Community Sailing Center to learn how to sail. My first week at work went by quickly and can most easily be recounted by newfound skills and a variety of crepes from the Skinny Pancake. Even though Waterfront Coordinators aren’t required to sail, I am responsible for having a firm knowledge in sailing. Part of my job description includes checking the rigging on boats before they go into the water and towing boats with the motorboat should they need assistance.
On Friday, Colin spent most of the afternoon teaching me motorboat mechanics and operations. I learned how to comfortably get around the lake, pull into the dock and deal with possible rescue situations.
His lesson was particularly timely as Sunday brought heavy winds and three turtled boats. The last boat we arrived at had a 420 that was in the ferry lane. The rain was heavy and the sailor was fatigued. I hopped on, grabbed the center-board and helped get the boat over.
Hopefully the next time I am in a sailboat, the mast will be above the water!
Green Up day was a huge success! Justin and I took a group of community members down to the Moran Plant to green it up a bit. And that is exactly what we did. We found all kinds of junk – 2 bikes, a shopping cart, several tires, a scooter, 2 bike rims, and lots of other stuff. The waterfront is looking much better now. It’s kind of sad to think that people just leave all this stuff lying around on the waterfront. Burlington has one of the nicest shore lines of anywhere around but there are some people who just take it for granted and use it as a dump thinking that it will all drift out in to the lake. But it doesn’t, the other day I found a message in a bottle in our harbor. It was dated from the day before; it just shows you how all the trash stays pretty close to where you left it.
We had a great group of people come down to help us out. CSC volunteers joined with other green up volunteers to pitch in and help. It was fun to get to meet the new people and see some old faces for the first time of the season. By the end of our greening up we had gotten through 28 bags stuffed full of trash and also a pile of stuff we couldn’t fit in bags. The Burlington water front is looking much better now. I would like to thank everyone who came to help and everyone who will help us in the future but doing what they can to just pick up a piece of trash here and there, every little bit helps.
With the melting of the lake ice and the increasing temperatures I look forward to my first experience coaching the High School Sailing team for the spring 2009 season. Last week we began our first series of practices followed by a women’s regatta in Greenwich, CT. The water temp has been well below 40 degrees for our three practices last week. All of the sailors sported their wetsuits to begin their chilly spring sailing season.
I have seen the high school program come a long way since 2001 when I first set foot in a club 420. Rachael Miller has been a valuable asset to the program as well to the sailing center over the years. She was the one coach that introduced me to the sailing world and built my passion for the sport. I am happy to pass my passion onto the eager young sailors involved in this irreplaceable program.
Continue reading Spring Sailing »
It’s been an exciting April down here at the Sailing Center. The anticipation of the upcoming summer season is indescribable. Since we have decided to start our sailing season three weeks early this year we have been hustling all spring to get the docks in the water, clean up the boats as well as organize the general layout of our “unique” facility. There really is never a dull moment at the Community Sailing Center, ever.
In order to make this all happen we have been hosting weekly volunteer days. Last Saturday, April 25th was our big spring work day. Colin and I were psyched to get a good turnout especially since we only have two weeks left until game time! The dock crew was able to repair one of our ramp docks, re-carpet it’s surface and prepare the next ramp for work. The other assorted crews were able to clean/wax 4 of our our 420’s, flip and rig them, reorganize assorted spars, clean/wax the keel boat hulls, prepare the keel boat bottoms for paint amongst many other feats. All in all a very successful day!
Continue reading Volunteer Days »
