As I busily process camp registration forms and answer questions about all of our many summer offerings, I can’t help but get excited for the coming summer on Lake Champlain. Yet with that excitement comes a pang of jealousy—why can’t I participate in all of the great programs that we have for kids? I was lucky enough to enroll in one of our adult keelboat sailing courses this past summer, and don’t get me wrong—it was fabulous. But I’ve got to say that Cooking and Sailing, Lake Adventure, and all of our other wonderful youth offerings still manage to catch my eye.
Perhaps at the top of my list of camps that make me want to try to pass myself off as a 14 year old is the ever-popular Scuba and Sailing, offered in collaboration with Burlington’s own Waterfront Diving Center, located just down Battery Street from the CSC. Scuba and Sailing campers spend their mornings learning the basics of snorkeling and scuba diving and get a sturgeon’s perspective on Lake Champlain. After lunch, they hop into our sailboats and cruise around on the surface of the lake, taking everything in from a whole new perspective and learning an entirely different set of skills. The camp gives kids a chance to try out not one but two awesome ways to engage with our lake. Talk about major fun!
There’s still space in Scuba and Sailing camp, but it’s a good idea to register early as spaces fill up fast! Check out our camp registration page to register for this camp or any of our other summer offerings. With tons of different sailing camps, a medley of multi-activity camps like Scuba and Sailing, and a bunch of other youth sailing opportunities, there’s something for everyone at the CSC!
I love summer. I love summer because of the seemingly everlasting sunshine, tan skin, flapping sails, and excited, happy voices. Every year I look forward to climbing mountains, driving fast without fear, hot dogs on the grill, and sailing as much on a beam as possible. But fall, well fall, it gives me goose-bumps and butterflies in my stomach. This weekend I noticed a chill in the air and that indescribable smell that seems to ride on its coat-tails.
Then yesterday, Jen, the Education Director, and I met to discuss our plan for fall. It was amazing! I can’t wait for my first fall at the Community Sailing Center. I hear the wind in fall is fast and you better be a good sailor, or at least know how to go dry side, because that water gets cold quick! As we grow, it is a top priority to stay grounded in the community. We want to make sure to take every opinion or experience into account so when we finally get to move into our big, beautiful building we can hit the ground running as one of the premier Community Sailing Centers in the United States. With the introduction of the WAVES initiative and our long standing dedication to teaching everyone to sail, we have everything to offer and nothing to lose. We have the opportunity to help save Lake Champlain from irreversible pollution damage by introducing all people to the endless fun it has to offer. This fall we have a few dedicated instructors happy to get out on the water with you, in addition to rentals until October 11!
And to all my frosty friends with snowflakes on their minds: it’s almost here, fall is in the air.
-Sarah
Each Monday campers come in with a new appreciation and excitement for sailing that refreshes my love for sailing as well. While it may be like second nature for me and the same routine each day, for them it’s the most exciting part of their summer: a very foreign concept with another language. It’s awesome to see them excited when they return every morning and sad to be finished at 4:00pm on the last day. Sailing is such a unique and exciting sport, it’s hard not to return ambitious for another day out on the water. They are brimming with questions like, “What are we doing next?” and “How can I make my boat go faster?” “What’s this?” and “What’s that?” They are so intrigued by all the aspects of sailing, it’s hard to not ask questions and want to know everything they can in a week long session. The kids have been able to see most of Lake Champlain’s moods, from hot, windless sunny days, to cool, windy stormy days. They’ve been troopers through it all, and I think they secretly love to tell their exciting and harrowing tales from their time out on the lake. This summer has been excellent at the Community Sailing Center, and I can’t wait to experience the last few weeks of camp. I know I will miss it greatly when school starts and cold weather creeps in, but there’s still a lot of summer left, and I can’t wait!
-Emma
Last week I took a group of kids out kayaking to Lone Rock Point. We had light wind, clear, sunny skies and smooth waters when we headed out of the mooring field toward North Beach. It had been a while since I had been in a double kayak and I had forgotten the teamwork and synchronicity it takes to make the boat travel in a straight line. We strategized after doing a few circles and finally got it right, and once we did, we were cruising. We paddled around for an hour or so looking at all the new boats in front of the beach and eventually made our way over to Lone Rock Point where we rested our arms and splashed around a bit to cool off. One of the kids showed me the face of the old Native American cheif on the point that I had never seen before, and he had a whole story to go along with it. The way back in was easier and we could use the wind to guide us back to shore. On land again I was happy to see everyone working together to get the kayaks back into the boat yard and up on the racks. Not a single one of them was complaining of being tired or hot and they were all saying, “Wow! I can’t wait to do that again, that was so much fun!”
The CSC combines sailing with wide ranging activities from scuba diving to skateboarding. Take a look at our Multi-Activity Camps.
-Jess
On Saturday, July 29th, I had the unbelievable experience of sailing in the Regatta for Lake Champlain as part of the Community Sailing Center Youth team, a group of level 3 campers.
The boat we raced was Mashnee, captained by Jan Rozendaal and crewed by Sam Darling. She is a Buzzards Bay 30, and in my 26 years living on or near the ocean, she is truly one of the most beautiful boats I have ever seen and definitely the most beautiful I’ve ever sailed.
After leaving the dock, Sam showed Mashnee’s new crew how to change jibs (depending on the wind), how to hoist the main; the race started and we were crossing the line. The first leg was a straight shot on port the whole way, which made for a leisurely lunchtime cruise. Around the mark we headed up and began our beat up wind. This leg provided much more excitement as campers went flying, and sometimes rolling across the deck to avoid the very low boom. As we approached the final, most windward mark, we began to see how close we were to the front of the pack, and team’s excitement grew. We were happy to be sailing well and thrilled to be preparing to set the spinnaker.
Around the final mark our ‘light air’ spinnaker, the largest Sail the campers and I have ever had the pleasure of flying, was set. To our delight and amazement we slowly started gaining on and finally passed the entire fleet!
The regatta was a truly amazing experience, and I was incredibly grateful to be invited along. I’ve raced since I was ten and have only won a handful of regattas; I’ve coached sailing for five years and only seen my kids win three or four; this is the first time I’ve ever had the pleasure of being on the same boat as the kids when we crossed the line first. It was incredible.
I want to say thank you to Jan and Sam, as well as, everybody on the CSC team and their parents for supporting us.
-Nick
What does it feel like to really connect with the lake? What’s it like to head west on a tight reach when the wind is blowing 12 out of the south? How does it feel to tack around, let the sails out and head back towards Burlington with the wind and the sun at your back?
If you sail, and you’ve had experiences like the ones above, then you know. It feels amazing. It feels like limitless freedom. It looks beautiful with a giant sun setting over New York behind you and Burlington getting larger and larger in front of you. You feel the warm air, you feel the boat under your feet accelerating and slowing down, and you just can’t help but smile wide.
But for so many people, they’ve never felt these things. They don’t know what Burlington looks like from the middle of the lake. They don’t know how cool Mt. Mansfield and Camels Hump look with the lake stretched out in front of them. They have never seen the moon rise over our small city or how the fireworks look from anywhere but the shores of Lake Champlain.
This is one of the main reasons I got involved with the Community Sailing Center; to get more people out into the lake and on the water. While I grew up and lived what I just spoke about, so many others did not, and I’d really like to see that improve. I became a board member at CSC last year for a variety of reasons; from helping the organization secure a permanent home, to helping improve the Burlington waterfront, to helping more people get out onto the lake and experience what it’s like to sail and connect with the water. I really feel that the lake is one of our greatest resources, and we need to make it accessible to everyone.
It really is a misconception that the lake is inaccessible. It doesn’t matter who you are; the CSC helps get everyone out into the lake to begin to have these experiences. I ask for your help in doing so. If you’re a CSC camper, parent, renter, customer, or just a friend; I challenge you to bring someone you know down to the center in the next 3 weeks to show them what is really going on down there. They will see the scene, they’ll meet the staff, and they’ll see campers and customers alike having life-altering experiences every day. Only if we grow, involve more people, and continue to do what we’re doing will more people catch on and begin to understand the essence of the lake.
Thanks,
Eli Lesser-Goldsmith, Board of Directors
This essay was published in the Burlington Free Press on Friday, August 8th: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20108060322
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
This past week I had the great experience of being with our Guppies, the youngest campers here at the CSC. While we did the normal sailing thing for most of the week, we also had the opportunity to go to ECHO for two mornings of our week. I had never been to ECHO before, and on the first morning I was just as excited about it (if not a bit more excited) than the campers. When we arrived the staff there was awesome and got us involved right away with some of their “everyday” programming. We explored two amazing exhibits, the backyard monsters (about insects) and the underwater exhibit. In the underwater exhibit, which seemed to be the more popular, we explored a sunken ship, the effects of Zebra Mussels, and watched a feeding and presentation about the larger fish they have at ECHO.
Our second day at ECHO was equally entertaining (and educational). It began with a great presentation about the different kinds of mammals, reptiles, and birds we can find here, around Lake Champlain. We played a matching game with furs and pictures, learned about vertebrates and invertebrates, and got to meet a real live turtle that was saved by the staff at ECHO after being hit by a car. After our presentation, we spent some time exploring all the nooks and crannies of the museum. I would say I use the term museum loosely, because ECHO is just a cool place that allows kids to interact with science and educational tools in the most kid friendly way, with their hands.
Interested in our multi-activity camps?
-Nick
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
My favorite night of the week is Friday night. This is not because I get to sleep in Saturday morning. It is because every Friday night at the Community Sailing Center we have 420 races. These races are one of the few times when you can get on the lake for free and are a great way for our former students or other members of the sailing community to casually get together and hone their racing skills. The races are casual and laid back, which creates a friendly atmosphere for beginner racers. Results are not tallied and racers are more focused on improving their skills than on winning every race. Before the races start, each Friday the sailing center hosts a mini-refresher. This mini-refresher is great for people who have sailed before, but need to brush up on how to rig our boats, or have a couple quick questions. After the mini-refresher people grab 420s and head out onto the water. After a few races we start heading in. This part is the best part of the night. The sail in is almost always accompanied by people discussing the races while admiring a beautiful sunset over the Adirondack mountain range.
-Anna
